- Football Association of Malawi (Fam) affiliates go to the polls today to elect the head of Malawi soccer for the next fours years in one of the hotly-contested elections in recent time. Open for election are the incumbent, Water Mcmillan Nyamilandu Manda and former Super League of Malawi president, Henry 'Kaka' Chibowa. This year's elections have been characterised by tussling both in the media and corridors of local courts. An injunction sought by the Chibowa camp was yesterday quashed by the courts, a development that has seen Nyamilandu wallow in confidence. The Fam polls will take place in the Lake shore district of Salima.

- Malawi's President, Bingu wa Mutharika, says his government has 'eradicated' HIV and AIDS in the Southern African Development Community member state. Mutharika, speaking during Malawi 8th Agriculture Fair in Blantyre on Thursday, told the country that, among other successes, his administration has 'eradicated' the problem of HIV and AIDS. "My government has achieved a number of key things over a limited space of time. I have constructed roads. I have eradicated the problem of hunger. I have ALSO eradicated AIDS," said Mutharika to a stunned audience. Malawi's HIV prevalence rate average is at 12 percent, though another substantial part of the coun…

- The BINGO Environmental Foundation of Lower Saxony, Germany, is investing in education in Malawi through the construction of class rooms in rural districts. The foundation has announced that it will invest €26,000 towards the construction of Primary classes in the Southern Malawi district of Mangochi. The money will go towards the construction of new school blocks in Chilinda Village, a Mangochi village next to the Mozambican border. The facilities are expected to increase the chances of pupils to learn in modern structures. It is also hoped that the new classrooms will help reduce classroom congestion and the practice of learning under trees. The school, which will carter for…

- The ‘principal' witness is a strange entity: it recognizes no court’s jurisdiction, no murmuring word ever escapes its tongue, derives no meaning from the word Malawi, honours no human summons, pays no tax, and is unsure about its own citizenship. But the case still ends in its favour, anyway- one of the world’s rare incidences where the winner shows no facial expression portraying happiness, and the principle loser is the over-burdened woman. The truth is there for all to see, too; that the winner will never be there, does not understand the meaning of all this, and how it all begun. There is nothing the perplexed, over-burdened woman can do, anyway; this practic…

- Ambtenaren in Dedza District ziekenhuis in centrale Malawi hebben geprofiteerd van bloed schaarste in het district, en zijn bloed nu verkopen aan zwangere vrouwen tegen exorbitante prijzen. Dedza District is in de midist van een bloed leveringen crisis die sommige district ziekenhuis ambtenaren zijn verzilveren op Om zijn zaken erger nog, er geen ontvangsten als senior ziekenhuis ambtenaren worden pocketing het geld uitgegeven aan bloed kopers. Dit is in strijd met bloed donatie beginselen als, in feite, bloedtransfusie is gratis. De Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBT), de instelling belast met de taak van het verzamelen van bloed van het grote publiek, verzamelt bloed gratis, en he…

- EEN BERICHT VAN DE GOODWILL AAN ONZE PARLEMENTARIËRS Geachte afgevaardigden, Ons huidige Parlement is ongeveer te voltooien van zijn tweede jaar in dienst. Geloven we in PPM is het tijd voor u onze geachte leden van het Parlement na te denken terug en denken de resultaten of / en uw mislukkingen. PPM is verzenden van dit bericht van de goodwill aan u onze parlementariërs te delen onze opmerkingen in het verleden 21 maanden van uw dienst aan de mensen van Malawi. 1.0 REGELMATIGE BIJEENKOMSTEN PPM zou willen aanbevelen en juich u voor hebben weten te komen regelmatig bijeen in overeenstemming met de grondwettelijke eis gedurende de 21 maanden van uw voorzitterschap. Dit was niet…

- Lesbiennes: Kan niet worden verdedigd door de mensenrechtenactivisten in Malawi De rechten van de mens Raadgevend Comité (HRCC), een consortium van meer dan 91 mensenrechten-NGO's in Malawi, heeft een van haar ambtenaren van commentaar op de homoseksuele kwesties in het land verboden. HRCC, die heeft gewonnen de publieke steun voor de mensenrechten promotiewerk, afgegeven stil het verbod in januari 2010, gedurende welke tijd Malawi werd geplaagd door de kwestie van Tiwonge en Steven Monjeza - van de lidstaat van de Southern African Development Community (SADC) eerste open homo's. Een van de rechten van de mens NGO's moeder lichaam aan Zachimalawi geopenbaard dat hij eenma…

