Malawi News.
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JUNE 2009
Malawi
Votes in Knife-Edge Poll
Voting
has been brisk in Malawi's General Election, with analysts suggesting
the Presidential race is too close to call. Seven candidates are
vying for the top job but it is being viewed as a two-horse race
between incumbent Bingu Wa Mutharika and his opponent, John Tembo.
Mr
Tembo is backed by ex-President Bakili Muluzi, whose attempt to run
for a third term was blocked by the courts.
The
Southern African country is also electing a new Parliament.
While it is
still among the poorest nations, Malawi has one of the
fastest-growing economies in the World and Western donors hope its
relative stability over the past decade will not be disrupted.
Huge
Turnout
Long
queues have been reported as nearly six million voters cast their
ballots at almost 4,000 Polling Stations around the country.
The
BBC's Chakuchanya Harawa in the Capital Lilongwe says when he arrived
pre-dawn at one voting booth two hours before it opened, there was
already a line of waiting electors. It was a similar picture in the
Northern city of Mzuzu, says the BBC's Joel Nkhoma.
After
casting his ballot in his home village of Goliati in Southern Malawi,
Mr Mutharika said: "There is a large turnout, people exercising
their right to vote," reported AFP news agency.
The
opposition has raised concerns about the possibility of vote-rigging,
but poll officials said there had been no problems. The Malawi
Electoral Commission Chairman Justice Ananstasia Msosa told Reuters
news agency in Lilongwe: "If this trend continues, we are
projecting a huge turnout compared to the last election in 2004."
The
Election follows a long political feud between Mr Mutharika and his
predecessor Mr Muluzi that has caused riots, a failed impeachment
bid, Parliamentary deadlock and coup plot claims. Mr Muluzi lost a
Court battle on Saturday to be able to stand for a third term, having
argued in vain that after a break of five years, he should be able to
run for office again. His United Democratic Front has endorsed Mr
Tembo, leader of the Malawi Congress Party, which governed the
country for 30 years.
Mr
Mutharika fell out with his one-time backer in 2004, accusing Mr
Muluzi of trying to stonewall an anti-corruption drive.
Mr
Muluzi is being tried on charges of siphoning $10m (6.5m) from Donor
Countries, but insists the charges are politically motivated.
Mr
Mutharika quit his rival's party in 2005 to form his own Democratic
Progressive Party and lead a Minority Government. The 75-year-old
former World Bank Official, who has won praise from Western Donors,
says he only wants one more term and will then retire.
Mr
Tembo, 77, once a leading figure in the regime of the late Dictator
Hastings "Kamuzu" Banda, is hoping the Election will bring
to an end 15 years in opposition.
Poverty,
Agriculture and Health Care are the big issues for Malawi, where
two-thirds of the population lives on less than a dollar a day and
AIDS has orphaned an estimated one million children.
But
the BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says it is thought voters will
be likely to cast their ballot along Regional and Ethnic lines, with
the issues taking a back seat.
In
the Parliamentary Election, about 1,100 candidates, including a
record number of women, are standing but no party is expected to win
an outright majority.
Story
from BBC
NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8056724.stm
----------
Bid
to Halt Malawi Poll Results
Malawi's
main Opposition Party has called for the release of results from
Tuesday's General Election to be stopped, citing "irregularities".
The Malawi Congress Party says its election agents were denied access
to counting centres in its traditional stronghold in the Central
Region. Several MCP parliamentary candidates have lost their seats in
the area.
The MCP
Presidential Candidate said he would not accept President Bingu wa
Mutharika being declared the victor. The Presidential Contest between
the two men had been seen as the closest in the country's history.
John Tembo is backed by ex-President Bakili Muluzi.
Chief
Election Officer David Bandawe said the Electoral Commission would
investigate the MCP complaints. Results have been released from just
1% of the 3,897 polling stations around the country. President
Mutharika has 34,585 votes against 10,954 for Mr Tembo.
Earlier,
John Kufuor, team leader for the Commonwealth Observer Group, told
the BBC he had been concerned with the media coverage during the
election process. "The major handicap, we thought, was lack of
coverage of the parties outside the Government," he said.
Radio
raided
AFP
news agency reported that Police had raided a Radio Station owned by
Mr Muluzi shortly before polls opened. The agency cited Police as
saying three members of staff had been arrested at Joy Radio, and was
told by an editor that a tape of a satirical programme had been
seized.
There
are five other candidates in the Presidential Race but two have
already conceded that President Mutharika has won.
Final
results are expected by Thursday.
Story
from BBC
NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8058842.stm
----------
Malawi
President Wins Re-Election
Malawi's
President Bingu wa Mutharika has won a second five-year term in
office, according to the country's Electoral Commission. It said he
had won 2.7 million votes, with his nearest rival John Tembo winning
1.2 million.
The
new President is due to be inaugurated on Friday, and several
regional leaders are already in Malawi to attend the swearing-in
ceremony. "I declare Bingu wa Mutharika, President of the DPP,
(Democratic Progressive Party), winner of 2009 Presidential
Elections," said Commission Head Anastacia Msosa. The result was
declared after 93% of polling stations had submitted their figures.
Mr
Mutharika, a 75-year-old former World Bank official, saw his DPP
taking a clear lead in Parliamentary Elections as well.
Partial
official results have the DPP winning 59 of the 193 seats; Mr Tembo's
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) 17; Bakili Muluzi's United Democratic
Front (UDF) 10; and the Malawi Forum for Unity and Development just
one. Eleven seats have gone to independents.
