Rafiq Hajat

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Rafiq Hajat (14 September 1955) is a prominent Malawian civil rights activist.[1] He was born in Blantyre.[2] He is the director for the Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI) in Malawi.[2]

He received a B.A. in political science at Saint Xavier College in India in 1975.[2]

Career[]

Vice president of the country's chamber of commerce and industry, chairman of DEMAT, the Development of Malawian Traders' Trust, and also founding director of the Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI).[3] He has worked at the Malawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has been a Board member with Small Enterprise Development Organisation of Malawi and the Development of Malawi Traders Trust

Political career[]

He was a member of the executive in the United Democratic Front[3]

Activism[]

He is the founding director of the Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI)[3] and is the founder of Transparency International - Malawi Chapter.[4] Hajat and Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) president Kamlepo Kalua formed a a pressure group on governance concerns under the Mutharika administration.

Hajat was one of the main civil society organizers of the July 20th Ultimatum and July 20th nationwide economic protests.[5] This forced him to go into hiding for a few days, but later he continued to organize the subsequent protests.

On September 2, 2011, the offices of the IPI were burned whilst Hajat was traveling to Lilongwe.[6]

Accolades[]

  • 2012, Hajat was a finalist for the Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, which ultimately went to Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ "Malawi: Activist's office burns, govt blamed: News". Africareview.com. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.sdnp.org.mw/lawcom/docs/summproc.pdf
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "IRIN Africa | MALAWI: IRIN interview with democracy activist, Rafiq Hajat | Malawi | Governance". Irinnews.org. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  4. ^ "Rafiq Hajat's Page - Voices Against Corruption". Voices-against-corruption.ning.com. 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  5. ^ "BBC News - Malawi activists 'in hiding after Mutharika threat'". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  6. ^ "DPP thugs 'smoke out' activist Hajat offices | Malawi news, Malawi - NyasaTimes breaking online news source from Malawi". Nyasatimes.com. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  7. ^ "The Front Line Defenders Award". Front Line. 2012. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.


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