63:Td17,

DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhito’s arrogant ban on unsanctioned church prayers is a fascist attack on basic human rights.

Threatening members over attending spiritual gatherings violates Section 33 on freedom of conscience and Section 38 on freedom of assembly under the Constitution of Malawi.

Mutharika and Ansah must resolve their ego fights peacefully through mature mediation, clear structural separation, and formal party arbitration without turning party members into religious hostages.

Peter Mukhito stood in Blantyre and spat in the face of our supreme law. He commanded citizens to skip church if the party did not approve. This is not party discipline. This is raw tyranny.

Mukhito acts like a dictator in a banana republic. He treats the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a prison camp. He wants to control who worships, where they pray, and how they bow their heads.

Mukhitho’s orders are illegal, null, and void. They tear apart the very fabric of our democracy. Let’s dive deep into the intricacies of this issue further.

Section 33 of the Malawi Constitution respects freedom of conscience that every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Mukhito has no right to police the altar.

Section 38 of the same Malawi Constitution mandates the freedom of assembly so that every person has the right to assemble and associate with others. Political bosses do not own people’s feet or faith.

Furthermore, Section 26 of our beloved and lovely constitution reveres our culture and language in such a way that Malawi Citizens are entitled to enjoy free participation in cultural and communal life. Needless to overemphasise that prayer is a fundamental communal right.

What is the interim effect? The perceived power struggle between President Peter Mutharika and First Vice President Jane Ansah has poisoned the party. This is why Ansah seeks solace in houses of prayer. Why should Mukhito and his cronies panic like guilty cowards?

If Mutharika and Ansah have internal differences, they must fix them like leaders. They can stop using heavy-handed tactics against innocent members by adopting these three civilized approaches.

First, hire neutral arbiters. Bring in trusted religious bodies, like the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), or respected retired statesmen to chair peace talks.

Second, hold private, neutral meetings away from party headquarters to talk honestly without media noise or cheering crowds. Patriotic Malawians are not interested in intra-party squabbles.

Third, draw a clear line between Ansah’s personal, spiritual life and her official party roles.

Fourth, accept that a leader visiting churches is a normal civic action, not an automatic coup or an act of rebellion. Now Malawians are wondering, where is the fear emanating from.

Lastly but not least, bring grievances to the party’s internal structures properly, rather than shouting threats at rallies. You can do better than this.

In conclusion, it is imperative that DPP as party must use lawful, written rules to resolve leadership differences instead of inventing dictatorial decrees on the fly.

64:Tc2f,DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhito’s arrogant ban on unsanctioned church prayers is a fascist attack on basic human rights. Threatening members over attending spiritual gatherings violates Section 33 on freedom of conscience and Section 38 on freedom of assembly under the Constitution of Malawi. Mutharika and Ansah must resolve their ego fights peacefully through mature mediation, clear structural separation, and formal party arbitration without turning party members into religious hostages.Peter Mukhito stood in Blantyre and spat in the face of our supreme law. He commanded citizens to skip church if the party did not approve. This is not party discipline. This is raw tyranny.Mukhito acts like a dictator in a banana republic. He treats the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a prison camp. He wants to control who worships, where they pray, and how they bow their heads.Mukhitho’s orders are illegal, null, and void. They tear apart the very fabric of our democracy. Let’s dive deep into the intricacies of this issue further.Section 33 of the Malawi Constitution respects freedom of conscience that every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Mukhito has no right to police the altar.Section 38 of the same Malawi Constitution mandates the freedom of assembly so that every person has the right to assemble and associate with others. Political bosses do not own people’s feet or faith.Furthermore, Section 26 of our beloved and lovely constitution reveres our culture and language in such a way that Malawi Citizens are entitled to enjoy free participation in cultural and communal life. Needless to overemphasise that prayer is a fundamental communal right.What is the interim effect? The perceived power struggle between President Peter Mutharika and First Vice President Jane Ansah has poisoned the party. This is why Ansah seeks solace in houses of prayer. Why should Mukhito and his cronies panic like guilty cowards?If Mutharika and Ansah have internal differences, they must fix them like leaders. They can stop using heavy-handed tactics against innocent members by adopting these three civilized approaches.First, hire neutral arbiters. Bring in trusted religious bodies, like the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), or respected retired statesmen to chair peace talks.Second, hold private, neutral meetings away from party headquarters to talk honestly without media noise or cheering crowds. Patriotic Malawians are not interested in intra-party squabbles.Third, draw a clear line between Ansah’s personal, spiritual life and her official party roles.Fourth, accept that a leader visiting churches is a normal civic action, not an automatic coup or an act of rebellion. Now Malawians are wondering, where is the fear emanating from.Lastly but not least, bring grievances to the party’s internal structures properly, rather than shouting threats at rallies. You can do better than this.In conclusion, it is imperative that DPP as party must use lawful, written rules to resolve leadership differences instead of inventing dictatorial decrees on the fly.33:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mtbbfabh4e6k",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/17/chains-in-the-sanctuary-how-dpps-mukhito-is-trampling-on-god-and-the-constitution/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["DPP","god","Jane Ansah","Peter Mukhito","Peter Mutharika","National","Opinion","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Chains in the Sanctuary: How DPP’s Mukhito is trampling on God and the Constitution","content":{"html":"$63","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-17T08:16:14.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiar2l6qsr63xffp5kkxidotaobqc6ey5vuqwfgqo27d6g7b6dfk7a"},"size":42224,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhito’s arrogant ban on unsanctioned church prayers is a fascist attack on basic human rights. Threatening members over attending spiritual gatherings violates Section 33 on freedom of conscience and Section 38 on freedom of assembly under the Constitution of Malawi. Mutharika and Ansah must resolve their ego fights peacefully through mature...","publishedAt":"2026-08-17T08:15:48.000Z","textContent":"$64","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mtbbfabh4e6k","sort_date":"2026-08-17T08:15:48+00:00"}}] 65:Tf69,

South African government suffered an embarrassing diplomatic mishap after mistakenly identifying Malawi Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana as opposition politician Richard Chimwendo Banda.

Chihana arrived at King Shaka International Airport in Durban on Saturday to represent President Arthur Peter Mutharika at the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government.

Chihana confirmed his mission on arrival, saying Mutharika had also directed him to hold high-level bilateral and multilateral engagements while in South Africa.

“At the direction of the State President, Mutharika, I will also attend high-level bilateral and multilateral discussions to strengthen Malawi’s diplomatic and economic relationship with fellow SADC countries and investors,” he said.

But in an official social media post announcing his arrival, the South African government introduced Chihana as “Malawi’s Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda”.

“ARRIVAL | Malawi’s Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda arrives at King Shaka International Airport ahead of the 46th Ordinary Summit of #SADC Heads of State and Government,” reads the original post.

It added that the Malawian representative had been received by South Africa’s Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, ahead of the regional gathering at Durban International Convention Centre.

There was one major problem: the man pictured was not Chimwendo Banda. It was Malawi Second Vice-President Enoch Kamzingeni Chihana.

Making the diplomatic mix-up even more striking, Chimwendo Banda is not a minister in Mutharika administration.

He is Secretary General of Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which lost power to Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2025 Malawi general elections.

Chimwendo Banda previously served as Minister of Local Government and Leader of Government Business in Parliament under former President Lazarus Chakwera. He was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Chakwera administration.

South African government swiftly deleted and replaced the erroneous post after the mistake was spotted. The corrected post properly identified Chihana as Malawi Second Vice-President.

Mutharika was already in South Africa

There is another twist to Chihana’s presence in Durban. President Mutharika was himself already in South Africa, having spent 11 days there on a private visit.

Despite being in the country hosting the SADC summit, Mutharika did not attend the regional gathering and instead delegated Chihana to represent him. Mutharika returned to Malawi on Saturday, the same day Chihana arrived in Durban.

Mutharika has made several private visits to South Africa since returning to power, including trips in December 2025, March, June and August 2026.

Repeated visits have attracted questions over their frequency and purpose, although government has consistently maintained they are private.

Chihana, who leads Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), serves as Malawi’s Second Vice-President, while DPP’s Jane Ansah is First Vice-President.

66:Tc10,South African government suffered an embarrassing diplomatic mishap after mistakenly identifying Malawi Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana as opposition politician Richard Chimwendo Banda. Chihana arrived at King Shaka International Airport in Durban on Saturday to represent President Arthur Peter Mutharika at the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government. Chihana confirmed his mission on arrival, saying Mutharika had also directed him to hold high-level bilateral and multilateral engagements while in South Africa. “At the direction of the State President, Mutharika, I will also attend high-level bilateral and multilateral discussions to strengthen Malawi’s diplomatic and economic relationship with fellow SADC countries and investors,” he said. But in an official social media post announcing his arrival, the South African government introduced Chihana as “Malawi’s Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda”. “ARRIVAL | Malawi’s Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda arrives at King Shaka International Airport ahead of the 46th Ordinary Summit of #SADC Heads of State and Government,” reads the original post. It added that the Malawian representative had been received by South Africa’s Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, ahead of the regional gathering at Durban International Convention Centre. There was one major problem: the man pictured was not Chimwendo Banda. It was Malawi Second Vice-President Enoch Kamzingeni Chihana. Making the diplomatic mix-up even more striking, Chimwendo Banda is not a minister in Mutharika administration. He is Secretary General of Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which lost power to Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2025 Malawi general elections. Chimwendo Banda previously served as Minister of Local Government and Leader of Government Business in Parliament under former President Lazarus Chakwera. He was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Chakwera administration. South African government swiftly deleted and replaced the erroneous post after the mistake was spotted. The corrected post properly identified Chihana as Malawi Second Vice-President. Mutharika was already in South Africa There is another twist to Chihana’s presence in Durban. President Mutharika was himself already in South Africa, having spent 11 days there on a private visit. Despite being in the country hosting the SADC summit, Mutharika did not attend the regional gathering and instead delegated Chihana to represent him. Mutharika returned to Malawi on Saturday, the same day Chihana arrived in Durban. Mutharika has made several private visits to South Africa since returning to power, including trips in December 2025, March, June and August 2026. Repeated visits have attracted questions over their frequency and purpose, although government has consistently maintained they are private. Chihana, who leads Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), serves as Malawi’s Second Vice-President, while DPP’s Jane Ansah is First Vice-President.34:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mtaqdswnhmie",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/17/diplomatic-mishap-south-africa-mistakes-malawi-vp-chihana-for-opposition-politician-chimwendo-banda/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Enoch Chihana","Peter Mutharika","Richard Chimwendo Banda","SADC","South Africa","Africa News","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Diplomatic mishap: South Africa mistakes Malawi VP Chihana for opposition politician Chimwendo Banda","content":{"html":"$65","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-16T23:08:43.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihzpem2eclhw7jww76yvoexxsno7t2qgeafghgxrwf3vy4iqzdfou"},"size":127594,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"South African government suffered an embarrassing diplomatic mishap after mistakenly identifying Malawi Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana as opposition politician Richard Chimwendo Banda. Chihana arrived at King Shaka International Airport in Durban on Saturday to represent President Arthur Peter Mutharika at the 46th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government....","publishedAt":"2026-08-17T03:08:00.000Z","textContent":"$66","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mtaqdswnhmie","sort_date":"2026-08-17T03:08:00+00:00"}}] 67:Tee6,

…President spent 53 days in South Africa on four private trips since returning to office

President Arthur Peter Mutharika has returned to Malawi after spending 11 days in South Africa on what was his fourth publicly announced private trip to the country since returning to office in October 2025.

Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi confirmed that Mutharika arrived back at Kamuzu International Airport on Saturday, 15 August, following what State House described as a private visit. As with his departure, State House did not disclose the purpose of the trip.

The latest visit began on 5 August, barely five weeks after the President had returned from another extended stay in South Africa, where he spent 17 days between 12 and 29 June.

Mutharika has now made four publicly announced private trips to South Africa since returning to office:

1 December 2025 to 15 December 2025: 14 days
1 March 2026 to 12 March 2026: 11 days
12 June 2026 to 29 June 2026: 17 days
5 August 2026 to 15 August 2026: 11 days

Taken together, the President has spent 53 days in South Africa on private visits since returning to office.

Malawi24 was the first news outlet to highlight in our report the frequency of President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s private visits to South Africa, documenting that he had spent 42 days in the country on three private trips before his latest departure. Soon afterwards, renowned columnist Steven Nhlane weighed in on the issue.

Writing in his regular Off the Shelf column in The Nation, Nhlane remarked that South Africa had seemingly become “Malawi’s unofficial State House annexe” and joked that the President “could probably qualify for a frequent traveller discount.” Referring to Mutharika’s repeated visits, he wrote that immigration officials at OR Tambo International Airport must be greeting the presidential delegation like old friends: “‘Welcome back, Your Excellency,’ they might say. ‘The usual lounge? The usual motorcade? Shall we keep your favourite parking bay ready?'”

His latest return comes days after Malawi24 reported growing public debate over the frequency of the President’s private travel and the limited information released by State House regarding the purpose and duration of the visits.

During the President’s latest absence, Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana continued to undertake official duties on behalf of the Head of State. He received International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo in Lilongwe.

Chihana is now representing President Mutharika at the 46th SADC Summit in South Africa after the President opted not to remain in the country to lead Malawi’s delegation.

The President’s repeated trips have turned each departure into a matter of public expectation, with many now wondering when his next private visit to South Africa will be.