- De Voorzitter Bingu wa Mutharika: MHEN de steun op de anti-homo houding heeft gewonnen De Malawi gezondheid Equity netwerk (MHEN) heeft opmerkingen dat homoseksuelen een gezondheids-zorg zijn, gezondheid bepleiten van de rechten van homo's en lesbiennes beschrijven als een "bizzare en vreemde verschijnsel" als dergelijke zaken anathema voor Malawi cultuur zijn vernietigd. MHEN nationale Cordinator, Martha Kwataine, vertelde Zachimalawi in Malawi Sun Hotel in Blantyre dat zij en haar organisatie zou doen niets om te pleiten voor het recht op gezondheid onder Malawische homoseksuelen. Kwataine de houding is in tegenspraak met openbaringen door Dr. Mary Shawa, secretaris voo…

- Brighton Malasa, bovenste Shire bisdom bisschop in Malawi de Anglicaanse kerk, heeft gevraagd mensen accommoderend op homo's en lesbiennes, zelfs zeggen "deze mensen zijn Malawische burgers". Malasa vertelde Zachimalawi in een exclusief interview zondag dat het was hoog tijd Malawiërs aanvaard de "realiteit dat mensen anders zijn geboren". Zijn houding komt nauwelijks vier dagen nadat hij herhaalt dit standpunt een Malawi netwerk van religieuze leiders leven of persoonlijk beïnvloed door HIV / AIDS (Manerela +). Op de vergadering, gehouden in Malawi Lakeshore District van Mangochi onder het thema: 'Genereuze pastorale reactie naar meest op risicogroepen…

- It is quiet; just quiet here.

- Bicycle ambulances, touted for reducing maternal and morbidity death rates, are on highdemand in Malawi. The Calista Mutharika Foundation for Safe Motherhood is the latest charity organisation to appreciate the role of such ambulances. The First Lady-owned charity purchased 25 bicycle ambulances from Sakaramenta. The handover ceremony took place on World AIDS Day, a decision Mutharika described as tactical. After all, she said, the death of women due to birth complications was as serious as HIV and AIDS, and deserved equal attention.

- Malawi finally has full fuel tanks after weeks of scarcity and fears. The country experinced a fuel shortage from late last month, a problem that prevailed to earlier this month, raising fears last year's experiences were back to haunt the nation. Energy Minister, Grain Malunga, said government has been working around the clock to solve the problem. The fuel shortage added to acrimony among the Ministry, Petroleum Importers Limited and the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority. The blame even went further as to touch officials responsible for foreign exchange transactions, as government said failure to release forex in time was humpering efforts to up-litre the pumps again.

- Malawi's leading child rights activist, Kenwilliams Mhango, has implored government to put in place measures that would protect children from being anticed by adults to start practicing witchcraft. Mhango said indicators were that the practice was on the rise, warning that its effects could be far-reaching. "We conducted resarch a couple of years ago, and discovered that people had established schools where children were being taught witchcraft. So far, nothing has changed. Actually, many children have reported being enticed to start practing witchcraft, and this is a time bomb," said Mhango. He is Country Director for the African Network for the Protection and Prevention…

- President Bingu wa Mutharika has warned newspapers against publishing what he termed 'outright fabrications', saying he will not hesitate to arrest journalists ad close down such newspapers. Mutharika accused some Malawian newspapers of being 'sent' by donors, saying the donors 'can as well pack up and go'. Mutharika, who is chairperson of the African Union, said even the United States government can allow tolerate 'lying newspapers' though the country claims to be the epitome of democracy. "I will you down, I will close you down. Whatever others say, I don't care. This is my country," said a visibly angry Mutharika during the openi…

