News / Africa
Malawi reverts to old flag
29 May 2012 at 13:32hrs | Views
Blantyre - Malawi's parliament has approved a bill to revert to the old independence flag, two years after the late president Bingu wa Mutharika altered it, state radio reported on Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Henry Phoya argued Mutharika had not conducted adequate consultations before making the change in 2010 and said the black, red and green stripes with a red rising sun were a "sacred symbol" of Malawi's nationhood.
"Changing it willy nilly is an unfair attack on a country's sense of nationhood, an attack on a symbol which Malawians hold so dearly and passionately," he said.
Mutharika, who died in April following a cardiac arrest and after eight years in power, changed the flag to include a full white sun meant to signify that a new era was not just dawning but that Malawi's promise was being fulfilled.
He had argued Malawi could not continue "to be at dawn in 2010 as we were in 1964... we don't have to live permanently in the past".
Parliament Speaker Henry Phoya argued Mutharika had not conducted adequate consultations before making the change in 2010 and said the black, red and green stripes with a red rising sun were a "sacred symbol" of Malawi's nationhood.
"Changing it willy nilly is an unfair attack on a country's sense of nationhood, an attack on a symbol which Malawians hold so dearly and passionately," he said.
Mutharika, who died in April following a cardiac arrest and after eight years in power, changed the flag to include a full white sun meant to signify that a new era was not just dawning but that Malawi's promise was being fulfilled.
He had argued Malawi could not continue "to be at dawn in 2010 as we were in 1964... we don't have to live permanently in the past".
Source - Sapa
