The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has described President Peter Mutharika’s address to the nation on Tuesday as strange and a waste of time and not worthy listener-ship. HRDC executive member Reverend MacDonald Sembereka panned as a “weird” speech by the and mocked as poorly delivered. Mutharika said opposition politicians are the creators of the […]
Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has appointed Gift Trapence as acting national chairperson after the organisation accepted the resignation of ‘comrade’ Timothy Mtambo as its founding leader on Wednesday. The human rights organisation said it has accepted Mtambo’s resignation as he has formed a political movement to give him a better platform to fight for a […]
Arrested iconic rights activists Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka are in very high spirits in two different police stations the law enforcers are holding them in Blantyre for planning a “citizen’s electoral justice march” to the State House on 25 March. Trapence is being held at Blantyre police station while Sembereka is at Ndirande police […]
Southern Africa Human Defenders Network (SAHRDN) has expressed concern over what it calls “arbitrary arrests” of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) members Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka in Lilongwe on Sunday. The two were arrested barely hours President Peter Mutharika warned HRDC leaders against plotting anarchy. National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera has issued a statement Monday […]
Two Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) say they are just waiting for the court to set date for hearing in a case they are accused of swindling UNAIDS K7.4 million. Lawyer for HRDC vice chairperson Gift Trapence and member MacDonald Sembereka says his clients are expected back in court after police refused to drop the […]
Speaker of the National Assembly Catherine Gotani Hara on Tuesday temporarily suspended Parliament proceedings after after Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) leaders, Timothy Mtambo and Gift Trapence walked in the august house in Lilongwe. Deputy leader of the house Martha Chanjo Mhone moved a motion to suspend the House for the business committee to meet […]
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has launched a blistering attack on President Peter Mutharika accusing him of fermenting violence ahead of the court ruling after the Malawi leader branded the organisation a terror group. In his new year message, President Mutharika said HRDC is a political institution that is “slowly degenerating into a terrorist […]
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has issued a stern warning that the year 2020 will see more Malawians rising up against impunity and corruption, saying Malawians are “no longer opting for passivity in the face of oppression.” Speaking in an exclusive interview with Nyasa Times, HRDC Vice Chair Gift Trapence said while in 2019 […]
A social and governance commentator Makhumbo Munthali has called on on Malawi Police to act on Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) report which extablisged that police officers raped 13 women, defiled one girl and sexually assaulted three under-18 girls in an October 8 operation around Msundwe on the outskirts of Lilongwe City, by effecting arrests […]
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) says police have arrested a tipper truck driver who rammed his vehicle into an electricity pole in Lilongwe’s Area 43, forcing power lines to fall which threatened to put the house of rights activist Gift Trapence on fire. In a statement, Escom says the police have arrested Moffat Malowa […]
Rights activist Gift Trapence says his residence was nearly put on electric fire when a suspected terror attacker deliberately pulled down a power pole near the house. Trapence, one of the fearless organisers of anti-Jane Ansah protests, said a driver pulled up at an electricity pole near his house in Lilongwe and knocked down the […]
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has demonized the Malawi police, describing it as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wing following their partiality towards the ruling party during protests events on Wednesday. HRDC vice chairperson Gift Trapence says by attacking the lawful HRDC mobilised anti-Jane Ansah protests in Blantyre, the police have attacked democracy. “We […]
Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) vice chairperson Gift Trapence’s family has told state controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to apologise or face legal action for what they label “scandalous reporting” on its stories which alleged the rights activist abandoned his sick father until he died on Tuesday. A letter written by the family lawyer Wesley […]
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition(HRDC) has responded to President Peter Mutharika speech directing police and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) to use necessary force to stop demonstrations, saying he is not above the law and is not the law himself. The demonstrations are aimed at closing the country’s borders and airports to force the resignation or […]
Post-election protests organisers say the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) initiated dialogue to end the heightened political crisis can be successful only if Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chair Jane Ansah resigns. Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) vice chairperson Gift Trapence has said this Friday as PAC officials were in closed door meeting with President Peter Mutharika […]
The Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Board in Malawi has trashed a letter from the United Nations AIDS Agency (UNAIDS) calling for the immediate release from custody of rights activists Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka, saying such a call is an obstruction to justice especially as it is apparent that the two really have a case to […]
Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Violet Chipawo has granted bail to two human rights activists Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembeleka arrested for alleged fraud after the United Nations (UN) demanded their unconditional release. The State has charged Sembereka with three counts while Trapence is facing four counts. Sembereka is suspected of forgery of official documents, uttering […]
The United Nations (UN) Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) has said there is no need for any legal action against two human rights activists Gift Trapence and Rev MacDonald Sembereka in a K7.4 million ‘purported fraud’ case, crashing the state case against the two. Police arrested Trapence, vice-chairperson of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) who organised the […]