Long winding queues snake around every service station in Malawi as motorists hunt for the scarce commodity. The scenes are reminiscent of Zimbabwe before the formation of the coalition government in 2009 with motorists queuing for what seems like an eternity. The queues tell of the true story of a Malawi on fire. They tell […]
Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika has been costing tax payers a lot of money due to his irrational behaviour including arresting critics on politicaly motivated cases. In the recent development, the tax payer will cough K4.5 million ($26 946) compensation to former five security officials who were arrested on trumped up treason charges in 2008. According […]
Human rights lawyer Habiba Osman and activist Ben Chiza Mkandawire on Thursday gave women inmates at Maula prison in Lilongwe Christmas gifts by donating food stuffs, toiletries and baby food for a new born whose mother is on remand and the prison. During the year, Osman and Mkandawire had been remanded at Maula Prison when […]
Human rights activist, Ken Williams Mhango has written Paris to plead with the French Government to try and liaise with its European Union (EU) partners to review their “aid sanctions” on the Government of Malawi. Several donors including US, Britain, German and other countries have suspended their aid to Malawi in quest to force President […]
The trial of five Malawian human rights defenders, Ms Habiba Osman and Messrs Billy Mayaya, Brian Nyasulu, Ben Chiza Mkandawire and Comfort Chitseko, has been adjourned to Janury 13 2012 at the Lilongwe Magistrate Court after state prosecutors did not obtain consent from Director of Public Prosecution to proceed witht the case. The activists were […]
Am writing this article in response to the arrest on stage of one promising Malawian dramatist, Thlupego Chisiza, whose play titled Semo, co-written with martyr student activist Robert Chasowa, has just been marked subversive by Malawi authorities. According to Nyasa Times, Thlupego wanted to pay tribute to Chasowa, an engineering student at University of Malawi’s […]
Freedom of expression continues to be trampled upon by the Mutharika regime as actor Thlupego Chisiza son of late theatre maestro Dunduzu Chisiza Jr was arrested Sunday for staging a play critical of the government. The play SEMO which was co-written by slain student activist Robert Chasowa lampoons the DPP led governments handling of the […]
The article “Malawi a Failed State – Cama”, which appeared in the print media, deserves commentary and critical analysis. Two terms were used in the article: “Failed State” and “Collapsed State” and, it was the statement “government has collapsed and has completely abandoned management of the country”, attributed to John Kapito, that, in actual fact, […]
The human rights situation in Malawi is degenerating rapidly. This year has seen the government, headed by President Bingu wa Mutharika, become an authoritarian regime openly resistant to criticism and human rights governance. In particular, Mutharika has cracked down on protestors, civil society, human rights defenders, academics and the media – allegedly because he does […]
Exit IMF, MCC in. A delegation from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government agency that assists developing countries is in the country to get fact about Malawi’s progress to address US government concerns in order to resume the $350 million grant meant for the boosting electricity output and distribution. The delegation has already […]
Blantyre Rural East Member of Parliament, Henry Duncan Phoya (HDP) says he will consider entering the 2014 presidential race. Phoya speaking to Nyasa Times in a telephone interview however said he does not harbour presidential ambitions. The 45-year-old lawmaker said those asking him to run for presidentwere simply exercising their freedom of expression. Fix-factor Phoya […]
Malawi’s prisoners have expressed grave concern that 63 years after the Universal Declaration of Human rights and 16 years after Malawi ratified the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Charter through the enactment of the 1995 Kwacha Conference Centre Republican Constitution, the wheels of justice in the country’s judicial system worryingly continue to drag at a […]
Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has mounted an extraordinary defence of his human rights record, saying his government generally respect rights of its citizens. In his recorded address to the nation on state television on December, Human Rights Day, a United Nations (UN) sanctioned day of observance, Mutharika said “there are no political prisoners or […]
Malawi human rights defenders have hailed the citizens use of social media on the Internet and the role Nyasa Times web-based interactive news is playing to help more people know, demand and defend their rights. This was said during a public debate broadcast live on Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and also streamed online. The public […]
The British High Commission in Lilongwe has launched a ‘UK in Malawi’ page on Facebook, the popular social networking website. The page http://www.facebook.com/pages/UK-in-Malawi/101098433331848 was launched on Friday to coincide with events to celebrate international human rights day on 10 December. This year, the day is commemorated under the theme “The Transformational Role of Social Media […]
President Bingu wa Mutharika has bowed down to pressure by ordering that Malawi Law Commission to review some of the repressive laws including a ban on homosexual acts, Justice Minister Ephraim Chiume has said. Chiume said provisions of the penal code concerning “indecent practices and unnatural acts” would be reviewed. “In view of the sentiments […]
Malawi risks losing the United States aid money if it will continue to be homophobic nation following an announcement by the Obama administration that it will consider how countries treat gays, lesbians when making foreign aid decisions. The White House has issued a presidential memorandum announcing the policy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up […]
Malawians are now living in fear, the United States Ambassador Jeanine Jackson has observed. The envoy speaking in an exclusive interview with private radio, Capital FM on its popular Straight Talk programme hosted by Brian Banda, said she was also “certainly aware that Malawians are struggling.” Afraid Jackson said since she took her tour of […]