For the umpteenth time, we reiterate that there were and still are good reasons why the framers of the country's Constitution included Sections 34 to 37, which guarantee the freedoms of opinion, expression and independence of the media.

Nsanje does not need heavy rain in the district for it to suffer floods. Water collecting in gullies and streams in Blantyre, for example, during rainy season pour their way into Shire River and other minor rivers around and as the rains increase in intensity, Nsanje becomes submerged.

When you talk of the DPP, the first word one mentions is 'democratic', then 'progressive' and lastly 'party'.

We reckon that Maravi People's Party president Uladi Mussa's sentiments regarding the appointment of commissioners to serve in the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) are being made against the background of the bad blood that a similar exercise created in 2008.

The climate of the planet where we are living, the earth, is always changing and will continue changing.

Education has an immense impact on the human society and without fear of contradiction, one can safely say education trains the human mind to think and make right decisions. In other words, a man becomes a rational being when he is educated; all things being equal, of course.

It is deplorable to hear that in this day and age some people can sink so low by stripping off women who put on a pair of trousers.

The scheduled meeting of Parliament this month end could not have come at a better time and it presents the government with an opportunity to reflect on its economic policies, which continue to hurt Malawians.

One day in June last year, a senior civil servant stands on the podium announcing that government has suspended the issuing of K5,000 grant to each of the 30,000 civil servants living with HIV and Aids.

As warned, some members of the Judiciary on Monday went ahead with its planned strike to push for improved conditions including increased perks. The aggrieved members of the Judiciary want a 50 percent pay rise in accordance with government's recommendation and what Parliament approved.

It is crystal clear that the challenges and problems of last year have spilled over to this year. The twin woes of forex and fuel shortages with their domino effect are still haunting us. This means if tangible solutions are not found, 2012 may end up being year of further economic hardships.

What started as rumour and was being dismissed as a mere rumour has turned into reality. The rumour had it that after relocating Lilongwe University of Science and Technology, which was supposed to be in the capital city to Ndata Farm in Thyolo, the stadium the Chinese are planning to build, will also be relocated to the same area.

Many years ago, in a land of fire that also had a long and beautiful lake, there was a king with a short moustache who liked to say what he did not mean and who wished for others negative things that suited his own character.

The anecdotes about the unprofessional conduct of some immigration officers who have been aiding illegal immigrants is very worrisome.

This is the first edition of The Daily Times for 2012 and hence we would like to take this opportunity to thank sincerely our valued advertisers, our dear readers, our rulers, our admirers and critics for the support they rendered to us in 2011.

This week President Bingu wa Mutharika has spent most of his time blaming others than doing anything else, for Malawi's economic and social woes.

Malawi is in a state of confusion. The governing Democratic Progressive Party continues to treat Malawians with contempt, and has offered no shoulder of comfort to the suffering masses.

We might go about blaming the devil for the numerous problems we have, when the truth is, we are merely being punished for committing one of the most heinous crimes against our culture; abusing our chiefs.

The remark by Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Christopher Ngwira, that civil society leaders are failed politicians who use activism as a smokescreen to advance their agenda, is being economical with the truth.

The observation by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative that Malawi is a state in decline just buttresses what local human rights bodies and activists have been saying that the human rights situation in Malawi is degenerating rapidly.