MALAWI: AMB. BODDE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO PRES.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LILONGWE 000630

SIPDIS

STATE FOR CHIEF OF PROTOCOL
STATE ALSO FOR AF, AF/S, AND AF/RSA
LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHER PETER LORD
MCC FOR DIEDRA FAIR
ADDIS ABABA PLEASE PASS TO US MMISSION TO THE AU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2018
TAGS: PREL ODIP EAID KPKO MI
SUBJECT: MALAWI: AMB. BODDE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO PRES.
MUTHARIKA

REF: LILONGWE 612

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Classified By: Ambassador Peter Bodde for Reasons 1.4 b, d


1. (U) Summary: On October 28, Ambassador Peter Bodde
presented his letter of credence to President Bingu wa
Mutharika at the State House. Ambassador Bodde previously
presented a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Joyce
Banda on October 16 (reftel). During a lengthy private
discussion, Mutharika stressed his appreciation for U.S.
assistance with HIV, malaria, and education and asked for
continued support in these areas. The President also
described his vision of a "green belt" along Lake Malawi as a
potential solution to ensure Malawi's food security for the
foreseeable future. Mutharika stressed his ambition to
improve girls' education in Malawi and asked for increased
U.S. support for his initiatives. He reiterated Malawi's
desire to expand its role as an international peacekeeper and
asked for U.S. equipment support to help make that happen.
Finally, Mutharika said he was determined to hold free and
fair elections next May and he invited international
observers to come to Malawi at least three months earlier so
they could be effective. End summary.


2. (U) On October 28, Ambassador Peter W. Bodde presented
his letter of credence to President Bingu wa Mutharika. The
Ambassador was accompanied by his wife and the Deputy Chief
of Mission. Chief Secretary of the Office of President and
Cabinet Bright Msaka (Chief of Staff equivalent) also
attended the ceremony. Amb. Bodde was one of five new
ambassadors who presented credentials during the day, but
President Mutharika was generous with his time, spending over
thirty minutes in a private one-on-one discussion.

Strong Bilateral Relationship
--------------


3. (C) During the private conversation, Mutharika described
Malawi's bilateral relationship with the United States as
strong. He said that the government of Malawi actively
supported U.S. positions when it could, citing the GOM's
support of the U.S. position on the International Court of
Justice. Mutharika also expressed his personal gratitude for
U.S. assistance. He highlighted the areas of education,
HIV/AIDS, and malaria as critical areas that the United
States is providing key assistance that will benefit Malawi's
future. Mutharika said he remained especially concerned
about tuberculosis and malaria in Malawi. Amb. Bodde
described the expanding efforts under the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's
Malaria Initiative (PMI) to combat these diseases and noted
that the U.S. government was looking to do more.

Green Belt
--------------


4. (C) Mutharika spent almost 10 minutes of the discussion
describing his plans to create a "green belt" in Malawi. The
President's vision is to create a 15-30 kilometer area of
intensive irrigation along the entire shore of Lake Malawi
and the Shire River. Mutharika said that despite Malawi's
current dependence on rain-fed agriculture, the country
possessed good water resources. The green belt, he said,
would allow Malawi to maximize them. He described a plan to
grow non-traditional crops such as rice and cassava in the
green belt, as well as establishing large-scale fish farms.
Mutharika believes growing non-traditional crops will allow
Malawi to build its agricultural exports to its neighbors.
However, he believed his countrymen would continue to prefer
Malawi's staple crop maize to products easily grown in the
green belt.


5. (C) The President also envisions building eight new dams
to provide both irrigation and power production, both keys to
ensuring food security and elimination of electricity
shortfalls that disrupt industry. He emotionally described
the continued need for large-scale infrastructure projects
such as these to secure sustained economic growth for Malawi.
Mutharika said he will personally lead the diplomatic corp
on a tour of the green belt areas to describe his vision, and

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asked for U.S. assistance to help make it reality.