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Two Dutch citizens, Roel Barkhof and Be Vam der Weide, are in Malawi to appraise work on a bicycle ambulance project they have been bankrolling since 2007. - Barkhof and Weide, who run the Netherlands-based foundation, Transport4Transport.nl, said they started funding the project, which is run by Blantyre-based Dutch citizen Peter Meijer’s Sakaramenta workshop, after noting that pregnant women were dying from preventable causes. These causes include late arrival to healthcare facilities and poor transport modes; include the traditional oxcart or community members carrying patients using the back, a situation that contributed greatly towards Malawi’s high mortality and morbidit…

- President Bingu wa Mutharika violated the law in pardoning convicted gays, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, without consulting a committee to deliberate over the decision as stipulated in the Malawi Constitution, legal experts say. The experts say Mutharika’s unilateral decision means that the process that led to Chimbalanga and Monjeza’s unconditional release is illegal. This means the two face the possibility of being sent back to jail, the experts say. For example, lawyer Kamuzu Chibambo, who is also People’s Transformation Party (Petra) president, argues that the Constitutional provisional that confers powers on the president to effect pardons, also empowers…

Malawi's open gay couple, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, rebuffed an asylum offer from Outrage's Peter Tatchell, saying they are Malawians who would die in Malawi, no matter how negative the stakes against them. They said they would rather stay in Malawi than to a foreign land in the name of "seeking freedom." - “While we appreciate the offers (for asylum), we are happy here. We are Malawians and will die so (Malawians). After all, we feel we have an intolerant president who has shown the way by pardoning us. We will remain in Malawi,” said Monjeza. Chimbalanga, on the other hand, said ‘she’ saw no reason to go into exile and live as a …

- UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon is in no mood to support an African team, saying, however, he will support the team that wins the World Cup. He said this in Zomba, Malawi when a pupil from Dindi Primary School asked him which team he would support in South Africa. "The winning team, of course," was his quick reply. The UN SG was in Malawi from May 29-20, 2010.

The Malawi Gay Rights Movement (Magrim) has hailed President Bingu wa Mutharika for pardoning convicted gays, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, but says it will organise two gay weddings in the country this year to 'see if the President is committed to promoting human rights'. - Magrim spokesperson, Wongani James Phiri, said Mutharika has show a good example to other African leaders, but added that what was remaining was to see whether he was committed to the promotion of human rights. "Malawi has many gays; but these people are suppressed. We plan to hold two weddings this year to see if these people's (gays and lesbians) rights will be respected. We are all Mal…

- Steven Monjeza, the gay-husband to Tiwonge Chimbalanga pardoned during he weekend along with his lover, maintains he is still in love with the later. Monjeza told Zachimalawi he has not yet seen Chimbalanga, but was reeling to meet 'her' and discuss their future. "I still love 'Aunt Tiwo' very much," said Monjeza. But Gender and Community Development Minister Patricia Kaliati has warning the two, wondering who would marry Malawian women if men got engaged to each other. "They have been pasrdoned, yes; but that should not give them the lee-way to continue their atrocious behaviour," said Kaliati. Monjeza said, however, he is not fazed with the wa…

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has tied the nuptial knot with former tourism minister Saturday in a colourful ceremony at a stadium packed with guests, including several African leaders. - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, prime ministers from Mozambique, Rwanda and Swaziland, the vice president of Tanzania and ex-presidents from Mozambique and Zambia attended the highly publicised wedding between Mutharika, 76, and ex-tourism minister Callista Chimombo, 50, according to the AFP. Mutharika, the current chairman of the African Union, is marrying for the second time after his first wife, Ethel, died of cancer two years ago. Chimombo, a former legislator, was a senior member of M…

- Faced with increased cases of homosexuality, Malawi has come out of her cocoon to face the issues head on, this time by holding a national religious conference on gays and lesbians. The conference started Monday this week. Among other things, the country’s largest body representing all denominations, The Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), has invited various religious leaders and groups, as well as international gay rights activists. MCC Chairperson, Bishop Joseph Bvumbwe, said it was time Malawi faced up to the challenge of homosexuality hence the reason for holding the conference. Bvumbwe said, by holding the conference, it did not mean that church leaders were subscribing to the…

The two alleged gays who gained fame late last year for their public engagement ceremony in Malawi have stated they were forced to confess to claims that are untrue. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, arrested on December 28, told a court that they were tortured "heavily" during that night to put false statement of sexual activities. - "We were beaten heavily, as if we are hardcore criminals," said Monjeza. But Blantyre Police Station Detective Sergeant Justine Magreta denied the accusations in court. The Blantyre Magistrates Court is expected to make a ruling on the case on March 22 2010.

