As President Bingu wa Mutharika's minority party faces the possibility of losing more seats in Parliament, Malawi's civil society has expressed concern that this year's budget, expected to be presented next week, might be stalled.
Last week, the Supreme Court granted powers to the speaker of Parliament to expel defecting lawmakers, a decision that would affect the strength of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has welcomed 60 defectors into its fold, bringing its tally of MPs to 80. The opposition, with about 110 seats, is the largest bloc in Parliament.
"The budget might not be passed," commented Richard Tambulasi, head of the department of political and administrative studies at the University of Malawi. The court ruling has pushed the DPP into a tight corner and "created political instability", he added.
According to Felix Lombe, a conflict analyst with the Forum for Dialogue and Peace, a programme run by GTZ, the German Development Agency's technical arm, "the opposition is likely to use its muscle to defer votes on expenditure -- there will be a delay in the allocation of funds to projects and programmes".
Mutharika has spent almost three conflict-ridden years in power, at the centre of a tense stand-off with the opposition that has stalled the functioning of the house and delayed the approval of Bills.
The political crisis began when Mutharika left the United Democratic Front (UDF), shortly after it sponsored him in the 2004 general elections, to form his own political organisation, the DPP. The UDF hit back with an impeachment charge, accusing Mutharika of using $300 000 of public money to launch the DPP.
The political confrontation at the height of a food-security crisis in Malawi in 2005 even aroused the donor community's concern. Donors wrote to opposition political leaders, voicing their anxiety over the impeachment proceedings while the country was experiencing a "serious and prolonged food crisis".
Louis Chimango, Speaker of the House and a member of the opposition Malawi Congress Party, has reportedly not indicated whether he would go ahead with the dismissals.
Tambulasi said the affected MPs are likely to lodge an appeal against the court decision, "which could possibly buy them time till the general elections in 2009".
"I don't think anyone wants by-elections, as the firing of the MPs would prompt that, because the country cannot afford them right now. It would also be pointless to have election now, when 2009 is only about a year away," he said.
Lombe said the opposition is not geared for an election and is unlikely to press for it, but "they might make a bid to oust Mutharika through the impeachment process again".
Mutharika survived the impeachment motion after the Constitutional Court blocked the move. -- Irin
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Donations sent to Malawi
The Manitowoc County Home and Community Education Association and Lakeland College worked together to pack a truck box and semi-trailer full of books and school supplies for shipping to the African nation of Malawi.
Donated items filled 25 cases and included: 2,500 pencils, 475 boxes of crayons, 75 sets of colored pencils, 130 sets of markers, 10 sets of paints, 130 rulers, 50 scissors, 265 pencil sharpeners, 35 pencil cases, 36 packages of notebook paper, 26 packages of construction paper, 275 spiral notebooks, 800 pens, 310 erasers, 1½ cases of typing paper, 15 coloring books, 75 folders and many other things such as note paper, paper clips, chalk, glue, flash cards and backpacks.
Each year since 1999, Lakeland College has sponsored five Malawian students to study for three years. The students earn their Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees in three years of concentrated continual studies. Upon returning to Malawi, they become teachers of teachers.
Donated items filled 25 cases and included: 2,500 pencils, 475 boxes of crayons, 75 sets of colored pencils, 130 sets of markers, 10 sets of paints, 130 rulers, 50 scissors, 265 pencil sharpeners, 35 pencil cases, 36 packages of notebook paper, 26 packages of construction paper, 275 spiral notebooks, 800 pens, 310 erasers, 1½ cases of typing paper, 15 coloring books, 75 folders and many other things such as note paper, paper clips, chalk, glue, flash cards and backpacks.
Each year since 1999, Lakeland College has sponsored five Malawian students to study for three years. The students earn their Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees in three years of concentrated continual studies. Upon returning to Malawi, they become teachers of teachers.
Teachers taking gear to Malawi
TWO Coventry teachers are heading for Malawi to help a school, an environmental project and a medical clinic.