68:Tb31,…President spent 53 days in South Africa on four private trips since returning to office President Arthur Peter Mutharika has returned to Malawi after spending 11 days in South Africa on what was his fourth publicly announced private trip to the country since returning to office in October 2025. Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi confirmed that Mutharika arrived back at Kamuzu International Airport on Saturday, 15 August, following what State House described as a private visit. As with his departure, State House did not disclose the purpose of the trip. The latest visit began on 5 August, barely five weeks after the President had returned from another extended stay in South Africa, where he spent 17 days between 12 and 29 June. Mutharika has now made four publicly announced private trips to South Africa since returning to office: 1 December 2025 to 15 December 2025: 14 days 1 March 2026 to 12 March 2026: 11 days 12 June 2026 to 29 June 2026: 17 days 5 August 2026 to 15 August 2026: 11 days Taken together, the President has spent 53 days in South Africa on private visits since returning to office. Malawi24 was the first news outlet to highlight in our report the frequency of President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s private visits to South Africa, documenting that he had spent 42 days in the country on three private trips before his latest departure. Soon afterwards, renowned columnist Steven Nhlane weighed in on the issue. Writing in his regular Off the Shelf column in The Nation, Nhlane remarked that South Africa had seemingly become “Malawi’s unofficial State House annexe” and joked that the President “could probably qualify for a frequent traveller discount.” Referring to Mutharika’s repeated visits, he wrote that immigration officials at OR Tambo International Airport must be greeting the presidential delegation like old friends: “‘Welcome back, Your Excellency,’ they might say. ‘The usual lounge? The usual motorcade? Shall we keep your favourite parking bay ready?'” His latest return comes days after Malawi24 reported growing public debate over the frequency of the President’s private travel and the limited information released by State House regarding the purpose and duration of the visits. During the President’s latest absence, Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana continued to undertake official duties on behalf of the Head of State. He received International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo in Lilongwe. Chihana is now representing President Mutharika at the 46th SADC Summit in South Africa after the President opted not to remain in the country to lead Malawi’s delegation. The President’s repeated trips have turned each departure into a matter of public expectation, with many now wondering when his next private visit to South Africa will be.35:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mt7qilm6x4pv",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/16/mutharika-returns-from-fourth-south-africa-trip/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Enoch Chihana","Jane Ansah","Peter Mutharika","South Africa","Health","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Mutharika returns from fourth South Africa trip: When is his next private visit?","content":{"html":"$67","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-16T17:52:08.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreic6w6xmteza6tykhptg24dwg7dwhc2qz5hqq4mpbcp7t5ebk5bkha"},"size":260594,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"...President spent 53 days in South Africa on four private trips since returning to office President Arthur Peter Mutharika has returned to Malawi after spending 11 days in South Africa on what was his fourth publicly announced private trip to the country since returning to office in October 2025. Chief Secretary to the Government Justin...","publishedAt":"2026-08-16T17:42:57.000Z","textContent":"$68","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mt7qilm6x4pv","sort_date":"2026-08-16T17:42:57+00:00"}}] 69:T439,It's a memorable diagnosis, and I disagree with it. Colwill's argument assumes the satire lives in the authorial wink, so that when the wink stops, the satire dies. But the Imperium's indictment was never in the tone. It's in the facts of the setting, and no amount of straight-faced prose can unwrite them. A novel that lovingly describes the oath-swearing is writing from inside the propaganda, which is the same trick Verhoeven pulled with a camera, and the thousand psykers are still being fed to the Throne on that same page. Advertisement works by concealing the cost of the product; 40K prints the cost on every page and dares you to keep reading. The straight-faced books don't delete the satire so much as relocate it, out of the narrator's voice and into the gap between what the characters believe and what the reader can plainly see. Whether a given reader notices that gap is a genuine problem, and the rest of this article is about the people who don't. But that's a fact about readers, not a property of the text, and the distinction matters for what we do about it.6a:T6828,There's a moment every Warhammer 40,000 fan eventually experiences. You're explaining the setting to someone new. You get through "okay, so there's a God-Emperor who's been rotting on a golden life-support throne for ten thousand years, and a thousand psychics are fed to him daily to keep him alive, and the entire human species worships his corpse in a religion he explicitly banned while he was conscious." And you watch the person's face as they wait for the punchline. Here's the thing: that is the punchline. The whole setting is the punchline. Warhammer 40,000 is one of the longest-running, most elaborately sustained jokes in the history of fiction: a forty-year bit about what happens when fear, faith, and bureaucracy metastasize into a civilization. The joke is that the Imperium of Man, the "heroes" of the setting, are the worst government imaginable: a xenophobic, theocratic, genocidal police state that burns its own citizens for thinking wrong, and which is losing anyway. And yet, in the year 2026, you can find people who look at this galactic-scale cautionary tale and say, with a straight face: yeah, that. I want that. That's the good ending. This article is about how that happened. It's about where 40K's satire came from, what it was originally aiming at, how the joke got sanded down over decades of commercial success, and how a fictional space-fascist theocracy became a genuine aesthetic touchstone for parts of the modern right. It got so bad that Games Workshop, a company whose corporate personality is roughly "polite British shopkeeper who would rather die than discuss politics," had to publicly explain the dictionary definition of satire to its own customers. Grab a cup of recaf. This is going to take a while. The Emperor protects, but he doesn't protect you from long reads. The Joke, As Originally Told To understand what 40K was satirizing, you have to understand where and when it was born: Nottingham, England, 1987. This matters enormously. 40K is not an American creation, and its original satirical targets were not American. It came out of late-Thatcher Britain, a country of industrial decline, miners' strikes, dole queues, the Cold War's long shadow, and a thriving punk counterculture that processed all of it through sneering, anarchic humor. The creative DNA of early 40K is the same DNA as 2000 AD, the British comics anthology that gave the world Judge Dredd, a jackbooted ultra-cop whose stories are simultaneously thrilling action comics and a merciless piss-take of authoritarian law-and-order politics. Dredd is cool. Dredd is also the villain. Both things are true at once, and British readers of the era were fluent in holding both. Rick Priestley, who wrote the original Rogue Trader rulebook, has been explicit about this over the years. In a 2015 interview he said the background "was always intended to be ironic," that it amused him to watch Space Marines get lauded as heroes when they're brutal and "completely self-deceiving," and that a lot of that intent "got missed and overwritten." The Imperium was a dark joke about religion, empire, and bureaucracy. The British class system, the Catholic Church, the Inquisition, and the general human tendency to build vast, grinding institutions that outlive their purpose were all cranked to eleven and launched into space. The Emperor himself is a riff on the corpse of Church and State: a dead god propped up by ritual, whose actual wishes have been so thoroughly betrayed by his own institution that his continued "life" is the setting's central, absurd obscenity. The early material reads like a joke, too. Rogue Trader-era 40K is scuzzy, weird, and openly comedic. Space Marines aren't noble warrior-monks; they're hulking, half-mad thugs, sometimes depicted as recruited criminals, hyper-violent boot boys in power armor. The artwork is punk collage: skulls and gothic arches next to band references and grubby hive-city squalor. The lore's penal legions, convict soldiers marched into the guns to expiate their crimes, might as well have been called "the British Army as experienced by someone who hated the British Army." The aesthetic is Blackadder-goes-to-space-hell. Nobody involved thought they were building an aspirational civilization. They were building Terry Gilliam's Brazil with bolters. The satirical method of 40K is the oldest one in the book: exaggeration until absurdity. You take a real tendency (nationalism, religious zealotry, bureaucratic indifference to human life) and you inflate it past any possible defense. Real nationalism says "our nation is the best." The Imperium says "humanity is the only species with a right to exist, and every alien must be exterminated." Real religious fundamentalism says "our scripture is literally true." The Imperial Creed says "the God-Emperor demands your death in service, and doubt itself is a capital crime." Real bureaucracy loses your paperwork. The Administratum loses entire planets. There are worlds in the lore still stockpiling tithes for an Imperium that forgot they exist, and official background boasts that a single misplaced decimal point can condemn a world to starvation. This is the same move Paul Verhoeven made in Starship Troopers (1997): shoot the fascist propaganda film as the propaganda film, trust the audience to notice the skull beneath the skin. Make the uniforms sharp, the slogans punchy, the violence glorious, and make the whole thing so hollow and monstrous that only a fool could mistake it for endorsement. Spoiler for the rest of this article: never underestimate the fools. Satire isn't just mockery for sport. Good satire has a defensive function: it inoculates. By exaggerating a tendency until it's ridiculous, it teaches you to recognize the tendency in its smaller, real-world forms. Judge Dredd exists so that when a real politician says "the streets will run with the blood of criminals," some part of your brain goes ah, I know this bit. The Imperium exists so that grand talk of holy wars, racial destiny, and glorious sacrifice for the state would ring a very loud, very gothic alarm bell. Umberto Eco's famous 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism" lists the recurring features of fascist movements: the cult of tradition, the rejection of modernity, action for action's sake, disagreement as treason, fear of difference, obsession with plots and enemies, the cult of heroism and death. Read that list next to a description of the Imperium and it's almost embarrassing. The Imperium isn't similar to Eco's checklist; it's a dramatization of it. Cult of tradition? The Adeptus Mechanicus worships machines it no longer understands and considers innovation heresy. Disagreement is treason? The word for disagreement in the Imperium is literally "heresy," and the penalty is fire. Cult of death? In the Imperium, heresy carries a default sentence of death, and entire regiments are built around a doctrine that treats dying in the Emperor's service as atonement. 40K didn't stumble into resembling fascism. It was built as a fascism exhibit, a museum of authoritarian pathologies, with a gift shop full of plastic figurines. How the Joke Got Lost So what happened? How does a satire this unsubtle get misread? Part of the answer is simple commercial drift. Satire is a fragile thing to hang a merchandising empire on. Games Workshop discovered, over the decades, that the thing that sells is not the irony. It's the awe. Space Marines sell. Gold-armored Custodes sell. Towering cathedrals, thundering war-hymns, last stands against impossible odds: these sell. The grubby punk sneer of 1987 gradually gave way to something more operatic and sincere, because opera and sincerity move product. You can trace the shift through the Space Marines themselves. They begin as ugly, brutal enforcers, and the joke is that humanity's "finest" are lobotomized murder-machines. Over time they become tragic warrior-monks: noble, self-sacrificing, burdened with terrible duty, making The Hard Choices. The Horus Heresy novel series, for all its genuine literary merit, completed this transformation by giving the Imperium's founding a sweeping mythic tragedy, and it's very hard to satirize something you've spent sixty novels making people cry about. The tabletop game itself compounds the problem. When you spend two hundred hours lovingly painting an army, that army becomes yours. Nobody drills verdigris-weathered gold trim on a Custodian Guard while thinking "and this represents everything wrong with power." You think "my guys are magnificent." The hobby's whole structure (collection, investment, identification) pulls against critical distance. The satire says "this civilization is a nightmare"; the hobby says "here are 400 pages of rules for fielding the nightmare, and doesn't it look fantastic on the shelf." And then there's the sheer volume problem. Forty years of novels, codexes, games, and animations have been written by hundreds of authors of wildly varying intent. Some of them kept the satirical edge razor-sharp. Others wrote the Imperium completely straight: fetishistic loving descriptions of oaths and ceremonial blades and righteous purgation, delivered without a flicker of irony. The most famous critical take on this drift is Tim Colwill's essay "Satire Without Purpose Will Wander In Dark Places," which argues that a satire which stops actively satirizing doesn't become neutral; it becomes advertisement for the thing it was mocking. It's a memorable diagnosis, and I disagree with it. Colwill's argument assumes the satire lives in the authorial wink, so that when the wink stops, the satire dies. But the Imperium's indictment was never in the tone. It's in the facts of the setting, and no amount of straight-faced prose can unwrite them. A novel that lovingly describes the oath-swearing is writing from inside the propaganda, which is the same trick Verhoeven pulled with a camera, and the thousand psykers are still being fed to the Throne on that same page. Advertisement works by concealing the cost of the product; 40K prints the cost on every page and dares you to keep reading. The straight-faced books don't delete the satire so much as relocate it, out of the narrator's voice and into the gap between what the characters believe and what the reader can plainly see. Whether a given reader notices that gap is a genuine problem, and the rest of this article is about the people who don't. But that's a fact about readers, not a property of the text, and the distinction matters for what we do about it. There's also a basic literacy issue that 40K shares with The Wolf of Wall Street, Fight Club, Breaking Bad, and every other work whose villain-protagonist grew a fan club: an enormous number of people cannot distinguish "protagonist" from "good guy." Almost all 40K fiction is told from the Imperium's point of view. The Imperium's soldiers are the ones on the covers, the ones with the emotional arcs, the ones we're with in the trench when the tyranids come over the wire. Point of view generates sympathy automatically; that's just how narrative works. A story can tell you the Imperium is monstrous while making you feel relief when the Space Marines arrive, and for a certain kind of reader, the feeling beats the telling every single time. The setting's defenders sometimes argue the Imperium is "justified" by its circumstances: in a galaxy of literal devouring horrors, maybe total war and total control really are the only options. This argument comes up constantly in fan spaces, and it's worth pausing on, because it is, itself, the most interesting part of the satire. "Our brutality is regrettable but necessary; our enemies are so dangerous that mercy is suicide; extraordinary threats demand extraordinary powers." That is not a neutral strategic analysis. That is the actual, historical sales pitch of every authoritarian regime that has ever existed. The setting hands you the fascist's own justification, fully assembled, and asks whether you'll buy it. A lot of people, it turns out, buy it. The trap works. That's arguably the satire functioning perfectly, just with no one standing at the exit to explain what happened. The God-Emperor Goes to Washington The migration of 40K imagery into actual right-wing politics started, as so many things did, around 2015 and 2016 on message boards. Somewhere in the primordial soup of election-era internet culture, someone photoshopped Donald Trump into the God-Emperor's golden power armor, and the "God-Emperor Trump" meme was born. It spread through the big pro-Trump forums of the era and never really left; nearly a decade later, gilded Trump-as-Emperor imagery still circulates every election cycle, and the "God-Emperor" honorific gets used in right-wing spaces with that signature both-joking-and-not delivery. The meme is worth taking seriously precisely because of that deliberate ambiguity. On its face it's absurdist humor: comparing a politician to a forty-thousand-year-old psychic corpse is objectively funny. But the meme only works as praise if you find something genuinely appealing in the comparison: the strength, the worship, the crushing of enemies, the civilizational mission. As one recent analysis put it, the deep ambiguity of 40K gives the online right a perfect toolkit for its irony-poisoned style of communication: if you ask what someone actually means by depicting Trump as the God-Emperor of Mankind, the joking response is that the Inquisition might show up at your door. Sincerity hides inside the joke, and the joke provides deniability for the sincerity. It's motte-and-bailey with gilded power armor. And this pattern hasn't faded. It's intensified. In summer 2026, the conservative outlet The Bulwark ran a long piece by historian Christian Ruth examining exactly this phenomenon, noting that while 40K is "bombastic and intentionally, deeply satirical," MAGA-aligned communities have twisted its biting satire of fascism into pro-Trump memes. When a conservative magazine is publishing essays saying, essentially, "please stop doing fascism with the miniature game," you know the phenomenon has jumped the hobby. There's a tempting explanation here that goes: "these people are just too dumb to get the joke." And, sure, sometimes. But the fuller explanation is more uncomfortable: fascist aesthetics are designed to be attractive. That's their entire function. Real fascist movements invested enormously in spectacle (uniforms, torchlight, monumental architecture, martial ceremony) because the aesthetic is the recruitment pitch. Susan Sontag wrote the definitive essay on this back in 1975: fascist art glamorizes surrender, mindless obedience, and death, and it is seductive, which is precisely what makes it dangerous. So when 40K reproduces fascist aesthetics at maximum intensity in order to mock them, it is, unavoidably, also reproducing fascist aesthetics at maximum intensity. The satirical frame is supposed to neutralize the appeal. But the frame is optional equipment. You can just take it off. And for someone already inclined toward authoritarian fantasy, 40K with the frame removed is the most lavish authoritarian fantasy ever produced: a universe where the strongman really is a god, where the enemies really are inhuman, where eternal war really is glorious, and where every anxiety of the modern reactionary (decline, decadence, invasion, corruption from within) is rendered literal and answered with a flamethrower. This is the Starship Troopers problem all over again. Verhoeven made the most explicitly anti-fascist blockbuster in history, and a measurable chunk of the audience walked out saying "the bug-killing federation seems great, actually." Satire by immersion has a failure mode, and the failure mode is that immersion works better than satire. It's also no accident which parts of the modern right glommed onto 40K. The overlap isn't primarily with the country-club right or the policy-wonk right. It's with the terminally online right, the gamer-adjacent grievance ecosystem that formed in the mid-2010s and has been fighting a rolling culture war over "wokeness" in entertainment ever since. 40K became a front in that war for the same reason Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings did: it's a beloved franchise with a large male fanbase, which makes any change legible as an invasion. The clearest flashpoint came in 2024, when Games Workshop confirmed that the Adeptus Custodes, the Emperor's elite golden guardians, include women, and a very loud contingent reacted as though the company had personally desecrated a shrine. The outrage cycle was indistinguishable from every other "woke franchise" panic: YouTube channels monetizing fury, harassment of writers, dark warnings about the death of the hobby. The revealing part wasn't the anger itself; it was the shape of the anger. There was an assumption that 40K belonged to a particular kind of fan, and that the fictional Imperium's values (purity, hierarchy, exclusion) should somehow govern the real-world community around it. That's the tell, every time. The moment someone starts applying the Imperium's logic outside the game (treating the fandom as territory to be defended from outsiders, treating change as corruption, treating disagreement as heresy) they've stopped playing the game and started playing the setting. Which is, if you think about it, the most catastrophic possible way to lose at Warhammer. For decades, Games Workshop's political strategy was to have no detectable politics whatsoever. That ended in November 2021, after an incident at a major tournament in Talavera, Spain, where a player wore Nazi regalia. The community reaction was volcanic, and GW, for the first time, said the quiet part in corporate English. The statement declared that the company would never accept or condone any form of prejudice, hatred, or abuse in the Warhammer hobby, and that anyone wearing the symbols of real-world hate groups at its events would be asked to leave. It went further, into actual textual interpretation: the Imperium of Man, it explained, stands as a cautionary tale of humanity's "lust for power and extreme, unyielding xenophobia" run amok, and, like so many aspects of Warhammer 40,000, is satirical. Then came the paragraph that launched a thousand memes. The statement paused to define its terms, explaining that satire deploys humor, irony, or exaggeration to hold vices and systemic flaws up for "scorn, derision, and ridicule," and that something doesn't have to be laugh-out-loud funny to qualify. The Imperium is not an aspirational state; it's a monstrous civilization whose monstrousness is plain for all to see. Think about what that document is. A multinational company was forced to publish a middle-school literary-devices glossary because a nontrivial slice of its customer base had mistaken its cautionary tale for a brochure. It is simultaneously admirable, necessary, and one of the most darkly funny artifacts of the whole saga: the real-world equivalent of the Emperor waking up for thirty seconds to say "I specifically said no religion" before slumping back onto the throne. Critics noted, fairly, that the statement papered over GW's own role in the drift, and that decades of playing the Imperium increasingly straight made "it's satire, you just didn't get it" a somewhat convenient defense. Both things can be true: the setting was born as satire, and its custodians spent years letting the satire idle while the aesthetics did the selling. Why the Satire Still Matters (Maybe More Than Ever) The reason 40K's satire has felt less like fantasy and more like commentary over the past decade is that the tendencies it exaggerates have been doing brisk business in the real world. You don't need to name every specific politician or policy to see the rhymes: leader-worship that shades from support into something openly devotional; the recasting of political opponents not as wrong but as enemies within; the fusion of national identity with religious destiny; the framing of every election as an apocalyptic last stand; the celebration of cruelty toward outsiders as strength; the treatment of institutional expertise as corruption and of loyalty as the only real qualification. Eco's checklist again. Not the full 40K dramatization, but the same items in the evening news. When actual political rallies feature a leader's face composited onto armored demigods, when "God-Emperor" is a term of sincere-ish endearment, when memes about inquisitions and heresy circulate as fantasies of what to do with political opponents, the distance between the satire and the satirized has closed to an uncomfortable degree. The joke from 1987 was "imagine if we let these tendencies run for 38,000 years." The 2026 update is "you will not need to imagine quite so hard." And this is exactly why the satire matters. Satire's job, remember, is inoculation. A civilization that can look at the Imperium and laugh, that recognizes the strongman worship, the manufactured enemies, the sanctified cruelty, and finds them ridiculous, has antibodies. A civilization where a growing number of people look at the Imperium and feel yearning is running a fever, and the fever is diagnostic. 40K didn't cause any of this. It's a thermometer, not a pathogen. But thermometers are useful, and this one has been reading high. Now, an important addendum to the doom, because it's both true and frequently steamrolled in these discussions: the overwhelming majority of 40K fans are not fascists, crypto or otherwise. They are people who like painting little soldiers, rolling dice with friends, and reading pulp novels about space monks fighting demons. The hobby is, at ground level, one of the most genuinely communal and craft-oriented pastimes in existence: hours at the painting desk, patient teaching of new players, the small sacred ritual of complimenting a stranger's basing work. Even The Bulwark's culture-war postmortem landed here: the antidote to the setting's political unwellness might be the nature of the hobby itself. It's a game meant to be played between people, and whatever hostile Xenos are on the table, the category stops making sense when applied to the human being sitting across from you. That's not a throwaway line; it's the actual structural defense. Fascism requires abstraction: masses, races, enemies, labels, categories. A tabletop game is the opposite of abstraction. It's four hours of face-to-face negotiation over whether that Custodian has line of sight, followed by a handshake. It is very hard to sustain a purity ideology about people you regularly split a pizza with. The fandom has also done real self-policing. The 2021 GW statement didn't come from nowhere; it came because fans raised hell about the Talavera incident. A large, vocal wing of the community treats "the Imperium are the bad guys" as baseline literacy, mocks anyone who argues otherwise, and keeps the satirical reading legible for newcomers: that's the immune system working. The lore itself even supports it. The setting's own text is clear that the Emperor was a secularist whose church is a betrayal, that the Imperium's cruelty doesn't even work (it's losing on every front), and that the whole thing is a tragedy of (maybe) good intentions devoured by institutions. The material for the correct reading has always been right there. So what's the takeaway, the "purpose of the satire," stated plainly? 40K's satire, at its best, makes three arguments. First: authoritarianism is not strength; it is failure wearing armor. The Imperium is the mightiest empire imaginable and it is dying, precisely because of what it is. Its ignorance is self-inflicted, its cruelty manufactures its own enemies, its worship of the past strangles its future. The setting's grimness isn't an aesthetic choice; it's the argument itself. This is what these ideas get you. The Imperium has manufactured this grim, war-torn future—ten thousand years of it. Second: the road there is paved with reasonable-sounding necessities. Every horror in the Imperium was, at some point, somebody's emergency measure. The satire invites you to feel the pull of "but the threats are real, so the brutality is justified," and then shows you the civilization that logic builds. It's a vaccine that works by giving you a controlled dose of the disease. Third, and most relevant to 2026: watch what people do with the frame. The same image (the golden Emperor, the endless war, the burning heretic) reads as tragedy or as aspiration depending entirely on the reader. Satire is a mirror, and mirrors don't choose what stands in front of them. When someone looks into the grimdark and sees a role model, they've told you something true about themselves, and that information is worth having. The satire keeps working even when it's "misread," because the misreading is data. Which leads to the last thing worth saying plainly: the answer is not to water the art down. There's a tempting managerial response to all of this, and you can feel publishers everywhere being tempted by it: sand off the Imperium's edges, make the good guys actually good, add disclaimers until the setting is legally distinct from having a point of view. That would be a mistake, and not a small one. Art that can't depict monstrous things vividly can't warn about them either; a defanged Imperium isn't a safer Imperium, it's just a cooler-looking one with the argument removed, which is precisely the version the worst readers already imagine. The grimness is the thesis. Blunt it and you keep the aesthetics fascists like while deleting the indictment. And even when the satire runs dull, even in the novels written straight and the decades where the irony idled, the mirror never actually stops working. A satire that has forgotten it's a satire still shows you exactly who salutes and who laughs. It still generates the data. The reaction to a female Custodian told us more than a hundred think pieces could. Dull satire is worse art than sharp satire, and we should want it sharp, but the mirror function survives the dullness, because it was never only located in the jokes. It was located in us, in what we do when handed a gorgeous picture of a monstrous thing. Thirty-nine years in, that's turned out to be the whole point. The Emperor's corpse keeps rotting on the throne, the memes keep getting minted, and the satire keeps doing exactly what satire has always done: showing us ourselves, at eleven, in gold-trimmed power armor, and waiting to see whether we laugh or salute. The correct answer is laugh. It has always been laugh.36:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:5rcqceh5yj5n6772bumgrruh/site.standard.document/3mt3l5afjxt23",{"publication":{"href":"https://goblincraftedco.offprint.app","pubRecord":{"url":"https://goblincraftedco.offprint.app","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreid2wrny6yz2bemngyfimqz4in3tuqznjizol2adyazdsadglpddsi"},"size":31012,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"name":"GoblinCraftedCo","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","colors":{"info":{"b":221,"g":207,"r":95,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"$type":"app.offprint.theme.colors","error":{"b":129,"g":145,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"accent":{"b":13,"g":13,"r":13,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"base100":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"base200":{"b":250,"g":250,"r":250,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"base300":{"b":229,"g":229,"r":229,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"neutral":{"b":13,"g":13,"r":13,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"primary":{"b":13,"g":13,"r":13,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"success":{"b":169,"g":240,"r":128,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"warning":{"b":105,"g":206,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"secondary":{"b":13,"g":13,"r":13,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"baseContent":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"infoContent":{"b":17,"g":16,"r":3,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"errorContent":{"b":6,"g":7,"r":24,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"accentContent":{"b":132,"g":228,"r":253,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"neutralContent":{"b":212,"g":212,"r":212,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"primaryContent":{"b":169,"g":240,"r":128,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"successContent":{"b":14,"g":22,"r":4,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"warningContent":{"b":4,"g":15,"r":23,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"},"secondaryContent":{"b":252,"g":243,"r":164,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color.rgb"}},"sizing":{"$type":"app.offprint.theme.sizing","border":"1px","radiusBox":"0.75rem","sizeField":"0.25rem","radiusField":"0.5rem","sizeSelector":"0.25rem","radiusSelector":"2rem"},"effects":{"$type":"app.offprint.theme.effects","depth":true,"noise":false},"typography":{"$type":"app.offprint.theme.typography","bodyFont":"inter","headingFont":"inter"},"colorScheme":"light"},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":255,"g":153,"r":51,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Writings and musing about life, games, and everything in between","preferences":{"$type":"site.standard.publication#preferences","locale":"en-US","timezone":"America/Los_Angeles","showByline":true,"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true}},"uri":"at://did:plc:5rcqceh5yj5n6772bumgrruh/site.standard.publication/3mocdlxdwb52d"},"ownerDid":"@goblincraftedco.bsky.social","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:5rcqceh5yj5n6772bumgrruh","handle":"goblincraftedco.bsky.social","displayName":"Goblin Crafted Co."}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/a/3mt3l5afjxt23-in-the-grim-darkness-of-the-far-future-there-are-only-memes","site":"at://did:plc:5rcqceh5yj5n6772bumgrruh/site.standard.publication/3mocdlxdwb52d","tags":["warhammer-40k","satire","fascism","media-criticism","pop-culture","video-games","politics","culture-war"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, There Are Only Memes","content":{"$type":"app.offprint.content","items":[{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"There's a moment every Warhammer 40,000 fan eventually experiences. You're explaining the setting to someone new. You get through \"okay, so there's a God-Emperor who's been rotting on a golden life-support throne for ten thousand years, and a thousand psychics are fed to him daily to keep him alive, and the entire human species worships his corpse in a religion he explicitly banned while he was conscious.\" And you watch the person's face as they wait for the punchline."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":25,"byteStart":23},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":61,"byteStart":59},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Here's the thing: that is the punchline. The whole setting is the punchline. Warhammer 40,000 is one of the longest-running, most elaborately sustained jokes in the history of fiction: a forty-year bit about what happens when fear, faith, and bureaucracy metastasize into a civilization. The joke is that the Imperium of Man, the \"heroes\" of the setting, are the worst government imaginable: a xenophobic, theocratic, genocidal police state that burns its own citizens for thinking wrong, and which is losing anyway."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":136,"byteStart":132},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":149,"byteStart":145},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"And yet, in the year 2026, you can find people who look at this galactic-scale cautionary tale and say, with a straight face: yeah, that. I want that. That's the good ending."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"This article is about how that happened. It's about where 40K's satire came from, what it was originally aiming at, how the joke got sanded down over decades of commercial success, and how a fictional space-fascist theocracy became a genuine aesthetic touchstone for parts of the modern right. It got so bad that Games Workshop, a company whose corporate personality is roughly \"polite British shopkeeper who would rather die than discuss politics,\" had to publicly explain the dictionary definition of satire to its own customers."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Grab a cup of recaf. This is going to take a while. The Emperor protects, but he doesn't protect you from long reads."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":28,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#bold"}]}],"plaintext":"The Joke, As Originally Told"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"To understand what 40K was satirizing, you have to understand where and when it was born: Nottingham, England, 1987."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":391,"byteStart":384},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"This matters enormously. 40K is not an American creation, and its original satirical targets were not American. It came out of late-Thatcher Britain, a country of industrial decline, miners' strikes, dole queues, the Cold War's long shadow, and a thriving punk counterculture that processed all of it through sneering, anarchic humor. The creative DNA of early 40K is the same DNA as 2000 AD, the British comics anthology that gave the world Judge Dredd, a jackbooted ultra-cop whose stories are simultaneously thrilling action comics and a merciless piss-take of authoritarian law-and-order politics. Dredd is cool. Dredd is also the villain. Both things are true at once, and British readers of the era were fluent in holding both."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":51,"byteStart":39},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Rick Priestley, who wrote the original Rogue Trader rulebook, has been explicit about this over the years. In a 2015 interview he said the background \"was always intended to be ironic,\" that it amused him to watch Space Marines get lauded as heroes when they're brutal and \"completely self-deceiving,\" and that a lot of that intent \"got missed and overwritten.\" The Imperium was a dark joke about religion, empire, and bureaucracy. The British class system, the Catholic Church, the Inquisition, and the general human tendency to build vast, grinding institutions that outlive their purpose were all cranked to eleven and launched into space. The Emperor himself is a riff on the corpse of Church and State: a dead god propped up by ritual, whose actual wishes have been so thoroughly betrayed by his own institution that his continued \"life\" is the setting's central, absurd obscenity."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":724,"byteStart":718},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"The early material reads like a joke, too. Rogue Trader-era 40K is scuzzy, weird, and openly comedic. Space Marines aren't noble warrior-monks; they're hulking, half-mad thugs, sometimes depicted as recruited criminals, hyper-violent boot boys in power armor. The artwork is punk collage: skulls and gothic arches next to band references and grubby hive-city squalor. The lore's penal legions, convict soldiers marched into the guns to expiate their crimes, might as well have been called \"the British Army as experienced by someone who hated the British Army.\" The aesthetic is Blackadder-goes-to-space-hell. Nobody involved thought they were building an aspirational civilization. They were building Terry Gilliam's Brazil with bolters."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The satirical method of 40K is the oldest one in the book: exaggeration until absurdity. You take a real tendency (nationalism, religious zealotry, bureaucratic indifference to human life) and you inflate it past any possible defense."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Real nationalism says \"our nation is the best.\" The Imperium says \"humanity is the only species with a right to exist, and every alien must be exterminated.\" Real religious fundamentalism says \"our scripture is literally true.\" The Imperial Creed says \"the God-Emperor demands your death in service, and doubt itself is a capital crime.\" Real bureaucracy loses your paperwork. The Administratum loses entire planets. There are worlds in the lore still stockpiling tithes for an Imperium that forgot they exist, and official background boasts that a single misplaced decimal point can condemn a world to starvation."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":62,"byteStart":45},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"This is the same move Paul Verhoeven made in Starship Troopers (1997): shoot the fascist propaganda film as the propaganda film, trust the audience to notice the skull beneath the skin. Make the uniforms sharp, the slogans punchy, the violence glorious, and make the whole thing so hollow and monstrous that only a fool could mistake it for endorsement."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Spoiler for the rest of this article: never underestimate the fools."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Satire isn't just mockery for sport. Good satire has a defensive function: it inoculates. By exaggerating a tendency until it's ridiculous, it teaches you to recognize the tendency in its smaller, real-world forms. Judge Dredd exists so that when a real politician says \"the streets will run with the blood of criminals,\" some part of your brain goes ah, I know this bit. The Imperium exists so that grand talk of holy wars, racial destiny, and glorious sacrifice for the state would ring a very loud, very gothic alarm bell."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Umberto Eco's famous 1995 essay \"Ur-Fascism\" lists the recurring features of fascist movements: the cult of tradition, the rejection of modernity, action for action's sake, disagreement as treason, fear of difference, obsession with plots and enemies, the cult of heroism and death. Read that list next to a description of the Imperium and it's almost embarrassing. The Imperium isn't similar to Eco's checklist; it's a dramatization of it. Cult of tradition? The Adeptus Mechanicus worships machines it no longer understands and considers innovation heresy. Disagreement is treason? The word for disagreement in the Imperium is literally \"heresy,\" and the penalty is fire. Cult of death? In the Imperium, heresy carries a default sentence of death, and entire regiments are built around a doctrine that treats dying in the Emperor's service as atonement."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"40K didn't stumble into resembling fascism. It was built as a fascism exhibit, a museum of authoritarian pathologies, with a gift shop full of plastic figurines."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":21,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#bold"}]}],"plaintext":"How the Joke Got Lost"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"So what happened? How does a satire this unsubtle get misread?"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":195,"byteStart":190},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":209,"byteStart":206},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Part of the answer is simple commercial drift. Satire is a fragile thing to hang a merchandising empire on. Games Workshop discovered, over the decades, that the thing that sells is not the irony. It's the awe. Space Marines sell. Gold-armored Custodes sell. Towering cathedrals, thundering war-hymns, last stands against impossible odds: these sell. The grubby punk sneer of 1987 gradually gave way to something more operatic and sincere, because opera and sincerity move product."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":313,"byteStart":297},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"You can trace the shift through the Space Marines themselves. They begin as ugly, brutal enforcers, and the joke is that humanity's \"finest\" are lobotomized murder-machines. Over time they become tragic warrior-monks: noble, self-sacrificing, burdened with terrible duty, making The Hard Choices. The Horus Heresy novel series, for all its genuine literary merit, completed this transformation by giving the Imperium's founding a sweeping mythic tragedy, and it's very hard to satirize something you've spent sixty novels making people cry about."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The tabletop game itself compounds the problem. When you spend two hundred hours lovingly painting an army, that army becomes yours. Nobody drills verdigris-weathered gold trim on a Custodian Guard while thinking \"and this represents everything wrong with power.\" You think \"my guys are magnificent.\" The hobby's whole structure (collection, investment, identification) pulls against critical distance. The satire says \"this civilization is a nightmare\"; the hobby says \"here are 400 pages of rules for fielding the nightmare, and doesn't it look fantastic on the shelf.\""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"And then there's the sheer volume problem. Forty years of novels, codexes, games, and animations have been written by hundreds of authors of wildly varying intent. Some of them kept the satirical edge razor-sharp. Others wrote the Imperium completely straight: fetishistic loving descriptions of oaths and ceremonial blades and righteous purgation, delivered without a flicker of irony. The most famous critical take on this drift is Tim Colwill's essay \"Satire Without Purpose Will Wander In Dark Places,\" which argues that a satire which stops actively satirizing doesn't become neutral; it becomes advertisement for the thing it was mocking."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":235,"byteStart":230},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"$69"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":80,"byteStart":57},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":92,"byteStart":82},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":106,"byteStart":94},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"There's also a basic literacy issue that 40K shares with The Wolf of Wall Street, Fight Club, Breaking Bad, and every other work whose villain-protagonist grew a fan club: an enormous number of people cannot distinguish \"protagonist\" from \"good guy.\""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Almost all 40K fiction is told from the Imperium's point of view. The Imperium's soldiers are the ones on the covers, the ones with the emotional arcs, the ones we're with in the trench when the tyranids come over the wire. Point of view generates sympathy automatically; that's just how narrative works. A story can tell you the Imperium is monstrous while making you feel relief when the Space Marines arrive, and for a certain kind of reader, the feeling beats the telling every single time."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":491,"byteStart":489},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":533,"byteStart":531},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"The setting's defenders sometimes argue the Imperium is \"justified\" by its circumstances: in a galaxy of literal devouring horrors, maybe total war and total control really are the only options. This argument comes up constantly in fan spaces, and it's worth pausing on, because it is, itself, the most interesting part of the satire. \"Our brutality is regrettable but necessary; our enemies are so dangerous that mercy is suicide; extraordinary threats demand extraordinary powers.\" That is not a neutral strategic analysis. That is the actual, historical sales pitch of every authoritarian regime that has ever existed. The setting hands you the fascist's own justification, fully assembled, and asks whether you'll buy it. A lot of people, it turns out, buy it. The trap works. That's arguably the satire functioning perfectly, just with no one standing at the exit to explain what happened."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":34,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#bold"}]}],"plaintext":"The God-Emperor Goes to Washington"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The migration of 40K imagery into actual right-wing politics started, as so many things did, around 2015 and 2016 on message boards. Somewhere in the primordial soup of election-era internet culture, someone photoshopped Donald Trump into the God-Emperor's golden power armor, and the \"God-Emperor Trump\" meme was born. It spread through the big pro-Trump forums of the era and never really left; nearly a decade later, gilded Trump-as-Emperor imagery still circulates every election cycle, and the \"God-Emperor\" honorific gets used in right-wing spaces with that signature both-joking-and-not delivery."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The meme is worth taking seriously precisely because of that deliberate ambiguity. On its face it's absurdist humor: comparing a politician to a forty-thousand-year-old psychic corpse is objectively funny. But the meme only works as praise if you find something genuinely appealing in the comparison: the strength, the worship, the crushing of enemies, the civilizational mission. As one recent analysis put it, the deep ambiguity of 40K gives the online right a perfect toolkit for its irony-poisoned style of communication: if you ask what someone actually means by depicting Trump as the God-Emperor of Mankind, the joking response is that the Inquisition might show up at your door. Sincerity hides inside the joke, and the joke provides deniability for the sincerity. It's motte-and-bailey with gilded power armor."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":100,"byteStart":89},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"And this pattern hasn't faded. It's intensified. In summer 2026, the conservative outlet The Bulwark ran a long piece by historian Christian Ruth examining exactly this phenomenon, noting that while 40K is \"bombastic and intentionally, deeply satirical,\" MAGA-aligned communities have twisted its biting satire of fascism into pro-Trump memes. When a conservative magazine is publishing essays saying, essentially, \"please stop doing fascism with the miniature game,\" you know the phenomenon has jumped the hobby."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"There's a tempting explanation here that goes: \"these people are just too dumb to get the joke.\" And, sure, sometimes. But the fuller explanation is more uncomfortable: fascist aesthetics are designed to be attractive. That's their entire function. Real fascist movements invested enormously in spectacle (uniforms, torchlight, monumental architecture, martial ceremony) because the aesthetic is the recruitment pitch. Susan Sontag wrote the definitive essay on this back in 1975: fascist art glamorizes surrender, mindless obedience, and death, and it is seductive, which is precisely what makes it dangerous."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":91,"byteStart":89},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"So when 40K reproduces fascist aesthetics at maximum intensity in order to mock them, it is, unavoidably, also reproducing fascist aesthetics at maximum intensity. The satirical frame is supposed to neutralize the appeal. But the frame is optional equipment. You can just take it off. And for someone already inclined toward authoritarian fantasy, 40K with the frame removed is the most lavish authoritarian fantasy ever produced: a universe where the strongman really is a god, where the enemies really are inhuman, where eternal war really is glorious, and where every anxiety of the modern reactionary (decline, decadence, invasion, corruption from within) is rendered literal and answered with a flamethrower."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":29,"byteStart":12},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"This is the Starship Troopers problem all over again. Verhoeven made the most explicitly anti-fascist blockbuster in history, and a measurable chunk of the audience walked out saying \"the bug-killing federation seems great, actually.\" Satire by immersion has a failure mode, and the failure mode is that immersion works better than satire."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"It's also no accident which parts of the modern right glommed onto 40K. The overlap isn't primarily with the country-club right or the policy-wonk right. It's with the terminally online right, the gamer-adjacent grievance ecosystem that formed in the mid-2010s and has been fighting a rolling culture war over \"wokeness\" in entertainment ever since."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":60,"byteStart":51},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":86,"byteStart":65},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"40K became a front in that war for the same reason Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings did: it's a beloved franchise with a large male fanbase, which makes any change legible as an invasion. The clearest flashpoint came in 2024, when Games Workshop confirmed that the Adeptus Custodes, the Emperor's elite golden guardians, include women, and a very loud contingent reacted as though the company had personally desecrated a shrine. The outrage cycle was indistinguishable from every other \"woke franchise\" panic: YouTube channels monetizing fury, harassment of writers, dark warnings about the death of the hobby. The revealing part wasn't the anger itself; it was the shape of the anger. There was an assumption that 40K belonged to a particular kind of fan, and that the fictional Imperium's values (purity, hierarchy, exclusion) should somehow govern the real-world community around it."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"That's the tell, every time. The moment someone starts applying the Imperium's logic outside the game (treating the fandom as territory to be defended from outsiders, treating change as corruption, treating disagreement as heresy) they've stopped playing the game and started playing the setting. Which is, if you think about it, the most catastrophic possible way to lose at Warhammer."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"For decades, Games Workshop's political strategy was to have no detectable politics whatsoever. That ended in November 2021, after an incident at a major tournament in Talavera, Spain, where a player wore Nazi regalia. The community reaction was volcanic, and GW, for the first time, said the quiet part in corporate English. The statement declared that the company would never accept or condone any form of prejudice, hatred, or abuse in the Warhammer hobby, and that anyone wearing the symbols of real-world hate groups at its events would be asked to leave. It went further, into actual textual interpretation: the Imperium of Man, it explained, stands as a cautionary tale of humanity's \"lust for power and extreme, unyielding xenophobia\" run amok, and, like so many aspects of Warhammer 40,000, is satirical."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Then came the paragraph that launched a thousand memes. The statement paused to define its terms, explaining that satire deploys humor, irony, or exaggeration to hold vices and systemic flaws up for \"scorn, derision, and ridicule,\" and that something doesn't have to be laugh-out-loud funny to qualify. The Imperium is not an aspirational state; it's a monstrous civilization whose monstrousness is plain for all to see."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":423,"byteStart":403},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":434,"byteStart":425},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Think about what that document is. A multinational company was forced to publish a middle-school literary-devices glossary because a nontrivial slice of its customer base had mistaken its cautionary tale for a brochure. It is simultaneously admirable, necessary, and one of the most darkly funny artifacts of the whole saga: the real-world equivalent of the Emperor waking up for thirty seconds to say \"I specifically said no religion\" before slumping back onto the throne."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Critics noted, fairly, that the statement papered over GW's own role in the drift, and that decades of playing the Imperium increasingly straight made \"it's satire, you just didn't get it\" a somewhat convenient defense. Both things can be true: the setting was born as satire, and its custodians spent years letting the satire idle while the aesthetics did the selling."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":51,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#bold"}]}],"plaintext":"Why the Satire Still Matters (Maybe More Than Ever)"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The reason 40K's satire has felt less like fantasy and more like commentary over the past decade is that the tendencies it exaggerates have been doing brisk business in the real world. You don't need to name every specific politician or policy to see the rhymes: leader-worship that shades from support into something openly devotional; the recasting of political opponents not as wrong but as enemies within; the fusion of national identity with religious destiny; the framing of every election as an apocalyptic last stand; the celebration of cruelty toward outsiders as strength; the treatment of institutional expertise as corruption and of loyalty as the only real qualification. Eco's checklist again. Not the full 40K dramatization, but the same items in the evening news."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"When actual political rallies feature a leader's face composited onto armored demigods, when \"God-Emperor\" is a term of sincere-ish endearment, when memes about inquisitions and heresy circulate as fantasies of what to do with political opponents, the distance between the satire and the satirized has closed to an uncomfortable degree. The joke from 1987 was \"imagine if we let these tendencies run for 38,000 years.\" The 2026 update is \"you will not need to imagine quite so hard.\""},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"And this is exactly why the satire matters. Satire's job, remember, is inoculation. A civilization that can look at the Imperium and laugh, that recognizes the strongman worship, the manufactured enemies, the sanctified cruelty, and finds them ridiculous, has antibodies. A civilization where a growing number of people look at the Imperium and feel yearning is running a fever, and the fever is diagnostic. 40K didn't cause any of this. It's a thermometer, not a pathogen. But thermometers are useful, and this one has been reading high."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Now, an important addendum to the doom, because it's both true and frequently steamrolled in these discussions: the overwhelming majority of 40K fans are not fascists, crypto or otherwise. They are people who like painting little soldiers, rolling dice with friends, and reading pulp novels about space monks fighting demons. The hobby is, at ground level, one of the most genuinely communal and craft-oriented pastimes in existence: hours at the painting desk, patient teaching of new players, the small sacred ritual of complimenting a stranger's basing work."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":16,"byteStart":5},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Even The Bulwark's culture-war postmortem landed here: the antidote to the setting's political unwellness might be the nature of the hobby itself. It's a game meant to be played between people, and whatever hostile Xenos are on the table, the category stops making sense when applied to the human being sitting across from you. That's not a throwaway line; it's the actual structural defense. Fascism requires abstraction: masses, races, enemies, labels, categories. A tabletop game is the opposite of abstraction. It's four hours of face-to-face negotiation over whether that Custodian has line of sight, followed by a handshake. It is very hard to sustain a purity ideology about people you regularly split a pizza with."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The fandom has also done real self-policing. The 2021 GW statement didn't come from nowhere; it came because fans raised hell about the Talavera incident. A large, vocal wing of the community treats \"the Imperium are the bad guys\" as baseline literacy, mocks anyone who argues otherwise, and keeps the satirical reading legible for newcomers: that's the immune system working. The lore itself even supports it. The setting's own text is clear that the Emperor was a secularist whose church is a betrayal, that the Imperium's cruelty doesn't even work (it's losing on every front), and that the whole thing is a tragedy of (maybe) good intentions devoured by institutions. The material for the correct reading has always been right there."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"So what's the takeaway, the \"purpose of the satire,\" stated plainly?"},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"40K's satire, at its best, makes three arguments."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":393,"byteStart":390},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"First: authoritarianism is not strength; it is failure wearing armor. The Imperium is the mightiest empire imaginable and it is dying, precisely because of what it is. Its ignorance is self-inflicted, its cruelty manufactures its own enemies, its worship of the past strangles its future. The setting's grimness isn't an aesthetic choice; it's the argument itself. This is what these ideas get you. The Imperium has manufactured this grim, war-torn future—ten thousand years of it."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Second: the road there is paved with reasonable-sounding necessities. Every horror in the Imperium was, at some point, somebody's emergency measure. The satire invites you to feel the pull of \"but the threats are real, so the brutality is justified,\" and then shows you the civilization that logic builds. It's a vaccine that works by giving you a controlled dose of the disease."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":512,"byteStart":510},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Third, and most relevant to 2026: watch what people do with the frame. The same image (the golden Emperor, the endless war, the burning heretic) reads as tragedy or as aspiration depending entirely on the reader. Satire is a mirror, and mirrors don't choose what stands in front of them. When someone looks into the grimdark and sees a role model, they've told you something true about themselves, and that information is worth having. The satire keeps working even when it's \"misread,\" because the misreading is data."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":69,"byteStart":66},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":662,"byteStart":660},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Which leads to the last thing worth saying plainly: the answer is not to water the art down. There's a tempting managerial response to all of this, and you can feel publishers everywhere being tempted by it: sand off the Imperium's edges, make the good guys actually good, add disclaimers until the setting is legally distinct from having a point of view. That would be a mistake, and not a small one. Art that can't depict monstrous things vividly can't warn about them either; a defanged Imperium isn't a safer Imperium, it's just a cooler-looking one with the argument removed, which is precisely the version the worst readers already imagine. The grimness is the thesis. Blunt it and you keep the aesthetics fascists like while deleting the indictment."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":273,"byteStart":269},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"And even when the satire runs dull, even in the novels written straight and the decades where the irony idled, the mirror never actually stops working. A satire that has forgotten it's a satire still shows you exactly who salutes and who laughs. It still generates the data. The reaction to a female Custodian told us more than a hundred think pieces could. Dull satire is worse art than sharp satire, and we should want it sharp, but the mirror function survives the dullness, because it was never only located in the jokes. It was located in us, in what we do when handed a gorgeous picture of a monstrous thing."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"Thirty-nine years in, that's turned out to be the whole point. The Emperor's corpse keeps rotting on the throne, the memes keep getting minted, and the satire keeps doing exactly what satire has always done: showing us ourselves, at eleven, in gold-trimmed power armor, and waiting to see whether we laugh or salute."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":"The correct answer is laugh."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":13,"byteStart":7},"features":[{"$type":"app.offprint.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"It has always been laugh."},{"$type":"app.offprint.block.text","plaintext":""}]},"coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreielhfvhr2jmsioeuatgjnaw25zx2dsoxda6wx6f4ircn5rbjoe7jq"},"size":761987,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"description":"How Warhammer 40k's satire of fascism got adopted by the people it was mocking — and why it doesn't matter","publishedAt":"2026-08-16T02:51:53+00:00","textContent":"$6a","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:5rcqceh5yj5n6772bumgrruh/site.standard.document/3mt3l5afjxt23","sort_date":"2026-08-16T02:51:53+00:00"}}] 6b:T9b8,

Zambian police have reportedly arrested National Restoration United Party (NRUP) president, Tonse Alliance torchbearer and presidential candidate Brian Mundubile, hours after he claimed that he had won the presidential election.

Mundubile is reportedly being held at Twin Palm Police Station in Ibex, Zambia. The exact circumstances and reasons behind his reported arrest remain unclear, with police yet to provide an official explanation or indicate whether he is facing any charges.

Earlier on Thursday, Mundubile addressed Zambians and the international community, saying his party’s Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT) showed that he had won the election.

“According to the results received and compiled through our Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT), based on information transmitted to us from polling stations and totalling centres across the country, our tabulation indicates that we have won this election,” he wrote on Facebook.

Mundubile said his party was concerned about the continued delay in the transparent announcement and verification of presidential results, warning that the delay could create an opportunity for interference or manipulation.

He also cited reports from Mufulira that military personnel had taken control of certain totalling centres and that Gen 20 forms were allegedly being removed.

He further raised concerns over reported incidents involving ballot boxes in Chawama and Matero, as well as reports that returning and presiding officers in North-Western Province had been instructed to stop issuing results and Gen 20 forms.

In Northern Province, he alleged that a senior government official was involved in the movement of ballot boxes, including claims that officers transporting them had been instructed to pass through the official’s residence before proceeding to a totalling centre.

Mundubile called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia to preserve every ballot box, Gen 20 form and other electoral records, protect the chain of custody and publish results polling station by polling station and constituency by constituency.

He also urged his supporters to remain peaceful and within the law, saying, “The people of Zambia voted. Their decision must be respected.”

The reported arrest comes as ECZ earlier today announced suspension of votes counting following violence that erupted in some areas after the polls on Thursday

6c:T942,Zambian police have reportedly arrested National Restoration United Party (NRUP) president, Tonse Alliance torchbearer and presidential candidate Brian Mundubile, hours after he claimed that he had won the presidential election.Mundubile is reportedly being held at Twin Palm Police Station in Ibex, Zambia. The exact circumstances and reasons behind his reported arrest remain unclear, with police yet to provide an official explanation or indicate whether he is facing any charges.Earlier on Thursday, Mundubile addressed Zambians and the international community, saying his party’s Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT) showed that he had won the election. “According to the results received and compiled through our Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT), based on information transmitted to us from polling stations and totalling centres across the country, our tabulation indicates that we have won this election,” he wrote on Facebook.Mundubile said his party was concerned about the continued delay in the transparent announcement and verification of presidential results, warning that the delay could create an opportunity for interference or manipulation. He also cited reports from Mufulira that military personnel had taken control of certain totalling centres and that Gen 20 forms were allegedly being removed.He further raised concerns over reported incidents involving ballot boxes in Chawama and Matero, as well as reports that returning and presiding officers in North-Western Province had been instructed to stop issuing results and Gen 20 forms.In Northern Province, he alleged that a senior government official was involved in the movement of ballot boxes, including claims that officers transporting them had been instructed to pass through the official’s residence before proceeding to a totalling centre.Mundubile called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia to preserve every ballot box, Gen 20 form and other electoral records, protect the chain of custody and publish results polling station by polling station and constituency by constituency. He also urged his supporters to remain peaceful and within the law, saying, “The people of Zambia voted. Their decision must be respected.” The reported arrest comes as ECZ earlier today announced suspension of votes counting following violence that erupted in some areas after the polls on Thursday37:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mt2qxhjhnibv",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/14/mundubile-reportedly-arrested-after-claiming-election-victory/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Brian Mundubile","Hakainde Hichilema","Zambia","Zambia Election","Africa News","Hot Gossip","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Mundubile reportedly arrested after claiming election victory","content":{"html":"$6b","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-14T18:06:00.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiflf7qpacrtknhxebhfuobsw37b5cimakacbbzt5cv2ca3zvntoba"},"size":61222,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Zambian police have reportedly arrested National Restoration United Party (NRUP) president, Tonse Alliance torchbearer and presidential candidate Brian Mundubile, hours after he claimed that he had won the presidential election.Mundubile is reportedly being held at Twin Palm Police Station in Ibex, Zambia. The exact circumstances and reasons behind his reported arrest remain unclear, with police...","publishedAt":"2026-08-14T18:05:33.000Z","textContent":"$6c","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mt2qxhjhnibv","sort_date":"2026-08-14T18:05:33+00:00"}}] 6d:T544,

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has suspended the counting and announcement of election results across the country following reports of violence in some districts.

In a press release , the Commission said the violence was targeting polling staff and in some cases had resulted in the theft of marked ballot papers from ballot boxes.

The ECZ said it had taken the decision because of the security situation and continued threats of violence during the counting and announcement of results.

The suspension has taken immediate effect in accordance with Section 67 (3) of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016.

The Commission said it will review the suspension within 24 hours.

Zambians on Thursday voted in presidential, parliamentary and local government elections, with 14 candidates competing for the presidency.

President Hakainde Hichilema is seeking a second five-year term, while Brian Mundubile has emerged as the leading opposition challenger among the 13 candidates.

Although 14 candidates appeared on the presidential ballot, the race has largely been viewed as a two-horse contest between Hichilema and Mundubile, who is running under the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP).

6e:T4c0,The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has suspended the counting and announcement of election results across the country following reports of violence in some districts.In a press release , the Commission said the violence was targeting polling staff and in some cases had resulted in the theft of marked ballot papers from ballot boxes.The ECZ said it had taken the decision because of the security situation and continued threats of violence during the counting and announcement of results.The suspension has taken immediate effect in accordance with Section 67 (3) of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016.The Commission said it will review the suspension within 24 hours.Zambians on Thursday voted in presidential, parliamentary and local government elections, with 14 candidates competing for the presidency.President Hakainde Hichilema is seeking a second five-year term, while Brian Mundubile has emerged as the leading opposition challenger among the 13 candidates.Although 14 candidates appeared on the presidential ballot, the race has largely been viewed as a two-horse contest between Hichilema and Mundubile, who is running under the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP).38:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mt2aztgm4td6",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/14/zambia-suspends-election-results-counting/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Brian Mundubile","Hakainde Hichilema","Zambia","Zambia Election","Africa News","National","News","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Zambia suspends election results counting","content":{"html":"$6d","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-14T13:20:54.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifxgrxcgrxcrji5qdu6yg54xnwhhbh7s7dwsljd4imaj3xaejs4am"},"size":109874,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Counting of election results has been suspended in Zambiri following violence","publishedAt":"2026-08-14T13:20:36.000Z","textContent":"$6e","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mt2aztgm4td6","sort_date":"2026-08-14T13:20:36+00:00"}}] 6f:T10a0,

…smoked out after painstaking intelligence operation
…nabbed together with his Bishop
…charges include terrorising people and sexual harassment
…Gaza’s peaceful days are over

Security services in Malawi have arrested Putin over a string of alleged terrorising and inhumane attacks, including sexual harassment.

Putin was finally smoked out following a sustained intelligence-gathering operation likened to the painstaking hunt that led US Navy SEALs to Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

He was nabbed together with his Bishop.

Putin, whose real name is Trust Chuma, was arrested alongside three alleged accomplices: Henry Mujaya, nicknamed Gaza; Precious Banda, also known as Bishop; and Justin Nkuka, also known as Khamzy.

Putin and alleged accomplices arrested over attacks in Blantyre, Malawi — Putin, whose real name is Trust Chuma, and his alleged accomplices following their arrest in Blantyre.

The group is believed to comprise underage street children aged between 12 and 17 who have allegedly been terrorising innocent passers-by in parts of Blantyre through violent attacks.

Videos secretly recorded at Ginnery Corner show members of the group allegedly intimidating and attacking people, as well as sexually harassing and groping women.

