It is not necessarily the often cited shortage of judicial officers that is leading people to stay up to 10 years on remand. But the slow wheels of justice and the subsequent increase in backlog cases, as some highly placed judicial officers have told Nation on Sunday, is also a sum of lack of proper…
The whole process was troubling right from the start, even as Malawi faced a 67 percent ambulance shortage. And the conduct of some government officials—who we have established pocketed ‘allowances’ from bidders during the procurement process—has raised eyebrows of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) and a public sector procurement specialist. Twice—within…
The record of resorting to court for perceived electoral fraud was played in 2014 and is now running, but could be replayed in 2024 in the absence of electoral reforms, Nation on Sunday understands. Parliament rejected proposed electoral reforms, including the 50+1 system of electing the president, which anticipated the challenges that the May 21…
Two major contenders of President Peter Mutharika in the May 21 Tripartite Elections have challenged the credibility of the polls with MCP’s Lazarus Chakwera calling for a recount of the votes in some districts while UTM leader Saulos Chilima has called for nullification of the votes. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) on Saturday obtained an injunction…
As political campaign came to an end at 6am today, political parties and major stakeholders in Tuesday’s polls have expressed mixed feelings on the preparedness of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) ahead of what is expected to be a tight presidential race. While the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Malawi Congress Party expressed satisfaction…
With only nine days before Malawians go to the polls, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice-president for the North, Goodall Gondwe, has revealed the anxiety he faces as his party campaigns to retain power in what is expected to be a highly contested election. In his speech at the European Union Day in Lilongwe Friday night,…
It is against the law, yet there is unregulated sand mining on beaches of Lake Malawi, with trucks ferrying sand every day from Salima to Lilongwe for construction purposes, a development which threatens both tourism and the livelihoods, a newly released United Nations (UN) report has warned. The report, released in the week,…
PAC investigating APM, SKC claims Credibility of elections undermined—analysts With 24 days to the May 21 polls, the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) has instituted an investigation into rigging allegations that President Peter Mutharika and UTM president Saulos Chilima have been making on the campaign trail, Nation Online understands. A political analyst has since warned that…
The autopsy report is clear, he was killed. But who killed him? The public is set to get the answer as the Malawi Police Service (MPS) has instituted a task force to investigate circumstances surrounding the death of Buleya Lule. Lule, who was murdered while in police custody weeks ago, was a suspect in the…
Malawi finally had an esteemed visiting Head of State, an indication that President Peter Mutharika is not a pariah of this part of the region after all going by the lack of visiting fellow presidents in recent years. It has not helped that Mutharika has largely shunned gatherings in the Africa region having attended only…
The Malawi Government has released K832 million to pay chiefs arrears accrued between July to December 2018 which is part of the new perks for traditional leaders. In July 2018, the Malawi Government increased chiefs’ honoraria with 100%. The new rates were effected in January this year. In an interview, spokesperson for the Ministry of…
With the May 21 Tripartite Elections looming large, there is fear that most members of Parliament (MPs) may not retain their seats, which analysts say affects the performance of the august House, Nation on Sunday can report. The observed trend since the first democracy election in 1994 shows that Parliament has a low retention rate.…
The Malawi Police Service (MPS) has promoted about 7 000 junior police officers, citing reduced crime rate as a motivation for the development. The official list we have seen, includes 3 959 constables promoted to the rank of sergeant and 3 094 sergeants moved to sub inspector position. In a telephone interview yesterday, National Police…
Twenty-one Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers and one officer recently withdrawn from a peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are facing charges of misconduct, it has been established. In a telephone interview yesterday, MDF spokesperson Paul Chiphwanya said the 21 soldiers are on trial, but could not mention the charges, saying:…
President Peter Mutharika yesterday unveiled a K180 million statue of the late president and elder brother, Bingu, at an event not attended by his sister-in-law, Callista. We could not confirm whether the absence of Bingu’s widow at the function represented a new low in family relations between the President and Callista. Callista became a political…
Three of four inquiries done on attacks against people with albinism have failed to establish the existence of a market for albino parts, reveals Nation on Sunday. These revelations come from an May 4 2016 investigative research commissioned by Unicef and Department of disability and elders affairs; an October 2016 Malawi Human Rights Commission public…
With a continued outcry of concentration of power in the Presidency, Malawi Congress Party (MCP), like the DPP in 2014, has pledged to trim presidential powers should they get into government in the forthcoming polls. This is part of the manifesto which the MCP launched yesterday at a decorated event in Lilongwe, making it the…
Apam says autopsy results show that Lule was electrocuted, hammered! The Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (Apam) has said preliminary findings of an autopsy for the late Buleya Lule, a key suspect in the abduction of a 14-year old albino boy Goodson Makanjira in Dedza, have revealed that he was electrocuted, then hit…
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has announced plans to hold a fresh nationwide protest in March against what they call prevailing corruption and impunity under the current Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration. HRDC says the issues to be raised during the demonstrations including the K53 billion claim at the Immigration Department, political violence and…
Mayor for Lilongwe City Council Desmond Bikoko says he has quit frontline politics but remains a DPP loyalist. In an exclusive interview with Nation Online, Bikoko who on Thursday withdrew from DPP primaries in Zomba Malosa, said he will focus his energy on supporting DPP from the background without seeking any position. While admitting that…