The pair from Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Potters Green, Coventry, are making a 10-day visit to the African state as part of a drive by the school, a specialist language college, to forge international links.
Assistant head Sean O'Donovan and deputy head of PE Dan Payne spearheaded a fundraising drive to raise £2,700 to be split between the three good causes.
Their travel costs are coming from the funds the school gets from the government for making links with foreign countries.
Their first stop is the Bunda Local Education Authority School just outside the capital Lilongwe, where Mr Payne used to teach.
The pair from Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Potters Green, Coventry, are making a 10-day visit to the African state as part of a drive by the school, a specialist language college, to forge international links.
Assistant head Sean O'Donovan and deputy head of PE Dan Payne spearheaded a fundraising drive to raise £2,700 to be split between the three good causes.
Their travel costs are coming from the funds the school gets from the government for making links with foreign countries.
Their first stop is the Bunda Local Education Authority School just outside the capital Lilongwe, where Mr Payne used to teach.
Malawi gov't to require over 14 million dollars to rehabilitate international airport
he Malawi government has said that it will require about 2.1 billion kwacha (about 15 million U.S. dollars) to rehabilitate the Kamuzu International Airport (Kia), starting with the runway which has developed some potholes, the website of The Nation newspaper reported Tuesday.
The Transport, Public Works and Housing Minister Henry Mussa told The Nation of Malawi that a consultant was hired to advise on the project and that procurement of rehabilitation materials is underway.
According to Mussa, estimates show that the total cost for the rehabilitation is about 2.1 billion kwacha and that international lenders such as the Arab Bank, the Kuwait Bank and Badea have expressed interest to finance the rehabilitation.
He said the lending institutions have already pledged to release 7 million dollars for a start and that work should begin by September this year.
"We will start with the runway. It has outlived its usefulness. It needs a complete overhaul as there are several cracks," said Mussa.
The minister said that financing institutions hire the contractor and that a South African consultant was hired to do the short listing from those with experience in runways
The Transport, Public Works and Housing Minister Henry Mussa told The Nation of Malawi that a consultant was hired to advise on the project and that procurement of rehabilitation materials is underway.
According to Mussa, estimates show that the total cost for the rehabilitation is about 2.1 billion kwacha and that international lenders such as the Arab Bank, the Kuwait Bank and Badea have expressed interest to finance the rehabilitation.
He said the lending institutions have already pledged to release 7 million dollars for a start and that work should begin by September this year.
"We will start with the runway. It has outlived its usefulness. It needs a complete overhaul as there are several cracks," said Mussa.
The minister said that financing institutions hire the contractor and that a South African consultant was hired to do the short listing from those with experience in runways
Judges and Lawyers Bring Relief To Condemned
Malawi's death row prisoners are breathing more easily after three High Court judges unanimously agreed in a test case that the courts are not bound to sentence anyone to death for murder, as this would be a violation of that person's human rights.
"The mandatory death penalty violates an individual's right that protects one from inhuman treatment or punishment and denies them the right to fair trial and have the sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal," said Justice Elton Singini, reading out the joint judgment on Apr. 27.
This made article 210 of the penal code "invalid". The article stipulates that the only sentence available to judges for a murder conviction is death by hanging.
In the crisply-worded ruling the judges took Malawi a step forward along the road to abolishing the death penalty.
But they were careful to note that their decision did not ban capital punishment for the crime of taking a life. "For the removal of doubt, we state that our declaration does not outlaw the death penalty for the offence of murder, but only the mandatory requirement of the death penalty for that office," the judgment said.
The ruling was immediately praised by death penalty abolition campaigners.
"This decision is a milestone in the international campaign against the death penalty," said Saul Lehrfreund and Parvis Jabbar, two human rights lawyers based in the United Kingdom. "The implications for future murder trails will be the introduction of a complete new set of procedures restricting the imposition of the death penalty in the first instance.
"We are delighted that the jurisprudence from Uganda and other regions in the world has now been accepted in Malawi. The decision reflects the notion that law should move progressively towards greater protection of human rights."