Some of their reported victims include students from the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), who have allegedly had laptops, mobile phones and other gadgets snatched from them.

The arrests could bring some relief to people who regularly pass through Ginnery Corner and Blantyre CBD where residents and commuters have complained about groups of street children equipped with blades and other sharp objects attacking people, particularly after dark.

“They have blades and other sharp objects that they use on their victims,” one person told Malawi24.

One Facebook user described the fear associated with passing through the areas after 6pm or 7pm, claiming some of the children carry knives, machetes, razor blades and sharpened bicycle spokes.

“Ana amasikini ndi ana obvuta kwambiri amene ngakhale munthu wamphamvu zake amaopa,” part of the comment reads.

There have also been longstanding allegations that some street children in Blantyre and Lilongwe are exploited by politically connected individuals and used as political thugs to target opponents. However, there is no evidence currently linking the four arrested suspects to political actors.

For Putin, Bishop, Gaza and Khamzy, the arrests now put the allegations against them in the hands of law enforcement. And for Gaza, at least for now, the peaceful days are over as he spends his nights in the cooler, where Bishop may have other souls to reach.

70:Ta3f,…smoked out after painstaking intelligence operation…nabbed together with his Bishop…charges include terrorising people and sexual harassment…Gaza’s peaceful days are over Security services in Malawi have arrested Putin over a string of alleged terrorising and inhumane attacks, including sexual harassment. Putin was finally smoked out following a sustained intelligence-gathering operation likened to the painstaking hunt that led US Navy SEALs to Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. He was nabbed together with his Bishop. Putin, whose real name is Trust Chuma, was arrested alongside three alleged accomplices: Henry Mujaya, nicknamed Gaza; Precious Banda, also known as Bishop; and Justin Nkuka, also known as Khamzy. Putin, whose real name is Trust Chuma, and his alleged accomplices following their arrest in Blantyre. The group is believed to comprise underage street children aged between 12 and 17 who have allegedly been terrorising innocent passers-by in parts of Blantyre through violent attacks. Videos secretly recorded at Ginnery Corner show members of the group allegedly intimidating and attacking people, as well as sexually harassing and groping women. Some of their reported victims include students from the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), who have allegedly had laptops, mobile phones and other gadgets snatched from them. The arrests could bring some relief to people who regularly pass through Ginnery Corner and Blantyre CBD where residents and commuters have complained about groups of street children equipped with blades and other sharp objects attacking people, particularly after dark. “They have blades and other sharp objects that they use on their victims,” one person told Malawi24. One Facebook user described the fear associated with passing through the areas after 6pm or 7pm, claiming some of the children carry knives, machetes, razor blades and sharpened bicycle spokes. “Ana amasikini ndi ana obvuta kwambiri amene ngakhale munthu wamphamvu zake amaopa,” part of the comment reads. There have also been longstanding allegations that some street children in Blantyre and Lilongwe are exploited by politically connected individuals and used as political thugs to target opponents. However, there is no evidence currently linking the four arrested suspects to political actors. For Putin, Bishop, Gaza and Khamzy, the arrests now put the allegations against them in the hands of law enforcement. And for Gaza, at least for now, the peaceful days are over as he spends his nights in the cooler, where Bishop may have other souls to reach.39:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msxkgfnadrvb",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/13/malawi-arrests-putin/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Blantyre","Crime","Malawi Police","National","Politics","Top News","World News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Malawi arrests Putin","content":{"html":"$6f","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-13T11:55:07.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihejk22iin6owln5euoxphzxl4oczlnsdr54giiwh3y74nalxr6ze"},"size":18800,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"description":"…smoked out after painstaking intelligence operation…nabbed together with his Bishop…charges include terrorising people and sexual harassment…Gaza’s peaceful days are over Security services in Malawi have arrested Putin over a string of alleged terrorising and inhumane attacks, including sexual harassment. Putin was finally smoked out following a sustained intelligence-gathering operation likened to the painstaking hunt that...","publishedAt":"2026-08-13T11:32:59.000Z","textContent":"$70","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msxkgfnadrvb","sort_date":"2026-08-13T11:32:59+00:00"}}] 71:T88a,

MCP’s internal leadership dispute has taken a new turn after party veterans reportedly moved to shut down offices used by senior party leaders on Tuesday.

The group, calling itself MCP Veterans, reportedly targeted the offices of party president and former President Lazarus Chakwera and Secretary General Richard Chimwendo Banda, deepening tensions over the party’s leadership and direction.

The incident, reported by Nyasa Times, comes amid growing calls from some MCP members for Chakwera to relinquish the party presidency and for a convention to be held to determine new leadership.

Chakwera’s spokesperson, Gift Nankhuni, who is also an MCP lawmaker and private-practice lawyer, said he was unaware of any organised campaign aimed at removing Chakwera from the party leadership.

MCP politician Alex Major, however, has publicly supported the idea of a leadership contest and reiterated his call for a party convention. Major said he was confident of winning if such a contest takes place, while denying involvement in the attempt to close the party offices.

Major described those behind the office-sealing effort as engaging in insignificant actions and said the dispute should instead be addressed through the party’s formal structures.

Chimwendo Banda adopted a more conciliatory position, indicating that he was prepared to hear concerns from party members and seek ways of resolving the differences threatening the party’s cohesion.

The confrontation highlights widening divisions within the MCP, which has been in opposition since losing the September 2025 general election. The leadership dispute comes at a politically sensitive period for the party, as it seeks to reorganise itself and rebuild its position ahead of future electoral contests.

The developments also place greater pressure on MCP leaders to resolve the dispute through established party mechanisms rather than confrontational actions. Continued divisions could affect the party’s organisational stability and its ability to present a unified opposition platform.

72:T7fe,MCP’s internal leadership dispute has taken a new turn after party veterans reportedly moved to shut down offices used by senior party leaders on Tuesday.The group, calling itself MCP Veterans, reportedly targeted the offices of party president and former President Lazarus Chakwera and Secretary General Richard Chimwendo Banda, deepening tensions over the party’s leadership and direction.The incident, reported by Nyasa Times, comes amid growing calls from some MCP members for Chakwera to relinquish the party presidency and for a convention to be held to determine new leadership.Chakwera’s spokesperson, Gift Nankhuni, who is also an MCP lawmaker and private-practice lawyer, said he was unaware of any organised campaign aimed at removing Chakwera from the party leadership.MCP politician Alex Major, however, has publicly supported the idea of a leadership contest and reiterated his call for a party convention. Major said he was confident of winning if such a contest takes place, while denying involvement in the attempt to close the party offices.Major described those behind the office-sealing effort as engaging in insignificant actions and said the dispute should instead be addressed through the party’s formal structures.Chimwendo Banda adopted a more conciliatory position, indicating that he was prepared to hear concerns from party members and seek ways of resolving the differences threatening the party’s cohesion.The confrontation highlights widening divisions within the MCP, which has been in opposition since losing the September 2025 general election. The leadership dispute comes at a politically sensitive period for the party, as it seeks to reorganise itself and rebuild its position ahead of future electoral contests.The developments also place greater pressure on MCP leaders to resolve the dispute through established party mechanisms rather than confrontational actions. Continued divisions could affect the party’s organisational stability and its ability to present a unified opposition platform.3a:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msuqhcjczcb7",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/12/mcp-dispute-deepens-as-veterans-target-offices/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Jessie Kabwira","Lazarus Chakwera","MCP","Richard Chimwendo Banda","Conflict","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"MCP dispute deepens as veterans target offices","content":{"html":"$71","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-12T08:43:43.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreigf3nspq4eonf7wckiy7r6grmlk7lgqh5mtk46rdo6t43udvo45wq"},"size":28892,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Leadership wrangles has rocked the opposition Malawi Congress Party","publishedAt":"2026-08-12T08:43:27.000Z","textContent":"$72","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msuqhcjczcb7","sort_date":"2026-08-12T08:43:27+00:00"}}] 73:Tb5a,

Davido follows AfriForum playbook, calls on Trump to intervene in African political dispute

Nigerian music superstar Davido has followed a path recently associated with South Africa’s white supremacists AfriForum by appealing directly to United States President Donald Trump for international attention over a domestic African political dispute.

Davido has asked Trump and the international community to closely watch developments in Nigeria’s Osun State ahead of the election, warning of possible violence, intimidation and disruption of the democratic process.

“A CALL FOR ATTENTION TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP,” Davido posted on X (formerly Twitter) in a public statement addressed directly to the US president.

“President Donald Trump, I am calling your attention to the situation in Osun State, Nigeria, as we approach the election.

“There are growing concerns about tension and the possibility of violence, intimidation, or disruption of the democratic process. Osun people deserve to exercise their constitutional right to vote freely, peacefully, and without fear.

“I appeal to the United States and the international community to pay close attention to the election and encourage all relevant authorities to ensure that every voter is protected and every vote is respected.

“We do not want bloodshed. We do not want intimidation. We want peace, transparency, and a free and fair election.” he tweeted while tagging President Trump.

The intervention echoes a controversial strategy used by Afrikaner white supremacist group AfriForum, which has taken domestic South African political grievances to Washington and sought the attention of Trump and other US officials. The group backed by X owner, Elon Musk, is behind some of the sanctions imposed by the US on South Africa. They even lied to Trump who is considered as pro-white that white people in South Africa were facing genocide

Trump has also previously turned his attention to Nigeria, claiming that Christians in the country face an existential threat while accusing Nigerian authorities of failing to sufficiently protect them.

Davido, whose full name is David Adeleke, also has a direct family connection to the political contest in Osun.

His uncle, Ademola Adeleke, is the governor of Osun State. As such, some critics have accused Davido of using his international profile to draw attention to the issue in order to protect his family’s political interests.

74:T98d,Davido follows AfriForum playbook, calls on Trump to intervene in African political dispute Nigerian music superstar Davido has followed a path recently associated with South Africa’s white supremacists AfriForum by appealing directly to United States President Donald Trump for international attention over a domestic African political dispute. Davido has asked Trump and the international community to closely watch developments in Nigeria’s Osun State ahead of the election, warning of possible violence, intimidation and disruption of the democratic process. “A CALL FOR ATTENTION TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP,” Davido posted on X (formerly Twitter) in a public statement addressed directly to the US president. “President Donald Trump, I am calling your attention to the situation in Osun State, Nigeria, as we approach the election. “There are growing concerns about tension and the possibility of violence, intimidation, or disruption of the democratic process. Osun people deserve to exercise their constitutional right to vote freely, peacefully, and without fear. “I appeal to the United States and the international community to pay close attention to the election and encourage all relevant authorities to ensure that every voter is protected and every vote is respected. “We do not want bloodshed. We do not want intimidation. We want peace, transparency, and a free and fair election.” he tweeted while tagging President Trump. The intervention echoes a controversial strategy used by Afrikaner white supremacist group AfriForum, which has taken domestic South African political grievances to Washington and sought the attention of Trump and other US officials. The group backed by X owner, Elon Musk, is behind some of the sanctions imposed by the US on South Africa. They even lied to Trump who is considered as pro-white that white people in South Africa were facing genocide Trump has also previously turned his attention to Nigeria, claiming that Christians in the country face an existential threat while accusing Nigerian authorities of failing to sufficiently protect them. Davido, whose full name is David Adeleke, also has a direct family connection to the political contest in Osun. His uncle, Ademola Adeleke, is the governor of Osun State. As such, some critics have accused Davido of using his international profile to draw attention to the issue in order to protect his family’s political interests.3b:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mst2at23oajn",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/11/davido-follows-afriforum-playbook-calls-on-trump-to-intervene-in-african-political-dispute/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Davido","Donald Trump","Nigeria","South Africa","United States","Africa News","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Davido follows AfriForum playbook, calls on Trump to intervene in African political dispute","content":{"html":"$73","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-12T10:40:35.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreic3dxvhkd5oz3tyzvipycc7lk4xpjtkzhqoznhcw3ft6s4nkykkuy"},"size":280706,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Davido follows AfriForum playbook, calls on Trump to intervene in African political dispute Nigerian music superstar Davido has followed a path recently associated with South Africa’s white supremacists AfriForum by appealing directly to United States President Donald Trump for international attention over a domestic African political dispute. Davido has asked Trump and the international community...","publishedAt":"2026-08-11T16:31:10.000Z","textContent":"$74","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mst2at23oajn","sort_date":"2026-08-11T16:31:10+00:00"}}] 75:T55f,

The High Court in Lilongwe has postponed to Thursday the hearing of a bail application for rights activist and CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa.

The court notified all parties of the change, citing a congested schedule on the originally scheduled date, Wednesday.

The postponement means Namiwa, who is currently in custody, will have to wait another day for the court to consider his application for release on bail.

In its communication to the parties, the court said, “the hearing has been postponed to Thursday due to a congested schedule on the originally set date.”

Namiwa was arrested by police and is facing two charges of treason and publication of false news likely to cause fear and public alarm.

The charges stem from remarks he made during an interview on Luntha TV, in which he claimed that Vice President Jane Ansah would become President within two months.

Namiwa has not been convicted of the offences, and the allegations against him remain subject to determination through the court process.

The State is represented by Deputy Director of Criminal Litigation in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions Brenda Kapenda, while lawyer Gift Mwenye represents Namiwa, with the bail hearing now expected to proceed on Thursday.

76:T4db,The High Court in Lilongwe has postponed to Thursday the hearing of a bail application for rights activist and CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa.The court notified all parties of the change, citing a congested schedule on the originally scheduled date, Wednesday.The postponement means Namiwa, who is currently in custody, will have to wait another day for the court to consider his application for release on bail.In its communication to the parties, the court said, “the hearing has been postponed to Thursday due to a congested schedule on the originally set date.”Namiwa was arrested by police and is facing two charges of treason and publication of false news likely to cause fear and public alarm.The charges stem from remarks he made during an interview on Luntha TV, in which he claimed that Vice President Jane Ansah would become President within two months.Namiwa has not been convicted of the offences, and the allegations against him remain subject to determination through the court process.The State is represented by Deputy Director of Criminal Litigation in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions Brenda Kapenda, while lawyer Gift Mwenye represents Namiwa, with the bail hearing now expected to proceed on Thursday.3c:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mssxhed7qrz3",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/11/namiwas-wait-for-freedom-extended/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Malawi court","Namiwa Treason Case","Silverster Namiwa","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Namiwa’s wait for freedom extended","content":{"html":"$75","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-11T15:40:14.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihuh6axsa427chq27dwmh6jcezzjinuo522irtgader2u3xwod324"},"size":86250,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Namiwa bail application hearing on Thursday","publishedAt":"2026-08-11T15:39:36.000Z","textContent":"$76","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mssxhed7qrz3","sort_date":"2026-08-11T15:39:36+00:00"}}] 77:T707,

Amid leadership tensions within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the party has warned supporters against attending meetings and gatherings that have not been sanctioned by its leadership.

DPP Secretary general Peter Mukhitho issued the warning during a party meeting held in Blantyre, where he stressed that the party has only one recognised leader, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, and that all party members are expected to respect his leadership.

The remarks come amid increased attention surrounding the activities of Vice President of the Republic of Malawi, Jane Ansah, who has recently been visiting various churches for prayer gatherings.

Ansah has been conducting prayer visits to different churches, and Mukhitho’s comments appear to signal that the party leadership does not want its supporters to participate in such activities unless they have been officially endorsed by the party.

Mukhitho specifically cautioned party supporters against attending prayer gatherings organised outside the party’s official programme.

“If some people are going around under the guise of prayer meetings in churches, do not attend such gatherings if the party has not sanctioned them,” Mukhitho said.

He further urged party representatives to promote unity and strengthen cooperation among party members in their respective areas.

For several months, there have been growing perceptions of strained relations between President Mutharika and Vice President Ansah. The reported tensions have raised concerns among some observers, who argue that continued disagreements between the two leaders could have implications for the unity and stability of the ruling party.

78:T683,Amid leadership tensions within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the party has warned supporters against attending meetings and gatherings that have not been sanctioned by its leadership.DPP Secretary general Peter Mukhitho issued the warning during a party meeting held in Blantyre, where he stressed that the party has only one recognised leader, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, and that all party members are expected to respect his leadership.The remarks come amid increased attention surrounding the activities of Vice President of the Republic of Malawi, Jane Ansah, who has recently been visiting various churches for prayer gatherings.Ansah has been conducting prayer visits to different churches, and Mukhitho’s comments appear to signal that the party leadership does not want its supporters to participate in such activities unless they have been officially endorsed by the party.Mukhitho specifically cautioned party supporters against attending prayer gatherings organised outside the party’s official programme.“If some people are going around under the guise of prayer meetings in churches, do not attend such gatherings if the party has not sanctioned them,” Mukhitho said.He further urged party representatives to promote unity and strengthen cooperation among party members in their respective areas.For several months, there have been growing perceptions of strained relations between President Mutharika and Vice President Ansah. The reported tensions have raised concerns among some observers, who argue that continued disagreements between the two leaders could have implications for the unity and stability of the ruling party.3d:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msssyklqlpu6",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/11/dpp-cracks-down-on-unauthorised-meetings/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["DPP","Jane Ansah","Peter Mukhito","peter muthalika","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"DPP cracks down on ‘unauthorised’ meetings","content":{"html":"$77","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-11T14:24:59.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihzdyhyspnkbqctzcio7wikwzfd2g6z35ckk5rgvitxl76rcb3vsy"},"size":32954,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"DPP warn supporters against attending unauthorized meetings","publishedAt":"2026-08-11T14:24:23.000Z","textContent":"$78","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msssyklqlpu6","sort_date":"2026-08-11T14:24:23+00:00"}}] 79:Tc34,

The arrest of a senior opposition politician has sparked fresh accusations of political intimidation, with his party questioning whether criminal investigations are being used to pressure opposition voices.

Police have today arrested Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Director of Legal Affairs and Dowa Kasangazi Member of Parliament, George Jivason Kadzipatike.

National Police spokesperson Gladys Chiwaula has confirmed the arrest, saying Kadzipatike was arrested in connection with issues involving the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).

1000187356- Malawi24 — Kabwira and Kadzipatike

Chiwaula said police could not provide further details on whether Kadzipatike is expected to appear in court, adding that more information on the matter should be obtained from the MRA.

However, according to information gathered by Malawi24, Kadzipatike’s arrest is linked to a tax-related matter involving the MRA.

MCP says the arrest of its National Director of Legal Affairs and Dowa Kasangadzi MP George Kadzipatike is part of a wider pattern of intimidation targeting opposition leaders and legal practitioners.

In a statement, MCP National Publicity Secretary Jessie Kabwila said the simultaneous search and arrest warrants obtained by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Malawi Police Service raise serious concerns about the possible weaponisation of the criminal justice system.

The party has also questioned the seizure of computers, phones and confidential legal files from Kadzipatike’s law firm, which it says represents more than 500 clients.

MCP further alleges that Kadzipatike’s arrest may have violated parliamentary privilege under Section 60(1) of the Constitution, as he was arrested while travelling to Parliament for a meeting of a committee investigating the Chikangawa Plane Crash.

The party has called on the courts, Malawi Law Society, Malawi Human Rights Commission and other governance and human rights bodies to scrutinise the matter.

MCP says it supports the rule of law but insists that investigative powers must not be used for political intimidation or persecution.

7a:T807,The arrest of a senior opposition politician has sparked fresh accusations of political intimidation, with his party questioning whether criminal investigations are being used to pressure opposition voices.Police have today arrested Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Director of Legal Affairs and Dowa Kasangazi Member of Parliament, George Jivason Kadzipatike.National Police spokesperson Gladys Chiwaula has confirmed the arrest, saying Kadzipatike was arrested in connection with issues involving the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA). Kabwira and Kadzipatike Chiwaula said police could not provide further details on whether Kadzipatike is expected to appear in court, adding that more information on the matter should be obtained from the MRA.However, according to information gathered by Malawi24, Kadzipatike’s arrest is linked to a tax-related matter involving the MRA.MCP says the arrest of its National Director of Legal Affairs and Dowa Kasangadzi MP George Kadzipatike is part of a wider pattern of intimidation targeting opposition leaders and legal practitioners.In a statement, MCP National Publicity Secretary Jessie Kabwila said the simultaneous search and arrest warrants obtained by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Malawi Police Service raise serious concerns about the possible weaponisation of the criminal justice system.The party has also questioned the seizure of computers, phones and confidential legal files from Kadzipatike’s law firm, which it says represents more than 500 clients.MCP further alleges that Kadzipatike’s arrest may have violated parliamentary privilege under Section 60(1) of the Constitution, as he was arrested while travelling to Parliament for a meeting of a committee investigating the Chikangawa Plane Crash.The party has called on the courts, Malawi Law Society, Malawi Human Rights Commission and other governance and human rights bodies to scrutinise the matter.MCP says it supports the rule of law but insists that investigative powers must not be used for political intimidation or persecution.3e:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mssojd575jfk",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News 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arrest","content":{"html":"$79","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-11T13:01:45.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreidohnslpkbn76rdshycfhioqv3tvznae56ey3cmdwed7rmgkfov54"},"size":52446,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"MCP legal Director Kadzipatike arrested","publishedAt":"2026-08-11T13:01:14.000Z","textContent":"$7a","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mssojd575jfk","sort_date":"2026-08-11T13:01:14+00:00"}}] 3f:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:hbkijrrb6d2ticsxsan7mnik/site.standard.document/thlrtfgi0lykwssa",{"publication":{"href":"https://christof.zachl.at","pubRecord":{"url":"https://christof.zachl.at","name":"christof 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amerika sind ja so gefürchtet, wie bei uns die kommunisten. ich glaube, dass es eine gewinnträchtige idee sein kann, politik für die wählerinnen und wähler zu machen und nicht für die lobbyisten und die überreichen. diese politik …","publishedAt":"2026-08-11T09:10:00.000Z","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:hbkijrrb6d2ticsxsan7mnik/site.standard.document/thlrtfgi0lykwssa","sort_date":"2026-08-11T09:10:00+00:00"}}] 40:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mmyj7mk7kh3jqhw6zs4prbuk/site.standard.document/3mspx4jp6hc24",{"publication":{"href":"https://meri.leaflet.pub","pubRecord":{"url":"https://meri.leaflet.pub","name":"meri's missives","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":46,"g":31,"r":37,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"bodyFont":"lora","pageWidth":624,"accentText":{"b":90,"g":95,"r":0,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"headingFont":"atkinson-hyperlegible","pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":48,"g":48,"r":42,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"b":237,"g":249,"r":252,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"accentBackground":{"b":53,"g":207,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":53,"g":207,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":237,"g":249,"r":252,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":46,"g":31,"r":37,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":90,"g":95,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"flower power 🌼 ","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true}},"uri":"at://did:plc:mmyj7mk7kh3jqhw6zs4prbuk/site.standard.publication/3mag7aqhzas2n"},"ownerDid":"@meri.garden","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mmyj7mk7kh3jqhw6zs4prbuk","handle":"meri.garden","displayName":"Meri"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3mspx4jp6hc24","site":"at://did:plc:mmyj7mk7kh3jqhw6zs4prbuk/site.standard.publication/3mag7aqhzas2n","tags":["community","tech","politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"DWeb, Culture and Resistance","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019f6b2f-8f38-777a-82f9-d14291608efc","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"alt":"Surrounded by forest, marquee tents lit by festoons at dusk, people chatting","$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.image","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiguw5f5imoswttjch3uwrkm3wbr7ik7n36sk6k6qccbswcq6qpade"},"size":2484768,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"aspectRatio":{"width":4032,"height":3024}}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":64,"byteStart":54},"features":[{"uri":"https://dwebcamp.org/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"I was recently fortunate enough to attend this year's DWeb Camp near Berlin. The event was something like a conference for people interested in 'decentralisation' both in terms of governance systems and the network topologies that create governance affordances. It was also a kind of festival, with a focus on the interstitial, relational, cultural; a sprawling hangout for around five hundred hackers of all sorts, sleeping in tents and using composting toilets. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":85,"byteStart":70},"features":[{"uri":"https://atmosphereconf.org/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"In this sense it (literally) had a bit more of a grassroots vibe than Atmosphere Conf which I also got to attend earlier this year, but there were more similarities than differences. In both cases the workshops and conversations were rarely constrained to just technical details, but deeply imbued with a sense of responsibility to society and the future."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"But more so this time, the relationship between technology, the conditions of its production, and its eventual political impacts was a kind of troubled, unresolved, anxious question, with many different theories about how to make sense of it. I could roughly see two camps: on the one hand, ATProto and institutional protocol-maxis, concerned with pragmatism, global coordination, public infrastructure and sustainability; on the other hand, a more anarchic, grassroots assemblage of people concerned with peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, privacy and community resilience. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":146,"byteStart":135},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":312,"byteStart":294},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.spritely.institute/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"The most technical part of DWeb camp for me was actually on the train there, with Christine Lemmer-Webber, probably best known for the ActivityPub protocol underlying Mastodon and the fediverse, when she demoed a new code editor for an in-browser compiler she works on as part of her work with Spritely Institute. I'd seen the institute's use of cute hand-drawn mascots and playful names for otherwise quite heady projects - she joked that people get confused if it's a lab for software tools or an indie game studio. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Her argument was that the cute aesthetic is mission-critical: we desperately need culture and joy in our movements. Her Spritely demo showed off how easy it is to deploy peer-to-peer games, but an underlying context is the struggle to keep queer and trans culture alive and thriving in increasingly hostile political environments."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"alt":"tents in a field. one has a cloth on it screenprinted with 'HACK THE PLANET'","$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.image","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifh3ga4fnzp6ijbxi5opcxbeebjzwa2lpwokvs2qe5rrepbjbofym"},"size":1914668,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"aspectRatio":{"width":3015,"height":1992}}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":153,"byteStart":78},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":221,"byteStart":208},"features":[{"did":"did:plc:dt5rojj7dmybnvomkjn37dwy","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#didMention"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":707,"byteStart":696},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"DWeb newspapers were distributed: one article by Sarah Friend reminds us that decentralising a technology and decentralising power are not the same thing, but the day after camp finished in conversation with @schare.space I reflected on how much part of me wants to conflate the two. I was a bit embarrassed of the media and software project I spend 5 years on being called Radical Directory, feeling that it implied a claim to the authority to catalog and make sense of political movements. When I changed the name of the platform I was working on to Organ, I wrote that Signal is made a more effective tool for activists than many more targeted projects, partly because of its integration into normal life. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":191,"byteStart":179},"features":[{"uri":"https://fightchatcontrol.eu/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":362,"byteStart":359},"features":[{"uri":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"In the 'Future of P2P' panel, participants reflected on the history of cryptography's move from controlled military weapon to infrastructural backbone, and the recent moves (like Chat Control) to try to walk this technology back. Protective infrastructure tends to have a longer life under capitalism when it also serves a crucial economic function - e.g. as TLS does for e-commerce."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Since I've moved to work on Roomy, and we slowly established that repression-resistant features like P2P transport and end-to-end encryption needed to be out of scope in the medium term, I've held on to the basic premise that generalist tools built with care and integrity can meaningfully change the playing field in favour of democratic social movements. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"But I also know that as an underemployed mother, or really just as a proletarian, I'm inevitably very concerned about how I sustain working on the stuff I care about, and this incentivises me to make pragmatic concessions. At what point am I just projecting my own hopes and wishes onto a fundamentally apolitical endeavour? "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":203,"byteStart":165},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"},{"uri":"https://archive.org/details/warinageofintell0000dela","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":394,"byteStart":384},"features":[{"did":"did:plc:yk4dd2qkboz2yv6tpubpc6co","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#didMention"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":547,"byteStart":529},"features":[{"uri":"https://erinkissane.com/meta-in-myanmar-full-series","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":621,"byteStart":603},"features":[{"did":"did:plc:mdjhvva6vlrswsj26cftjttd","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#didMention"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":636,"byteStart":622},"features":[{"uri":"https://connectedplaces.online/the-permission-machine/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Manuel Delanda already observed in the 1991 the applications of Gilles Deleuze's very decentralised 'rhizome' thinking to then-new swarm-like US military tactics in War in the Age of Intelligent Machines. Matthew Hodgson announced the return of P2P Matrix at the camp while Element, the business primarily supporting the protocol, receives ~70% of its funding from defence contracts. @dholms.at, head of protocol at Bluesky, soberly acknowledged in the P2P panel that 'if ATProto is successful, it will probably at some point be used in a genocide'. Unpacking Elon Musk and X's role in UK race pogroms, @laurenshof.online recently wrote:"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","plaintext":"\"If the structure of permission is an emergent product of the amplification layer, and not something any single owner controls, then it is exactly the kind of thing that a decentralised social network would reproduce.\""}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.bskyPost","postRef":{"cid":"bafyreiaplxrpzrja3ril4eitp6hf35o6kcyuzbmmp33gblqsdlwmhbczha","uri":"at://did:plc:gq4fo3u6tqzzdkjlwzpb23tj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqnmky5av22m"},"clientHost":"bsky.app"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Decentralising tech is about giving up control over it - removing one more control lever that can cause harm, a lever that might have theoretically also done good. That lever is where politics happens, so committing to removing it means committing to the termination of some domain of political struggle, hoping that something better will bloom in its wake. Maybe the relevant political question is then, how can we make sure something better does bloom? "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":81,"byteStart":48},"features":[{"uri":"https://sdg.csail.mit.edu/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Carmel, who researches software malleability in Human-Computer Interaction at MIT, offered that different narratives and messaging around a product meaningfully change the affordances that users understand it to have. I wondered, who are we to present narratives and messaging? Is the company then a Lenin-style vanguard party-as-knower? What would a more Paolo Freire-inspired approach be here?"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":259,"byteStart":239},"features":[{"uri":"https://torrent-empress.leaflet.pub/3mskr4u3ouk2h","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"We have in any case already spoken publicly several times about how we hope Roomy will be used for community organising - I've heard a few people remark appreciatively that our online presence is overtly political. But to go further, this recent post by Belle cited Freire to suggest that devs in this space need to more explicitly turn away from patterns established by Big Tech, and to work harder to cultivate trust with the communities most harmed by those companies, so that the narratives and messaging we do put forward can form a direct loop with the emergent worlds we're trying to help bring into being. This resonated with my embodied experience at DWeb camp, and Christine's point about joy and culture."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.bskyPost","postRef":{"cid":"bafyreiejtk3w3npeyttkvxno4jrki6lwyt5mdzq47ptmjsl3zep5hacwmy","uri":"at://did:plc:o6hf54rkiurn3wmai7dr33dc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqfwrv2w3k2x"},"clientHost":"bsky.app"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":373,"byteStart":353},"features":[{"uri":"https://stream.place/stream.place/video/3mi7lapdbjc2t","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":567,"byteStart":529},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"In these kind of spaces we can cultivate relationships that are genuinely about human connection rather than money or business — sharing a sense of identity, music, art, interdependence, care, values. We need relationships like this to keep us on course when individualistic motives constantly threaten to pull us away, and like I tried to express in my talk in Vancouver, this is a prototypical germ of a new world in a particularly techy microcosm of the planetary dynamics we might hope to intervene in. The camp's tagline, what connects us is mostly underground, to me is a reminder of everything outside of money and markets that can and does change the world."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":233,"byteStart":219},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"This is not to give in to naïve romanticism and neglect analysis of the material factors, but to acknowledge that building shared theories of change is an unending collective and cultural effort. It's less about being the most right than about maintaining diversity of thought, curiosity, critical reflexivity, and connection to our underlying social values. There are some parallels here with the lineage of what we might playfully call 'decentralised' communist thought:"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":37,"byteStart":23},"features":[{"uri":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._L._R._James","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":67,"byteStart":48},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"If the problem was, as [C.L.R.] James put it in Notes on Dialectics, the supersession of the antinomy between “the party as knowing,” movement of communists, and “the proletariat as being,” communist movement, then knowing must be the knowing of revolutionary proletarians in the act of abolishing themselves."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The same text comments later on the unique position of those self-organised workers who stubbornly concern themselves, despite their limited leverage, with the intentional governance of social production:"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":447,"byteStart":417},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Self-organization is always a matter of some section of the class that would be all but isn’t. Self-organization is never, then, the class itself but some fraction of the class subtracted from given relations. To organize for themselves and by themselves, the members of some projective collectivity must do so with each other but most importantly against their already existing organization by and for capital.”\n— The Future of Revolution, Jasper Bernes"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":152,"byteStart":133},"features":[{"uri":"https://blog.muni.town/company-as-commons/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"We have our own theory working on Roomy about the potential long term impact of mission-driven slow-growth startups committed to the 'steward ownership' idea of enshrining a principled boundary between governance and capital (very similar in this sense to worker cooperatives), but as we're still looking for aligned investors, I'm keenly aware of how unproven this theory still is. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":263,"byteStart":230},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"},{"uri":"https://archive.org/details/revolutionwillno00inci/page/n7/mode/2up","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"I believe in our work and am proud of what we've achieved so far both technically and socially, but ultimately I try not to hold on too hard to the idea that my political praxis can or should be limited to the scope of a day job. The Revolution Will Not Be Funded is imprinted somewhere in the back of my head, and I know the organising is a muscle that needs exercising. DWeb camp was inspiring for me in showing that there can be rich interconnections between diverse perspectives on tech's potential for social impact, and motivated me to contribute to the growth and sustainment of this critical underground world."}}]}]},"coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiguw5f5imoswttjch3uwrkm3wbr7ik7n36sk6k6qccbswcq6qpade"},"size":2484768,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"What connects us is mostly underground","publishedAt":"2026-08-10T11:00:58.789Z","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mmyj7mk7kh3jqhw6zs4prbuk"}],"theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mmyj7mk7kh3jqhw6zs4prbuk/site.standard.document/3mspx4jp6hc24","sort_date":"2026-08-10T11:00:58.789+00:00"}}] 7b:Te91,

Brian Banda, the Director General of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), has died. MBC has confirmed that he died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after a short illness.

MBC Public Relations and Customer Affairs Manager Chisomo Mwamadi confirmed the death, saying further details would be communicated later. Banda had led the public broadcaster for less than five months.

Banda was one of Malawi’s best-known broadcasters long before taking charge of the country’s public broadcaster.

He first rose to national prominence at Capital Radio, where he hosted the current affairs and phone-in programme Straight Talk. The programme made him a household name and established the direct interviewing style that defined much of his broadcasting career.

Following his years at Capital Radio, Banda moved into government communication, serving as press officer to then President Joyce Banda. After the 2014 general election, he returned to journalism and broadcasting.

He later joined Times Group, where he worked as a journalist and television presenter, co-hosting the popular current affairs programme Hot Current alongside George Kasakula, the same broadcaster he would later succeed as MBC Director General. During his time in private broadcasting, Banda was recognised by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi as the country’s Best Talk Show Host during the 2015 World Press Freedom Day commemorations.

Banda subsequently returned to government communication under President Lazarus Chakwera, serving as State House Press Officer before later returning to private media.

The MBC Board appointed Banda as Director General on 12 March 2026, and he assumed office on 16 March, replacing George Kasakula.

Key facts

MBC Director General Brian Banda has died.
He died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after a short illness.
MBC spokesperson Chisomo Mwamadi confirmed the death.
The MBC Board appointed Banda on 12 March 2026 and he assumed office on 16 March.
He replaced George Kasakula, who was dismissed over allegations of misconduct.
He previously hosted Straight Talk on Capital Radio and co-hosted Hot Current on Times Television.
He served as press officer to Presidents Joyce Banda and Lazarus Chakwera.
MBC has not yet announced interim leadership arrangements.

