Malawi

Malawi has temporarily suspended its Parliament after a violent protest by supporters of embattled President Bingu wa Mutharika, who faces the threat of impeachment. Speaker Louis Chimango suspended Parliament late on Monday after demonstrators smashed at least five cars belonging to opposition lawmakers.

The twin infants wrestle for their mother’s breasts as the young woman stops to catch her breath. Weak and exhausted she is standing in the shade of a large tree at the United Nations food distribution centre in rural Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest
countries.

A Malawian woman dies every hour during childbirth or complications during the process, the country’s health minister said on Monday, adding that the situation is ”tragic and obscene”. ”There must be something we are doing wrong,” Minister of Health Hetherwick Ntaba said.

Malawi’s police have jailed a former veteran opposition figure on charges of insulting President Bingu wa Mutharika, who was allegedly called a ”drunk” and a ”brute”, the man’s lawyer said on Wednesday. ”Gwanda Chakuamba surrendered himself to police this morning,” lawyer Viva Nyimba said.

A 25-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly hacking her nine-month old son to death with an axe and attempting suicide after they both tested positive for the Aids virus, police said on Friday. Police spokesperson Enock Livason said the woman and her son had tested positive for the virus at a government hospital.

The United Nations has launched an appeal for -million to help 4,2-million people threatened by hunger in Malawi amid a general warning about looming shortages elsewhere in Southern Africa. Funding shortfalls mean that only a fraction of those needing food aid in Southern African countries will receive it.

Malawi is to close four of its 19 embassies and recall 35 diplomats from Canada, France, Kenya and Libya as a cost-cutting measure, the foreign minister said on Monday. Foreign Minister Davies Katsonga said ”financial hiccups” had forced the closure.

Up to 4,2-million Malawians face food shortages in the wake of a drought that reduced the poor Southern African country’s staple maize output by 24%, a report to assess Malawi’s harvest said on Tuesday. ”Malawi will require food aid of some 271 970 tonnes until the next harvest,” the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee said.

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika on Wednesday pardoned 413 prisoners convicted of minor offences to mark the country’s 41 years of independence from British rule, his office said. He also said that celebrations will be low-key, as the government wants to use the money to buy maize for Malawians in need of food aid.

Seven years after his death, Malawi’s government has started building a  000 (R3,7-million) mausoleum for its former president Kamuzu Banda, who led the poor Southern African country to independence and later proclaimed himself ”president for life”.

A former mayor and senior politician in the party of Malawi’s former president Bakili Muluzi was convicted on Monday for fraud and theft of public funds and sentenced to three years and two months in prison. John Chikakwiya is the ex-mayor of the commercial capital, Blantyre, and served as governor for the south.

Two journalists in Malawi were arrested on Tuesday and charged with publishing false information for reporting that President Bingu wa Mutharika had moved out of a newly built palace because he believes it is haunted. Mutharika angrily denied the reports when he returned on Saturday from a trip to Belgium, saying: ”I have never feared ghosts in my life.”

Judges from Malawi’s high and supreme courts of appeal have gone on strike to press demands for a fleet of 26 new four-wheeled drive vehicles, a court official said on Friday. The judges said they want the new 4X4s because they regard themselves as equals to other top governmental officials and are entitled to the luxury vehicles.

Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika over the weekend finally moved into a controversial -million palace that until now housed Parliament, a top official said on Monday. The building, with 300 air-conditioned rooms, is widely seen as a folly of the country’s founder president, Kamuzu Banda.

Police in Malawi are to question former president Bakili Muluzi and the education minister over the murder of a prominent anti-government Muslim cleric two years ago, the chief prosecutor said on Wednesday. They will be quizzed as ”potential witnesses” to the murder and not as accused persons.

Malawi police arrested eight ruling-party youth militants on Friday in connection with the murder of a prominent, anti-government Muslic cleric two years ago. ”These people are suspects in the murder of Sheikh Bugudad el-Bannh,” police spokesperson Willie Chingalu said.

The United Nations on Saturday pledged -million to support a growing population of orphans in the poor Southern African nation of Malawi. ”Malawi will have one million orphans by the year 2010,” said Stephen Lewis in the administrative capital, Lilongwe, at the end of his four-day official visit to Malawi.

Police in the Southern African nation of Malawi on Wednesday arrested a former finance minister over graft allegations involving the illegal sale of strategic grain reserves, which led to a food crisis. A police spokesperson said Jumbe was arrested at Blantyre airport while on his way to South Africa on a private visit.

A Malawian court on Monday sentenced the former general manager of the state-run petroleum commission to six years in prison over a  000 (about R160 000) bribe he took from a Britain-based company. ”I think a term of six years will be appropriate … corruption retards economic development,” the judge said.

A top aide to Malawi’s ex-president has been sacked from his post as head of the state-run bus company over allegations of corruption involving purchases of buses and spare parts, an official said on Wednesday. President Bingu wa Mutharika fired Humphrey Mvula after he was arrested by police two weeks ago for corruption and fraud.