The High Court ruling involved the case of Francis Kafantayeni and five other death row inmates at Malawi's high-security prison, Zomba. Kafantayeni was sentenced to death following his conviction in 2002 for admitting to the killing of his two-year-old stepson. In mitigation he claimed to have been acting in a state of temporary insanity induced by smoking cannabis.
The High Court judges ruled that the six must now be brought back before the courts for a review of their death sentences. These could be confirmed, though the ruling suggests that alternative sentences of fixed-term life imprisonment will be handed down.
Noel Chalamanda, a member of the local team of lawyers which represented the six death row inmates, assisted by British lawyers, told IPS that the review would take place towards the end of June. He said depending on the outcome, the same legal team would start a similar action for the remaining prisoners on death row.
"As of now there are about 30 persons on death row and we have undertaken to do the exercise for them all," he said. "We are confident that the mandatory death sentence could go altogether and the number on death row could start to be reduced."
The number facing execution was substantially reduced when 79 death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by presidential degree in April 2004, according to Amnesty International.
The lawyers working for an end to the death penalty in Malawi form part of the Death Penalty Project, an international human rights organisation which has been providing free legal representation since 2003 to those facing capital punishment in the Caribbean and Africa. It is run in association with the British solicitors Simonds and Burton, Keir Starner QC and Joseph Middleton of Doughty Street Chambers.
One local lawyer stressed the limitations of the ruling.
"The death penalty is not only prescribed for murder but for other offences," Blantyre-based Sheen Msusa told IPS. "The court was only dealing with the mandatory requirement of the death penalty in murder cases. By necessary inference, the judgment has nothing to do with mandatory capital punishment like in case of treason."
Apart from murder, the Malawi constitution stipulates that treason, rape, burglary and armed robbery are punishable by death.
At present the courts are dealing with a high-profile treason case involving the vice president, Cassim Chilumpha, accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Bingu wa Mutharika. Chilumpha denies the charge, but remains under restrictive bail conditions.
Human rights activists and lawyers argue that the next logical step is for Malawi to take the death penalty out of its constitution.
"It's encouraging that for over 10 years, our two presidents never signed for the hanging of death row convicts. Why then should we have it in the law?" asked Undule Mwakasungula, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, a vocal rights watchdog in Malawi.
Mwakasungula said it was unfortunate that due to lack of civic education, certain sectors of society had rallied behind the death penalty during Malawi's second Constitutional Review Conference in April.
The conference was convened by the Malawi Law Commission, an independent institution established under the constitution to make recommendations on the repeal and amendment of legislation.
"The majority of the responses indicated that people are in favour of retaining the death penalty," notes a report by the commission.
The High Court ruling offering hope to all Malawi's death row inmates also puts the spotlight on the kind of life facing them in prison if they are re-sentenced to fixed life terms.
Amnesty International describes the conditions in Malawi's jails as "life-threatening". In its annual report released in April, the global human rights watchdog noted that there were more than 280 deaths in the prisons last year, an average of 23 inmates a month among the 10,000-strong prison population.
"This was a sharp increase from the 14 deaths per month recorded in 2005. Most of the deaths were linked to inadequate diet," Amnesty said.
Chalamanda said this was one of the reasons the team of lawyer activists had brought the case of Kafantayeni and others to the High Court.
"Most of these inmates are in poor health and desperately need redress. Our focus now is to try and secure less severe sentences for them, depending on the levels of criminal culpability," he said.
"The mandatory death penalty violates an individual's right that protects one from inhuman treatment or punishment and denies them the right to fair trial and have the sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal," said Justice Elton Singini, reading out the joint judgment on Apr. 27.
This made article 210 of the penal code "invalid". The article stipulates that the only sentence available to judges for a murder conviction is death by hanging.
In the crisply-worded ruling the judges took Malawi a step forward along the road to abolishing the death penalty.
But they were careful to note that their decision did not ban capital punishment for the crime of taking a life. "For the removal of doubt, we state that our declaration does not outlaw the death penalty for the offence of murder, but only the mandatory requirement of the death penalty for that office," the judgment said.
