Malawi to Scotland - 03/02/20

Seagate Rotary’s speaker on Monday was Moses Mkhono, a lawyer from Malawi currently in Scotland to do a PhD in International Commercial Law at Strathclyde.  Moses talked about the long association between Scotland and Malawi, going back to David Livingstone in 1862, and the first Prime Minister and President of Independent Malawi from 1965, Dr Hastings Banda who qualified in Edinburgh. 

The country had a turbulent history even before European colonialisation.  In the late 20th century it was a virtual dictatorship, but democracy is gradually being established.  Currently the judiciary in the country are starting to get to grips with the widespread corruption in high places, and on Monday there was a landmark ruling that last year’s Presidential election was invalid and will have to be re-run.

There are great contrasts between rich and poor, city and country, and the work done by Scottish organisations such as the Scotland Malawi Partnership, and by Rotary are vital in tackling these problems.  Moses answered many questions, and a Vote of Thanks was proposed by Billy Dickson.