Felix Mponda

The dream of a new life in SA has turned into a nightmare for Ethiopian migrants held in Malawian jails despite having served their sentences.

President Jacob Zuma has congratulated Peter Mutharika and assured him of South Africa's commitment to strengthening bilateral relations with Malawi.

SADC has called for the West to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe as it sealed its approval of his election victory.

Critics fear President Joyce Banda's plan to beat joblessness by sending tens of thousands of Malawians to South Korea could be "modern-day slavery".

Malawi police have arrested 11 ex-ministers and senior government officials, including the former president's brother, for an alleged coup plot.

The deadly anti-government riots against President Bingu wa Mutharika in Malawi are a signal that public anger will not be silenced.

After initially forbidding a mass funeral for people slain in anti-government protests to take place, Malawi authorities have had a change of heart.

When Kanthukako Supaunyolo's grandson woke up in the night with a nosebleed, his parents were enraged by what they saw as a bad omen.

Malawi's presidential elections on Tuesday will give voters their first say on a years-long power struggle that has paralysed the government.

For Malawian nurse Hilda Maganga, the financial pull of a spell in a ward in Britain is close to overwhelming her desire to tend to patients in her Aids-stricken and impoverished homeland. ''I would like to do a two-year stint in the United Kingdom, make my money and come back to retire for good,'' says the 54-year-old.

Zimbabwe's failing economy and collapsing services have provided an environment ripe for graft, with the impoverished country's woes facilitating an ever-worsening slide towards corruption. Despite setting up a local graft-busting body in 2004, Zimbabwe appears to be losing the battle against corruption, according to a leading watchdog.

Despite putting on a brave face at the annual Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, farmers in Africa's one-time breadbasket face a bleak future as they battle power cuts, fertiliser shortages and drought. Hundreds of farmers from across the country have been gathering in the capital, Harare, since Monday for the showpiece agricultural event.