The ruling was immediately praised by death penalty abolition campaigners.
"This decision is a milestone in the international campaign against the death penalty," said Saul Lehrfreund and Parvis Jabbar, two human rights lawyers based in the United Kingdom. "The implications for future murder trails will be the introduction of a complete new set of procedures restricting the imposition of the death penalty in the first instance.
"We are delighted that the jurisprudence from Uganda and other regions in the world has now been accepted in Malawi. The decision reflects the notion that law should move progressively towards greater protection of human rights."
The High Court ruling involved the case of Francis Kafantayeni and five other death row inmates at Malawi's high-security prison, Zomba. Kafantayeni was sentenced to death following his conviction in 2002 for admitting to the killing of his two-year-old stepson. In mitigation he claimed to have been acting in a state of temporary insanity induced by smoking cannabis.
The High Court judges ruled that the six must now be brought back before the courts for a review of their death sentences. These could be confirmed, though the ruling suggests that alternative sentences of fixed-term life imprisonment will be handed down.
Noel Chalamanda, a member of the local team of lawyers which represented the six death row inmates, assisted by British lawyers, told IPS that the review would take place towards the end of June. He said depending on the outcome, the same legal team would start a similar action for the remaining prisoners on death row.
"As of now there are about 30 persons on death row and we have undertaken to do the exercise for them all," he said. "We are confident that the mandatory death sentence could go altogether and the number on death row could start to be reduced."
The number facing execution was substantially reduced when 79 death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by presidential degree in April 2004, according to Amnesty International.
The lawyers working for an end to the death penalty in Malawi form part of the Death Penalty Project, an international human rights organisation which has been providing free legal representation since 2003 to those facing capital punishment in the Caribbean and Africa. It is run in association with the British solicitors Simonds and Burton, Keir Starner QC and Joseph Middleton of Doughty Street Chambers.
One local lawyer stressed the limitations of the ruling.
"The death penalty is not only prescribed for murder but for other offences," Blantyre-based Sheen Msusa told IPS. "The court was only dealing with the mandatory requirement of the death penalty in murder cases. By necessary inference, the judgment has nothing to do with mandatory capital punishment like in case of treason."
Apart from murder, the Malawi constitution stipulates that treason, rape, burglary and armed robbery are punishable by death.
At present the courts are dealing with a high-profile treason case involving the vice president, Cassim Chilumpha, accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Bingu wa Mutharika. Chilumpha denies the charge, but remains under restrictive bail conditions.
Human rights activists and lawyers argue that the next logical step is for Malawi to take the death penalty out of its constitution.
"It's encouraging that for over 10 years, our two presidents never signed for the hanging of death row convicts. Why then should we have it in the law?" asked Undule Mwakasungula, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, a vocal rights watchdog in Malawi.
Mwakasungula said it was unfortunate that due to lack of civic education, certain sectors of society had rallied behind the death penalty during Malawi's second Constitutional Review Conference in April.
The conference was convened by the Malawi Law Commission, an independent institution established under the constitution to make recommendations on the repeal and amendment of legislation.
"The majority of the responses indicated that people are in favour of retaining the death penalty," notes a report by the commission.
The High Court ruling offering hope to all Malawi's death row inmates also puts the spotlight on the kind of life facing them in prison if they are re-sentenced to fixed life terms.
Amnesty International describes the conditions in Malawi's jails as "life-threatening". In its annual report released in April, the global human rights watchdog noted that there were more than 280 deaths in the prisons last year, an average of 23 inmates a month among the 10,000-strong prison population.
"This was a sharp increase from the 14 deaths per month recorded in 2005. Most of the deaths were linked to inadequate diet," Amnesty said.
Chalamanda said this was one of the reasons the team of lawyer activists had brought the case of Kafantayeni and others to the High Court.
"Most of these inmates are in poor health and desperately need redress. Our focus now is to try and secure less severe sentences for them, depending on the levels of criminal culpability," he said.
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