His appointment attracted public attention after journalist Davie Mchinga challenged the recruitment process before the Office of the Ombudsman, arguing that the position had not been publicly advertised. Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee later cleared the appointment, concluding that the Communications Act gives the MBC Board the authority to appoint a Director General without prescribing a specific recruitment procedure.

Tributes are expected from journalists, broadcasters, public officials and others who worked with Banda throughout his career in broadcasting, journalism and public communication.

Malawi24 will continue updating this story as more verified information, including funeral arrangements and statements from MBC and the family, becomes available.

7c:Tc12,Brian Banda, the Director General of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), has died. MBC has confirmed that he died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after a short illness. MBC Public Relations and Customer Affairs Manager Chisomo Mwamadi confirmed the death, saying further details would be communicated later. Banda had led the public broadcaster for less than five months. Banda was one of Malawi’s best-known broadcasters long before taking charge of the country’s public broadcaster. He first rose to national prominence at Capital Radio, where he hosted the current affairs and phone-in programme Straight Talk. The programme made him a household name and established the direct interviewing style that defined much of his broadcasting career. Following his years at Capital Radio, Banda moved into government communication, serving as press officer to then President Joyce Banda. After the 2014 general election, he returned to journalism and broadcasting. He later joined Times Group, where he worked as a journalist and television presenter, co-hosting the popular current affairs programme Hot Current alongside George Kasakula, the same broadcaster he would later succeed as MBC Director General. During his time in private broadcasting, Banda was recognised by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi as the country’s Best Talk Show Host during the 2015 World Press Freedom Day commemorations. Banda subsequently returned to government communication under President Lazarus Chakwera, serving as State House Press Officer before later returning to private media. The MBC Board appointed Banda as Director General on 12 March 2026, and he assumed office on 16 March, replacing George Kasakula. Key facts MBC Director General Brian Banda has died. He died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after a short illness. MBC spokesperson Chisomo Mwamadi confirmed the death. The MBC Board appointed Banda on 12 March 2026 and he assumed office on 16 March. He replaced George Kasakula, who was dismissed over allegations of misconduct. He previously hosted Straight Talk on Capital Radio and co-hosted Hot Current on Times Television. He served as press officer to Presidents Joyce Banda and Lazarus Chakwera. MBC has not yet announced interim leadership arrangements. His appointment attracted public attention after journalist Davie Mchinga challenged the recruitment process before the Office of the Ombudsman, arguing that the position had not been publicly advertised. Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee later cleared the appointment, concluding that the Communications Act gives the MBC Board the authority to appoint a Director General without prescribing a specific recruitment procedure. Tributes are expected from journalists, broadcasters, public officials and others who worked with Banda throughout his career in broadcasting, journalism and public communication. Malawi24 will continue updating this story as more verified information, including funeral arrangements and statements from MBC and the family, becomes available.41:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mskw5bd4gpkp",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/08/breaking-mbc-director-general-brian-banda-dies/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Brian Banda","Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)","MBC","Peter Mutharika","Entertainment","Health","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"MBC Director General Brian Banda dies after short illness","content":{"html":"$7b","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-08T13:33:38.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreieldocc6eavvagwslbzmcbp4vlmoz2ylus32ibzltanr7fqb5kvfm"},"size":24146,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Brian Banda, the Director General of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), has died. MBC has confirmed that he died at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after a short illness. MBC Public Relations and Customer Affairs Manager Chisomo Mwamadi confirmed the death, saying further details would be communicated later. Banda had led the public broadcaster for...","publishedAt":"2026-08-08T10:56:10.000Z","textContent":"$7c","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mskw5bd4gpkp","sort_date":"2026-08-08T10:56:10+00:00"}}] 7d:T688,President Arthur Peter Mutharika has been urged to tap into the experience of former national leaders as Malawi seeks solutions to its growing challenges.

Leader of Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda made the call, saying consultations with former presidents and vice presidents could help promote national unity and guide efforts to address the country’s challenges.

Chithyola made the proposal on Friday during Parliament’s sine die proceedings, where he called for the experience of former national leaders to be brought into efforts to find lasting solutions to the country’s problems.

He specifically mentioned former presidents Lazarus Chakwera, Joyce Banda and Bakili Muluzi, as well as former vice presidents Khumbo Kachali and Michael Usi.

Chithyola said Mutharika could benefit from engaging leaders who have previously held senior positions in government, particularly at a time when Malawi needs greater unity and dialogue.

“I propose a presidential advisory council … involving former presidents and former vice presidents,” said Chithyola.

He said bringing together former and current leaders could help the country draw lessons from different administrations and encourage dialogue across political lines.

Chithyola said Malawi could not afford to remain divided, arguing that national leaders had a responsibility to work together in the interests of the country.

He said such consultations could contribute to lasting peace and help create a broader national approach to dealing with Malawi’s political, economic and social challenges.
7e:T616,President Arthur Peter Mutharika has been urged to tap into the experience of former national leaders as Malawi seeks solutions to its growing challenges.Leader of Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda made the call, saying consultations with former presidents and vice presidents could help promote national unity and guide efforts to address the country’s challenges.Chithyola made the proposal on Friday during Parliament’s sine die proceedings, where he called for the experience of former national leaders to be brought into efforts to find lasting solutions to the country’s problems.He specifically mentioned former presidents Lazarus Chakwera, Joyce Banda and Bakili Muluzi, as well as former vice presidents Khumbo Kachali and Michael Usi.Chithyola said Mutharika could benefit from engaging leaders who have previously held senior positions in government, particularly at a time when Malawi needs greater unity and dialogue.“I propose a presidential advisory council … involving former presidents and former vice presidents,” said Chithyola.He said bringing together former and current leaders could help the country draw lessons from different administrations and encourage dialogue across political lines.Chithyola said Malawi could not afford to remain divided, arguing that national leaders had a responsibility to work together in the interests of the country.He said such consultations could contribute to lasting peace and help create a broader national approach to dealing with Malawi’s political, economic and social challenges.42:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mskdovqsiqbx",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/08/mutharika-urged-to-seek-guidance-from-former-leaders/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["bakili muluzi","Former President","Joyce Banda","Lazarus Chakwera","malawi president","Peter Mutharika","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Mutharika urged to seek guidance from former leaders","content":{"html":"$7d","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-08T05:25:12.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicsojbpgkwvplyc7w5j2qju3nq66stgxf7xjdaij55m47w5jr5fum"},"size":80912,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"President Arthur Peter Mutharika has been urged to consult former presidents and vice presidents to help address Malawi’s challenges and promote national unity.","publishedAt":"2026-08-08T05:24:44.000Z","textContent":"$7e","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mskdovqsiqbx","sort_date":"2026-08-08T05:24:44+00:00"}}] 7f:Tcde,

A fresh dispute has emerged within the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), with the organization’s Ad-Hoc Committee publicly distancing itself from a recent statement issued by the coalition regarding President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s private trip.

The Ad-Hoc Committee, led by Sammy Aaron, has criticized the position taken by the HRDC leadership, arguing that the coalition lacks the moral authority to demand accountability from the government while failing to resolve its own internal leadership disputes.

In a statement released on Thursday, HRDC Chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa welcomed the government’s communication regarding Mutharika’s private trip but said it fell short of the level of transparency expected by the public.

Kaiyatsa maintained that government communication on matters of public interest should be timely, proactive, and comprehensive in order to strengthen public confidence and trust.

Sammy Aaron- Malawi24 — Aaron: HRDC leadership has no moral value to demand accountability

However, Aaron rejected the coalition’s position, arguing that the current HRDC leadership should first address its own governance challenges before criticizing government institutions.

“HRDC cannot hold the government accountable when it is not accountable itself,” Aaron said.

Aaron further pointed to an existing High Court directive, stating that the leadership dispute within HRDC remains unresolved despite a court order requiring both parties to engage in dialogue.

“The High Court ordered both the HRDC leadership and the HRDC Ad-Hoc Committee to engage in dialogue in good faith to resolve the ongoing leadership dispute within HRDC,” Aaron said.

The latest disagreement highlights deepening divisions within one of the country’s leading human rights organizations, which has played a significant role in promoting democratic governance, accountability, and the protection of human rights in recent years.

The public disagreement is likely to raise further questions about the coalition’s internal governance and its ability to speak with one voice on national issues while its leadership dispute remains unresolved.

At the time of publication, neither the HRDC leadership nor the government had responded to Aaron’s latest remarks.

80:T8c0,A fresh dispute has emerged within the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), with the organization’s Ad-Hoc Committee publicly distancing itself from a recent statement issued by the coalition regarding President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s private trip.The Ad-Hoc Committee, led by Sammy Aaron, has criticized the position taken by the HRDC leadership, arguing that the coalition lacks the moral authority to demand accountability from the government while failing to resolve its own internal leadership disputes.In a statement released on Thursday, HRDC Chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa welcomed the government’s communication regarding Mutharika’s private trip but said it fell short of the level of transparency expected by the public.Kaiyatsa maintained that government communication on matters of public interest should be timely, proactive, and comprehensive in order to strengthen public confidence and trust. Aaron: HRDC leadership has no moral value to demand accountability However, Aaron rejected the coalition’s position, arguing that the current HRDC leadership should first address its own governance challenges before criticizing government institutions.“HRDC cannot hold the government accountable when it is not accountable itself,” Aaron said.Aaron further pointed to an existing High Court directive, stating that the leadership dispute within HRDC remains unresolved despite a court order requiring both parties to engage in dialogue.“The High Court ordered both the HRDC leadership and the HRDC Ad-Hoc Committee to engage in dialogue in good faith to resolve the ongoing leadership dispute within HRDC,” Aaron said.The latest disagreement highlights deepening divisions within one of the country’s leading human rights organizations, which has played a significant role in promoting democratic governance, accountability, and the protection of human rights in recent years.The public disagreement is likely to raise further questions about the coalition’s internal governance and its ability to speak with one voice on national issues while its leadership dispute remains unresolved.At the time of publication, neither the HRDC leadership nor the government had responded to Aaron’s latest remarks.43:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msihvn47bthg",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/07/hrdc-split-widens-over-mutharikas-private-trip/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Accountability","HRDC","Michael Kaiyatsa","Peter Mutharika","Presidential Trip","Sammy Aaron","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"HRDC split widens over Mutharika’s private trip","content":{"html":"$7f","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-07T11:37:04.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicsojbpgkwvplyc7w5j2qju3nq66stgxf7xjdaij55m47w5jr5fum"},"size":80912,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Sammy Aaron says the HRDC leadership has o moral ground to demand accountability about president Peter Mutharika 's South Africa trip","publishedAt":"2026-08-07T11:36:45.000Z","textContent":"$80","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msihvn47bthg","sort_date":"2026-08-07T11:36:45+00:00"}}] 81:Tdd8,

Malawi is facing a major crisis of honesty and leadership. President Peter Mutharika has secretly travelled to South Africa four times in less than a year since returning to power in October 2025.

The State House refuses to tell the public why he is going, how long he will stay, or who is paying for these trips. This is a total insult to the citizens of Malawi. The government thinks it does not have to answer to anyone, but they are completely wrong.

As Kaiyatsa from the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) rightly asked, Malawians deserve to know the truth. We cannot sit quietly while our country is ignored.

A President can never have total privacy when travelling to another country. Even if the government calls it a “private visit,” the President travels with state-funded bodyguards, intelligence officers, and diplomats. Because state resources, staff, and security are used to plan and protect him, these trips are a public matter, not a private one.

Right now, the government is operating in a dangerous, lawless way. Section 87 of the Constitution of Malawi is very clear. If the President leaves the country or cannot do his job, the Vice-President must officially take over the powers of the presidency.

Instead of following the law, the Chief Secretary, Justin Saidi, simply signs a vague paper saying the President has left the country. They do not officially hand over power to the Vice-President, Jane Ansah. Running a whole country through secret phone calls from South Africa breaks the law and puts the nation’s security at risk.

However, who funds the so called private trips? The government claims these are personal trips, but they are hiding the truth. In the past, we have seen hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on presidential travel allowances and medical costs. If the President is paying for these trips with his own personal money, Section 12 of the Constitution says the government must prove it. They must show the receipts to prove no public money is being stolen.

Section 15 and the Access to Information Act give every Malawian taxpayer the right to know how their money is spent and if their leader is healthy enough to run the country.

It must be appreciated that Malawi is suffering from a massive economic crisis. We do not have enough foreign currency, prices of goods are too high, and our roads and buildings are falling apart. Spending taxpayer money on secret travel is a slap in the face to poor Malawians.

Therefore, it is deeply unfair for President Mutharika to fly to South Africa for world-class medical care while Malawian hospitals lack basic medicines, electricity, and clean water. In fact, it is a wake up call for the sitting President Mutharika to consider investing in good quality healthcare system in our country.

In conclusion, the word “privacy” cannot be used as an excuse to hide the truth. President Mutharika is an employee and number one public servant to the Malawian people. The State House belongs to the citizens, not to the President’s family.

We therefore demand an immediate financial audit to see every single Kwacha spent on these four South African trips. We further demand to know exactly who is in charge of Malawi when the President packs his bags. Malawians will no longer pay for expensive secret trips while the rest of the nation suffers.

82:Td13,Malawi is facing a major crisis of honesty and leadership. President Peter Mutharika has secretly travelled to South Africa four times in less than a year since returning to power in October 2025.The State House refuses to tell the public why he is going, how long he will stay, or who is paying for these trips. This is a total insult to the citizens of Malawi. The government thinks it does not have to answer to anyone, but they are completely wrong.As Kaiyatsa from the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) rightly asked, Malawians deserve to know the truth. We cannot sit quietly while our country is ignored. A President can never have total privacy when travelling to another country. Even if the government calls it a “private visit,” the President travels with state-funded bodyguards, intelligence officers, and diplomats. Because state resources, staff, and security are used to plan and protect him, these trips are a public matter, not a private one.Right now, the government is operating in a dangerous, lawless way. Section 87 of the Constitution of Malawi is very clear. If the President leaves the country or cannot do his job, the Vice-President must officially take over the powers of the presidency.Instead of following the law, the Chief Secretary, Justin Saidi, simply signs a vague paper saying the President has left the country. They do not officially hand over power to the Vice-President, Jane Ansah. Running a whole country through secret phone calls from South Africa breaks the law and puts the nation’s security at risk.However, who funds the so called private trips? The government claims these are personal trips, but they are hiding the truth. In the past, we have seen hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on presidential travel allowances and medical costs. If the President is paying for these trips with his own personal money, Section 12 of the Constitution says the government must prove it. They must show the receipts to prove no public money is being stolen.Section 15 and the Access to Information Act give every Malawian taxpayer the right to know how their money is spent and if their leader is healthy enough to run the country.It must be appreciated that Malawi is suffering from a massive economic crisis. We do not have enough foreign currency, prices of goods are too high, and our roads and buildings are falling apart. Spending taxpayer money on secret travel is a slap in the face to poor Malawians.Therefore, it is deeply unfair for President Mutharika to fly to South Africa for world-class medical care while Malawian hospitals lack basic medicines, electricity, and clean water. In fact, it is a wake up call for the sitting President Mutharika to consider investing in good quality healthcare system in our country.In conclusion, the word “privacy” cannot be used as an excuse to hide the truth. President Mutharika is an employee and number one public servant to the Malawian people. The State House belongs to the citizens, not to the President’s family.We therefore demand an immediate financial audit to see every single Kwacha spent on these four South African trips. We further demand to know exactly who is in charge of Malawi when the President packs his bags. Malawians will no longer pay for expensive secret trips while the rest of the nation suffers.44:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mshx55nxt7yk",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/07/shame-on-state-house-mutharikas-secret-trips-to-south-africa-are-a-betrayal-to-malawian-taxpayers/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Malawi State House","Peter Mutharika","Presidential Trips","South Africa","National","Opinion","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Shame on State House: Mutharika’s secret trips to South Africa are a betrayal to Malawian taxpayers","content":{"html":"$81","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-07T06:37:22.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreid6xuhfv7njzyzaexhevbujj3iqfcumdfp4vw6yckr5cai6atmw4y"},"size":32060,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Author Rick Dzida is questioning President Peter Mutharika’s repeated trips to South Africa, demanding transparency on costs, purpose, and leadership arrangements during his absence.","publishedAt":"2026-08-07T06:36:59.000Z","textContent":"$82","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mshx55nxt7yk","sort_date":"2026-08-07T06:36:59+00:00"}}] 83:T11ce,These desperate political actors are drowning in their own performative rage. They are merely wasting national momentum and chasing illusions.

The hostile factions organizing these protests are spitting into a gale force wind. Mutharika has already delivered an iron-clad, non-negotiable declaration to the nation: he will not vacate the high office until 2030.

To expect a seasoned, battle-hardened political heavyweight to suddenly buckle and walk away is an infantile daydream.

Malawi’s political history proves that no sitting Head of State has ever weaponized resignation to satisfy street protests.

Under Section 83 of the Malawi Constitution, a president is mandated to serve a full five-year term. While Section 83(4) acknowledges that a vacancy can occur through resignation, no leader has ever chosen that path.

Faced with fierce, incendiary public uprisings and absolute civil society condemnation over his unconstitutional Open and Third-Term Bills between 2002 and 2003, Bakili Muluzi still bulldozed forward without retreating a single inch.

Held onto power defiantly during the historic and bloody nationwide protests on July 20, 2011, where state forces killed at least 20 citizens, Bingu wa Mutharika remained firmly entrenched in State House.

Furthermore, Joyce Banda weathered the structural devastation of the 2013 cashgate corruption scandal that looted billions, paralyzed the civil service, and froze donor aid. She flatly refused to step down before the May 2014 electoral clock ran out.

In fact, a sitting president cannot be removed by street-level noise. Removal demands a rigid, multi-stage impeachment process for serious violations of the Constitution or laws.

First , a formal motion of impeachment must be explicitly tabled in Parliament, supported by a detailed written notice signed by no less than one-third of all Members of Parliament.

Second, Parliament transforms into a court of law, forcing the president to appear, face the charges, and mount a formal legal defense against the accusations.

Third , the president can only be removed if a crushing two-thirds majority of all elected MPs vote in favour of the impeachment.

Currently, the opposition lacks the parliamentary numbers and the legal grounds to pull this off, rendering their street demands completely toothless.

To attempt a total condemnation of this administration right now is an act of profound intellectual dishonesty. The President has not even clocked a solitary calendar year into his current five-year tenure.

Attempting to dismantle and write off a full democratic mandate at this embryonic stage is a hysterical rush to judgment by partisan saboteurs.

Concurrently, we cannot ignore the deep, toxic failures fracturing our society at the watch of President Mutharika. For instance, the aggressive, authoritarian arrest of human rights activist Sylvester Namiwa on fabricated treason charges leaves a bitter, dictatorial taste in the collective mouth.

The socio-economic landscape is haemorrhaging under deep structural decay. Hyper-inflationary forces have sent the cost of living skyrocketing into the stratosphere, leaving ordinary citizens starving.

As if that is not pathetically enough, systemic corruption festers completely unchecked within government offices. Tribalism and toxic regionalism are actively ripping our social fabric apart. Abject poverty engulfs millions while public service delivery collapses into absolute paralysis.

Regrettably, selective justice reigns supreme, seen clearly when high-profile corruption cases are dropped for the elite while the poor face the full wrath of the law.

If the government wishes to retain a shred of moral authority through this storm, it must immediately tear down its veil of secrecy and urgently such governance issues. The presidency must provide total, unvarnished accountability concerning the four enigmatic private trips to South Africa.

As a matter of fact, the citizenry deserves clear truth over how public money and national attention are being used during these opaque cross-border journeys.

In a nutshell, unfortunately, those screaming for Mutharika’s immediate resignation must wake up from their ideological slumber. Peter Mutharika is going nowhere, and their revolutionary theatricality is simply running out of time.
84:T10c6,These desperate political actors are drowning in their own performative rage. They are merely wasting national momentum and chasing illusions.The hostile factions organizing these protests are spitting into a gale force wind. Mutharika has already delivered an iron-clad, non-negotiable declaration to the nation: he will not vacate the high office until 2030. To expect a seasoned, battle-hardened political heavyweight to suddenly buckle and walk away is an infantile daydream.Malawi’s political history proves that no sitting Head of State has ever weaponized resignation to satisfy street protests. Under Section 83 of the Malawi Constitution, a president is mandated to serve a full five-year term. While Section 83(4) acknowledges that a vacancy can occur through resignation, no leader has ever chosen that path.Faced with fierce, incendiary public uprisings and absolute civil society condemnation over his unconstitutional Open and Third-Term Bills between 2002 and 2003, Bakili Muluzi still bulldozed forward without retreating a single inch.Held onto power defiantly during the historic and bloody nationwide protests on July 20, 2011, where state forces killed at least 20 citizens, Bingu wa Mutharika remained firmly entrenched in State House.Furthermore, Joyce Banda weathered the structural devastation of the 2013 cashgate corruption scandal that looted billions, paralyzed the civil service, and froze donor aid. She flatly refused to step down before the May 2014 electoral clock ran out.In fact, a sitting president cannot be removed by street-level noise. Removal demands a rigid, multi-stage impeachment process for serious violations of the Constitution or laws.First , a formal motion of impeachment must be explicitly tabled in Parliament, supported by a detailed written notice signed by no less than one-third of all Members of Parliament.Second, Parliament transforms into a court of law, forcing the president to appear, face the charges, and mount a formal legal defense against the accusations.Third , the president can only be removed if a crushing two-thirds majority of all elected MPs vote in favour of the impeachment.Currently, the opposition lacks the parliamentary numbers and the legal grounds to pull this off, rendering their street demands completely toothless.To attempt a total condemnation of this administration right now is an act of profound intellectual dishonesty. The President has not even clocked a solitary calendar year into his current five-year tenure. Attempting to dismantle and write off a full democratic mandate at this embryonic stage is a hysterical rush to judgment by partisan saboteurs.Concurrently, we cannot ignore the deep, toxic failures fracturing our society at the watch of President Mutharika. For instance, the aggressive, authoritarian arrest of human rights activist Sylvester Namiwa on fabricated treason charges leaves a bitter, dictatorial taste in the collective mouth. The socio-economic landscape is haemorrhaging under deep structural decay. Hyper-inflationary forces have sent the cost of living skyrocketing into the stratosphere, leaving ordinary citizens starving.As if that is not pathetically enough, systemic corruption festers completely unchecked within government offices. Tribalism and toxic regionalism are actively ripping our social fabric apart. Abject poverty engulfs millions while public service delivery collapses into absolute paralysis.Regrettably, selective justice reigns supreme, seen clearly when high-profile corruption cases are dropped for the elite while the poor face the full wrath of the law.If the government wishes to retain a shred of moral authority through this storm, it must immediately tear down its veil of secrecy and urgently such governance issues. The presidency must provide total, unvarnished accountability concerning the four enigmatic private trips to South Africa. As a matter of fact, the citizenry deserves clear truth over how public money and national attention are being used during these opaque cross-border journeys.In a nutshell, unfortunately, those screaming for Mutharika’s immediate resignation must wake up from their ideological slumber. Peter Mutharika is going nowhere, and their revolutionary theatricality is simply running out of time.45:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msfp2hjebhy6",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/06/the-futile-clamour-of-political-agitators-why-the-demand-for-mutharikas-resignation-is-a-stillborn-fantasy/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["bakili muluzi","Bingu wa Mutharika","Joyce Banda","Malawi Constitution","Peter Mutharika","National","Opinion","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"The futile clamour of political agitators: Why the demand for Mutharika’s resignation is a stillborn fantasy","content":{"html":"$83","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-06T09:09:07.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreid6xuhfv7njzyzaexhevbujj3iqfcumdfp4vw6yckr5cai6atmw4y"},"size":32060,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"As protests against President Mutharika's leadership escalate, the demand for his resignation reveals deep political fractures and the futility of such movements in Malawi's history.","publishedAt":"2026-08-06T09:08:43.000Z","textContent":"$84","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msfp2hjebhy6","sort_date":"2026-08-06T09:08:43+00:00"}}] 85:T9aa,

Government’s directive for the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to discipline two private broadcasters has sparked concerns about interference with the regulator’s independence.

Information Minister Shadric Namalomba has requested MACRA to “promptly initiate disciplinary proceedings” against Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and Luntha TV regarding reports about President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s travel.

This request raises questions since the Communications Act does not grant the minister authority to initiate regulatory actions against specific broadcasters.

According to Section 5(1) of the Act, MACRA can seek general policy direction from the minister, not the reverse. Section 5(2) requires any ministerial direction to be provided in writing and published in the Government Gazette; however, no such Gazette notice was released at the time of this publication.

Section 5(3) clearly states that MACRA “shall be independent in the performance of its functions,” indicating that enforcement action falls outside ministerial directives. The Act further details that regulatory actions should be independently determined, necessitating compliance orders or licenses suspension only after confirming a breach and providing the affected broadcaster with written notice and the chance to respond.

While the government has the right to lodge complaints with MACRA, the recent statement did not suggest that it was merely requesting an investigation. Instead, the government urged MACRA to take immediate disciplinary actions against ZBS and Luntha TV.

This distinction is crucial, as it implies the government did not utilize its right to seek a statutory correction before calling for disciplinary measures. If MACRA were to impose sanctions, the minister’s public intervention could affect the integrity of the appeal process under Section 196, which allows arguments against perceived executive influence on MACRA’s judgment.

Furthermore, the Communications Act includes provisions for correcting inaccurate broadcasts. Affected individuals can submit written counter-statements within 30 days, requiring broadcasters to air them within 10 days, free of charge. Government’s statement did not confirm whether it pursued this route before seeking disciplinary proceedings.

86:T906,Government’s directive for the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to discipline two private broadcasters has sparked concerns about interference with the regulator’s independence.Information Minister Shadric Namalomba has requested MACRA to “promptly initiate disciplinary proceedings” against Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and Luntha TV regarding reports about President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s travel. This request raises questions since the Communications Act does not grant the minister authority to initiate regulatory actions against specific broadcasters.According to Section 5(1) of the Act, MACRA can seek general policy direction from the minister, not the reverse. Section 5(2) requires any ministerial direction to be provided in writing and published in the Government Gazette; however, no such Gazette notice was released at the time of this publication.Section 5(3) clearly states that MACRA “shall be independent in the performance of its functions,” indicating that enforcement action falls outside ministerial directives. The Act further details that regulatory actions should be independently determined, necessitating compliance orders or licenses suspension only after confirming a breach and providing the affected broadcaster with written notice and the chance to respond.While the government has the right to lodge complaints with MACRA, the recent statement did not suggest that it was merely requesting an investigation. Instead, the government urged MACRA to take immediate disciplinary actions against ZBS and Luntha TV.This distinction is crucial, as it implies the government did not utilize its right to seek a statutory correction before calling for disciplinary measures. If MACRA were to impose sanctions, the minister’s public intervention could affect the integrity of the appeal process under Section 196, which allows arguments against perceived executive influence on MACRA’s judgment.Furthermore, the Communications Act includes provisions for correcting inaccurate broadcasts. Affected individuals can submit written counter-statements within 30 days, requiring broadcasters to air them within 10 days, free of charge. Government’s statement did not confirm whether it pursued this route before seeking disciplinary proceedings.46:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msfly4iaq7mq",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/06/govt-push-for-macra-action-raises-independence-concerns/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Luntha TV","MACRA","Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)","Shadric Namalomba","zodiak","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Govt push for MACRA action raises independence concerns","content":{"html":"$85","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-06T08:10:54.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihopax3zlmqquoccmy4knxmfeuh5dqutphusosyujtz4nbaxv2tia"},"size":37906,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"The government’s directive for MACRA to discipline private broadcasters raises independence issues amid legal scrutiny.","publishedAt":"2026-08-06T08:10:34.000Z","textContent":"$86","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msfly4iaq7mq","sort_date":"2026-08-06T08:10:34+00:00"}}] 87:T543,

The inquiry into the June 2024 Chikangawa plane crash that killed former Vice President, Saulos Chilima and eight others is set to move into forensic investigations.

This follows as the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee on the Chikangawa Plane Crash Inquiry has announced that it will soon commence forensic pathology investigations as part of efforts to establish facts surrounding the crash.

In a press statement issued by the Committee’s Chairperson Walter Nyamilandu Manda, the Parliament has engaged South African forensic pathologists Dr. Robert Gabriel Ngude and Dr. Wilson Sibusiso Ntsele to lead the process.

According to Manda, the preparatory phase will involve reviewing existing post-mortem reports, identifying gaps in evidence, engaging bereaved families, and assessing Malawi’s capacity in DNA, toxicology and mortuary services.

The Committee said the forensic work will be done in phases, and may include possible exhumation of remains subject to legal clearances and family consultations.

Manda assured that the process will respect cultural and religious considerations and safeguard the dignity of affected families.

He also indicated that updates will be provided through press releases at each milestone.

88:T4c6,The inquiry into the June 2024 Chikangawa plane crash that killed former Vice President, Saulos Chilima and eight others is set to move into forensic investigations.This follows as the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee on the Chikangawa Plane Crash Inquiry has announced that it will soon commence forensic pathology investigations as part of efforts to establish facts surrounding the crash.In a press statement issued by the Committee’s Chairperson Walter Nyamilandu Manda, the Parliament has engaged South African forensic pathologists Dr. Robert Gabriel Ngude and Dr. Wilson Sibusiso Ntsele to lead the process.According to Manda, the preparatory phase will involve reviewing existing post-mortem reports, identifying gaps in evidence, engaging bereaved families, and assessing Malawi’s capacity in DNA, toxicology and mortuary services.The Committee said the forensic work will be done in phases, and may include possible exhumation of remains subject to legal clearances and family consultations.Manda assured that the process will respect cultural and religious considerations and safeguard the dignity of affected families. He also indicated that updates will be provided through press releases at each milestone.47:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msdz7qrwfimr",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/05/crash-inquiry-enters-forensic-phase/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Parliamentary Accounts Committee","Saulos Chilima","Saulos Chilima Inquiry","Walter Nyamilandu","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Crash inquiry enters forensic phase","content":{"html":"$87","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-05T17:04:04.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicx4zcf7ex3fw2pb4rrh4vb2l4477wlnny4764jtflj7b2xkuxg5y"},"size":34790,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"description":"The inquiry into the June 2024 Chikangawa plane crash that killed former Vice President, Saulos Chilima and eight others is set to move into forensic investigations.This follows as the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee on the Chikangawa Plane Crash Inquiry has announced that it will soon commence forensic pathology investigations as part of efforts to establish facts...","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T17:03:38.000Z","textContent":"$88","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msdz7qrwfimr","sort_date":"2026-08-05T17:03:38+00:00"}}] 89:T28c5,

Questions grow over the president’s repeated private trips as State House has not disclosed the purpose or expected duration of his latest visit, five weeks after a 17-day stay in South Africa.

President Arthur Peter Mutharika has left Malawi for South Africa on his fourth publicly announced private trip since returning to office in October 2025. State House confirmed the departure but has not said why the president is travelling or when he will return.

The departure follows confusion on Tuesday after reports indicated Mutharika was due to leave Malawi but the journey did not take place. A post by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation quoting Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi about the planned departure was later removed without explanation, fuelling speculation over whether the trip had been postponed or cancelled. State House did not publicly explain why the journey failed to proceed as expected.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Saidi confirmed that the president departed Kamuzu International Airport on Wednesday afternoon for a private visit to South Africa. The statement did not disclose the purpose of the visit or indicate when he is expected to return.

The latest departure comes barely five weeks after Mutharika came back from another extended stay in the same country. He left Malawi on 12 June and returned on 29 June, spending 17 days outside Malawi.

Key facts

1 December 2025 to 15 December 2025: 14 days in South Africa. Departed and returned through Bakili Muluzi International Airport, Blantyre
1 March 2026 to 12 March 2026: 11 days in South Africa
12 June 2026 to 29 June 2026: 17 days in South Africa
5 August 2026: Departed Kamuzu International Airport on a fourth private visit. Duration and purpose not disclosed
Total: 42 days outside Malawi on private visits to South Africa since returning to office, an average of 14 days per trip, excluding the current visit

Taken together, Mutharika has spent at least 42 days in South Africa on private visits since returning to office, excluding the current trip, whose duration remains unknown.

The repeated visits have attracted growing public attention, particularly because State House has consistently described them simply as “private” without explaining their purpose in advance.

What counts as a private visit?

The June trip illustrated the difficulty. Speaking to staff before boarding, Mutharika said he was making a short trip and would be back within a few days. He returned 17 days later.

In the statement announcing that return, State House described the visit as a two-week private trip. Several news outlets repeated the shorter figure. The December visit had in fact lasted two weeks; the June one ran three days longer.

Only on his return did it emerge that the president had met his South African counterpart while away. In remarks reported by State House on his arrival, Mutharika said he held “a series of meetings with my brother, President Ramaphosa” on the problems facing Malawians in South Africa following recent xenophobic violence against Black African immigrants. He added that the two would continue working together after the 30 June deadline to address the wave of xenophobia.

Those meetings were not announced before the president left, nor at any point during the 17 days he was away. State House has not said whether they were connected to the reason for the visit, which it continued to describe as private throughout.

The December and March trips produced no disclosure of any kind. In both cases State House confirmed only that the president had departed and, later, that he had returned.

The pattern has prompted debate over what a “private visit” means when undertaken by a sitting head of state. Although described as private, presidential travel necessarily involves state security, diplomatic coordination, official logistics and public expenditure. The repeated trips also come at a time when Malawi continues to grapple with high inflation, foreign exchange shortages and broader fiscal pressures, prompting questions from some commentators about the cost and transparency of such travel.

The issue has also drawn attention because President Mutharika has previously directed public officials to minimise foreign travel as part of broader efforts to reduce government expenditure. His relationship with First Vice-President Jane Ansah reportedly deteriorated after she undertook a private trip to the United Kingdom despite the administration’s emphasis on restricting non-essential travel. However, neither State House nor the Vice-President has publicly stated that the trip was the cause of their reported political differences, and the presidency has not formally linked the two.

Chihana steps forward

The repeated absences have also focused attention on how executive responsibilities are being exercised within government. Although Malawi has a First Vice-President, Justice Jane Ansah, it is Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana who has recently assumed an increasingly prominent public role.

Last month, Chihana chaired a Cabinet meeting under Section 92(3) of the Constitution, which permits the president to authorise either vice-president to preside over Cabinet in his absence. The meeting generated controversy after Ansah reportedly said she had been available but had not been invited, prompting questions from some legal commentators over whether the constitutional provisions had been properly applied. Government maintained that the president has the constitutional authority to delegate either vice-president to chair Cabinet.

Chihana has also represented the president at official engagements. On Tuesday, he received International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo on behalf of Mutharika, whom the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) had earlier reported was due to leave the country. It is not known whether the president’s planned trip was the reason Chihana hosted the ILO Director-General, as neither State House nor the Office of the Vice-President has commented on the arrangement.

In a Facebook post, Chihana wrote: “This morning, on behalf of His Excellency the State President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, I had the honour of receiving Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), for a courtesy call at my office in Lilongwe.”

He said the two discussed job creation, youth employment, skills development, labour migration governance and social protection, and agreed to deepen cooperation. The meeting is the latest example of Chihana carrying out duties on behalf of the president while Mutharika has been away from official engagements albeit without any explaination or travelled outside Malawi.

