Yesterday found me at the Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA), at Nguludi, just outside the city of Blantyre. The University is bringing fresh life to one of the oldest Catholic mission stations in Malawi. As elsewhere in Africa, it seems that a church base can result in a flourishing University (which has also been evident in European history).
The young University has done well in developing undergraduate programmes, but its leadership feels that its next step is to encourage its Faculty to develop their research and writing, and to develop their own publishing house – CUNIMA Press. This ambition prompted them to invite us to launch our new book – Beyond Impunity: New Directions for Governance in Malawi – on their campus.
It was the first book launch ever to be held at the new University – we felt highly honoured. There was a terrific atmosphere, and the event was very well-organised with Faculty members presenting cogent reviews of the book. I was accompanied by three of the authors who contributed to the book – Gift Kayira, Hermann Mvula and Happy Kayuni. They all made excellent contributions and provoked a lively discussion.
This book attempts to offer an objective analysis of Malawi’s governance so we feel an obligation to promote it in the public sphere in the hope that it can have impact not only in the academic community but in the wider public life of the country. Many Malawians are asking why, through successive administrations, Malawi’s governance continues to be bogged down in the same problems of nepotism, corruption and elitism. The book attempts to penetrate to the underlying causes of such malaise and to suggest ways in which deep-lying structural and cultural issues can be addressed.
We are delighted to be able to offer an inexpensive Malawi print edition and the book is also available as a free download from the South African co-publisher, University of Cape Town Press. Your free digital version is available at https://openuctpress.uct.ac.za/uctpress/catalog/view/12/13/60
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