- Malawian gays have cried foul over what they call 'underground arrests and intimidation' of perceived gay people. Malawi Gay Rights Movement (Magrim) Spokesperson, Wongani James Phiri, said today , at least, 15 gays have been arrested since December 28, 2009 whebn the issue of the suspected gay couple of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga got arrested for staging a public gay engagement. Phiri said Malawian gays were now living in "fear, not knowing what will happen tomorrow simply bacause of their sexual orientation". "So far, over 15 of our members have been arrestedon various charges, though we may not link them directly to the issue of Chimbalanga and Mo…

The Malawi Gay Rights Movement (Magrim), a representative body of Malawian gays, plans to hold demonstrations against the continued 'intimidation and harassment' of gay suspects Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza. Magrim made the resolution at a gays and lesbians meeting held in Blantyre Tuesday morning. - Magrim Spokesperson, Wongani James Phiri, said they were unhappy with the continued keeping of the two gays in custody, some 26 days after being arrested on December 28, 2009. "We are demonstrating on Sunday and our march will start from Upper Kamuzu Stadium through to old Blantyre Town Hall. We demand the unconditional release of the two," said Phiri. Monjeza…

- Arrested Malawian gays, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, have complained bitterly over "too tight handcuffs', saying it seems Police officers want to punish them for 'doing nothing wrong' by pressing the handcuffs too hard on them. The two complaining loudly on Monday, not for the first time though, telling a Police officer: "Why are you pressing the handcuffs too hard on us as if we are hardcore criminals? Have we stolen anybody's property?" However, the Police officers merely promised that they would loosen the cuffs in court. Monjeza and Chimbalanga's case continued on Monday, and three witnesses are expected to testify against them.

- Gay lovebirds Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza on Saturday made history in Malawi when they spiced their festive season with an open gay engagement ceremony, the first recorded public activity in the country’s history. The ceremony was held at Mankhoma Lodge in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, and was witnessed by hundreds of bewildered patrons. Clad in traditional matching outfits, the bride and groom had their wonderful day under two tents elected in the lodge grounds. The whole place turned into a beehive of activity as people pushed and shoved each other in a quest to get a glimpse of Tiwonge and Steven during such a rare occasion. Some people stared in wonder a…

- Twenty-four hours have now passed since Wednesday last week, when Malawi's president Bingu wa Mutharika assured Malawians that the fuel crisis the country is grappling with would come to an end. Mutharika issued the assurance when the going got tough for government, and civil society organisations demanded that he makes his position clear. Today, Monday, vehicles are still lining up, with lines that simply seem too long they cannot end. "Let us wait and see what happens in the next twenty-four hours," Mutharika said last week. Motorists are still waiting for the long-coming fuel that seems nowhere near the destination.

Majority of Malawians preferred the death penalty to any other form of punishment, according to a recent public study. The report said the respondents warned against efforts towards scraping corporal punishment from the constitution, fearing that would give rise to serious criminal offenses. - The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament commissioned the report and its findings were revealed by the former committee Chairperson Atupele Muluzi. “Our committee established that this was the wish of most people in Malawi. This gave rise to suggestions that, perhaps, in cases where it is possible to mete out other forms of punishment to serious offenders, the presiding judges should have power …

Malawi's opposition Congress Party (MCP) president, John Tembo, insists he will not accept Bingu wa Mutharika's victory because he is convinced "something" went wrong with the parliamentary and presidential elections held last Tuesday. He said he is going to court to contest the results. - Tembo, who represented the MCP-United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance as presidential candidate during the elections is under pressure from his own party and church leaders to withdraw his intentions because the margin was too wide between the two. He was beaten with a difference of some one million votes. The Malawi Council of Churches has asked him to let bygones be bygones but Tembo …