Does Malawi’s president have annual or sick leave?

Malawi’s Constitution sets out the powers and responsibilities of the president but does not prescribe a fixed annual leave entitlement or sick leave allowance for a sitting head of state. The Presidents (Salaries and Benefits) Act likewise does not specify how many days of annual or sick leave a serving president may take.

Instead, the Constitution provides mechanisms for executive authority to continue whenever the president is absent, including the delegation of functions to the vice-presidents. State House has not indicated how long Mutharika’s latest private trip will last or when he is expected to return to Malawi.

While Malawi’s Constitution does not limit how many private trips a President may take or prescribe annual or sick leave for a sitting Head of State, it does anticipate situations where the President may become temporarily unable to discharge the functions of office. In such circumstances, the Constitution provides mechanisms for executive authority to continue through the Vice-Presidents or, where appropriate, for Parliament to consider questions of presidential incapacity. The constitutional focus is therefore not on the number or duration of a President’s absences, but on ensuring that government continues to function and that there are legal procedures to address any inability to perform presidential duties.

8a:T1ff6,Questions grow over the president’s repeated private trips as State House has not disclosed the purpose or expected duration of his latest visit, five weeks after a 17-day stay in South Africa. President Arthur Peter Mutharika has left Malawi for South Africa on his fourth publicly announced private trip since returning to office in October 2025. State House confirmed the departure but has not said why the president is travelling or when he will return. The departure follows confusion on Tuesday after reports indicated Mutharika was due to leave Malawi but the journey did not take place. A post by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation quoting Chief Secretary to the Government Justin Saidi about the planned departure was later removed without explanation, fuelling speculation over whether the trip had been postponed or cancelled. State House did not publicly explain why the journey failed to proceed as expected. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Saidi confirmed that the president departed Kamuzu International Airport on Wednesday afternoon for a private visit to South Africa. The statement did not disclose the purpose of the visit or indicate when he is expected to return. The latest departure comes barely five weeks after Mutharika came back from another extended stay in the same country. He left Malawi on 12 June and returned on 29 June, spending 17 days outside Malawi. Key facts 1 December 2025 to 15 December 2025: 14 days in South Africa. Departed and returned through Bakili Muluzi International Airport, Blantyre 1 March 2026 to 12 March 2026: 11 days in South Africa 12 June 2026 to 29 June 2026: 17 days in South Africa 5 August 2026: Departed Kamuzu International Airport on a fourth private visit. Duration and purpose not disclosed Total: 42 days outside Malawi on private visits to South Africa since returning to office, an average of 14 days per trip, excluding the current visit Taken together, Mutharika has spent at least 42 days in South Africa on private visits since returning to office, excluding the current trip, whose duration remains unknown. The repeated visits have attracted growing public attention, particularly because State House has consistently described them simply as “private” without explaining their purpose in advance. What counts as a private visit? The June trip illustrated the difficulty. Speaking to staff before boarding, Mutharika said he was making a short trip and would be back within a few days. He returned 17 days later. In the statement announcing that return, State House described the visit as a two-week private trip. Several news outlets repeated the shorter figure. The December visit had in fact lasted two weeks; the June one ran three days longer. Only on his return did it emerge that the president had met his South African counterpart while away. In remarks reported by State House on his arrival, Mutharika said he held “a series of meetings with my brother, President Ramaphosa” on the problems facing Malawians in South Africa following recent xenophobic violence against Black African immigrants. He added that the two would continue working together after the 30 June deadline to address the wave of xenophobia. Those meetings were not announced before the president left, nor at any point during the 17 days he was away. State House has not said whether they were connected to the reason for the visit, which it continued to describe as private throughout. The December and March trips produced no disclosure of any kind. In both cases State House confirmed only that the president had departed and, later, that he had returned. The pattern has prompted debate over what a “private visit” means when undertaken by a sitting head of state. Although described as private, presidential travel necessarily involves state security, diplomatic coordination, official logistics and public expenditure. The repeated trips also come at a time when Malawi continues to grapple with high inflation, foreign exchange shortages and broader fiscal pressures, prompting questions from some commentators about the cost and transparency of such travel. The issue has also drawn attention because President Mutharika has previously directed public officials to minimise foreign travel as part of broader efforts to reduce government expenditure. His relationship with First Vice-President Jane Ansah reportedly deteriorated after she undertook a private trip to the United Kingdom despite the administration’s emphasis on restricting non-essential travel. However, neither State House nor the Vice-President has publicly stated that the trip was the cause of their reported political differences, and the presidency has not formally linked the two. Chihana steps forward The repeated absences have also focused attention on how executive responsibilities are being exercised within government. Although Malawi has a First Vice-President, Justice Jane Ansah, it is Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana who has recently assumed an increasingly prominent public role. Last month, Chihana chaired a Cabinet meeting under Section 92(3) of the Constitution, which permits the president to authorise either vice-president to preside over Cabinet in his absence. The meeting generated controversy after Ansah reportedly said she had been available but had not been invited, prompting questions from some legal commentators over whether the constitutional provisions had been properly applied. Government maintained that the president has the constitutional authority to delegate either vice-president to chair Cabinet. Chihana has also represented the president at official engagements. On Tuesday, he received International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo on behalf of Mutharika, whom the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) had earlier reported was due to leave the country. It is not known whether the president’s planned trip was the reason Chihana hosted the ILO Director-General, as neither State House nor the Office of the Vice-President has commented on the arrangement. In a Facebook post, Chihana wrote: “This morning, on behalf of His Excellency the State President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, I had the honour of receiving Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), for a courtesy call at my office in Lilongwe.” He said the two discussed job creation, youth employment, skills development, labour migration governance and social protection, and agreed to deepen cooperation. The meeting is the latest example of Chihana carrying out duties on behalf of the president while Mutharika has been away from official engagements albeit without any explaination or travelled outside Malawi. Does Malawi’s president have annual or sick leave? Malawi’s Constitution sets out the powers and responsibilities of the president but does not prescribe a fixed annual leave entitlement or sick leave allowance for a sitting head of state. The Presidents (Salaries and Benefits) Act likewise does not specify how many days of annual or sick leave a serving president may take. Instead, the Constitution provides mechanisms for executive authority to continue whenever the president is absent, including the delegation of functions to the vice-presidents. State House has not indicated how long Mutharika’s latest private trip will last or when he is expected to return to Malawi. While Malawi’s Constitution does not limit how many private trips a President may take or prescribe annual or sick leave for a sitting Head of State, it does anticipate situations where the President may become temporarily unable to discharge the functions of office. In such circumstances, the Constitution provides mechanisms for executive authority to continue through the Vice-Presidents or, where appropriate, for Parliament to consider questions of presidential incapacity. The constitutional focus is therefore not on the number or duration of a President’s absences, but on ensuring that government continues to function and that there are legal procedures to address any inability to perform presidential duties.48:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msdyueur4yte",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/05/mutharika-leaves-malawi-for-south-africa-on-fourth-private-trip/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Enoch Chihana","Justin Saidi","Malawi Government","Peter Mutharika","South Africa","State House Malawi","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Mutharika leaves Malawi for South Africa on fourth private trip","content":{"html":"$89","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-05T17:03:37.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifotw6ci3wu3rkf7d45bldbdbnt4zdtd2zc2kwnoflfqr276wqhpq"},"size":49110,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Questions grow over the president's repeated private trips as State House has not disclosed the purpose or expected duration of his latest visit, five weeks after a 17-day stay in South Africa. President Arthur Peter Mutharika has left Malawi for South Africa on his fourth publicly announced private trip since returning to office in October...","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T16:55:30.000Z","textContent":"$8a","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msdyueur4yte","sort_date":"2026-08-05T16:55:30+00:00"}}] 8b:T53d,Boma silikubwerabe poyera kufotokoza komwe kuli mtsogoleri wa dziko lino Peter Mutharika pambuyo pa mphekesera zoti wapita kunja kwa dziko lino.

Lachiwiri, wailesi ya boma ya Malawi Broadcasting Corporation kudzera pa tsamba lake la fesibuku, MBC Digital idalengeza kuti a Mutharika akupita m’dziko la South Africa paulendo osakhudzana ndi boma.

MBC idati a Mutharika amayembekezeka kunyamuka ulendowu masana a Lachiwiri kudzera pa bwalo la Kamuzu International munzinda wa Lilongwe.

Koma posakhalitsa, wailesi yabomayi, idafufuta nkhaniyi.

Nayo wailesi ya Zodiak Lachitatu lomwelo idatulutsa nkhani kuti a Mutharika atuluka m’dziko muno kupita kunja koma mwa chinsinsi.

Koma posakhalitsa, nayo wailesi ya Zodiak idafufuta nkhaniyi. Kupatula kufufuta nkhaniyi, Zodiak Lachitatu m’mawa yatulutsa kalata yopepesa mokhudzana ndi nkhani yomwe inatulutsayi.

Kudzera mkalata yake, Zodiak yati zomwe inalembazi linali bodza lankunkhuniza.

Ngakhale zili choncho, boma silinabwerebe poyera kufotokoza ngati a Mutharika ali m’dziko muno kapena ngati atuluka monga momwe mphekesera zikuvekeramu.

Nthawi zonse a Mutharika akamatuluka m’dziko muno paulendo wa boma kapena wawo wawo, mlembi wa mkulu wa boma amatulutsa kalata yofotokoza za ulendowo.
8c:T4d5,Boma silikubwerabe poyera kufotokoza komwe kuli mtsogoleri wa dziko lino Peter Mutharika pambuyo pa mphekesera zoti wapita kunja kwa dziko lino.Lachiwiri, wailesi ya boma ya Malawi Broadcasting Corporation kudzera pa tsamba lake la fesibuku, MBC Digital idalengeza kuti a Mutharika akupita m’dziko la South Africa paulendo osakhudzana ndi boma.MBC idati a Mutharika amayembekezeka kunyamuka ulendowu masana a Lachiwiri kudzera pa bwalo la Kamuzu International munzinda wa Lilongwe.Koma posakhalitsa, wailesi yabomayi, idafufuta nkhaniyi.Nayo wailesi ya Zodiak Lachitatu lomwelo idatulutsa nkhani kuti a Mutharika atuluka m’dziko muno kupita kunja koma mwa chinsinsi.Koma posakhalitsa, nayo wailesi ya Zodiak idafufuta nkhaniyi. Kupatula kufufuta nkhaniyi, Zodiak Lachitatu m’mawa yatulutsa kalata yopepesa mokhudzana ndi nkhani yomwe inatulutsayi.Kudzera mkalata yake, Zodiak yati zomwe inalembazi linali bodza lankunkhuniza.Ngakhale zili choncho, boma silinabwerebe poyera kufotokoza ngati a Mutharika ali m’dziko muno kapena ngati atuluka monga momwe mphekesera zikuvekeramu.Nthawi zonse a Mutharika akamatuluka m’dziko muno paulendo wa boma kapena wawo wawo, mlembi wa mkulu wa boma amatulutsa kalata yofotokoza za ulendowo.49:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msdkd2byzowv",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/05/a-mutharika-ali-kuti/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Arthur Peter Mutharika","Malawi Broadcasting Corporation","Peter Mutharika","South Africa","Zodiak Broadcasting Station","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"A Mutharika ali kuti?","content":{"html":"$8b","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-05T12:38:59.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicsojbpgkwvplyc7w5j2qju3nq66stgxf7xjdaij55m47w5jr5fum"},"size":80912,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Pomwe mphekesera zikuti a Mutharika apita m'dziko la South Africa, boma silinabwere poyera kufotokoza","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T12:38:39.000Z","textContent":"$8c","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msdkd2byzowv","sort_date":"2026-08-05T12:38:39+00:00"}}] 8d:T8f6,

The whereabouts of President Arthur Peter Mutharika remain unclear after conflicting reports over his alleged departure from Malawi prompted one media house to apologise and another to remove its story, leaving the public without an official explanation.

The uncertainty follows reports on Tuesday claiming the President had left the country on a private trip. However, with those reports now withdrawn and no formal government statement issued, questions over the President’s location remain unanswered.

Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) on Wednesday retracted its earlier report and issued an unreserved apology after announcing that President Mutharika had “sneaked” out of the country to an undisclosed destination.

In a statement, the broadcaster said the report was based on information from trusted sources at Kamuzu International Airport but admitted that its verification process did not meet the standards required before publication.

“As a broadcast house, Zodiak Broadcasting Station remains committed to accurate dissemination of news and information deemed in the interest of the people of this country,” the statement reads.

The station said it would continue to retract, apologise for or clarify inaccurate reports whenever necessary, describing the practice as part of responsible journalism.

Meanwhile, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) also removed from its digital platforms a story which had reported that the President had travelled to South Africa.

The now-deleted report reportedly cited communication from Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Justin Saidi regarding the President’s travel arrangements.

Despite the retraction by Zodiak and the removal of MBC’s report, the government had not, by Wednesday morning, issued an official statement clarifying President Mutharika’s whereabouts or whether he had travelled outside the country.

8e:T766,The whereabouts of President Arthur Peter Mutharika remain unclear after conflicting reports over his alleged departure from Malawi prompted one media house to apologise and another to remove its story, leaving the public without an official explanation. The uncertainty follows reports on Tuesday claiming the President had left the country on a private trip. However, with those reports now withdrawn and no formal government statement issued, questions over the President’s location remain unanswered. Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) on Wednesday retracted its earlier report and issued an unreserved apology after announcing that President Mutharika had “sneaked” out of the country to an undisclosed destination. In a statement, the broadcaster said the report was based on information from trusted sources at Kamuzu International Airport but admitted that its verification process did not meet the standards required before publication. “As a broadcast house, Zodiak Broadcasting Station remains committed to accurate dissemination of news and information deemed in the interest of the people of this country,” the statement reads. The station said it would continue to retract, apologise for or clarify inaccurate reports whenever necessary, describing the practice as part of responsible journalism. Meanwhile, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) also removed from its digital platforms a story which had reported that the President had travelled to South Africa. The now-deleted report reportedly cited communication from Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Justin Saidi regarding the President’s travel arrangements. Despite the retraction by Zodiak and the removal of MBC’s report, the government had not, by Wednesday morning, issued an official statement clarifying President Mutharika’s whereabouts or whether he had travelled outside the country.4a:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msd6uiioyt36",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/05/mutharikas-whereabouts-remain-unclear-as-zodiak-retracts-travel-report/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)","Peter Mutharika","Zodiak Broadcasting Station","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Mutharika’s whereabouts remain unclear","content":{"html":"$8d","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-05T12:16:09.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicsojbpgkwvplyc7w5j2qju3nq66stgxf7xjdaij55m47w5jr5fum"},"size":80912,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"The whereabouts of President Arthur Peter Mutharika remain unclear after conflicting reports over his alleged departure from Malawi prompted one media house to apologise and another to remove its story, leaving the public without an official explanation. The uncertainty follows reports on Tuesday claiming the President had left the country on a private trip. However,...","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T09:13:30.000Z","textContent":"$8e","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msd6uiioyt36","sort_date":"2026-08-05T09:13:30+00:00"}}] 8f:T957,

Civil society organisations under the National Advocacy Platform (NAP) have called on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to urgently review and discontinue the prosecution of human rights defender Sylvester Namiwa, saying such action would be in the interests of justice.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, the organisations expressed concern over Namiwa’s arrest, charging and remand to Maula Prison pending committal proceedings before the High Court.

Namiwa has been charged with treason contrary to Section 38(1)(a) of the Penal Code and publication of false news likely to cause public fear and alarm under Section 60(1) as read with Section 34 of the Penal Code.

The organisations said although law enforcement agencies have a constitutional mandate to investigate crime, the handling of the matter must strictly adhere to constitutional principles, judicial independence, due process and the rule of law.

“We call upon the Director of Public Prosecutions to urgently review this matter and consider discontinuing the prosecution in the interests of justice,” reads part of the statement.

The civil society groups argued that allegations raised by Namiwa against certain public officials should instead be independently, thoroughly and impartially investigated, saying the public interest is better served by establishing the truth of those claims through lawful investigations rather than prosecuting the person who brought them forward.

The organisations also endorsed the position of the , which has called for Namiwa’s immediate release, saying the case raises important constitutional questions regarding personal liberty, due process and the protection of lawful expression.

NAP Chairperson Benedicto Kondowe and National Coordinator Baxton Nkhoma said the case has now gone beyond one individual and represents a test of Malawi’s commitment to constitutional democracy, human rights, civic space and the rule of law.

They further stressed that while no person is above the law, every accused person is entitled to the presumption of innocence, legal representation and a fair hearing within a reasonable time.

The statement was endorsed by civil society organisations from different sectors across the country.

90:T8bb,Civil society organisations under the National Advocacy Platform (NAP) have called on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to urgently review and discontinue the prosecution of human rights defender Sylvester Namiwa, saying such action would be in the interests of justice.In a joint statement issued on Monday, the organisations expressed concern over Namiwa’s arrest, charging and remand to Maula Prison pending committal proceedings before the High Court.Namiwa has been charged with treason contrary to Section 38(1)(a) of the Penal Code and publication of false news likely to cause public fear and alarm under Section 60(1) as read with Section 34 of the Penal Code.The organisations said although law enforcement agencies have a constitutional mandate to investigate crime, the handling of the matter must strictly adhere to constitutional principles, judicial independence, due process and the rule of law.“We call upon the Director of Public Prosecutions to urgently review this matter and consider discontinuing the prosecution in the interests of justice,” reads part of the statement.The civil society groups argued that allegations raised by Namiwa against certain public officials should instead be independently, thoroughly and impartially investigated, saying the public interest is better served by establishing the truth of those claims through lawful investigations rather than prosecuting the person who brought them forward.The organisations also endorsed the position of the , which has called for Namiwa’s immediate release, saying the case raises important constitutional questions regarding personal liberty, due process and the protection of lawful expression.NAP Chairperson Benedicto Kondowe and National Coordinator Baxton Nkhoma said the case has now gone beyond one individual and represents a test of Malawi’s commitment to constitutional democracy, human rights, civic space and the rule of law.They further stressed that while no person is above the law, every accused person is entitled to the presumption of innocence, legal representation and a fair hearing within a reasonable time.The statement was endorsed by civil society organisations from different sectors across the country.4b:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msd6lj5qjfeh",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/05/csos-push-dpp-to-drop-namiwa-treason-case/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Malawi CSOs","Namiwa Treason Case","NAP","Politics in Malawi","Sylvester Namiwa","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"CSOs push DPP to drop Namiwa treason case","content":{"html":"$8f","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-05T09:09:39.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifld4hdlsoj2n5mykb7t3zrsjezy3ds2pncihyyh3bc2y7hg5xxyu"},"size":29140,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Malawi Civil Society Organization wants DPP to drop Namiwa treason case","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T09:07:19.000Z","textContent":"$90","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3msd6lj5qjfeh","sort_date":"2026-08-05T09:07:19+00:00"}}] 91:T765,

Malawians have been left without the usual official communication after President Arthur Peter Mutharika reportedly departed for South Africa on Tuesday on what is understood to be a private visit.

Unlike previous occasions when the sitting President has travelled outside the country, the government had not, by Tuesday evening, issued a statement confirming his departure or explaining the nature of the trip, a move that has sparked public questions over the break from established practice.

Traditionally, the Chief Secretary to the Government, Justin Saidi, issues a formal statement whenever the President leaves Malawi, whether for an official assignment or a private visit. The communication informs the public of the destination and purpose of the trip.

However, no such statement had been released by the time of publication.

Earlier on Tuesday, MBC Digital briefly published a report indicating that the President had left the country before the post was later removed without explanation.

Zodiak Television also reported that Mutharika had travelled to South Africa but did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding the visit.

The absence of official communication marks a departure from long-standing government practice, under which the public is routinely informed whenever the Head of State travels outside Malawi, regardless of whether the visit is official or private.

As of Tuesday evening, the government had not commented on the President’s reported departure or the reasons behind the lack of the customary announcement.

92:T616,Malawians have been left without the usual official communication after President Arthur Peter Mutharika reportedly departed for South Africa on Tuesday on what is understood to be a private visit. Unlike previous occasions when the sitting President has travelled outside the country, the government had not, by Tuesday evening, issued a statement confirming his departure or explaining the nature of the trip, a move that has sparked public questions over the break from established practice. Traditionally, the Chief Secretary to the Government, Justin Saidi, issues a formal statement whenever the President leaves Malawi, whether for an official assignment or a private visit. The communication informs the public of the destination and purpose of the trip. However, no such statement had been released by the time of publication. Earlier on Tuesday, MBC Digital briefly published a report indicating that the President had left the country before the post was later removed without explanation. Zodiak Television also reported that Mutharika had travelled to South Africa but did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding the visit. The absence of official communication marks a departure from long-standing government practice, under which the public is routinely informed whenever the Head of State travels outside Malawi, regardless of whether the visit is official or private. As of Tuesday evening, the government had not commented on the President’s reported departure or the reasons behind the lack of the customary announcement.4c:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mscmyca74uy5",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/08/05/public-left-in-the-dark-as-mutharika-departs/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Justin Saidi","Malawi Government","Peter Mutharika","Politics","Presidential Trip","South Africa","National","News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Public left in the dark as Mutharika departs","content":{"html":"$91","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-08-05T04:05:59.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicsojbpgkwvplyc7w5j2qju3nq66stgxf7xjdaij55m47w5jr5fum"},"size":80912,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Malawians have been left without the usual official communication after President Arthur Peter Mutharika reportedly departed for South Africa on Tuesday on what is understood to be a private visit. Unlike previous occasions when the sitting President has travelled outside the country, the government had not, by Tuesday evening, issued a statement confirming his departure...","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T03:52:18.000Z","textContent":"$92","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mscmyca74uy5","sort_date":"2026-08-05T03:52:18+00:00"}}] 93:T4f6,There is a logic of future threat in the anti-trans movement (notice how much anti-trans policymaking is aimed solely at women, never men?). So-called “gender critical” bigots routinely invoke a fear of trans women infiltrating toilets and locker rooms to assault “real” women, even if that simply doesn’t happen. Trans women are far more likely to be victims of cis women (and cis men, enforcing a bathroom rule) than they are perpetrators. Even supposed examples of this phenomenon are mostly exaggerated or outright lies. Rapists don’t need to dress up like a trans girl in order to assault women; they do that anyway, usually to women they already know, without bothering with a gender pretense. It is a fake fear, driven by bigotry not anything real. But that fear gender criticals say they feel of being assaulted in the bathroom, though, that sense of threat from a man who deceived everyone in society, taking hormones, changing his name, and dressing differently, just to assault a stranger in a restaurant toilet, becomes self-reinforcing. You can’t argue with it (how dare you dismiss my fear?), and you certainly can’t disprove it. That’s what makes the logic of future threat so appealing to fascists. By invoking it, it becomes permanent.4d:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.document/3msbf5nzrks2g",{"publication":{"href":"https://joshuafoust.leaflet.pub","pubRecord":{"url":"https://joshuafoust.leaflet.pub","name":"Joshua Foust","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":219,"g":219,"r":219,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"pageWidth":768,"accentText":{"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":0,"g":222,"r":93,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":0,"g":222,"r":93,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"An ATmospheric blog where I share about things I care about.","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":false,"showRecommends":true}},"uri":"at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.publication/3moxe24m7vc27"},"ownerDid":"@joshuafoust.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc","handle":"joshuafoust.com","displayName":"Joshua Foust 🪖🎮"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3msbf5nzrks2g","site":"at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.publication/3moxe24m7vc27","tags":["politics","culture","queer"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Trans Girls and the State of Exception","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019fcd39-eb6a-7008-bfb6-d6e408fb5721","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":66,"byteStart":57},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"},{"uri":"https://www.dukeupress.edu/ontopower","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":604,"byteStart":589},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Around a decade ago, the philosopher Brian Massumi wrote Ontopower, an attempt to make sense of the politics of 21st century America. It is a… thickly written work of political philosophy, in the Geertzian sense, which means it has a lot of complicated arguments with inaccessible language. I think it does something very interesting, underneath the opaque language, in that it tries to explain why America was so insistent on normalizing a state of preemption after 9/11. There are useful ideas in it, but I’m not sure I’d recommend reading it. I’m still wrestling with it. It is thickly written."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":666,"byteStart":663},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Anyway, Massumi develops a really interesting idea in this book: ontopower, a self-consciously Foucaldian term to explain the post-9/11 effort at implementing “full-spectrum dominance” of the War on Terror, from imagined threats (nuclear weapons in Iraq) to civil threats (seeking privacy from pervasive surveillance), to ideological threats (anyone opposed to the invasion of Iraq). In this discussion, he deploys a fascinating term, “the logic of future threat,” which is worth thinking about for a minute. In brief: Massumi (correctly) identifies what he calls “the affective logic of potential,” or the US government’s tendency to focus on what may emerge from a threat matrix, regardless of likelihood or immediacy, as a means of applying the war on terror’s preemptive logic to unrelated issues driven by the feelings of officials. Put a bit more simply: the war on terror’s preemptive logic has been expanded to a universal tendency, not just a temporary state to prevent follow up attacks. 9/11 was 25 years ago. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":281,"byteStart":237},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.theregister.com/offbeat/2006/08/17/mass-murder-in-the-skies-was-the-plot-feasible/1059447","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":317,"byteStart":295},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifacts/richard-reids-shoes","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":429,"byteStart":422},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"There is an interesting thing about the logic of future threat: it doesn’t have to be real. Officials can worry about, say, someone mixing chemical precursors in a plane bathroom in order to explode an airplane, even if doing so is so impractical as to be functionally impossible while actual would-be plane bombers are so cartoonishly inept they get stopped by their seat mates. The threat might not be viable, but the feeling of that threat, the sense of insecurity and fear, persists, which then becomes permanentized into law. Crucially, Massumi argues, this fearmongering approach to security also filters into other areas of daily life. It’s a powerful argument with real explanatory power."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":322,"byteStart":299},"features":[{"uri":"https://jaapl.org/content/46/2/232","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":516,"byteStart":498},"features":[{"uri":"https://reason.com/2021/11/01/conservatives-wrongly-portrayed-the-loudoun-county-sexual-assault-as-a-transgender-bathroom-issue/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":632,"byteStart":613},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/documentation/index.html","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":1118,"byteStart":1089},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"$93"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":107,"byteStart":89},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"Policing gender in the bathroom is an ancient problem for trans people. In his 1998 book Female Masculinity, Jack Halberstam argues that policing not-femme-enough people in the toilet is ultimately an act of misogyny. It tells women that they aren’t women enough, which one might think self-described feminists would find troubling."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":678,"byteStart":677},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#footnote","footnoteId":"019fcd59-c252-7ffb-b124-3216f1037a86","contentFacets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":35,"byteStart":17},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"contentPlaintext":"Jack Halberstam, Female Masculinity, 1998, pg. 20-21"}]}],"plaintext":"“However, having one’s gender challenged in the women’s restroom is a frequent occurrence in the lives of androgynous or masculine women; indeed, it is so frequent that one wonders whether the category ‘woman,’ when used to designate public functions, is completely outmoded… In these bathroom confrontations, the gender-ambiguous person first appears as not-women (“You are in the wrong bathroom!”), but then the person appears as something even more scary, not-man (“No, I am not,” spoken in a voice recognized as not-male). Not-man and not-woman, the gender-ambiguous bathroom user is also not androgynous or in-between; this person is gender deviant.”*"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":88,"byteStart":70},"features":[{"uri":"https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Restrooms-Minority-Stress-Jun-2013.pdf","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":481,"byteStart":454},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.unpluggedpsych.com/breaking-down-thought-terminating-cliches/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"It doesn’t really seem to matter that anti-trans bathroom laws have disastrous effects on trans girls, or maybe it is more accurate to say the entire purpose of bathroom laws is to harm trans girls. It is a rhetorical move designed to silence debate while reframing bigotry as self-defense, little different from a white nationalist claiming “great replacement” to justify throwing children into disease-riddled prison camps. It looks a lot like a thought-terminating cliché, though I think it does slightly different work. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":214,"byteStart":191},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/49306657/sophie-cunningham-finger-point-indiana-fever-wnba","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":626,"byteStart":605},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.outsports.com/2024/1/12/24034441/riley-gaines-lia-thomas-ncaa-swimming-fox-news-outkick-right-wing-media-politics/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Trans girls playing sports is another area where the logic of future threat exerts itself. Right now, there is capital-D discourse about Sophie Cunningham, a WNBA player who has begun saying a bunch of nasty things about the possibility of a trans girl playing ball against her. To be clear, there are no openly trans women in the WNBA, nor is there widespread awareness of a trans superstar in high school or college basketball who might be drafted. It is a “fear” that comes from nowhere: a threat felt once, expanded into ideology, enforced through dominance. So, when Riley Gaines, still upset at tying for fifth place with a trans girl that she made it into her entire personality, shows up to WNBA games to do photoshoots with people wearing anti-trans shirts, it’s worth acknowledging that she is protesting something that doesn’t exist. It’s fake. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.bskyPost","postRef":{"cid":"bafyreiasbha6bc2jcwtxuxiqbp4viprybdk6ebcd3pew6jxuwtpukmxpw4","uri":"at://did:plc:o6b6p7w54st6r7ze6nmjv4it/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms4ktwipp22c"},"clientHost":"bsky.app"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Just as Halberstam warned, these beliefs end up all harming women, straight, queer, cis, and trans, and that’s the most visible in sports. Semenya Caster and Imani Khelif are women who are arbitrarily excluded from competition out of a fear of “biological men” distorting the sport (men of extraordinary biology, like Michael Phelps’s abnormally long arms or Jonas Vingegaard‘s extreme VO2 max, are allowed to benefit from their bodies). To repeat: cis men are not taking hormones, surgically altering their bodies, changing their names, and dressing differently just to win at women’s sports. It’s fake. It’s a fear used to justify anti-trans policies, not anything “real.”"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":376,"byteStart":335},"features":[{"uri":"https://defector.com/j-k-rowling-invents-a-trans-olympian-to-get-mad-at","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":457,"byteStart":437},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.advocate.com/news/lesbian-mistaken-transgender-arizona-walmart","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"I am very pointedly ignoring that the athletes being used in this crusade are all pretty blonde girls — the politics of protecting women as if they are rare sportscars is a bit beyond scope here — but it’s not immaterial. It’s also not immaterial that deploying these future threats to justify a fascist spread of laws is very lavishly financed by bigoted billionaires, who are not shy about censorship, financial ruination, and deploying the police against anyone not deemed girly enough to pee in a stall. Again, an old, shitty story."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":775,"byteStart":750},"features":[{"uri":"https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2024","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"I’m not arguing that transphobia is the fault of the war on terror era — it was around long before and will be around long after we decide that era is over (is it over?). But I am arguing that the success of George W. Bush’s rhetorical maneuvers, using the past fear of a threat to drive current policy even if that threat never materialized, is relevant here. To repeat: there is no evidence that the things gender critical and trans-exclusionary feminists deploy to justify harsh laws targeting trans women actually happen. They just don’t. There is no trans “problem” in our society or anyone else’s society. It is fake. Imagined. That feeling of threat, though, endures, however fake it may be, and in this case has become a way of enforcing violent bigotry. I think it’s important to focus on that point: the end point of this rhetoric is bigotry and domination, not safety. No one is protected by gender critical policies; they only harm."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":99,"byteStart":86},"features":[{"uri":"https://news.gallup.com/poll/509189/confidence-military-lowest-two-decades.aspx","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":316,"byteStart":291},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24952284.media-amplifying-donald-trumps-lies-can-better/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":734,"byteStart":713},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/03/lgbtq-support-attitudes-poll","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Slowly, the US has begun to move past the threat politics of the Bush era: people are less trusting of the military, less accepting of the government’s justifications for violence, and most certainly don’t believe the lies that the Trump administration pumps into the public sphere with eager media amplification. After a certain point, the human toll of such politics become impossible to ignore. But that human toll of the war on terror has been extreme, measured in megadeaths between Bush, Obama, and Trump. I hope we don’t force trans people to endure similar horrors before reconsidering the way fake threats are used to impose hateful ideologies on them. But I also worry: queer rights generally are losing public support under the onslaught of anti-trans bigotry. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":428,"byteStart":383},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.advocate.com/media/new-york-times-fails-transgender","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"I wish I had answers here, but apart from solidarity I’m not sure yet where to begin. What I do think should happen first is for more trans people to be centered in this discourse: not everyone has trans or queer friends, which makes personal connection hard to scale. Trans voices are absent from the WNBA controversy, they were absent from any locker room argument, and they are intentionally excluded from media discussions. We can fight instead is highlighting what trans people are thinking and feeling, and importantly what they are telling us they need. I don’t think those needs are unreasonable (jobs, money, housing, safety, respect, dignity), so maybe we can start there. 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I am so very fascinated by the dynamic between power, ego and authority.