Education
--------------


6. (C) Mutharika made a special pitch for increased U.S.
assistance in the field of education. He said curriculum
reform, teacher training, and a focused effort to provide
education to girls and young women were key for improving
Malawi's educational system. Mutharika proudly described his
personal efforts to create hostels and boarding facilities
for girls at government schools so they would have more
opportunities to finish their education. He said that the
current social conditions in Malawi made it extremely
difficult for a girl to finish secondary school. Harassment
from male students and others often forced girls out of the
system.


7. (C) Mutharika's hope is to create safe and positive
environments for girls seeking education. He said more
educated women in Malawi would create conditions for social
change, even at the village level. Amb. Bodde commented that
the U.S. was deeply engaged in the education sector through
both USAID and the Peace Corp, but he added that he would see
what additional assistance might be possible in the sector.

Defense Assistance
--------------


8. (C) Mutharika made a specific request for military
equipment and training to enable a battalion to deploy to a
U.N. peacekeeping operation. He described Malawi's
dissapointment over a July U.N. decision not to accept
Malawi's offer to supply an infantry battalion to the mission
in Darfur, but indicated Malawi still wanted to expand its
role in peacekeeping missions. He emphasized that it was
only the Malawi Defense Force's (MDF) lack of equipment that
prevented UN acceptance of the Malawian unit for Darfur. As
an example, Mutharika said the GOM purchased armored
personnel carriers (APC) only to be told by the U.N. the
vehicles were not the right kind. (Comment: Taiwan supplied
the money for the APCs and the U.N. actually told the MDF the
vehicles were acceptable, but the MDF could not deploy with a
mixed fleet of vehicles augmented by older Israeli-model APCs
due to training and maintenance concerns. End Comment.) He
stressed the MDF's equipment needs were still great, ranging
from canteens to sophisticated equipment, but the desire to
help was strong as well. Mutharika said he was extremely
proud of the Malawian company currently deployed in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, adding that despite being
routinely challenged by locals, the MDF refrained from armed
responses against civilians.


9. (C) Comment: While Mutharika's offer is encouraging,
recent USG efforts to engage the MDF and GOM on peacekeeping
have been frustrating, and have had mixed results. Post will
use this renewed offer to encourage further action by the
MDF. In reality, the MDF needs more than just equipment to
be ready for a deployment. At a minimum, theater-focused
peace support training from ACOTA or another training program
for at least one battalion would be required. Training for
logistics and technical support personnel would also be
beneficial. Post will continue to engage the MDF to set a
firm date to start ACOTA training as soon as possible. End
Comment.

2009 Elections
--------------


10. (C) The President stressed that he was determined to hold
free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections next
May. He said he remained concerned about the potential for
pre- and post-election violence, but would do everything in
his power to ensure violence would not happen. Mutharika
noted that Malawi has a constitutional requirement for an
informed electorate, and that he planned to personally see
that all parties' platforms were well known to the populace.
He commented that leaders should be elected based on
platforms and past performance, and not personality alone.
Mutharika smiled as he said that he ran for president to

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serve his nation, and not to gain wealth. He emphatically
stated that if he loses the election, he will return to
private life at his farm and "fight with his cows" instead of
the opposition.


11. (C) Mutharika said he felt it was critical for
international observers to be engaged in the electoral
process in Malawi. He made a specific point that observers
should be in Malawi at least two or three months before the
elections. While he said all observers are welcome, he
believed international observers who arrived only for the
polling day would be of little utility.

Desire for Continued Engagement
--------------


12. (C) Amb. Bodde responded to the issues that Mutharika
raised by noting that while he was new to Africa, he would
apply relevant experiences from other parts of the world to
the issues Malawi faces. He agreed that the U.S. and Malawi
should remain closely engaged, and said he would look for
possibilities to expand our cooperation. Mutharika said he
felt the mark of a good ambassador was how much progress
Malawi made during the ambassador's tenure. He said he
looked forward to many more meetings with Amb. Bodde, and
that Amb. Bodde could contact him directly at any time
through his staff.

13 (C) Comment: Despite having numerous credential
ceremonies, Mutharika was generous with his time and
well-briefed on areas of Malawi-U.S. engagement. Post will
follow-up on the issues raised by Mutharika in the meeting
and will use the issuance of the new MCC scorecard as an
occasion to seek another meeting to brief the President.
BODDE