#cedep

[76crimes]

Judge grants bail for 3 arrested Malawi dissidents

A Malawian magistrate has granted bail to political dissidents and LGBTQ rights activists who were arrested for opposing President Peter Mutharika. (more…)

View On WordPress

[76crimes]

Activists fear for safety of 2 arrested Malawi dissidents

Human rights defenders fear for the safety of two prominent political dissidents and LGBTQ rights activists who were arrested March 8 for opposing President Peter Mutharika. (more…)

View On WordPress

[malawistar]

Chakwera, Sidik and Abida Mia Join Demonstrations

By Alfred Mthandizi

Leader of opposition Lazarus Chakwera and Sidik and his wife Abida Mia on Friday joined the peaceful demonstrators in the streets of the Capital Lilongwe marching to petition President Peter Mutharika and his administration on governance shortcoming.

Civil society organizations (CSOs) organized nationwide protests and Chakwera and Abida, joined them in the protest. Donning a black shirt, and Abida in jean trouser, Chakwera walked near the main placard and mixed freely with the other protesters of the disbursement of the K4 billion to legislators and other issues.

Initially, the MCP leader was part of the agreement by members of Parliament (MPs) to allocate the said amount to all the 193 MPs instead of the initial 80, before making a U-turn later.

On Thursday the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters, clad in their party regalia of blue T-shirts, put business to a standstill in Blantyre as they blocked main roads in the city on their way to Limbe.

The scenes were reminiscent of events on the eve of the July 20 2011 nationwide anti-government protests against the administration of Bingu Wa Mutharika when panga-wielding DPP cadets paraded in Blantyre central business district (CBD), warning people not to take to the streets.

While they were not seen with pangas yesterday, the DPP youth inconvenienced motorists and pedestrians alike along the way as they chanted: “Sitilora, ma demo amenewa! Sitilora, ma demo amenewa! [We won’t allow the demonstrations to take place].”

The CSOs want Cabinet ministers Goodal Gondwe (Finance, Economic Planning and Development) and Kondwani Nankhumwa (Local Government and Rural Development), to voluntarily step down or the President should fire them for their roles in the K4 billion financial transaction and an annulment of the entire arrangement. The two ministers have insisted they did nothing wrong.

They also protested against other issues such as deterioration of basic services like blackouts, high rate of unemployment and the general decay of the state of governance.

The demonstrations were also being be held in Karonga, Mzuzu, Lilongwe, Blantyre and Zomba.

In Mzuzu, MCP executive member and lawmaker Harry Mkandawire was also spotted on the front line.

Among the CSOs that organized the demos and signed the petition are Human Rights Defenders Forum (HRDF), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Cedep, Youth and Society (YAS), Public Affairs Committee (PAC).

Chakwera, Sidik and Abida Mia Join Demonstrations was originally published on The Malawi Star

[malawistar]

CSO Leader Chased In Meeting Room with Finance Minister

By Alfred Mthandizi Billy Banda of Malawi Watch—a popular social-political activist—was reportedly forced out of a meeting in which Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Goodall Gondwe, was meeting Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) over the controversial K4 billion at Capitol Hill for apparently “gate-crushing because he was not among the invitees. Gift Trapence, a popular human rights activist and executive director, who attended the meeting, did not dispute the development. He said it was “true.” Gondwe is the one who proposed that the meeting should take place with the CSOs. The addressee in his invitation letter was Youth and Society Executive Director Charles Kajoloweka and copied to Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) led by Gift Trapence and Centre for Human Rights Rehabilitation (CHRR) of Timothy Mtambo. Said Trapence: “Before the meeting, we noticed there was an intruder and asked the Minister [Gondwe] to let him go.” According to Trapence, they politely asked the person not to be in the meeting. “He complied and left,” he said. Our reporters were tipped that recently Banda, who was a popular activist during the Bakili Muluzi and Bingu wa Mutharika regimes, is now a sympathizer for the Peter Mutharika government. Trapence said it was not a surprising matter. “CSOs will always be divided. But we are principled and shall always stand for the voiceless. We are not opportunists,” he said.

CSO Leader Chased In Meeting Room with Finance Minister was originally published on The Malawi Star

[ipadfingerpainting]

Glimmers of hope, despite Malawi pastors' wrong-headed idea

Glimmers of hope, despite Malawi pastors’ wrong-headed idea

Caption on Malawi News24 photo states, “Despite vocal opposition in a number of African countries, acceptance [of LGBTI rights] is slowly gaining ground. “

A glimmer of good news is visible in a news article about a group of homophobic Christian pastors in Malawi who don’t even understand their own country’s laws.

The glimmer comes from an anonymous journalist’s caption under a photo of a rainbow…

View On WordPress

[76crimes]

Glimmers of hope, despite Malawi pastors' wrong-headed idea

Glimmers of hope, despite Malawi pastors’ wrong-headed idea

Caption on Malawi News24 photo states, “Despite vocal opposition in a number of African countries, acceptance [of LGBTI rights] is slowly gaining ground. “

A glimmer of good news is visible in a news article about a group of homophobic Christian pastors in Malawi who don’t even understand their own country’s laws.

The glimmer comes from an anonymous journalist’s caption under a photo of a rainbow…

View On WordPress

[76crimes]

Malawi outraged as West opposes revival of gay arrests

Malawi outraged as West opposes revival of gay arrests

Malawi President Peter Mutharika (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Malawi is no longer a beacon of hope for human rights activists; instead it may be backsliding into an official embrace of anti-gay repression that the country had left behind.

At the same time, many Malawians are focusing relatively little on whether the country’s anti-homosexuality law, Section 153, is a good one.

Instead,…

View On WordPress

[princeskele]

CEDEP Supports Asokore-Mampong To Close Immunization Gap.

The Health directorate of the Asokore-Mampong Municipality says it is making progress with immunization as its first quarter report show 20 per cent increase.

Immunization coverage currently stands at 20 per cent better as against 9.1 per cent for the same period last year.

This is partly due to its partnership programme under the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), with local…

View On WordPress