","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"description":"I am so very fascinated by the dynamic between power, ego and authority.","publishedAt":"2026-08-03T21:00:32.000Z","textContent":"I am so very fascinated by the dynamic between power, ego and authority.","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mk63nox7ahqdf33rpaa4c3qr/site.standard.document/3ms7fe6eqq3td","sort_date":"2026-08-03T21:00:32+00:00"}}] 4f:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l/site.standard.document/3ms5bej5kc22g",{"publication":{"href":"https://plush.leaflet.pub","pubRecord":{"url":"https://plush.leaflet.pub","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreib6awydxjhgdzo4fnokdfpodztdwtvdw4jwkjlzgbwd52yes4ci2e"},"size":8082,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"name":"Plush Diagnosis","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":39,"g":39,"r":39,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"bodyFont":"custom:EB Garamond:EB+Garamond:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700","wordmark":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.wordmark","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreigjtdeqfxr6zwzbfkylffdpzpxaclm56n3gfy2cw3zt36p46smofy"},"size":36814,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"width":600},"pageWidth":1200,"accentText":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"headingFont":"custom:Cinzel Decorative:Cinzel+Decorative:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700","pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":230,"g":231,"r":229,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":230,"g":231,"r":229,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":93,"g":50,"r":209,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":true},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":93,"g":50,"r":209,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":230,"g":231,"r":229,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Like André Leon Talley, my eyes too are starving for beauty. Plush Diagnosis is a space on the internet for that which is most important to me.\n\nTo all the angels,\nPlushhhhhh 💋\n･+･","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true,"prevNextDirection":"ltr"}},"uri":"at://did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l/site.standard.publication/3ms2i6odjqk2s"},"ownerDid":"@plushdiagnosis.bsky.social","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l","handle":"plushdiagnosis.bsky.social","displayName":"Plush Diagnosis"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3ms5bej5kc22g","site":"at://did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l/site.standard.publication/3ms2i6odjqk2s","tags":["plush diagnosis","podcasts","media garden","personal curriculum","art","manga","film","books","movies","music","tara lily","dune","politics","berserk","mayra andrade","tortise","creative writing","internet","website","blog","the cyber harvest"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"The Cyber Harvest 0.01","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019fc50d-92fb-7990-970f-429fe3f8f9dd","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":""}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.image","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreibvwcbgjz5ussbrn7hduhb3y3hrmr4hkanotks57wlujejrins2bi"},"size":192080,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"aspectRatio":{"width":1080,"height":1080}}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"uri":"at://did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l/site.standard.document/3ms5bwin3622w","size":"medium","$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.standardSitePost"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":""}}]}]},"coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreibvwcbgjz5ussbrn7hduhb3y3hrmr4hkanotks57wlujejrins2bi"},"size":192080,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"bskyPostRef":{"cid":"bafyreiehbuerxxqj4yjdoodrrrx2xxzx6rvb4edydhoidt23cz7kikgcse","uri":"at://did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms5bemdwns2j","commit":{"cid":"bafyreideatviqir7g577s5lczmaerdphruiet7rrcv4aom7suhxuilgliu","rev":"3ms5bemnlpb2u"},"validationStatus":"valid"},"description":"The Cyber Harvest series is something I started as part of my take on personal curriculum and media gardens. It's a project born from my own approach to building a personal learning ecosystem, a mix of self‑directed study, aesthetic cultivation, and media organization.","publishedAt":"2026-08-03T00:43:50.972Z","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l"}],"theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:tzyayi5woaef4yi7ukcl5a3l/site.standard.document/3ms5bej5kc22g","sort_date":"2026-08-03T00:43:50.972+00:00"}}] 94:T7fb,We've all had the thought. How can people believe Trump's lies and adopt such twisted beliefs? How can they buy in to every idiotic conspiracy theory that comes along? Is it just Trump's supernatural ability to deceive everyone and make them accept his alternate reality? (In my mind this is the real Trump Derangement Syndrome.) Or is it really just Trump taking advantage of, and playing to, a condition that already existed? In her recent newsletter celebrating the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, Heather Cox Richardson states >the WWII military draft revealed “the widespread physical and mental >incapacity among the young people of our nation.” About 30% of those >examined for military service ... were classified as unfit. Of those who >made the cut to join the military, about a million and a half had to be >discharged for physical or mental disability and an equal number had to be >treated for preexisting diseases or infirmities. > I found this rather shocking. You tend to think of WWII soldiers as strapping farm boys not impoverished indigents. But then I started thinking "could this be the situation we are facing today?" How else can you explain the seeming lack of intelligence of MAGA? This played right in to a theory I've had for a long time. I attribute the general lack of heath, and decline in intelligence to two main factors. Cigarettes and junk food. This in turn has led to the epidemic of obesity, which has led to en entire culture existing in their easy chairs, glued to the TV, and of course drinking lots of beer. Basically a sedated population susceptible to whatever lies they're being fed, with absolutely no discernment to sort out the truth. So how do we recover from this? One could think of more even stricter government programs to improve diet but we know that's not going to fly. Too much money to be made on junk food and cigarettes and too much value in a sedated population. I can see the problem, but offer no solutions. 95:T7fb,We've all had the thought. How can people believe Trump's lies and adopt such twisted beliefs? How can they buy in to every idiotic conspiracy theory that comes along? Is it just Trump's supernatural ability to deceive everyone and make them accept his alternate reality? (In my mind this is the real Trump Derangement Syndrome.) Or is it really just Trump taking advantage of, and playing to, a condition that already existed? In her recent newsletter celebrating the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, Heather Cox Richardson states >the WWII military draft revealed “the widespread physical and mental >incapacity among the young people of our nation.” About 30% of those >examined for military service ... were classified as unfit. Of those who >made the cut to join the military, about a million and a half had to be >discharged for physical or mental disability and an equal number had to be >treated for preexisting diseases or infirmities. > I found this rather shocking. You tend to think of WWII soldiers as strapping farm boys not impoverished indigents. But then I started thinking "could this be the situation we are facing today?" How else can you explain the seeming lack of intelligence of MAGA? This played right in to a theory I've had for a long time. I attribute the general lack of heath, and decline in intelligence to two main factors. Cigarettes and junk food. This in turn has led to the epidemic of obesity, which has led to en entire culture existing in their easy chairs, glued to the TV, and of course drinking lots of beer. Basically a sedated population susceptible to whatever lies they're being fed, with absolutely no discernment to sort out the truth. So how do we recover from this? One could think of more even stricter government programs to improve diet but we know that's not going to fly. Too much money to be made on junk food and cigarettes and too much value in a sedated population. I can see the problem, but offer no solutions. 50:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:ntnmdg6fuvogzr6khf7agoqf/site.standard.document/3ms4opufaaobr",{"publication":{"href":"https://paullieberman.org","pubRecord":{"url":"https://paullieberman.org","name":"Lieb's Log","$type":"site.standard.publication","basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":246,"g":130,"r":59,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":55,"g":41,"r":31,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Paul Lieberman's Blog","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:ntnmdg6fuvogzr6khf7agoqf/site.standard.publication/liebs-log"},"ownerDid":"@paullieberman.net","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:ntnmdg6fuvogzr6khf7agoqf","handle":"paullieberman.net","displayName":"lieb"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/blog/maga-sickness","site":"at://did:plc:ntnmdg6fuvogzr6khf7agoqf/site.standard.publication/liebs-log","tags":["Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"MAGA is a sickness","description":"$94","publishedAt":"2026-08-02T11:15:23-07:00","textContent":"$95","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:ntnmdg6fuvogzr6khf7agoqf/site.standard.document/3ms4opufaaobr","sort_date":"2026-08-02T18:15:23+00:00"}}] 96:Te45,

The United States government misplaced every African country on a map shown during a major international conference in Brazil. The blunder has reignited accusations of racial bias, colonial arrogance and enduring Western attitudes towards Africa.

The map was displayed during a presentation by the US State Department at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro. Instead of correctly identifying African countries, it relocated nations across the continent, placing Nigeria in the Sahara Desert, moving Mozambique to the Horn of Africa and shifting Ivory Coast to the opposite side of the continent. Malawi was also incorrectly positioned.

According to Reuters, the mistake quickly spread online after delegates took screenshots and shared them on social media.

Reuters reported that “a U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online.”

The incident has fuelled criticism that some Western institutions continue to view Africa through a colonial lens, treating the continent as a single, interchangeable place rather than a continent of 54 sovereign states with distinct histories, cultures and identities.

Reuters said its analysis found “the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools.” OpenAI told Reuters it was investigating the report.

The incident has also revived wider criticism of artificial intelligence systems and the data used to train them. Researchers and users have repeatedly highlighted examples where AI-generated images portray African countries using stereotypes associated with poverty, rural villages and underdevelopment, even when prompted to generate modern, affluent or futuristic African cities. AI companies have acknowledged that generative models can reflect biases in their training data and have said they are working to reduce such distortions.

Critics argued that the error went beyond a simple technical mistake. Matt Petit, an AI and geopolitics specialist at the Atlantic Council, wrote that “Whoever created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work,” Reuters reported.

Malawi24’s own testing has found similar patterns. In separate tests, AI models including ChatGPT and Claude repeatedly generated stereotypical depictions of Africa, favouring mud huts, rural villages and poverty over modern skylines, even when explicitly instructed to create wealthy or futuristic African cities. The findings have fuelled concerns that AI systems can reproduce historical biases and Western narratives that portray Africa primarily through the lens of underdevelopment.

The controversy has also renewed scrutiny of US attitudes towards Africa. In 2018, multiple participants at a White House immigration meeting said President Donald Trump referred to African nations and Haiti as “shithole countries,” triggering international condemnation and accusations of racism. Trump denied making the specific remark.d global condemnation. Trump denied using those exact words.

97:Tcb2,The United States government misplaced every African country on a map shown during a major international conference in Brazil. The blunder has reignited accusations of racial bias, colonial arrogance and enduring Western attitudes towards Africa. The map was displayed during a presentation by the US State Department at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro. Instead of correctly identifying African countries, it relocated nations across the continent, placing Nigeria in the Sahara Desert, moving Mozambique to the Horn of Africa and shifting Ivory Coast to the opposite side of the continent. Malawi was also incorrectly positioned. According to Reuters, the mistake quickly spread online after delegates took screenshots and shared them on social media. Reuters reported that “a U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online.” The incident has fuelled criticism that some Western institutions continue to view Africa through a colonial lens, treating the continent as a single, interchangeable place rather than a continent of 54 sovereign states with distinct histories, cultures and identities. Reuters said its analysis found “the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools.” OpenAI told Reuters it was investigating the report. The incident has also revived wider criticism of artificial intelligence systems and the data used to train them. Researchers and users have repeatedly highlighted examples where AI-generated images portray African countries using stereotypes associated with poverty, rural villages and underdevelopment, even when prompted to generate modern, affluent or futuristic African cities. AI companies have acknowledged that generative models can reflect biases in their training data and have said they are working to reduce such distortions. Critics argued that the error went beyond a simple technical mistake. Matt Petit, an AI and geopolitics specialist at the Atlantic Council, wrote that “Whoever created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work,” Reuters reported. Malawi24’s own testing has found similar patterns. In separate tests, AI models including ChatGPT and Claude repeatedly generated stereotypical depictions of Africa, favouring mud huts, rural villages and poverty over modern skylines, even when explicitly instructed to create wealthy or futuristic African cities. The findings have fuelled concerns that AI systems can reproduce historical biases and Western narratives that portray Africa primarily through the lens of underdevelopment. The controversy has also renewed scrutiny of US attitudes towards Africa. In 2018, multiple participants at a White House immigration meeting said President Donald Trump referred to African nations and Haiti as “shithole countries,” triggering international condemnation and accusations of racism. Trump denied making the specific remark.d global condemnation. Trump denied using those exact words.51:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrwqq5davf6l",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/31/us-governments-africa-map-blunder-fuels-accusations-of-racial-bias-colonial-arrogance-and-enduring-western-attitudes-towards-africa/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Brazil","colonialism","Donald Trump","United States","National","Politics","Top News","World News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"US government’s Africa map blunder fuels accusations of racial bias, colonial arrogance and enduring Western attitudes towards Africa","content":{"html":"$96","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-31T11:13:20.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreignchptu3galahoom2uuuq532ftdwmxbhnh6otxa3bvm4xw5fbiqu"},"size":23548,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"The United States government misplaced every African country on a map shown during a major international conference in Brazil. The blunder has reignited accusations of racial bias, colonial arrogance and enduring Western attitudes towards Africa. The map was displayed during a presentation by the US State Department at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de...","publishedAt":"2026-07-30T22:04:56.000Z","textContent":"$97","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrwqq5davf6l","sort_date":"2026-07-30T22:04:56+00:00"}}] 98:T1b1a,

NYON, Switzerland — UEFA and its 55 member associations have unanimously agreed to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, if FIFA president Gianni Infantino proceeds with plans to sell ownership stakes in the tournament to private investors.

In an unprecedented statement released on Thursday, European football’s governing body declared that the FIFA World Cup “is not for sale” and accused FIFA of attempting to hand control of the game’s biggest competition to outside investors.

UEFA said the proposal was developed in secret and brought close to approval without meaningful consultation with national associations.

“It is both irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the game,” UEFA said.

The organisation described the proposal as “a profound failure of leadership” and accused FIFA of abandoning its responsibility as the custodian of world football.

UEFA warned that allowing private investors to acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions would fundamentally change football forever.

“The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever,” the statement said.

It argued that commercial returns would become a permanent obligation and that decisions on the international calendar, tournament formats and the future of football would increasingly be driven by shareholder interests rather than what benefits the game.

“Football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return,” UEFA said.

The governing body also rejected what it described as FIFA’s attempt to pressure national associations into accepting the proposal.

“National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum: accept the irreversible capture of football’s greatest competitions or bear the consequences.”

“This is not a democratic decision, but governance by intimidation.”

UEFA insisted that no football official has the moral authority to sell what generations of players, supporters and national teams have built.

“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” it said.

“It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors.”

The European governing body then issued its strongest warning yet.

“As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.”

The decision means reigning world champions Spain, 2030 FIFA World Cup co-host Portugal, and European heavyweights England, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands could all refuse to participate in future FIFA competitions if the dispute is not resolved.

The move dramatically escalates the growing confrontation between UEFA and FIFA and threatens to plunge world football into its biggest governance crisis in modern history.

The developments come just days after Malawian football fans also turned against Infantino. A Malawi24 online poll found that 80% of respondents believe Infantino should not remain FIFA president following the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while 17% supported another term and 3% were undecided. The results reflected growing unease over his leadership and the proposed sale of stakes in FIFA competitions.

The dispute also places the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) under fresh scrutiny.

Although FAM has not publicly commented on UEFA’s boycott threat or Infantino’s investment proposal, it is widely expected to support both. Infantino is seeking backing from FIFA’s 211 member associations for a controversial investment plan that could unlock up to US$40 million in football development funding for each association from 2027.

The proposal has attracted particular attention in Malawi following FAM’s recent decision to invite bids for the construction of a beach soccer stadium in Blantyre.

FAM president Fleetwood Haiya has not publicly said whether the proposed facility could benefit from the anticipated FIFA funding package. He has also remained silent on Infantino’s proposal and the FIFA president’s expected bid for another term.

FAM has not publicly explained why Blantyre was selected for the beach soccer stadium ahead of Malawi’s lakeshore districts. Critics argue that locations such as Salima, Mangochi and Nkhata Bay would have been more natural choices because of their sandy beaches. Others say the project raises broader questions about how major sports infrastructure projects are distributed across Malawi.

Concluding its statement, UEFA vowed that it would never allow football’s greatest prize to become an investment asset.

“Some things are simply too important to sell,” the statement said.

“The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”

There are growing indications that FIFA is courting American oligarchs and billionaire investors to buy stakes in the FIFA World Cup as part of Gianni Infantino’s controversial commercialisation plan.

99:T154f,NYON, Switzerland — UEFA and its 55 member associations have unanimously agreed to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, if FIFA president Gianni Infantino proceeds with plans to sell ownership stakes in the tournament to private investors. In an unprecedented statement released on Thursday, European football’s governing body declared that the FIFA World Cup “is not for sale” and accused FIFA of attempting to hand control of the game’s biggest competition to outside investors. UEFA said the proposal was developed in secret and brought close to approval without meaningful consultation with national associations. “It is both irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the game,” UEFA said. The organisation described the proposal as “a profound failure of leadership” and accused FIFA of abandoning its responsibility as the custodian of world football. UEFA warned that allowing private investors to acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions would fundamentally change football forever. “The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever,” the statement said. It argued that commercial returns would become a permanent obligation and that decisions on the international calendar, tournament formats and the future of football would increasingly be driven by shareholder interests rather than what benefits the game. “Football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return,” UEFA said. The governing body also rejected what it described as FIFA’s attempt to pressure national associations into accepting the proposal. “National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum: accept the irreversible capture of football’s greatest competitions or bear the consequences.” “This is not a democratic decision, but governance by intimidation.” UEFA insisted that no football official has the moral authority to sell what generations of players, supporters and national teams have built. “The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product,” it said. “It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors.” The European governing body then issued its strongest warning yet. “As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.” The decision means reigning world champions Spain, 2030 FIFA World Cup co-host Portugal, and European heavyweights England, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands could all refuse to participate in future FIFA competitions if the dispute is not resolved. The move dramatically escalates the growing confrontation between UEFA and FIFA and threatens to plunge world football into its biggest governance crisis in modern history. The developments come just days after Malawian football fans also turned against Infantino. A Malawi24 online poll found that 80% of respondents believe Infantino should not remain FIFA president following the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while 17% supported another term and 3% were undecided. The results reflected growing unease over his leadership and the proposed sale of stakes in FIFA competitions. The dispute also places the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) under fresh scrutiny. Although FAM has not publicly commented on UEFA’s boycott threat or Infantino’s investment proposal, it is widely expected to support both. Infantino is seeking backing from FIFA’s 211 member associations for a controversial investment plan that could unlock up to US$40 million in football development funding for each association from 2027. The proposal has attracted particular attention in Malawi following FAM’s recent decision to invite bids for the construction of a beach soccer stadium in Blantyre. FAM president Fleetwood Haiya has not publicly said whether the proposed facility could benefit from the anticipated FIFA funding package. He has also remained silent on Infantino’s proposal and the FIFA president’s expected bid for another term. FAM has not publicly explained why Blantyre was selected for the beach soccer stadium ahead of Malawi’s lakeshore districts. Critics argue that locations such as Salima, Mangochi and Nkhata Bay would have been more natural choices because of their sandy beaches. Others say the project raises broader questions about how major sports infrastructure projects are distributed across Malawi. Concluding its statement, UEFA vowed that it would never allow football’s greatest prize to become an investment asset. “Some things are simply too important to sell,” the statement said. “The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.” There are growing indications that FIFA is courting American oligarchs and billionaire investors to buy stakes in the FIFA World Cup as part of Gianni Infantino’s controversial commercialisation plan.52:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mruvacl2hkwy",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/30/uefa-to-boycott-fifa-world-cup-infantino-faces-revolt/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Fifa","Fleetwood Haiya","Football","Gianni Infantino","World Cup","National","Politics","Sports"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"UEFA to boycott FIFA World Cup: Infantino faces revolt","content":{"html":"$98","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-30T16:44:41.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreibopfitlyvnaru5zpteijvozycykznc3j3uhaxvflcxozd5zbvfsu"},"size":28728,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"NYON, Switzerland — UEFA and its 55 member associations have unanimously agreed to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, if FIFA president Gianni Infantino proceeds with plans to sell ownership stakes in the tournament to private investors. In an unprecedented statement released on Thursday, European football's governing body declared that the FIFA...","publishedAt":"2026-07-30T16:43:30.000Z","textContent":"$99","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mruvacl2hkwy","sort_date":"2026-07-30T16:43:30+00:00"}}] 9a:T1107,

“Will the stadium come with a lake?” critics ask after FAM tender sparks ridicule

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has become the target of online ridicule after inviting bids for the construction of a “Beach Soccer Stadium” in Blantyre, a city with no lake or coastline.

The tender notice, released as part of FAM’s 2026 procurement plan, lists four infrastructure projects across the country. One of them reads: “Partial Construction of Beach Soccer Stadium at Chichomoni in Blantyre.”

The wording immediately caught the attention of social media users, who questioned how a beach stadium could be built in Malawi’s commercial capital.

“Will the stadium come with a lake?” one critic asked. Others joked that the facility would have to be built along the Mudi River, while some sarcastically suggested the Shire River at Zalewa.

The advertisement, dated 25 July 2026, invites eligible contractors to submit sealed bids for the project under procurement reference FAM/NCB/W/004/26.

According to the tender, the project forms part of FAM’s budgeted infrastructure works for the 2026 financial year. Bids are due by 7 August 2026.

Beach stadium ku Blantyre? While mukufuna tourism? Why not Mangochi, Nkhata bay better yet Salima which is closer to the capital? Anthu otopetsa inu @MalawiGovt and @FaMalawi …pagani spread zinthuzi 💩 pic.twitter.com/8Fha1NaFkB
— HOPKINS (@Hopemalopa) July 29, 2026

While the wording has fuelled jokes, beach soccer does not require a natural beach. The sport is played on specially prepared sand pitches, and many countries have purpose-built inland beach soccer stadiums.

Nevertheless, critics argued that describing the project simply as a “beach stadium” in landlocked Blantyre was bound to attract ridicule.

FAM has not publicly explained the proposed design or whether the facility will be a permanent sand arena built to international beach soccer standards.

The tender also comes as FIFA, under president Gianni Infantino, is seeking support from member associations for a controversial investment proposal that could unlock up to US$40 million in football development funding for each association from 2027.

FAM president Fleetwood Haiya has not publicly commented on whether the proposed beach soccer stadium forms part of projects that could benefit from the new FIFA funding package.

Haiya has also remained silent on Infantino’s proposal, although FAM is widely expected to back both the investment plan and Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president.

FAM has not publicly explained the proposed design of the Chichomoni facility or why Blantyre was selected ahead of Malawi’s lakeshore districts. Critics argue that locations such as Salima, Mangochi or Nkhata Bay would have been more natural homes for a beach soccer stadium because of their access to sandy beaches. Others say the decision raises broader questions about how national sports infrastructure projects are distributed across Malawi.

9b:Tbb0,“Will the stadium come with a lake?” critics ask after FAM tender sparks ridicule Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has become the target of online ridicule after inviting bids for the construction of a “Beach Soccer Stadium” in Blantyre, a city with no lake or coastline. The tender notice, released as part of FAM’s 2026 procurement plan, lists four infrastructure projects across the country. One of them reads: “Partial Construction of Beach Soccer Stadium at Chichomoni in Blantyre.” The wording immediately caught the attention of social media users, who questioned how a beach stadium could be built in Malawi’s commercial capital. “Will the stadium come with a lake?” one critic asked. Others joked that the facility would have to be built along the Mudi River, while some sarcastically suggested the Shire River at Zalewa. The advertisement, dated 25 July 2026, invites eligible contractors to submit sealed bids for the project under procurement reference FAM/NCB/W/004/26. According to the tender, the project forms part of FAM’s budgeted infrastructure works for the 2026 financial year. Bids are due by 7 August 2026. Beach stadium ku Blantyre? While mukufuna tourism? Why not Mangochi, Nkhata bay better yet Salima which is closer to the capital? Anthu otopetsa inu @MalawiGovt and @FaMalawi …pagani spread zinthuzi 💩 pic.twitter.com/8Fha1NaFkB— HOPKINS (@Hopemalopa) July 29, 2026 While the wording has fuelled jokes, beach soccer does not require a natural beach. The sport is played on specially prepared sand pitches, and many countries have purpose-built inland beach soccer stadiums. Nevertheless, critics argued that describing the project simply as a “beach stadium” in landlocked Blantyre was bound to attract ridicule. FAM has not publicly explained the proposed design or whether the facility will be a permanent sand arena built to international beach soccer standards. The tender also comes as FIFA, under president Gianni Infantino, is seeking support from member associations for a controversial investment proposal that could unlock up to US$40 million in football development funding for each association from 2027. FAM president Fleetwood Haiya has not publicly commented on whether the proposed beach soccer stadium forms part of projects that could benefit from the new FIFA funding package. Haiya has also remained silent on Infantino’s proposal, although FAM is widely expected to back both the investment plan and Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president. FAM has not publicly explained the proposed design of the Chichomoni facility or why Blantyre was selected ahead of Malawi’s lakeshore districts. Critics argue that locations such as Salima, Mangochi or Nkhata Bay would have been more natural homes for a beach soccer stadium because of their access to sandy beaches. Others say the decision raises broader questions about how national sports infrastructure projects are distributed across Malawi.53:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrumtiqy4qgq",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/30/fam-to-build-beach-stadium-in-blantyre/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Blantyre","corruption","Fleetwood Haiya","Football","Football Association of Malawi (FAM)","fraud","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"FAM to build ‘beach stadium’ in Blantyre","content":{"html":"$9a","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-30T14:57:03.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreidb2vgztfgglkbntp7awus6exu6zbysbye5aqrz2hx3l23uujzx5y"},"size":122732,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"\"Will the stadium come with a lake?\" critics ask after FAM tender sparks ridicule Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has become the target of online ridicule after inviting bids for the construction of a \"Beach Soccer Stadium\" in Blantyre, a city with no lake or coastline. The tender notice, released as part of FAM's 2026...","publishedAt":"2026-07-30T14:10:23.000Z","textContent":"$9b","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrumtiqy4qgq","sort_date":"2026-07-30T14:10:23+00:00"}}] 9c:T2166,

Malawians have turned against FIFA president Gianni Infantino as a global backlash grows over his controversial plan to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup.

A Malawi24 poll conducted on Facebook found that 80% of respondents believe Infantino should not remain FIFA president now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup has ended.

Only 17% said he should stay, while 3% were undecided.

Results of the poll, conducted before the World Cup had concluded, mirror a separate poll conducted on the Malawi24 X (formerly Twitter) account.

Since then, opposition to Infantino’s plans has intensified.

On Wednesday, UEFA escalated its attack on FIFA’s proposals, accusing world football’s governing body of trying to pressure member associations into backing the scheme by imposing a deadline linked to a lucrative one-off payment. Critics have described the approach as amounting to bribery or blackmail.

“FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends,” UEFA said in a strongly worded statement. UEFA accused FIFA of holding national associations to ransom by saying they could lose the payout if they failed to support the proposals before the deadline.

The dispute centres on Infantino’s proposal to create a new commercial company that would manage the FIFA World Cup and other major tournaments while allowing outside investors to buy minority stakes.

FIFA intends to expand football development funding to over USD 10 billion subject to approval by FIFA Member Associations:
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 28, 2026

According to reports, FIFA’s 211 member associations would each receive shares worth millions of dollars under the proposal, while FIFA says the structure would unlock billions for football development worldwide. Critics argue it risks turning the world’s biggest football tournament into a commercial asset controlled by private investors.

The controversy has intensified after reports that FIFA consulted potential investors linked to US businessman Joshua Kushner, while discussions have also reportedly involved figures close to US President Donald Trump’s administration. FIFA has confirmed that Thrive Capital is expected to lead a proposed investor group and that JPMorgan is advising on the project.

UEFA has warned that the proposal “crosses a line” and says football’s governance “is not FIFA’s to sell.”

Should Gianni Infantino remain FIFA president after the #WorldCup2026 tournament?#FIFA #WorldCup2026 #Infantino
— Malawi24 (@Malawi24) July 9, 2026

The governing body now says opposition to the scheme is growing among associations, clubs, leagues, players and supporters, raising the prospect of an unprecedented confrontation between FIFA and European football.

FAM President Fleetwood Haiya poses with FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. - Malawi24 — FAM President Fleetwood Haiya meets FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Haiya is widely expected to back Infantino’s proposed World Cup investment plan and support his bid for another term as FIFA president.

While the Malawi24 poll did not ask respondents about FIFA’s investment proposals, it points to a sharp decline in Infantino’s popularity among Malawian football fans. Four out of every five respondents said they do not want him to remain FIFA president after the 2026 World Cup.

Adding to the pressure, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham also condemned FIFA’s proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup. He tweeted:

“Let me say this very directly. Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline, week in, week out, rain or shine.

“The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.”

The next FIFA presidential election is expected next year, and Infantino has already indicated that he will seek another term. Likely to support his bid are national associations from South America, Africa and Asia.

Neither Football Association of Malawi (FAM) nor Haiya has publicly commented on the growing international opposition to FIFA’s proposal to sell minority stakes in World Cup competitions or on Infantino’s expected bid for another term as FIFA president. As a FIFA member association, FAM will ultimately have a vote on any proposal presented to FIFA’s Congress.

Haiya is widely expected to back Infantino’s proposed controversial World Cup investment plan and support his bid for another term as FIFA president.

9d:T118e,Malawians have turned against FIFA president Gianni Infantino as a global backlash grows over his controversial plan to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup. A Malawi24 poll conducted on Facebook found that 80% of respondents believe Infantino should not remain FIFA president now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup has ended. Only 17% said he should stay, while 3% were undecided. Results of the poll, conducted before the World Cup had concluded, mirror a separate poll conducted on the Malawi24 X (formerly Twitter) account. Since then, opposition to Infantino’s plans has intensified. On Wednesday, UEFA escalated its attack on FIFA’s proposals, accusing world football’s governing body of trying to pressure member associations into backing the scheme by imposing a deadline linked to a lucrative one-off payment. Critics have described the approach as amounting to bribery or blackmail. “FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends,” UEFA said in a strongly worded statement. UEFA accused FIFA of holding national associations to ransom by saying they could lose the payout if they failed to support the proposals before the deadline. The dispute centres on Infantino’s proposal to create a new commercial company that would manage the FIFA World Cup and other major tournaments while allowing outside investors to buy minority stakes. FIFA intends to expand football development funding to over USD 10 billion subject to approval by FIFA Member Associations:— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 28, 2026 According to reports, FIFA’s 211 member associations would each receive shares worth millions of dollars under the proposal, while FIFA says the structure would unlock billions for football development worldwide. Critics argue it risks turning the world’s biggest football tournament into a commercial asset controlled by private investors. The controversy has intensified after reports that FIFA consulted potential investors linked to US businessman Joshua Kushner, while discussions have also reportedly involved figures close to US President Donald Trump’s administration. FIFA has confirmed that Thrive Capital is expected to lead a proposed investor group and that JPMorgan is advising on the project. UEFA has warned that the proposal “crosses a line” and says football’s governance “is not FIFA’s to sell.” https://twitter.com/Malawi24/status/2075317050398921177 The governing body now says opposition to the scheme is growing among associations, clubs, leagues, players and supporters, raising the prospect of an unprecedented confrontation between FIFA and European football. FAM President Fleetwood Haiya meets FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Haiya is widely expected to back Infantino’s proposed World Cup investment plan and support his bid for another term as FIFA president. While the Malawi24 poll did not ask respondents about FIFA’s investment proposals, it points to a sharp decline in Infantino’s popularity among Malawian football fans. Four out of every five respondents said they do not want him to remain FIFA president after the 2026 World Cup. Adding to the pressure, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham also condemned FIFA’s proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup. He tweeted: “Let me say this very directly. Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline, week in, week out, rain or shine. “The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.” The next FIFA presidential election is expected next year, and Infantino has already indicated that he will seek another term. Likely to support his bid are national associations from South America, Africa and Asia. Neither Football Association of Malawi (FAM) nor Haiya has publicly commented on the growing international opposition to FIFA’s proposal to sell minority stakes in World Cup competitions or on Infantino’s expected bid for another term as FIFA president. As a FIFA member association, FAM will ultimately have a vote on any proposal presented to FIFA’s Congress. Haiya is widely expected to back Infantino’s proposed controversial World Cup investment plan and support his bid for another term as FIFA president.54:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrsdw7vcv5or",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/29/infantino-must-go-malawians/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Fifa","Football","Gianni Infantino","World Cup","National","Politics","Sports","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"‘Infantino must go’: Malawians","content":{"html":"$9c","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-29T16:36:25.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreih57bumzvr4zhgt7ma4izwzjivkhrexbskfjztbzsmo4ghi4eskl4"},"size":108312,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Malawians have turned against FIFA president Gianni Infantino as a global backlash grows over his controversial plan to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup. A Malawi24 poll conducted on Facebook found that 80% of respondents believe Infantino should not remain FIFA president now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup has ended. Only 17% said...","publishedAt":"2026-07-29T16:27:00.000Z","textContent":"$9d","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrsdw7vcv5or","sort_date":"2026-07-29T16:27:00+00:00"}}] 9e:T421,Despite all its rhetoric of novelty and innovation, neoliberal capitalism has gradually but systematically deprived artists of the resources necessary to produce the new. In the UK, the postwar welfare state and higher education maintenance grants constituted an indirect source of funding for most of the experiments in popular culture between the 1960s and the 80s. The subsequent ideological and practical attack on public services meant that one of the spaces where artists could be sheltered from the pressure to produce something that was immediately successful was severely circumscribed. As public service broadcasting became ‘marketised’ , there was an increased tendency to turn out cultural productions that resembled what was already successful. The result of all of this is that the social time available for withdrawing from work and immersing oneself in cultural production drastically declined. If there’s one factor above all else which contributes to cultural conservatism, it is the vast inflation in the cost of rent and mortgages.55:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/site.standard.document/3mrqtnr7r2c2i",{"publication":{"href":"https://www.aaronrosspowell.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://www.aaronrosspowell.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicjjixev6nb2hviuv6cqc2wzv3pbvxtkmdakiagqr6qyexp7ozqum"},"size":760978,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Aaron Ross Powell","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"bodyFont":"custom:Karla:Karla:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700","wordmark":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.wordmark","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreialrpiu52imjv4xo5cragujbgefoseyzhmmdv3c4lzrnfbjzcm3uy"},"size":50138,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"width":200},"pageWidth":624,"accentText":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"headingFont":"custom:Fraunces:Fraunces:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700","pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":43,"g":1,"r":30,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":84,"g":2,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":84,"g":2,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":43,"g":1,"r":30,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Politics, culture, and philosophy through a radical liberal lens. Co-host of the Inner Life of Liberalism podcast.","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showFirstLast":true,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true,"prevNextDirection":"ltr"}},"uri":"at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/site.standard.publication/3m2avdoogvs2f"},"ownerDid":"@aaronrosspowell.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy","handle":"aaronrosspowell.com","displayName":"Aaron Ross Powell"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3mrqtnr7r2c2i","site":"at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/site.standard.publication/3m2avdoogvs2f","tags":["blog","politics","culture","art","housing","nimbyism"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"NIMBYism's Slow Cancellation of the Future","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019fab9b-5fa2-7558-997a-cfe2bc6e8ef1","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":52,"byteStart":35},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"},{"uri":"https://amzn.to/4wsNhsF","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"In the opening chapter of his book Ghosts of My Life, the Marxist theorist Mark Fisher argues that capitalism has destroyed creativity. That art—and he's talking mostly about music in the book—has stagnated, that it's no longer dynamic, but is instead endlessly remixing the past."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"I've always found this passage fascinating, because he's very much onto something, even if not to quite the degree he imagines, but then he pins the blame in the wrong place. To the extent that we've lost the creative spark, in the way Fisher presents it, the culprit really isn't capitalism. Or neoliberalism. It's instead, to a rather blameworthy degree, NIMBYism."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Here's the core of his argument:"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","plaintext":"$9e"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":55,"byteStart":50},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"To do the kind of deep creative work, the kind of weird deep creative work, that drives artistic innovation, you need time. You need to experiment and play and do it around other deeply creative and weird people experimenting and playing. That time doesn't typically pay much, unless you luck into convincing rich people and foundations in the art scene into believing you're a genius, and so you need to live cheaply enough that you can afford to live while having that (from the typical employer's perspective) unproductive time."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"He calls this \"the slow cancellation of the future.\""}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","plaintext":"It’s no accident that the efflorescence of cultural invention in London and New York in the late 1970s and early 80s (in the punk and postpunk scenes) coincided with the availability of squatted and cheap property in those cities. Since then, the decline of social housing, the attacks on squatting, and the delirious rise in property prices have meant that the amount of time and energy available for cultural production has massively diminished."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"For all this, Fisher blames Margaret Thatcher. Or, at least, the neoliberal policies of Thatcher and the free-marketers of her generation and subsequent. You used to be able to make do on the minimal earnings from part time work or odd jobs while living in dense artist communities in vibrant cities, where you all forged genuinely new and world shaking artistic movements together."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"And I get it. He right that a lot of those neighborhoods have gentrified, the squats and punk houses replaced with million dollar homes or townhomes or condos populated by owners or renters with high powered jobs that decidedly aren't about forging new and world shaking artistic movements. It does, he's right, feel like something important has been lost."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"But pinning the blame on capitalism or neoliberalism or the free market lets the real culprits off the hook. It's looking too far from home for who to blame. The real villains are, of course, the NIMBYs. The reason housing is so expensive—and Fisher is right that it's expensive and getting worse—is that plenty of people in the cities plenty more people want to live in, or in the neighborhoods plenty more people want to live in, have decided they don't want more neighbors, and have pooled their political power to convince their city governments to put a stop to the only way to make housing cheaper again: Building more of it."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"NIMBYs aren't the corporate CEOs or the neoliberal politicians, at least not all of the time. In fact, they're often pretty progressive folks who nonetheless think it's the role of government to stop people poor than them, of a different social class than them, from having places to live in their neighborhoods and so moving in an \"changing the character.\""}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Fisher laments a decline in artistic dynamism. NIMBYs fight tooth and nail to fight dynamism whenever it might change anything about their lived environment. They think the world owes them stasis, no matter how much that stasis hurts others, denies them their own bliss, or prevents the kinds of neighborhoods and lifestyles Fisher is nostalgic for."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Fortunately, breaking the power of the NIMBYs, while challenging, is a whole lot less challenging, and a whole lot more likely to work and a whole lot less likely to impoverish, than forging the kind of post-capitalist world Fisher longed for. We're already seeing progress, and we can see a lot more. YIMBYism is one of the most powerful ways we've got to uncancel the future."}}]}]},"bskyPostRef":{"cid":"bafyreib2jyacqnn5hvnaqzhnygzixjjn2z32we34mbg42ityn5tlilwn5a","uri":"at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrqtnsnjvc2v","commit":{"cid":"bafyreibdnyjs6bn3suj773pywootw64e6uhfxxundlsjkaxaiizdig5jye","rev":"3mrqtnwpzoa2g"},"validationStatus":"valid"},"description":"How the cost of housing undermines creative dynamism","publishedAt":"2026-07-29T02:06:28.882Z","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy"}],"theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/site.standard.document/3mrqtnr7r2c2i","sort_date":"2026-07-29T02:06:28.882+00:00"}}] 56:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/site.standard.document/3mro4dwbwj222",{"publication":{"href":"https://www.aaronrosspowell.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://www.aaronrosspowell.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicjjixev6nb2hviuv6cqc2wzv3pbvxtkmdakiagqr6qyexp7ozqum"},"size":760978,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Aaron Ross Powell","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"bodyFont":"custom:Karla:Karla:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700","wordmark":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.wordmark","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreialrpiu52imjv4xo5cragujbgefoseyzhmmdv3c4lzrnfbjzcm3uy"},"size":50138,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"width":200},"pageWidth":624,"accentText":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"headingFont":"custom:Fraunces:Fraunces:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700","pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":43,"g":1,"r":30,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":84,"g":2,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":84,"g":2,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":43,"g":1,"r":30,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Politics, culture, and philosophy through a radical liberal lens. 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A lot. Which explains, or musters an excuse for, the paucity of blogging here lately. 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We talked about the MAGA movement and how it's returned racism, misogyny, and Christian nationalism to the center of American political life."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":79,"byteStart":59},"features":[{"uri":"https://youtu.be/JJEykHlfy0I?si=zb9zCkGc_n9qWW0_","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"That whole thing was nicely shot on video, and you can now watch it on YouTube."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/JJEykHlfy0I?rel=0","$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.iframe","height":600,"aspectRatio":{"width":16,"height":9}}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.header","level":2,"plaintext":"Liberalism and the virtues"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":52,"byteStart":36},"features":[{"did":"did:plc:ilpiic4vuj2gsmxrve4cowhb","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#didMention"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":101,"byteStart":98},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"},{"uri":"https://www.liberalpractice.org/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":102,"byteStart":101},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.liberalpractice.org/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":126,"byteStart":102},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"},{"uri":"https://www.liberalpractice.org/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":171,"byteStart":136},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/3mm5s56d3zs2d","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Next up, just today Jason S. Canon (@uncanonical.net) and I put out the fourth episode of our new The Inner Life of Liberalism podcast. I've talked about this show before, and it's maybe the most near-and-dear to my heart project I've undertaken to date. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":63,"byteStart":41},"features":[{"did":"did:plc:evk6qh4o74plolsw7waqegvs","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#didMention"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":171,"byteStart":143},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"This episode is with Christina Bambrick (@cbambrick.bsky.social) about liberalism, virtues, and how to think about constitutions. The focus of The Inner Life of Liberalism is what it means to be a liberal, not just in politics, but in our everyday lives. This episode zooms in on a piece of that."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":12,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.liberalpractice.org/3mrnuzf32o22f","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Listen here."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"uri":"at://did:plc:kjx46xvciermn5is6m3wgw7a/site.standard.document/3mrnuzf32o22f","$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.standardSitePost"}}]}]},"bskyPostRef":{"cid":"bafyreiga3krzyoxdjfx2lcwq6sl2ittdx2ubqrvgy2mmq4zytw2nt3dqem","uri":"at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/app.bsky.feed.post/3mro4e4udvs22","commit":{"cid":"bafyreie67vkxzoss3mpasxrymdrvo2ni4whoa4bm6d65h7jzn7ejdndn4y","rev":"3mro4e4z7bd2g"},"validationStatus":"valid"},"description":"Liberal virtues and right-wing vices.","publishedAt":"2026-07-28T00:04:03.512Z","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy"}],"theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:x2xmijn2egk5g67u3cwkddzy/site.standard.document/3mro4dwbwj222","sort_date":"2026-07-28T00:04:03.512+00:00"}}] 57:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:kjx46xvciermn5is6m3wgw7a/site.standard.document/3mrnuzf32o22f",{"publication":{"href":"https://www.liberalpractice.org","pubRecord":{"url":"https://www.liberalpractice.org","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiapmnzihmg4pfnlnjsahxvrqo3ttprlnxgtncaz6pwb56vkgmvwcq"},"size":4386,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"name":"The Inner Life of Liberalism","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":39,"g":39,"r":39,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"bodyFont":"montserrat","wordmark":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.wordmark","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreih4ghdohzvxgemxhe52aqe4itayzhbaeak4juoe74wyrgwhbpipdq"},"size":52402,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"width":200},"pageWidth":624,"accentText":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"headingFont":"montserrat","pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":254,"g":149,"r":2,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":254,"g":149,"r":2,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Exploring how a better life and a freer world aren't separate projects—they're built from the same practices. 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Former President Lazarus Chakwera betrayed the late Saulos Chilima, UTM National Youth Director Penjani Fredokiss Kalua has claimed. Kalua said Chakwera failed to honour the Tonse Alliance agreement after the coalition won power in 2020.

