Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Fearing persecution after being outed as gay, Aniz Mitha fled Malawi. Leaving behind his well-off Muslim family and four-year-old son, he headed for South Africa, where he became a sex worker to survive. “The laws that we have in Malawi are incriminating. I wanted to …
Read More »President calls for opposition to accept Malawi vote result.
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday urged opposition parties to accept the outcome of an election clouded by fraud allegations as he was sworn in for a second term. Thousands of supporters gathered at a sports stadium in Malawi’s commercial capital Blantyre to watch him take …
Read More »Malawi suspends updates of election results after disputes
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s electoral board on Friday said it was suspending updates of results from this week’s elections in order to resolve complaints raised by some of the parties. A count of votes tallied in three-quarters of the country’s polling stations, released Thursday, found incumbent president Peter Mutharika …
Read More »Malawi presidential candidates in an uncertain race
Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Malawi votes on Tuesday in a presidential race that could test President Peter Mutharika’s hold on power. Here are the leading contenders: – The elderly president – President Peter Mutharika, 78, won the 2014 election — two years after his elder brother Bingu wa …
Read More »Malawi rolls out ground-breaking malaria vaccine
Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Malawi has rolled out the world’s first licensed malaria vaccine in a landmark campaign against a disease that each year kills hundreds of thousands of people, especially African children. After more than three decades in development and almost $1 billion (890 million euros) in investment, …
Read More »Malawi vice president turns opposition candidate in election race
Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima has launched a bitter attack on his own government ahead of elections in May, when he hopes to win power as head of a new opposition party. Chilima told AFP in an interview that he no longer speaks to President …
Read More »Malawi vice president takes leadership of opposition party
Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima was elected head of the United Transformation Movement (UTM) party on Monday, paving way for him to challenge President Peter Mutharika in May elections. Chilima was handpicked by Mutharika to run alongside him in the 2014 elections on the Democratic …
Read More »Malawi MPs back bid to draft bill on medical marijuana use
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s parliament has approved steps to draft a bill for the legalisation of marijuana for medical use, which could be ready for scrutiny as early as next week. Deputies agreed to let independent deputy Boniface Kadzamira draw up the bill. It would propose licensing farmers …
Read More »Malawi court blocks contested NGO regulation law
Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | A Malawi court has blocked parliament debating a contested bill critics say would hamper charities and NGOs while giving government control over their work in the aid-reliant country. Judge Charles Mkandawire ruled on Monday in favour of activists who had sought the injunction of the …
Read More »New Malawi law aims to end political handouts
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Malawi has passed a law that will ban politicians using cash payments and other incentives to buy support ahead of key polls due in May next year. The Political Parties Act, which came into force on Saturday, will see candidates convicted of improperly swaying …
Read More »