Government of the people for the people by teh people.

[the_future_modernes]

MOZAMBIQUE:We Are the Government

Members of the Women's Form of Karonga after the meeting./Credit:Jessie Boylan/IPS
LAGO DISTRICT, Mozambique, Nov 6 (IPS) - As if they were going to the races, Emma Musako and Monica Mhango showed up in their finest outfits to attend a meeting on the health, social and environmental impacts of uranium mining. They came because they, like the other attendees, no longer want to remain uninformed citizens.

Last month in the dusty lakeshore town of Karonga in northern Malawi, some 80 people met to discuss issues concerning the Kayelekera Uranium Mine (KUM) which lies 52 km north east of Karonga.

"Before we came to this meeting," said Musako, a strong willed mother of 10 and member of the Women’s Forum of Karonga, "we weren’t sure what this ‘uranium’ was; we thought maybe it was the name of a person."

Organised by the Citizens for Justice (CFJ), the meeting had representatives from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), churches, communities and universities; and concluded with a clear strategy and action plan as to how the new civil society ‘movement’ would proceed.

The meeting allowed for opinions to be voiced and for concerns to be raised - everyone had the opportunity to have their say.

"The government is you and me, we are supposed to take control," said a university representative.

"We are citizens of Malawi, we all have constitutional rights to be protected and safe. Our government is a signatory to international laws… they must protect us," said a workers rights campaigner. MORE