Kalua said the Tonse Alliance pact was never about sharing Cabinet posts or political positions. Instead, he said, it was a contract with Malawians to create one million jobs, establish mega farms and deliver the transformation promised during the 2020 campaign.

Speaking on a local television programme on Sunday, the Soche Zingwangwa legislator said if he ever had the opportunity to sit down with Chakwera, that is the message he would deliver.

He accused Chakwera and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of abandoning both the coalition government pact and Chilima’s vision once they took power.

Kalua also said arrogance within the MCP leadership ultimately cost the party power.”I hope the DPP has learned from that,” he said.

Turning to the current administration, Kalua gave the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government a cautious endorsement after about nine months in office.

He credited the government with restoring fuel availability and helping stabilise the prices of some commodities.

However, he said the country’s foreign exchange crisis remains unresolved and continues to undermine businesses and the wider economy.

a0:T565,Former President Lazarus Chakwera betrayed the late Saulos Chilima, UTM National Youth Director Penjani Fredokiss Kalua has claimed. Kalua said Chakwera failed to honour the Tonse Alliance agreement after the coalition won power in 2020. Kalua said the Tonse Alliance pact was never about sharing Cabinet posts or political positions. Instead, he said, it was a contract with Malawians to create one million jobs, establish mega farms and deliver the transformation promised during the 2020 campaign. Speaking on a local television programme on Sunday, the Soche Zingwangwa legislator said if he ever had the opportunity to sit down with Chakwera, that is the message he would deliver. He accused Chakwera and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of abandoning both the coalition government pact and Chilima’s vision once they took power. Kalua also said arrogance within the MCP leadership ultimately cost the party power.”I hope the DPP has learned from that,” he said. Turning to the current administration, Kalua gave the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government a cautious endorsement after about nine months in office. He credited the government with restoring fuel availability and helping stabilise the prices of some commodities. However, he said the country’s foreign exchange crisis remains unresolved and continues to undermine businesses and the wider economy.58:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrmpy3tjcave",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/27/fredokiss-chakwera-betrayed-chilima/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["corruption","Fredokiss","Lazarus Chakwera","Penjani Kalua","Saulos Chilima","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Fredokiss: Chakwera betrayed Chilima","content":{"html":"$9f","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-27T10:46:26.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreigtud2tltiufpg6k4m3s6j5dltoh3yi5zi7k633khp6k6ncyfpqxe"},"size":372816,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Former President Lazarus Chakwera betrayed the late Saulos Chilima, UTM National Youth Director Penjani Fredokiss Kalua has claimed. Kalua said Chakwera failed to honour the Tonse Alliance agreement after the coalition won power in 2020. Kalua said the Tonse Alliance pact was never about sharing Cabinet posts or political positions. Instead, he said, it was...","publishedAt":"2026-07-27T10:45:25.000Z","textContent":"$a0","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrmpy3tjcave","sort_date":"2026-07-27T10:45:25+00:00"}}] 59:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.document/3mrkuctvcic2q",{"publication":{"href":"https://joshuafoust.leaflet.pub","pubRecord":{"url":"https://joshuafoust.leaflet.pub","name":"Joshua Foust","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":219,"g":219,"r":219,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"pageWidth":768,"accentText":{"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":0,"g":222,"r":93,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":0,"g":222,"r":93,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":24,"g":24,"r":26,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"An ATmospheric blog where I share about things I care about.","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":false,"showRecommends":true}},"uri":"at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.publication/3moxe24m7vc27"},"ownerDid":"@joshuafoust.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc","handle":"joshuafoust.com","displayName":"Joshua Foust 🪖🎮"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3mrkuctvcic2q","site":"at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.publication/3moxe24m7vc27","tags":["politics","fundraising","democrats"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"The Diminishing Returns of Fundraising Spam","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019f9f5c-09f5-7889-ac19-0c152b72a8e7","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":60,"byteStart":40},"features":[{"uri":"https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4988512-text-message-spam-hate-speech/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Everyone hates spammy fundraising texts. Literally everyone. So, why is it such a dominant fundraising method?"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.bskyPost","postRef":{"cid":"bafyreidu6avzkpb27vssonooribc3xwpmquh44zzvw2hfbyl57ciedgjxa","uri":"at://did:plc:7vmqlqtvqkkmuegzp7efeptu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrfe6wrt6k2y"},"clientHost":"bsky.app"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":47,"byteStart":43},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":272,"byteStart":236},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101910972/inside-the-democrats-campaign-spam-machine","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Well, let’s back up a little bit. Every says they hate spammy texts, but even very rich fundraisers have limited resources and they would not necessarily persist in a technique that wasn’t at least a little bit revenue-positive. Some people are fine with spam texts, or at least, they are possibly not annoyed enough by them to consider blocking future texts. So, what gives?"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"This is one of those weird areas where I have some expertise, not really because of my academic training (though I do think being an expert in public relations gives me the tools to evaluate how an organizational behavior might be changing its relationship with various publics), but because I spent my 30s working in non-profits where I had to design outreach strategies and sometimes run donor campaigns. I did not enjoy this latter set of work, because I have always found fundraising awkward, but my ethos here is both professional and personal."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":118,"byteStart":90},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.marketingdive.com/ex/mobilemarketer/cms/news/messaging/2226.html","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":593,"byteStart":555},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.computerworld.com/article/1549938/text-donations-for-haiti-earthquake-overwhelm-red-cross.html","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"The SMS fundraising campaign has its origins at the end of the 2000s, when the Red Cross piloted a successful programto ask people to donate small amounts via texts that add the donation amount to their monthly phone bills. Asking people to donate $5 raised nearly $200,000 for hurricane relief. It had such a large conversion rate (the rate at which people contacted for donations actually donate, in this case well over the average nonprofit donation webpage of 17%) that it quickly became the model for all types of fundraising, most famously in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. This has generally held true ever since: for service-providing nonprofits, text-based donations are, by far, the highest impact resource spend for fundraising. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":208,"byteStart":176},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19331681.2014.895691?casa_token=XK9T12rG1gkAAAAA%3A_EQls8rFN8GkMlcD6kw3BKGtPUTzFGBnAVQJvDBxmKSR9oeVA3bq_SEl4mWbY45bodK2LcouyaxXFQ","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":330,"byteStart":308},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/12/14/rainmaker-in-chief-obama-officially-the-biggest-fundraiser-ever","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Political campaigns noticed. Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign used fundraising texts to both solicit contributions and to maintain active relationships with donors, providing a rapid method of message delivery that side-stepped media gatekeepers and create parasocial relationships. It is hard to overstate how effective this was in terms of both supercharging the donation process, so of course as the 2010s continued, this modality came to dominate the political fundraising scene."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":194,"byteStart":183},"features":[{"uri":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nml.70010?casa_token=PIvIfymvyNkAAAAA%3A-Buw2fK6KMSRPRfQhpFpWH9wMvqf-z0SLaVuoqKezfcswMqYe_tae4gm2dajjiGMZM_cEJsSViGBq0hF","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":313,"byteStart":292},"features":[{"uri":"https://garecht.com/how-often-ask-for-money/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":569,"byteStart":566},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":657,"byteStart":644},"features":[{"uri":"https://blog.charityengine.net/donor-fatigue","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"To be clear, I think nonprofits were well on their way to this threshold, but the derecho of political texts during 2016 and ever since just accelerated this process: people have an upper limit for how many solicitations they want to see in a given timeframe before they just shut down. A general rule of thumb is, people need three “cultivations,” or non-donation interactions, for every donation message they receive before they start to tune out or, worse, block future requests. Once someone feels saturated with donation requests, they start to ignore all donation asks, even if they might have otherwise been likely to donate. Donor fatigue is a real phenomenon, grounded in our desire to not be hounded for things that may not have clear relevance without higher-touch communication."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.blockquote","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":68,"byteStart":47},"features":[{"uri":"https://campaignsandelections.com/industry-news/dems-reckon-with-grassroots-fundraising-tactics/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Needless to say, the Democrats have a massive donor fatigue problem."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":715,"byteStart":712},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"So, there is an obvious trend at work: the Democrats send far too many messages, and people are starting to opt out of future donation messages, and overall the conversion rate for text-based fundraising is in decline. I think we see so many texts in spite of declining effectiveness because there is a metrics mismatch. Donation texts have an astronomical open rate (which is recorded with you open a message on your phone), something like 80%. It may not matter that the conversion rate is somewhere around 1% now, compared with the 80% text conversion rate 15 years ago. The scale at which texts are sent now benefits from spam logic—that is, the price of sending them is relatively low, so you can send a lot of messages, and the ever-shrinking conversion rate still comes out ahead."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":197,"byteStart":172},"features":[{"uri":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/trf.14463?casa_token=8zH181iiImMAAAAA%3Aj7Ppci7VG0OFJEYNrxs5FsZzD4h02jRg-l9yGYtqO7GcYUYaCwm8kSlvOp5JpSKaj92z0pOa-bLlSgnd","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"I don’t want to oversell this. Text message fundraising is still effective, and a lot of non-profits benefit from using it. These messages can be a good way to maintain personalized touch points with audiences, which has been validated through research to net higher donation rates and amounts."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The thing is, you have to do the relationship building around the texts to make the donations work — and all of that has to be done in a way that respects donors as busy people with limited time, money, and distraction capacities. The Democrats’ use of text messaging fails every one of these dimensions: they are too numerous (during campaign season, despite reporting them as spam, I get 5 or more each day despite never once clicking on them), they ask for far too much with no relationship building (“give me $5 to defeat Trump” is neither building a relationship nor is it respecting someone’s bank account when they get that 5x per day even on weekends), and they only add to the sense of overwhelm we all feel when we don’t tightly restraint phone notifications."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":298,"byteStart":277},"features":[{"uri":"https://socialrails.com/blog/social-media-benchmarks-guide","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":349,"byteStart":331},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.newmediaandmarketing.com/why-advertisers-should-avoid-x-brand-safety-risks/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"In other words, Democrats are coasting on inertia with their text message fundraising. It is similar to their reliance on X as a social platforms: sure, they might seen some journalists amplifying a message or two, but ultimately they are posting to a low value platform with minimal click-through (only Pinterest is lower) and extreme brand risk. It’s weird. They need to shift track. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"There are a lot of cost-effective ways of improving relationship management without demoralizing someone with a blizzard of gimme-messages: newsletters are also high volume, but they are easier to manage and people are more receptive to them. Newsletters also have the benefit of side-stepping the flood of algorithmic and generated noise that social platforms now place in between organizations and their audiences. In-person effects are much more resource-intensive, but especially for younger people they can balance out the flood of text messages. Message diversity can help as well: sharing updates on policy initiatives, offering rallying or support, and giving people a break from the flood of hands-out begging can do wonders for addressing a cratered reputation."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":283,"byteStart":259},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/25/progressive-moderate-democratic-party-battlegrounds-00975000","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":441,"byteStart":409},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/12/sen-amy-klobuchar-praises-sen-lindsey-graham/90893771007/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":539,"byteStart":518},"features":[{"uri":"https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5770381-dhs-funding-democrats/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":668,"byteStart":638},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/cap-restrictions-transgender-sports","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Ultimately, though, the Democrats’ text messaging problem is downstream of their broader leadership and organizational challenges. I am not naive about how weak political parties are in the US, but senior Democratic leaders with influence and power remain steadfastly oppositional to the growing progressive grassroots movement that offers them any hope of ever regaining political power. Senators still brag about how they’re friends with virulent ideologues who openly wish them dead, while Representatives sneer at progressives trying to rally opposition to the secret police while the consultants advising them beg them to throw minorities to the wolves. This is not all Democrats, to be clear: it is a sliver of senior, influential long-termers doing this — a lot of lower-rank Democrats are angry and trying to fix this. It’s a battle, but ultimately the party — and its potential for beginning the healing progress from Trumpism — is being strangled by an old guard that just refuses to modernize. It’s frustrating."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":347,"byteStart":327},"features":[{"uri":"https://bluevirginia.us/2026/06/video-sen-tim-kaine-says-trump-claiming-dems-are-becoming-a-communist-party-is-just-goofy-word-salad/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"So, let’s take the fundraising messages as a bellwether. If the mainstream of the party ever wakes up to the harm they’ve done to the brand reputation, if they ever crack open the door to shifting track toward actually addressing the challenges we face instead of grinding down an ever-shrinking donor base to run bizarre word salad campaigns, we will probably see it first in how they change those inescapable text messages. I don’t know whether to be optimistic about this or not. Do you?"}}]}]},"coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifouolv6tihsb7e3qeduhgyimsohs6un33zfgwx5vlxtesuonvgju"},"size":916279,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/gif"},"bskyPostRef":{"cid":"bafyreifxhu5esrtbtzivxtjn7jssj24qz6wlntm4hu6hg4lyz6cmuffqii","uri":"at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrkud26lvc2z","commit":{"cid":"bafyreidesazg7ringtn4ezw3fykdsqxyebczz3cf7mlyuohi6gpggq2ape","rev":"3mrkud2d5kr2c"},"validationStatus":"valid"},"description":"Thanks, Obama","publishedAt":"2026-07-26T17:02:18.860Z","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc"}],"theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:36lot6lvgs2vmhb3xyclrgdc/site.standard.document/3mrkuctvcic2q","sort_date":"2026-07-26T17:02:18.86+00:00"}}] a1:T652,

Three decades after Malawi embraced multiparty democracy, former United Democratic Front (UDF) Cabinet minister Zililo Chibambo says the country has drifted far from the aspirations that inspired the fight for political change.

Speaking on Times Television on Saturday, Chibambo argued that the country’s democratic system has failed to deliver the meaningful transformation many Malawians expected, accusing today’s leaders of putting personal interests ahead of the people they were elected to serve.

He noted that the aim of attaining politics in a country is to see that the lives of people in the country improves and change for the better.

According to Chibambo, the change is seen to be something which has not been achieved since multiparty democracy came in.

“The lives of our people have completely gone down, we are even worse than we were in the time of change”, Chibambo said.

Chibambo also said that during the UDF regime, their biggest achievement was giving Malawians the freedom to speak out and question leadership.

“We gave that chance to the people of Malawi to be able to speak, criticise, question the leadership wherever the leadership is going wrong”, he said.

He further said Malawians are still struggling because most people who have joined politics are pursuing personal benefits instead of serving the country.

However, he made an appleal that more young men must get involved in the running of affairs of this country.

a2:T5ae,Three decades after Malawi embraced multiparty democracy, former United Democratic Front (UDF) Cabinet minister Zililo Chibambo says the country has drifted far from the aspirations that inspired the fight for political change.Speaking on Times Television on Saturday, Chibambo argued that the country’s democratic system has failed to deliver the meaningful transformation many Malawians expected, accusing today’s leaders of putting personal interests ahead of the people they were elected to serve.He noted that the aim of attaining politics in a country is to see that the lives of people in the country improves and change for the better. According to Chibambo, the change is seen to be something which has not been achieved since multiparty democracy came in.“The lives of our people have completely gone down, we are even worse than we were in the time of change”, Chibambo said.Chibambo also said that during the UDF regime, their biggest achievement was giving Malawians the freedom to speak out and question leadership.“We gave that chance to the people of Malawi to be able to speak, criticise, question the leadership wherever the leadership is going wrong”, he said. He further said Malawians are still struggling because most people who have joined politics are pursuing personal benefits instead of serving the country.However, he made an appleal that more young men must get involved in the running of affairs of this country.5a:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrk27bvprlqv",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/26/democracy-failing-malawians-says-chibambo/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["bakili muluzi","democracy malawi","Hastings Kamuzu Banda","Lazarus Chakwera","Peter Mutharika","Zililo Chibambo","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Democracy failing Malawians, says Chibambo","content":{"html":"$a1","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-26T09:14:11.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiejleh6vwick5dzjk6b4ofmkkmxx2l6l3syiral3x46p4wsfince4"},"size":40316,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Three decades after Malawi embraced multiparty democracy, former United Democratic Front (UDF) Cabinet minister Zililo Chibambo says the country has drifted far from the aspirations that inspired the fight for political change.Speaking on Times Television on Saturday, Chibambo argued that the country's democratic system has failed to deliver the meaningful transformation many Malawians expected, accusing...","publishedAt":"2026-07-26T09:13:50.000Z","textContent":"$a2","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrk27bvprlqv","sort_date":"2026-07-26T09:13:50+00:00"}}] a3:T13b2,

The Miss Malawi Organisation has changed its explanation for overlooking reigning Miss Malawi Thandi Chisi for Miss World for a third time, abandoning its most recent claim that she lacked international pageant experience and returning to the age issue.

The organisation first said Chisi was ineligible because of her age. After Malawi24 established that the 27-year-old met Miss World’s published eligibility rules, the Miss Malawi team changed its position, telling Malawi24 that the deciding factor was Chisi’s lack of international pageant experience.

Now, the organisation has changed course again. At a press briefing in Lilongwe on Friday, Miss Malawi Organisation director Benedette Mweso blamed the latest twist on what she said was communication from the Miss World Organisation regarding age eligibility.

To support the organisation’s new position, she produced what she described as a communication from the Miss World Organisation stating: “Ensure that all contestants are Nationals and, subject to prior agreement with Miss World Limited, are strictly within the age limit of not less than 17 years of age nor more than 26 (twenty six) years on the Miss World Entry Date in the Relevant Year.”

Malawi24 could not independently verify the authenticity of the document considering the Miss World Organisation’s own published eligibility criteria, which state contestants can be between 17 and 27 years old, and with this year’s contestant list, which includes several 27-year-olds from countries including South Africa, Scotland, Argentina, Chile, Nepal, Guyana and the Bahamas.

The latest explanation follows days of scrutiny triggered after Malawi24 revealed that the organisation’s original age justification did not match Miss World’s published rules.

The report prompted wider media coverage, with several news organisations pursuing the story on the Malawi24 angle. Members of Parliament also joined the debate, with some arguing that Chisi should have represented Malawi at Miss World. A recent Malawi24 poll on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) also found that most respondents settloed for Chisi over First Princess Ireen Navicha as Malawi’s representative at the Miss World.

During the briefing, Mweso also argued that winning the Miss Malawi crown does not automatically entitle the titleholder to represent Malawi at Miss World, saying each international pageant has its own licensing arrangements and selection requirements.

That explanation has also attracted criticism. Analysts, pageant followers and commentators on social media argue that if the Miss Malawi crown has never automatically carried the right to represent Malawi at Miss World, there would have been little reason for the organisation to successively cite Chisi’s age, then her lack of international pageant experience, before returning to the age issue based on documentation the team says it received from the Miss World Organisation.

Congratulations to Ireen Navicha, who will represent Malawi at Miss World instead of reigning Miss Malawi Thandi Chisi.

The Miss World Organisation requires contestants to meet its age eligibility criteria, which generally covers those aged 17 to 27, although implementation can… pic.twitter.com/T0XCZ7x9bi
— Malawi24 (@Malawi24) July 22, 2026

Commentators further note that the opportunity to represent Malawi at Miss World has historically been one of the principal attractions of competing for the Miss Malawi crown. Previous titleholders have routinely gone on to compete at Miss World, creating a longstanding public expectation that the national winner earns that opportunity.

Others have also questioned why the organisation previously suggested that Chisi could instead be considered for Miss Universe if, as it later argued, her lack of international pageant experience made her unsuitable for the Miss World.

The Miss Malawi Organisation also announced that it is seeking K30 million to fund Navicha’s participation at Miss World who most Malawians on our Facebook and X account believe is the wrong choice.

a4:Tec8,The Miss Malawi Organisation has changed its explanation for overlooking reigning Miss Malawi Thandi Chisi for Miss World for a third time, abandoning its most recent claim that she lacked international pageant experience and returning to the age issue. The organisation first said Chisi was ineligible because of her age. After Malawi24 established that the 27-year-old met Miss World’s published eligibility rules, the Miss Malawi team changed its position, telling Malawi24 that the deciding factor was Chisi’s lack of international pageant experience. Now, the organisation has changed course again. At a press briefing in Lilongwe on Friday, Miss Malawi Organisation director Benedette Mweso blamed the latest twist on what she said was communication from the Miss World Organisation regarding age eligibility. To support the organisation’s new position, she produced what she described as a communication from the Miss World Organisation stating: “Ensure that all contestants are Nationals and, subject to prior agreement with Miss World Limited, are strictly within the age limit of not less than 17 years of age nor more than 26 (twenty six) years on the Miss World Entry Date in the Relevant Year.” Malawi24 could not independently verify the authenticity of the document considering the Miss World Organisation’s own published eligibility criteria, which state contestants can be between 17 and 27 years old, and with this year’s contestant list, which includes several 27-year-olds from countries including South Africa, Scotland, Argentina, Chile, Nepal, Guyana and the Bahamas. The latest explanation follows days of scrutiny triggered after Malawi24 revealed that the organisation’s original age justification did not match Miss World’s published rules. The report prompted wider media coverage, with several news organisations pursuing the story on the Malawi24 angle. Members of Parliament also joined the debate, with some arguing that Chisi should have represented Malawi at Miss World. A recent Malawi24 poll on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) also found that most respondents settloed for Chisi over First Princess Ireen Navicha as Malawi’s representative at the Miss World. During the briefing, Mweso also argued that winning the Miss Malawi crown does not automatically entitle the titleholder to represent Malawi at Miss World, saying each international pageant has its own licensing arrangements and selection requirements. That explanation has also attracted criticism. Analysts, pageant followers and commentators on social media argue that if the Miss Malawi crown has never automatically carried the right to represent Malawi at Miss World, there would have been little reason for the organisation to successively cite Chisi’s age, then her lack of international pageant experience, before returning to the age issue based on documentation the team says it received from the Miss World Organisation. https://twitter.com/Malawi24/status/2079725069832528211/ Commentators further note that the opportunity to represent Malawi at Miss World has historically been one of the principal attractions of competing for the Miss Malawi crown. Previous titleholders have routinely gone on to compete at Miss World, creating a longstanding public expectation that the national winner earns that opportunity. Others have also questioned why the organisation previously suggested that Chisi could instead be considered for Miss Universe if, as it later argued, her lack of international pageant experience made her unsuitable for the Miss World. The Miss Malawi Organisation also announced that it is seeking K30 million to fund Navicha’s participation at Miss World who most Malawians on our Facebook and X account believe is the wrong choice.5b:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrga4ar26dr7",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/24/miss-world-drama-refuses-to-die-miss-malawi-organisers-change-tune-again-as-thandi-chisi-row-deepens/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Ireen Navicha","Miss Malawi","Miss World","Thandi Chisi","Business","Entertainment","National","Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Miss World drama refuses to die: Miss Malawi Organisers change tune again as Thandi Chisi row deepens","content":{"html":"$a3","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-24T20:45:51.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihwwm6xash3qxvwqav52pdbpltxjvv2vhm6nfl3np57d73i7tcvmi"},"size":77932,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"The Miss Malawi Organisation has changed its explanation for overlooking reigning Miss Malawi Thandi Chisi for Miss World for a third time, abandoning its most recent claim that she lacked international pageant experience and returning to the age issue. The organisation first said Chisi was ineligible because of her age. After Malawi24 established that the...","publishedAt":"2026-07-24T20:45:32.000Z","textContent":"$a4","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrga4ar26dr7","sort_date":"2026-07-24T20:45:32+00:00"}}] a5:Td05,

Building police units is not the government’s responsibility, Malawi Homeland Security Minister Peter Mukhito has reiterated, saying communities and Members of Parliament should take the lead in constructing the facilities while government provides technical support and police officers.

With constituencies now controlling K5 billion each through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Mukhito inference is that MPs and communities have the resources to construct police units while government provides officers and technical support.

Speaking after answering questions in Parliament on Friday, Mukhito said responsibility for constructing police units rests with MPs and their constituents. Once the facilities are completed, government steps in with architectural designs, technical expertise and police personnel to operate them.

“The responsibility to construct police units lies with MPs and their constituents. Government comes in with technical expertise and staffing after the facilities are completed,” he said.

Mukhito’s remarks come months after Parliament approved a massive increase in the Constituency Development Fund, raising the allocation from K220 million to K5 billion per constituency. The increase gives constituencies unprecedented resources to finance local development projects, including security infrastructure such as police units.

The minister said the arrangement is aimed at expanding access to policing by strengthening collaboration between communities and the Malawi Police Service, allowing government to focus on providing professional policing services while communities provide the infrastructure.

He also announced that the Malawi Police Service has been authorised to recruit more than 6,000 police officers to meet growing security demands and improve police visibility across the country.

According to Mukhito, the recruitment drive will significantly boost the police service’s capacity to respond to crime, while newly constructed police units will provide additional operational bases for officers deployed to communities.

His remarks also come at a time when Malawi has been grappling with a wave of robberies that has left many communities in terror and demanding a stronger police presence. Mukhito said constituencies now have the means to construct police units through the K5 billion Constituency Development Fund (CDF), while government will provide officers and technical support.

The minister said the partnership between government and local communities is key to ensuring that more Malawians have access to police services, particularly in areas that currently lack nearby police facilities. He urged communities to continue working closely with law enforcement agencies to help prevent crime and maintain peace and security nationwide.

a6:Taf5,Building police units is not the government’s responsibility, Malawi Homeland Security Minister Peter Mukhito has reiterated, saying communities and Members of Parliament should take the lead in constructing the facilities while government provides technical support and police officers. With constituencies now controlling K5 billion each through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Mukhito inference is that MPs and communities have the resources to construct police units while government provides officers and technical support. Speaking after answering questions in Parliament on Friday, Mukhito said responsibility for constructing police units rests with MPs and their constituents. Once the facilities are completed, government steps in with architectural designs, technical expertise and police personnel to operate them. “The responsibility to construct police units lies with MPs and their constituents. Government comes in with technical expertise and staffing after the facilities are completed,” he said. Mukhito’s remarks come months after Parliament approved a massive increase in the Constituency Development Fund, raising the allocation from K220 million to K5 billion per constituency. The increase gives constituencies unprecedented resources to finance local development projects, including security infrastructure such as police units. The minister said the arrangement is aimed at expanding access to policing by strengthening collaboration between communities and the Malawi Police Service, allowing government to focus on providing professional policing services while communities provide the infrastructure. He also announced that the Malawi Police Service has been authorised to recruit more than 6,000 police officers to meet growing security demands and improve police visibility across the country. According to Mukhito, the recruitment drive will significantly boost the police service’s capacity to respond to crime, while newly constructed police units will provide additional operational bases for officers deployed to communities. His remarks also come at a time when Malawi has been grappling with a wave of robberies that has left many communities in terror and demanding a stronger police presence. Mukhito said constituencies now have the means to construct police units through the K5 billion Constituency Development Fund (CDF), while government will provide officers and technical support. The minister said the partnership between government and local communities is key to ensuring that more Malawians have access to police services, particularly in areas that currently lack nearby police facilities. He urged communities to continue working closely with law enforcement agencies to help prevent crime and maintain peace and security nationwide.5c:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrfj7egjq22m",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/24/want-a-police-unit-in-your-community-build-it-yourselves-mukhito-tells-mps/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Crime","parliament","Peter Mukhito","Police","security","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Want a police unit in your community? Build it yourselves, Mukhito tells MPs","content":{"html":"$a5","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-24T13:57:20.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiar2l6qsr63xffp5kkxidotaobqc6ey5vuqwfgqo27d6g7b6dfk7a"},"size":42224,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"Building police units is not the government's responsibility, Malawi Homeland Security Minister Peter Mukhito has reiterated, saying communities and Members of Parliament should take the lead in constructing the facilities while government provides technical support and police officers. With constituencies now controlling K5 billion each through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Mukhito inference is that...","publishedAt":"2026-07-24T13:53:48.000Z","textContent":"$a6","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrfj7egjq22m","sort_date":"2026-07-24T13:53:48+00:00"}}] a7:T1390,

A wave of leaked explicit videos exposing bizarre sexual fetishes has rocked Malawi. The clips are spreading rapidly across social media platforms. The shocking videos have sparked outrage and renewed concerns over revenge porn, online privacy and the non-consensual sharing of intimate material.

The leaks our reporter has seen depicts a range of disturbing sexual acts and fetishes. Some involve the use of a firearm during sexual activity. Others involve acts centred on a man’s foot. Older videos, including one involving a knife, have also resurfaced. Another widely shared clip, linked to Dubai, appears to show a young Malawian woman playing and consuming human faeces, and her own fecal wastes.

The clips have circulated widely on WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter) direct messages (DMs) and other social media platforms. Many users have expressed shock at the nature of the videos. Malawi24 has chosen not to publish or describe the most graphic scenes because of their disturbing content.

Others have condemned those continuing to share the footage amid concerns it may have been distributed without the consent of those involved.

It is not known how the videos were leaked, who first distributed them or whether all of the recordings were shared without the consent of the individuals featured. Social media users have speculated about the source of the leaks, with unverified claims linking them to three influencers from Malawi and Zambia and alleging the material emerged following a personal dispute involving a man. Malawi24 has not independently verified those claims. Some of the influencers reportedly caught up in the current dispute have previously been linked publicly to other prominent figures, including politicians, business tycoons and religious leaders like prophets.

Malawi24 is withholding the identities of the people featured in the videos for legal and ethical reasons as we believe that publishing information that could identify potential victims of revenge porn or other sexual offences would be irresponsible journalism.

The circulation of intimate images or videos without consent is widely recognised as a form of image-based sexual abuse, commonly referred to as revenge porn. Victims often suffer lasting psychological, social and reputational harm long after the material is first shared.

The Malawi Police Service had not commented by the time of publication on whether it would investigate the matter. Malawi24 has contacted the police for comment.

Malawi’s laws contain offences relating to the production, possession and distribution of obscene material, which often result in female victims being arrested. Other criminal offences may also apply depending on how intimate content is obtained and shared. Legal experts say people who forward or republish explicit material without consent could expose themselves to legal consequences, depending on the circumstances.

Meanwhile, Riana Brown Bagus has issued an apology over leaked video. It remains unclear which video she is apologising for. Here is her full apology:

“To my customers, family, friends, supporters, and everyone who has stood by me, l want to sincerely address the video currently circulating online and offer my heartfelt apology to everyone who has been affected by its release.

