Mercy (not her real name) smiles a lot. She has a sharp, pretty face with slanted eyes and straight, white teeth. When she talks, she does so in an even, clear voice, her faint Malawian accent lending the words an irregular rhythm. We meet in a street in Blantyre City, near her former school where […]
Controversies continue to surround the issue of same sex marriages as Chikhwawa West parliamentary aspirants differed on whether Malawi could prioritize legalizing same sex marriages to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry each other. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Kennedy Maluwa said he would speak against legalizing same sex marriage in parliament. “I will […]
First things first, its strange that most of the angry reactions to this letter charge that we are supposedly are journalists, or well paid by Orange camp or something to close to “mbatata”, uneducated or worse we simply don’t exist. To quote the famous philosopher Rene Descartes Cogito ergo sum “I think, therefore I am”. […]
Presidential candidates of People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) Mark Katsonga and his biological brother Davis Chester Katsonga of Chipani Cha Pfuko on Tuesday had no kind words for homosexuals during Malawi’s second presidential debate in Lilongwe. Under the country’s laws, men face up to 14 years in jail and women a maximum of five years for […]
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Peter Mutharika has publicly denied being gay following much speculation around his sexual orientation. Mutharika used his mouthpiece online publication Voice to say he “a widower of 30 years” having lost his wife. His comments comes after much speculation about his sexuality in the social media. The DPP leader said […]
Malawi’s Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Fahad Assani, has trashed calls by the Muslims Association of Malawi (MAM) to toughen the punishment for homosexual acts to include death penalty. MAM general secretary Shiek Salmim Omar Idruss said those convicted of homosexual acts should face a death penalty and not 14 years jail as the law states […]
Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) are calling for homosexual people in the country to be given the death penalty. This suggestion comes at a time as some Civil Society Organisations (CSO) are pushing for the country to abolish the statute that penalise the act. Currently the maximum jail term sentence for those found guilty by the courts is 14 […]
Malawi’s biggest Christian churches mother body, the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), has said time has come to hold a referendum on homosexuality laws. The call comes on the backdrop of a case on sodomy being heard in the High Court. A statement from the Council challenges that the matter as has been handled in […]
The High Court in Blantyre on Monday dismissed objections by the Attorney General (AG) stopping the court from proceeding with its intention to review constitutionality of the country’s ‘sodomy’ laws, which criminalise consensual sexual activity between individuals of the same sex. The court exercising its jurisdiction under the Constitution, Courts Act and Criminal Procedure and […]
When the judge slammed down the gavel, and sentenced Harold (Not his real name) from Lirangwe in the outskirts of Blantyre City to three years imprisonment, he thought there is protection around the clock in jail. Little did he know that prison may be more dangerous than the life outside? When he stepped his foot […]
Are Malawians, apparently, overwhelmingly prejudiced against homosexuality? And what does it signal when politicians call for a referendum on the issue of homosexuality? Recently, a number of presidential candidates for the 2014 elections have proposed a referendum to decide on the fate of homosexuals in Malawi. What precisely is to be decided is unclear: that […]
It is Saturday afternoon; James (not his real name) from Chitawira Township in the commercial city of Malawi, Blantyre has more questions than answers after coming from a nearby clinic where he was diagnosed with HIV. James, a gay is in dilemma on how he got the virus despite being sleeping with his fellow men […]
In a surprising – and potentially game-changing – step, the Malawi High Court has decided to review the constitutionality of the country’s ‘sodomy’ laws, which criminalise consensual sexual activity between individuals of the same sex. Announced in an advert in the Nation newspaper, the landmark move to review the cases of three individuals, who were convicted and […]
Umunthu – a 30 minute film by Chancellor College’s drama graduate Mwizalero Nyirenda, currently being showcased in institutions of higher learning across the country – has revamped the long-running debate on the controversy surrounding Malawi’s stance on homosexuality. “It is a participatory documentary,” Nyirenda told Nyasa Times in an exclusive interview. “It seeks the views of a psychologist, […]
The Muslims Association of Malawi (MAM) has issued a statement condemning Sheikh Mdala Ali Tambuli and human rights activists who are pushing for the legalization of homosexuality in the country. MAM claims that homosexuality is not only evil and sinful but also illegal and criminalized under Sections 153 and 156 of the Penal Code (Laws […]
Aspiring presidential candidates Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Peter Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF)have come under fire for recommending referendum to end debate on sexual minority rights. The three said once voted into power in 2014 they would call for a referendum for […]
South Africa’s Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is one of fourteen signatories to an article in Living Church magazine entitled ‘Defending Bishop Tengatenga’. Tutu is describing the revocation of Tengatenga’s job as Dean of the Tucker Foundation, the spiritual hub on Dartmouth College’s campus, United States in July this year as “gross injustice”. Tengatenga’s job was […]
Police in Malawi’s Eastern district of Balaka are keeping in custody a 35 year-old man for sexually abusing a fellow male person. The police identify the suspect as Mavuto Misomali (35) who on Thursday last week sexually abused an 18 year old boy who was stranded at Chingeni Road Block after he failed to raise […]