Disabled persons are being forced into sex as a cure for HIV/AIDS. The Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS of the President of Malawi alleges that it was dismayed with the number of complaints being received from the disabled that HIV positive patients are raping them as a cure for their ailment. - Principal Secretary for the Department, Dr. Mary Shawa, said on Thursday as Malawi prepares for the World AIDS Commemoration Day that her office had received complaints from individuals who had been raped or forced into sex with the belief that the disabled are a cure for HIV and AIDS. "These things are true and, to us, it is a shame because the disabled are not a cure for HIV and AIDS; …

An NGO, Gender Coordination Network has warned its members against the misuse of donor funds to fulfill their personal ambitions. It further distanced itself from members who have received funding from the Norwegian government for women empowerment, but have ventured into politics in their areas. - This follows the resignation, from the network, of chairperson for the Permanent Committee on Women and Politics, Reen Kachere, and fellow board member Faustace Chirwa- both of whom have indicated that they will contest as members of parliament during the May 19 parliamentary and presidential elections. GCN deputy chairperson, Maxwell Matewere, said the organisation was asking the two individua…

Gays have launched an association in Malawi known as "Malawi Gay Rights Movement." The move is to change the shape and face of human rights advocacy in the country. It was graced by a number of women, hinting that, in two years time, gay rights will have been taken as a crucial component of human rights. - The interim chairperson of MAGRM, Mc Leod, said the scenery was deliberate, in the sense that, “we have been living in fear ever since news of our intended launch broke out. Some of us have been aware of the hate emanating from some quarters of society, as espoused in newspaper opinion articles.” “But we are happy that, for a moment, we began to influence nat…

Some international donors have withdrawn and withheld their financial support to Malawi following some churches reluctance to allow wholesale use of condoms in certain communities. But church leaders said they remain unfazed about their stance against universal use of the contraceptive. - Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association (MIAA) Executive Director, Robert Ngaiyaye, confirmed the development in Blantyre last Friday at a Mutual Faithfulness National Action Plan Dissemination meeting for faith leaders. This followed a complaint from Word Alive Commission for Relief and Development (Wacrad) Director, Phoebe Nyasulu, who said a Netherlands-based development organization, Cordaid, had made it…

1000 children in the central Malawi district of Salima, graduate into witchcraft yearly, research shows. The African Network for the Protection and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect has revealed there is a school in the lakeshore district teaching children how to become masters of the night. - The Country Director of (ANPPCAN), Kenwilliams Mhango, said "It is sad, let us save these children because they stop concentrating in class because of tiredness. Some who refuse to learn about witchcraft are denied food: it is abuse of children's rights." There have been increased cases of people teaching children witchcraft, but efforts to deal with the issue are hampered by the…

Malawi National Football team coach, Kinna Phiri, says there is nothing to prevent Malawi from playing at the 2010 South African-hosted World Cup tournament. This is despite the fact that Malawi are in a tricky group, made up of Egypt, DR Congo, and Djibouti. - The country's national soccer team last went to any African Cup of Nations tournament more than two decades ago, a reality that makes it a wild dream to think of any prospects of qualifying for the World Cup. But Phiri now lives in the fantacy world- where Malawi plays at her first-ever World Cup- and possibly, in that world, beats Itary, England, Spain, Germany, and Scortland and lifts the coveted trophy- following the hugel…

Mobile phone provider, TNM, has announced plans to reduce Malawi's poor access to telecom. TNM Products Manager Dan Makata said the programme aimed at matching Malawi's ICT outreach to the standard of continental economic giants like South Africa. - He dispelled notions prevalent in some sectors of the economy that, being a wholly-Malawian company, the pioneering mobile service provider could not much some of her pan-African competitors. The country has two mobile phone service providers, TNM and Celtel, and the two competitors often compete neck-on-neck in terms of promotions and competitions. Said Makata: "You may wish to note that in Malawi, TNM leads and others mere…

The arrest of former Malawi president Bakili Muluzi last Saturday may help stir up the already tense political situation in the country and thus jeopardise budget approval by opposition members of parliament who dominate the fray, analysts have warned. - Government agents arrested Muluzi upon his arrival at Kamuzu International Airport from a private visit in the United Kingdom. Both human rights activists and political analysts have questioned the way the former president was handled, describing it as a violation of human rights as enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Riights and Freedoms. Even the embittered Muluzi himself described the move as "intimidation of the…