“The video was recorded by someone I was in a relationship with without my knowledge or informed consent. It was kept for years and used as a tool to manipulate and blackmail me. After seeing me rebuild my life, grow personally, and move forward, that individual chose to release it publicly two years later.

“This has been an incredibly painful and deeply violating experience. The creation, possession, and distribution of that video were never my choice, and I never consented to it being shared.

“I kindly ask that, as people discuss this situation, they remember that no one deserves to have their privacy violated or intimate moments shared without consent. I hope we can respond with compassion rather than judgment and avoid directing blame toward the wrong person.

“To everyone who has reached out with kindness, encouragement, and support, thank you. Your messages, prayers, and understanding have meant more to me than words can express during this difficult time” she posted on her Instagram account.

a8:T10f2,A wave of leaked explicit videos exposing bizarre sexual fetishes has rocked Malawi. The clips are spreading rapidly across social media platforms. The shocking videos have sparked outrage and renewed concerns over revenge porn, online privacy and the non-consensual sharing of intimate material. The leaks our reporter has seen depicts a range of disturbing sexual acts and fetishes. Some involve the use of a firearm during sexual activity. Others involve acts centred on a man’s foot. Older videos, including one involving a knife, have also resurfaced. Another widely shared clip, linked to Dubai, appears to show a young Malawian woman playing and consuming human faeces, and her own fecal wastes. The clips have circulated widely on WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, X (formerly Twitter) direct messages (DMs) and other social media platforms. Many users have expressed shock at the nature of the videos. Malawi24 has chosen not to publish or describe the most graphic scenes because of their disturbing content. Others have condemned those continuing to share the footage amid concerns it may have been distributed without the consent of those involved. It is not known how the videos were leaked, who first distributed them or whether all of the recordings were shared without the consent of the individuals featured. Social media users have speculated about the source of the leaks, with unverified claims linking them to three influencers from Malawi and Zambia and alleging the material emerged following a personal dispute involving a man. Malawi24 has not independently verified those claims. Some of the influencers reportedly caught up in the current dispute have previously been linked publicly to other prominent figures, including politicians, business tycoons and religious leaders like prophets. Malawi24 is withholding the identities of the people featured in the videos for legal and ethical reasons as we believe that publishing information that could identify potential victims of revenge porn or other sexual offences would be irresponsible journalism. The circulation of intimate images or videos without consent is widely recognised as a form of image-based sexual abuse, commonly referred to as revenge porn. Victims often suffer lasting psychological, social and reputational harm long after the material is first shared. The Malawi Police Service had not commented by the time of publication on whether it would investigate the matter. Malawi24 has contacted the police for comment. Malawi’s laws contain offences relating to the production, possession and distribution of obscene material, which often result in female victims being arrested. Other criminal offences may also apply depending on how intimate content is obtained and shared. Legal experts say people who forward or republish explicit material without consent could expose themselves to legal consequences, depending on the circumstances. Meanwhile, Riana Brown Bagus has issued an apology over leaked video. It remains unclear which video she is apologising for. Here is her full apology: “To my customers, family, friends, supporters, and everyone who has stood by me, l want to sincerely address the video currently circulating online and offer my heartfelt apology to everyone who has been affected by its release. “The video was recorded by someone I was in a relationship with without my knowledge or informed consent. It was kept for years and used as a tool to manipulate and blackmail me. After seeing me rebuild my life, grow personally, and move forward, that individual chose to release it publicly two years later. “This has been an incredibly painful and deeply violating experience. The creation, possession, and distribution of that video were never my choice, and I never consented to it being shared. “I kindly ask that, as people discuss this situation, they remember that no one deserves to have their privacy violated or intimate moments shared without consent. I hope we can respond with compassion rather than judgment and avoid directing blame toward the wrong person. “To everyone who has reached out with kindness, encouragement, and support, thank you. Your messages, prayers, and understanding have meant more to me than words can express during this difficult time” she posted on her Instagram account.5d:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mrcqvsezuedp",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/23/bizarre-fetish-leaks-stun-malawi/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["music","Scandal","social media","Zambia","Entertainment","National","Politics","Top News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Bizarre fetish leaks stun Malawi","content":{"html":"$a7","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-23T12:02:38.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifnlquv33ahvtbn2gderlmkepdeq5rrbpfl2hxtwtb2vqkeu47vye"},"size":30800,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"A wave of leaked explicit videos exposing bizarre sexual fetishes has rocked Malawi. The clips are spreading rapidly across social media platforms. The shocking videos have sparked outrage and renewed concerns over revenge porn, online privacy and the non-consensual sharing of intimate material. 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Now would be a great time for Congress to flex its war powers muscles granted to it in the Constitution.

U.S. Surges Forces Toward Middle East, Giving Trump Options to Expand Iran War – WSJ

","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"description":"Now would be a great time for Congress to flex its war powers muscles granted to it in the Constitution. U.S. Surges Forces Toward Middle East, Giving Trump Options to Expand Iran War - WSJ","publishedAt":"2026-07-23T03:17:36.000Z","textContent":"Now would be a great time for Congress to flex its war powers muscles granted to it in the Constitution. U.S. Surges Forces Toward Middle East, Giving Trump Options to Expand Iran War – WSJ","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:xngft3ufnjgva7zpxhaygfx2/site.standard.document/3mrbuth44bl7v","sort_date":"2026-07-23T03:17:36+00:00"}}] 5f:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:xiafbl7vvmwumambwe4ncxfn/site.standard.document/3mralbe7fi22v",{"publication":{"href":"https://effortpost.leaflet.pub","pubRecord":{"url":"https://effortpost.leaflet.pub","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreicecnii5mrur7gqjgskd5itz5bkkgf7qb5re57e274pqlaj242kvi"},"size":6332,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"name":"Effortpost","$type":"site.standard.publication","basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":43,"g":130,"r":87,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":250,"g":252,"r":253,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":39,"g":39,"r":39,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Political thoughts from someone who thinks Democrats are pretty neat generally.","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:xiafbl7vvmwumambwe4ncxfn/site.standard.publication/3mnd3plqx422y"},"ownerDid":"@ghazelleberner.bsky.social","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:xiafbl7vvmwumambwe4ncxfn","handle":"ghazelleberner.bsky.social","displayName":"Vibecession Forever"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3mralbe7fi22v","site":"at://did:plc:xiafbl7vvmwumambwe4ncxfn/site.standard.publication/3mnd3plqx422y","tags":["politics","social media","liberalism"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"I Regret to Inform You that Posting Matters","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019f8a25-1953-7882-a316-eafa7b509c89","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"alt":"Two Twitter birds fighting.","$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.image","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiaedpagpk24vqvap6t36iulopynmvqtdmhxgfa4wdeopivbv3xeme"},"size":228871,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"aspectRatio":{"width":612,"height":415}}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"“Twitter is not real life.”"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"This was, for a long time, the comforting salve that people like myself would apply to our poisoned brains whenever we finally worked up the self control to close the app and get back to work. Twitter is just Twitter! It’s dumb and pointless and a waste of time. Sometimes beguiling? Yes. But ultimately irrelevant."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The idea of being Twitter Famous was a kind of ironic curse. In the fake, digital world, perhaps you might have some influence. Hell, your audience might even be enough to fill football stadiums. But here on terra firma, you were as anonymous and pointless as most anyone. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.header","level":2,"plaintext":"The Long 2016"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The 2016 election shook out some belief in this idea."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"After all, Wikileaks and the DNC and Clinton Emails and the Trump Train and on and on — these were potent ideas that Twitter (and Reddit, and Facebook) had elevated. Maybe Twitter was starting to become real life."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"But while they may have originated online, they metastasized into the political discourse through talking heads on CNN and New York Times headlines. Or so we told ourselves. Twitter still wasn’t real life, but some of the people on it were real. So in a way, if it influenced them, it could have a secondary impact on real life."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"That was where things were for most of the first Trump administration. He’d tweet, people would melt down about it, the world would keep spinning, and we all still kept applying that trusty salve."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Twitter isn’t real life."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Then COVID-19 happened."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.header","level":2,"plaintext":"We All Move Online (For Good?)"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"You remember that part. No one could leave their homes. Sports were cancelled, and then aired in eerie silence. Movies bypassed the cinema and streamed straight to your TV. And, of course, you used the internet way, way, way more."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"For work. For leisure. To communicate with friends. To shop. To do anything and everything. The real world, functionally, stopped existing. All that was left was the virtual world. Real friends were as distant as online friends. Conversation over dinner was replaced with conversation over Discord."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Famously, this was how Q Anon and the Big Lie really came into power. Thousands of people left the real world and dove head first into the virtual world. The next time they came up for air was when they stormed the Capitol, convinced by a cottage industry of influencers and YouTubers that the election was stolen from them."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Since then, more and more of our lives are lived online. It happens in ways you don’t notice until you do. Menus disappear and are replaced by QR codes. You text with friends to stay in touch until you realize years have gone by without seeing them. You don’t really hear about things by word of mouth anymore, rather what’s served to you on Instagram or what someone says is good on Reddit."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"And, crucially, you get your information about the world and its goings on from social media. Whichever app, Twitter, BlueSky, Threads, Reddit, whatever — is mostly irrelevant. The app shows you what it shows you, and that’s what you learn."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.header","level":2,"plaintext":"Twitter Might Be Real Life"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"So, if people get all their information from the internet, do much of their socialization on the internet, and rely on the internet for everything from securing sustenance to actually doing their jobs, the fact is that the internet has become the real place. And the real world, now, is the place we escape to."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"I’m not the first to make that observation. Hell, the notion of a fake world replacing the real world dates back long before the internet itself even existed. But it’s no less relevant — our perception of the world is shaped by our internet use."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The time has come to stop denying it. Twitter (and by extension, the rest of the internet), is real life. And it’s time to act accordingly."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"In order to shape real life and make it better, we must shape the internet too."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"What does that mean for you and I, fellow liberal democrats who believe in the international community and the contemporary liberal order?"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Unfortunately, it means we need to post more."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"A lot more."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.header","level":2,"plaintext":"This is the Political Battlefield; You are a Soldier"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"If you believe in liberal values, which is to say values like fairness, liberty, equality, the rule of law, but also in liberal virtues like kindness, respect, generosity — you have a moral obligation to suit up and fight for those values. That was true 250 years ago when the first patriots fought back against the British regime. It’s true today."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Thankfully, there’s a lot less being asked of you today to fight that fight. You don’t need a musket and to say goodbye to your family. "}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"You just need to post."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Post on BlueSky, post on Instagram, post on Reddit. Hell, post on Twitter. Social media didn’t used to matter, but guess what? Now it does. And we as liberals cannot cede that ground to others."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"For too long, we’ve viewed this as a wasteful distraction. Something to be mocked and derided but not invested in."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"But what has “Twitter isn’t real life” actually gotten us? Are we any less brain broken? Of course, not."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"What we’ve gotten is a far-right pipeline on Twitter, on Twitch, on YouTube. A Gen Z cohort who found Trump amusingly gauche instead of constitutionally unsound. The return of slurs as popular slang, the disdain for social order and cohesion."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"It’s gotten us Hasan Piker, Taylor Lorenz, and anti-Ukrainian apologia. Another Gen Z cohort who believes (((monied interests))) are controlling the Democratic Party and a failure to repeat leftist shibboleths is a treasonous offense."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"It’s meant that the internet is full of terrible ideas. And the people with good ideas think they’re too smart and clever to waste time posting about them online."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"For too long, we as liberals have felt above it all. Social media is dumb; its battles a waste. And for a time, maybe that was true. But it’s time to wake up. This is the actual battle we are losing."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":80,"byteStart":24},"features":[{"uri":"https://bsky.app/profile/jaspercabot.bsky.social/post/3mr7foxwoe22c","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":133,"byteStart":122},"features":[{"uri":"https://bsky.app/profile/trackaipac.com","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":301,"byteStart":279},"features":[{"uri":"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114734934153569653","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Members of Congress are believing outright lies about their fellow party members based on … posts. An account called “Track AIPAC” can convince tens of thousands of people that AIPAC has invested in a race it never touched. The President of the United States can post that a ceasefire is back on, and the markets automatically go up."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"That’s the world our absence has enabled. That’s what takes up the space on Twitch and YouTube and BlueSky and Twitter when you stay silent."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"You want to know why young people are more skeptical of democracy than ever? Because the people posting the most online are the ones who value democracy the least."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"It’s up to us to fight back. It’s up to us to fill the void."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Reality is being created as we speak. Do you want to shape it, or let others do it for you? Because we’re seeing now where that reality leads to, and it’s nowhere good."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Does it feel a bit silly? You bet. But we’ve got to get over that."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The war has been going on for years. It’s time we all actually suit up and enter the fray."}}]}]},"bskyPostRef":{"cid":"bafyreidlj44aw7s7v5zdeiw64dfvg4ag2iasykxapzb3xzhrt46dfktwsu","uri":"at://did:plc:xiafbl7vvmwumambwe4ncxfn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mralbneq722i","commit":{"cid":"bafyreih5aahrtb7nzrl2lbjyhyajsjurezzatd63zsjxl2uvgfv7vsnjom","rev":"3mralbnixce2s"},"validationStatus":"valid"},"description":"Posting online didn’t matter until it did. But now, if you believe in liberal values, it’s time to suit up and fight.","publishedAt":"2026-07-22T14:53:48.846Z","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:xiafbl7vvmwumambwe4ncxfn/site.standard.document/3mralbe7fi22v","sort_date":"2026-07-22T14:53:48.846+00:00"}}] a9:T46f,Right Intention is the natural next step once you have Right View, if you see clearly that our actions shape reality and that we’re all interconnected, then your intentions shift accordingly. Right Intention means committing to three core orientations: letting go of greed and craving, acting from goodwill rather than ill will, and choosing compassion over cruelty. It’s the difference between asking “What can I get?” and “What can I give?” between approaching the world with suspicion and hostility versus approaching it with openness and care. In practical terms, Right Intention means your motivations are rooted in reducing suffering, not in feeding your own ego, securing your tribe’s dominance, or punishing those you see as enemies. It recognizes that intentions matter, that the quality of your mind before you act shapes the quality of the action itself and its consequences. Right Intention isn’t about being perfect or never having negative thoughts, it’s about consistently orienting your heart toward generosity, kindness, and harmlessness, even when it’s difficult, especially when it’s difficult.60:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:va3cb57nwy76a5grct2e3ts6/site.standard.document/3mrymvgprhc2k",{"publication":{"href":"https://danarel.leaflet.pub","pubRecord":{"url":"https://danarel.leaflet.pub","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreifga5z6qzyjzo6prvzoe3tjeoefcoquuafie6wlmynycwmywwx2xy"},"size":8449,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Dan Arel | Radical Buddhism","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","primary":{"b":39,"g":39,"r":39,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"wordmark":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.wordmark","image":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreiea3jzmqdglww7tefxc2u4dpytj2gitkx74xegrxqj2oyhtoioc44"},"size":45697,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"width":200},"pageWidth":624,"accentText":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"pageBackground":{"a":100,"b":250,"g":252,"r":253,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"backgroundColor":{"a":100,"b":228,"g":237,"r":242,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgba"},"accentBackground":{"b":31,"g":66,"r":168,"$type":"pub.leaflet.theme.color#rgb"},"showPageBackground":false},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":31,"g":66,"r":168,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":228,"g":237,"r":242,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":0,"g":0,"r":0,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":255,"g":255,"r":255,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Dan Arel is a Buddhist writer exploring the intersection of mindfulness, ethics, and politics in everyday life. Here he writes about Buddhism, religion, and culture.","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true,"prevNextDirection":"rtl"}},"uri":"at://did:plc:va3cb57nwy76a5grct2e3ts6/site.standard.publication/3mry62fjg4c23"},"ownerDid":"@danarel.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:va3cb57nwy76a5grct2e3ts6","handle":"danarel.com","displayName":"Dan Arel | Radical Buddhism"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/3mrymvgprhc2k","site":"at://did:plc:va3cb57nwy76a5grct2e3ts6/site.standard.publication/3mry62fjg4c23","tags":["buddhism","dharma-buddhism","meditation","politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Is the dharma nonpartisan?","content":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.content","pages":[{"id":"019fbb91-68b3-7991-9496-fee5e7d9b201","$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument","blocks":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"I highly respect Jack Kornfield and his work, his writings, his teachings, you name it. I don’t think it’s often I disagree with him, and perhaps I don’t, but after reading one of his blogs on Lion’s Roar, I wanted to explore something he said."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":37,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.lionsroar.com/commentary-buddhisms-call-to-action/","$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"In a blog about activism and Buddhism, he wrote:"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":309,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#italic"}]}],"plaintext":"The dharma, the teachings of generosity, virtue, loving-kindness, and wisdom, are nonpartisan. The benefits of dharma teachings can be used by Republicans and Democrats, by members of the Green Party and Libertarians, by Iraqis and Israelis. The dharma welcomes everyone and encourages all to awaken together. I have to ask, is the dharma nonpartisan? I don’t believe it is, and I would like to explore why I believe that. I will be clear, this is coming from an entirely US centric point of view, so when I use terms as left, right, Republican, or Democrat, I am speaking in terms of US politics only."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"To avoid making this post eight times as long, I am only looking at two of the steps on the Noble Eightfold Path to examine this claim."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":10,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#bold"}]}],"plaintext":"Right View"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"One of the first and most important steps in the Noble Eightfold Path is Right View. Right View, in its simplest form, is seeing reality clearly enough to stop making things worse for yourself and others. It means understanding that our actions have consequences, that cruelty, greed, and hatred create suffering, while kindness, generosity, and compassion create the conditions for happiness. Right View recognizes that we are all interconnected, that clinging to rigid certainties and splitting the world into enemies and allies is a fundamental misunderstanding of how things actually work. It sees through the illusion that we are separate, permanent selves entitled to protect our interests at any cost, and instead recognizes the impermanent, interdependent nature of all beings. Most importantly, Right View isn’t just a belief system, it’s a practical orientation toward reality that asks us to take responsibility for how our choices, both personal and political, either reduce or increase suffering in the world."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"So if we’re going to say that the dharma is teaching that one must be free of greed, selfishness, hatred, then there is no way Republicans or conservatives can fall in line with Right View. I would argue many Democrats can’t either."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The pro-capitalist, warmongering, racism, bigotry, sexism, and homophobia we see in our politics, but mainly from one particular ideology, already show that it is not aligned with this teaching."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":15,"byteStart":0},"features":[{"$type":"pub.leaflet.richtext.facet#bold"}]}],"plaintext":"Right Intention"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"$a9"}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Again, you’re going to be hard pressed to claim that the right wing in the US aligns at all with Right Intention. The nationalism that runs rampant in the party creates an us versus them mentality, the anti-immigration stance, anti-transgender legislation, all comes down to creating harm, and believing you are protecting what you feel is yours."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Now, to be clear, I don’t think Democrats fit this mold well either. In fact, I don’t think many political ideologies outside of anarchism or communism can and I know that is very polarizing statement to may, but these ideologies are rooted in the end of suffering, and to helping each other."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"Understanding communism checkered history with Buddhism in the east should not be a deterrent to realizing it’s full potential, but this isn’t a blog about communism."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The dharma, however, doesn’t have a political ideology per se, but it does lend itself to be hostile to towards them."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"The dharma can be practiced by anyone, so in this sense it’s nonpartisan, but it cannot be practiced wholly if one is committed to remaining stuck to their political ideologies. For a lack of a better term, if the dharma is turning you into a leftist, you’re not likely practicing the dharma, or at the very least, you’re not understanding it."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"I believe what Jack gets wrong is that a normal character flaw I see in good people like him is that they see an innate good in everyone. He is likely to reach across any aisle and try to appeal to someone better angels."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"It’s a laudable character trait, but I believe it can create blindspots from time to time. In this case, I believe he wants to reach as many people with Buddhist practice as possible, but one should caution about opening up too much space for those who only wish to then exploit this practice for their own gain, once again, violating Right View and Right Intention, moving away from the dharma."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"This is the same level of concern I run into when I see meditation practitioners highlight the Fortune 500 companies and CEOs they work with. They are only getting business because these companies believe that exploiting mindfulness can lead to a competitive advantage over their competition."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"In the end, I think we should think of the dharma, and Buddhism in general as a human rights belief, and those political parties or people who globally do not adhere to that kind of belief system won’t find the dharma useful in any meaningful way."}},{"$type":"pub.leaflet.pages.linearDocument#block","block":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.blocks.text","plaintext":"We should be creating a welcoming space for all who wish to learn about the path and practice it, but we should be honest with those same people about what the dharma is and what it isn’t. It’s not here to make your business stronger, but perhaps how to teach you to treat your employees and customers better. It’s not meant to help make you rich financially, but perhaps to show you that money isn’t the root of happiness. When we open our doors, we can help change lives, but those who walk through those doors must have genuine desire to better not just their lives, but everyone else’s too."}}]}]},"coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihmxseyqakf52berxbhqxskceildccuybg2mquhusu46sedvtspmm"},"size":354552,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"description":"","preferences":{"$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#preferences","showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":true,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":false,"showRecommends":true,"prevNextDirection":"rtl"},"publishedAt":"2026-07-21T04:26:00.000Z","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:va3cb57nwy76a5grct2e3ts6"}],"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:va3cb57nwy76a5grct2e3ts6/site.standard.document/3mrymvgprhc2k","sort_date":"2026-07-21T04:26:00+00:00"}}] aa:T5e2,A typo in a BC Supreme Court pleading suggests they might. On the 25th of November 2025 a Salt Spring entrepreneur who is now an Islands Trust candidate made a petition to the Supreme Court of British Columbia asking for a judicial review of a decision by North Salt Spring Waterworks District over their refusal of a water connection to a property during a long standing moratorium. Paragraph 8 of that pleading reads: In or around October 2024, the NSSWD implemented a moratorium on new or upsized water service connections. The policy was updated in 2018 and again in 2025.Source: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/salt-spring-water.pdf So: Implemented 2024 Updated 2018 Updated 2025 The correct implementation date is 2014, a decade earlier. This is made clear in NSSWD's press release of January 30th 2025. Following the completion of detailed analyses of water supply reliability and water system infrastructure, and several months of community engagement and feedback, the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) Board has approved a partial lift of its water moratorium policy (Moratorium) that has been in place since 2014.Source: https://northsaltspringwaterworks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NSSWD-Moratorium-Press-Release-Jan-2025-FINAL-1.pdf Just a typo, and a relatively inconsequential one, but one that slipped through the editing process and made its way into a court document. This is not the level of attention to detail that I'd want in a Islands Trustee.61:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:sr4j625dt5zlxcjmsb4famny/site.standard.document/3mr45rl57mxzk",{"publication":{"href":"https://ssi-phil.pckt.blog","pubRecord":{"url":"https://ssi-phil.pckt.blog","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreidorrjef5s3wun7ehy4kxbrlaw5oic422ajsilh6h3thrn3j5uge4"},"size":23199,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"name":"SSI Phil","$type":"site.standard.publication","theme":{"dark":{"link":"#94a3b8","text":"#cbd5e1","accent":"#475569","background":"#0f1419","surfaceHover":"#1a2332"},"font":"cactusserif","$type":"pub.leaflet.publication#theme","light":{"link":"#64748b","text":"#1e293b","accent":"#475569","background":"#f8fafc","surfaceHover":"#e2e8f0"},"transparency":90,"highlightColor":"theme","highlightShape":"loose","tileBackground":false,"backgroundTileSize":30},"basicTheme":{"$type":"site.standard.theme.basic","accent":{"b":105,"g":85,"r":71,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"background":{"b":252,"g":250,"r":248,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"foreground":{"b":59,"g":41,"r":30,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"},"accentForeground":{"b":240,"g":232,"r":226,"$type":"site.standard.theme.color#rgb"}},"description":"Lively and spirited; jaunty.","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true}},"uri":"at://did:plc:sr4j625dt5zlxcjmsb4famny/site.standard.publication/3mr45rl52xf7q"},"ownerDid":"@phillip-rees.bsky.social","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:sr4j625dt5zlxcjmsb4famny","handle":"phillip-rees.bsky.social","displayName":"Phillip Rees"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/does-north-salt-spring-waterworks-district-have-a-time-machine-tdaaqge","site":"at://did:plc:sr4j625dt5zlxcjmsb4famny/site.standard.publication/3mr45rl52xf7q","tags":["Politics"],"$type":"site.standard.document","langs":["en"],"title":"Does North Salt Spring Waterworks District Have A Time Machine?","content":{"$type":"blog.pckt.content","items":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.heading","level":3,"plaintext":"A typo in a BC Supreme Court pleading suggests they might."},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"On the 25th of November 2025 a Salt Spring entrepreneur who is now an Islands Trust candidate made a petition to the Supreme Court of British Columbia asking for a judicial review of a decision by North Salt Spring Waterworks District over their refusal of a water connection to a property during a long standing moratorium. Paragraph 8 of that pleading reads:"},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.blockquote","content":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":166,"byteStart":158},"features":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.richtext.facet#bold"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":245,"byteStart":166},"features":[{"uri":"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/salt-spring-water.pdf","$type":"blog.pckt.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"In or around October 2024, the NSSWD implemented a moratorium on new or upsized water service connections. The policy was updated in 2018 and again in 2025.\n\nSource: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/salt-spring-water.pdf"}]},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"So:"},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.bulletList","content":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.listItem","content":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"Implemented 2024"}]},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.listItem","content":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"Updated 2018"}]},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.listItem","content":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"Updated 2025"}]}]},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"The correct implementation date is 2014, a decade earlier. This is made clear in NSSWD's press release of January 30th 2025."},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.blockquote","content":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","facets":[{"index":{"byteEnd":335,"byteStart":328},"features":[{"$type":"blog.pckt.richtext.facet#bold"}]},{"index":{"byteEnd":451,"byteStart":336},"features":[{"uri":"https://northsaltspringwaterworks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NSSWD-Moratorium-Press-Release-Jan-2025-FINAL-1.pdf","$type":"blog.pckt.richtext.facet#link"}]}],"plaintext":"Following the completion of detailed analyses of water supply reliability and water system infrastructure, and several months of community engagement and feedback, the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) Board has approved a partial lift of its water moratorium policy (Moratorium) that has been in place since 2014.\n\nSource: https://northsaltspringwaterworks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NSSWD-Moratorium-Press-Release-Jan-2025-FINAL-1.pdf"}]},{"$type":"blog.pckt.block.text","plaintext":"Just a typo, and a relatively inconsequential one, but one that slipped through the editing process and made its way into a court document. This is not the level of attention to detail that I'd want in a Islands Trustee."}]},"updatedAt":"2026-07-21T05:50:20.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihqx2ahtfyqu4msdksliw6a7kiu643tdvos5u6mq5hcj2i6unupr4"},"size":8713,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"description":"A typo in a BC Supreme Court pleading suggests they might.","publishedAt":"2026-07-20T23:48:42.000Z","textContent":"$aa","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:sr4j625dt5zlxcjmsb4famny/site.standard.document/3mr45rl57mxzk","sort_date":"2026-07-20T23:48:42+00:00"}}] ab:T1b1c,

LONDON — Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared that the United Kingdom is at a historic turning point, promising the biggest political and economic transformation in four decades as he took office following an audience with King Charles III.

Standing outside 10 Downing Street on Monday after being invited by the King to form a government, Burnham acknowledged Britain’s years of political turmoil before promising to restore stability, rebuild the economy and “bring back hope.”

“I have accepted His Majesty the King’s invitation to form a government,” Burnham announced as he addressed the nation for the first time as Prime Minister.

But rather than celebrating his arrival in office, Burnham immediately turned his attention to what he described as Britain’s prolonged political instability.

“I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last ten years to walk up this street, the seventh Prime Minister since 2016,” he said.

“It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game.”

‘Britain needs a circuit breaker’

In one of the defining moments of his speech, Burnham declared that Britain needs nothing less than a “circuit breaker.”

“We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last forty years.”

He said both Britain’s political system and economic model would be fundamentally reshaped.

Burnham criticised the legacy of the 1980s, arguing that excessive centralisation of political power, widespread privatisation and de-industrialisation had left many communities behind.

“In the 1980s, Britain took some wrong turns,” he said.

He argued that many towns and cities still feel trapped in decline because decisions affecting their future are made far away in Westminster.

Power to every postcode

One of Burnham’s biggest promises was to shift power away from central government.

“We will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land.”

The new Prime Minister also pledged stronger public control over essential services in a bid to reduce living costs.

He promised to use government purchasing power to support British manufacturers and help re-industrialise the country.

10-year masterplan for Britain

Burnham announced that later this year he will unveil what he described as a comprehensive 10-year plan to reshape Britain.

The strategy, he said, would provide a long-term roadmap regardless of political divisions.

He also promised immediate action to ease pressure on households struggling with the cost of living.

“I will set out some of those measures starting tomorrow, including how we pay for them.”

Jobs, housing and mental health

Burnham pledged reforms aimed at helping young people into employment through changes to education and expanded mental health support.

He also promised a major programme to build more council houses.

According to Burnham, investing in people before problems develop would ultimately reduce welfare spending while allowing Britain to meet its fiscal rules and defence commitments.

First order: End rough sleeping

Perhaps the most striking announcement came near the end of the speech.

Burnham revealed that his very first instruction after entering Number 10 would be aimed at ending rough sleeping.

“I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction: to end rough sleeping in our country.”

The commitment echoes one of Burnham’s long-standing priorities during his years as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

‘Let’s bring back hope’

Burnham ended his address with an appeal for unity after years of political division.

“I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do.”

“I will give this my all.”

Calling on the public to work together, he concluded:

“Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity.”

“Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again.”

“The moment we bring back hope.”

📌 Key Facts

Andy Burnham officially became UK Prime Minister on 20 July 2026 after accepting King Charles III’s invitation to form a government.
He said he is Britain’s seventh Prime Minister since 2016.
Promised the biggest political and economic reforms in 40 years.
Plans to devolve power from Westminster to local communities across Britain.
Will unveil a 10-year national plan later this year.
Immediate cost-of-living measures to be announced from Tuesday.
Promises more council housing, education reform and expanded mental health support.
His first official instruction will be to begin ending rough sleeping across the UK.

ac:T122e,LONDON — Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared that the United Kingdom is at a historic turning point, promising the biggest political and economic transformation in four decades as he took office following an audience with King Charles III. Standing outside 10 Downing Street on Monday after being invited by the King to form a government, Burnham acknowledged Britain’s years of political turmoil before promising to restore stability, rebuild the economy and “bring back hope.” “I have accepted His Majesty the King’s invitation to form a government,” Burnham announced as he addressed the nation for the first time as Prime Minister. But rather than celebrating his arrival in office, Burnham immediately turned his attention to what he described as Britain’s prolonged political instability. “I am acutely conscious that I am the sixth person in the last ten years to walk up this street, the seventh Prime Minister since 2016,” he said. “It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game.” ‘Britain needs a circuit breaker’ In one of the defining moments of his speech, Burnham declared that Britain needs nothing less than a “circuit breaker.” “We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last forty years.” He said both Britain’s political system and economic model would be fundamentally reshaped. Burnham criticised the legacy of the 1980s, arguing that excessive centralisation of political power, widespread privatisation and de-industrialisation had left many communities behind. “In the 1980s, Britain took some wrong turns,” he said. He argued that many towns and cities still feel trapped in decline because decisions affecting their future are made far away in Westminster. Power to every postcode One of Burnham’s biggest promises was to shift power away from central government. “We will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land.” The new Prime Minister also pledged stronger public control over essential services in a bid to reduce living costs. He promised to use government purchasing power to support British manufacturers and help re-industrialise the country. 10-year masterplan for Britain Burnham announced that later this year he will unveil what he described as a comprehensive 10-year plan to reshape Britain. The strategy, he said, would provide a long-term roadmap regardless of political divisions. He also promised immediate action to ease pressure on households struggling with the cost of living. “I will set out some of those measures starting tomorrow, including how we pay for them.” Jobs, housing and mental health Burnham pledged reforms aimed at helping young people into employment through changes to education and expanded mental health support. He also promised a major programme to build more council houses. According to Burnham, investing in people before problems develop would ultimately reduce welfare spending while allowing Britain to meet its fiscal rules and defence commitments. First order: End rough sleeping Perhaps the most striking announcement came near the end of the speech. Burnham revealed that his very first instruction after entering Number 10 would be aimed at ending rough sleeping. “I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction: to end rough sleeping in our country.” The commitment echoes one of Burnham’s long-standing priorities during his years as Mayor of Greater Manchester. ‘Let’s bring back hope’ Burnham ended his address with an appeal for unity after years of political division. “I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do.” “I will give this my all.” Calling on the public to work together, he concluded: “Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity.” “Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again.” “The moment we bring back hope.” 📌 Key Facts Andy Burnham officially became UK Prime Minister on 20 July 2026 after accepting King Charles III’s invitation to form a government. He said he is Britain’s seventh Prime Minister since 2016. Promised the biggest political and economic reforms in 40 years. Plans to devolve power from Westminster to local communities across Britain. Will unveil a 10-year national plan later this year. Immediate cost-of-living measures to be announced from Tuesday. Promises more council housing, education reform and expanded mental health support. His first official instruction will be to begin ending rough sleeping across the UK.62:["$","$L30","at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mr4ex3m4zshw",{"publication":{"href":"https://malawi24.com","pubRecord":{"url":"https://malawi24.com","icon":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreihdwdcefgh4dqkjv67uzcmw7ojee6xedzdetojuzjevtenxquvyku"},"size":0,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/png"},"name":"Malawi24","$type":"site.standard.publication","description":"Malawi's #1 Independent News Source","preferences":{"showComments":true,"showMentions":true,"showPrevNext":false,"showFirstLast":false,"showInDiscover":true,"showRecommends":true},"theme":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj"},"ownerDid":"@malawi24.com","contributors":[{"did":"did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6","handle":"malawi24.com","displayName":"Malawi24"}],"documents":{"comments_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"document_mentions_in_bsky":[{"count":0}],"recommends_on_documents":[{"count":0}],"data":{"path":"/2026/07/21/andy-burnham-first-speech-prime-minister-2026/","site":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.publication/3mqwe2mmtqkfj","tags":["Andy Burnham","Keir Starmer","London","United kingdom","National","Politics","Top News","World News"],"$type":"site.standard.document","title":"Britain’s new PM Andy Burnham declares ‘circuit breaker’ as he vows biggest shake-up in 40 years","content":{"html":"$ab","$type":"org.wordpress.html"},"updatedAt":"2026-07-20T22:48:55.000Z","coverImage":{"ref":{"$link":"bafkreibffjmm46prdmj4f256cfjx7mvbyl4uywc7gfdn77nxrdqyxon2zy"},"size":80722,"$type":"blob","mimeType":"image/webp"},"description":"LONDON — Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared that the United Kingdom is at a historic turning point, promising the biggest political and economic transformation in four decades as he took office following an audience with King Charles III. Standing outside 10 Downing Street on Monday after being invited by the King to...","publishedAt":"2026-07-20T22:48:51.000Z","textContent":"$ac","theme":"$undefined","preferences":"$undefined"},"uri":"at://did:plc:mftgmw4raxtalcekxixzhvw6/site.standard.document/3mr4ex3m4zshw","sort_date":"2026-07-20T22:48:51+00:00"}}]

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Britain’s new PM Andy Burnham declares ‘circuit breaker’ as he vows biggest shake-up in 40 years