Malawi: Actor’s Arrest Reminiscent of Past Dictatorship’s Censorship Laws · Global Voices
Malawi police on Sunday afternoon December 18, 2011, stormed a stage on which a play was being performed, and led the play's main actor away into a waiting police van.
According to posts on Facebook, where the news first broke and reactions came in fast and furious, the play is titled “Semo” produced by Lions Theatre. The lead actor in the play is <PERSON>, son of Malawi's best known playwright and actor, the late <PERSON> The play was being performed at Nanzikambe Amphitheatre in the commercial capital, Blantyre.
First to break the news was <PERSON>, Malawi's leading radio host who works at Capital FM Radio. He was in the audience when the arrest happened and he posted pictures on his Facebook page. <PERSON>'s status update, a little after 3.05 pm Malawi time, read [the content is currently only available to friends]:
Actor <PERSON> being led away for questioning. Photo courtesy of <PERSON>.
Police have just stopped a play ‘Semo’ by Lions Theatre at Nanzikambe Amp Theatre.
Reactions flowed in immediately with people wanting to know the police's motive. <PERSON> responded:
The play is reported to be too critical of <PERSON> regime.
He later added:
We are all here. Nobody is moving.
For most people commenting on Facebook the scene was reminiscent of the one-party dictatorship when “president for life” Dr. <PERSON> ruled Malawi for 30 years, from 1964 to 1994. The one-party era was characterized by heavy-handed censorship through a government agency known as the Censorship Board.
The end of one-party rule in 1994 brought democratic changes, and the Censorship Board no longer played its public censorship role. 830
However despite Malawian activists questioning the presence of the board in post-1994 Malawi, censorship laws have remained, and the board continued existing, albeit in a low profile. It was renamed the Malawi Classification Board, but <PERSON>'s arrest and charging shows the law governing the board remains stuck in pre-1994 Malawi.
Commenting on <PERSON> update, <PERSON> wrote:
Fast descending into a police state. <PERSON>. [Should we go back to being afraid to even mention somebody's name?] Wasn't 30years enough for this?
Another comment, on a separate thread, also alluded to the dictatorship era [the content is currently only available to friends]:
I heard of more or less similar stories from my late father, but i never thought I could live in similar times. Was his vote in 1993 and 1994 a waste? I am hurting bro.
Some went even further and alluded to the colonial era when Malawi was under British rule:
<PERSON> wobwera [At least <PERSON> was a foreigner]
That reference was to <PERSON>, the last colonial Prime Minister for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federation was fiercely hated and opposed by Africans, who fought it and won independence as modern day countries of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Another netizen wondered why arrest an actor when a play is authored by a playwright, but online newspaper Nyasatimes reported that <PERSON> co-authored the play together with <PERSON>, a University of Malawi Polytechnic student activist who was found murdered on campus on the morning of September 24, 2011.
Blogger <PERSON> commented, also on facebook [the content is currently only available to friends], about the paranoia that seemed to be gripping the Malawi government:
By now, we all know what an insecure and pessimistic regime is like: it has to arrest anyone who rebukes it
More reaction appeared on a Facebook group known as Malawi at 50: Towards a New Crop of Malawian Leaders [Malawi at 50 is a closed group]. On Malawi at 50 the first update on the arrest appeared at 7.40pm Malawi time, from <PERSON>. She wrote:
Playwright and actor <PERSON> being led away by Malawi Police for questioning on the “subversive” substance of the creative material in his new play. I'd call it a great opening run;-) Free publicity provided by Malawi Police.
Later <PERSON> alluded to her fears about what happened to a young Malawian political activist when the police questioned him, a reference to University of Malawi Polytechnic student <PERSON> who was murdered after getting involved with police intelligence gathering. <PERSON> wrote:
I understand he was frogmarched off stage by police 11 minutes into the performance. 830