Mr
Muluzi told Malawian media: "As a former President of this
country, I'm saying: 'Let's move forward.I telephoned him [Mr
Mutharika] this morning, we had a conversation and I conveyed my
congratulations to him for the victory and wished him well and his
DPP party."
International
poll observers said the President had enjoyed an unfair advantage,
including a partisan state media. EU observer group head Luisa
Morgantini said the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and Television
Malawi had failed to provide balanced coverage of the campaign.
Former Ghanaian President John Kufuor, leader of the Commonwealth
observer team, said: "We are extremely concerned at the conduct
of state-owned media in its coverage of these elections."
Story
from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8062740.stm
----------
Malawi's
President Re-Inaugurated
Malawi's
President, Bingu wa Mutharika, has been sworn in for a second
five-year term. During an Inauguration Ceremony attended by several
Regional Leaders, Mr Mutharika said fighting corruption would
continue to be a top priority.
Earlier
Malawi's Election Commission said he had won more than 2.7m votes,
with nearest rival John Tembo taking nearly 1.3m. The Opposition,
which contests the results, boycotted the inauguration.
During
the ceremony in the main stadium in Blantyre, Mr Mutharika said: "I
shall continue to fight corruption because it is evil, it robs the
poor and denies them their legitimate right to a decent living."
Presidents
attending the event included Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe,
Zambia's Rupiya Banda, and Mozambique's Armando Guebuza.
The
BBC's Raphael Tenthani at the event says the 50,000-capacity arena
was packed full, with the official blue party colour of Mr
Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) everywhere.
DPP
supporters sang "Moses Wa Lero", describing Mr Mutharika as
a "modern-day Moses". Mr Mutharika's running mate Joyce
Banda, becomes the first female Vice-President in Malawi's history.
Story
from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8062834.stm
----------
MAY
2009
Madonna
to launch Malawi appeal
Lawyers
for the pop star Madonna are set to return to court in Malawi to appeal
against a ruling denying her request to adopt another Malawian child.
Last month, the court ruled that the singer could not adopt four
year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. It said prospective parents had to be
resident in the Southern African State for 18 to 24 months. Madonna has
already adopted a boy, David, from Malawi.
James Kambewa, the man believed to be the little girl's Father has also
said that he opposes the adoption. Earlier this week he said he was
capable of looking after the little girl and that he wanted her to be
raised as a Malawian.
Chifundo "Mercy" James lives in the same Orphanage from which Madonna
adopted David in 2006. She has been living there since her 18-year-old
Mother died shortly after giving birth.
Story
from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/8032120.stm
----------
APRIL 2009
Madonna
to adopt second Malawi child
Madonna
with children Lourdes, Rocco and David Banda. Madonna also has two
biological children, Lourdes and Rocco
Pop
star Madonna is to travel to Malawi in a bid to adopt a baby girl
called Mercy James, officials have said.
The
Reuters News Agency was told that the child has "no Father and
Mother, they both died", and an assessment was completed on
Thursday. The 50-year-old is expected to arrive at the weekend and
attend a procedural hearing at the High Court on Monday. The
14-month-old baby will be a Sister to David Banda, the first child
Madonna adopted from the African country. The official adoption of
the little boy was confirmed last year. She took the child back to
the UK from an orphanage in the country in 2006.
Role
model
An
official at the Malawian Department of Women and Child Welfare told
the BBC's Raphael Tenthani that the pop star had already filed
adoption papers and her case could be heard early. The official later
told the Reuters News Agency: "We expect her over the weekend
or earlier than that... but without a doubt she is coming before the
end of this month."
The
Charity 'Save the Children UK' has issued a statement urging the star
and fellow celebrities to think very carefully before adopting from
overseas. Spokesperson Dominic Nutt said: "The best place for
a child is in his or her family in their home community. Most
children in orphanages have one parent still living, or have an
extended family that can care for them in the absence of their
parents."
He
added that the organisation believes that "International
adoption should only be considered if the child is a genuine orphan,
and if all other alternatives in their own country have been
genuinely exhausted". He added: "We urge any
celebrity to set an example, to follow internationally agreed
procedures designed to protect the child, and to ensure that the
child in question has no other options in their home community."
Madonna's spokeswoman in New York, Liz Rosenberg, would not comment.
Her lawyer in Malawi, Alan Chinula, also declined to comment.
However, a US government official - speaking under condition of
anonymity - told Reuters that an adoption bid was under way.
Writing
in response to e-mailed questions from Nation readers last week,
Madonna said: "Many people - especially our Malawian friends
- say that David should have a Malawian brother or sister. It's
something I have been considering."
Critics
accused the Malawian Government of sidestepping laws banning foreign
adoptions in order to allow the celebrity to take 13-month-old David
home with her. After the adoption was legalised, Madonna said the
difficulties had arisen because "this adoption essentially
was the beginning of the creation of adoption laws in Malawi".
She hoped it would make it easier for others to adopt from the
country and explained: "I am the template or the role model,
so to speak, for future adoptions."
The
star also has two biological children - Rocco, her son with former
Husband Guy Ritchie, and Lourdes, whose Father is Carlos Leon. Film
director Ritchie and Madonna's divorce was finalised in November.
Malawi
does not, as a rule, approve adoptions for single or divorced people,
but the official at the country's Welfare Department said that each
case was considered on merit.
Story
from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/8032120.stm
----------
Madonna
loses Malawi adoption
bid
A
Malawian court has ruled that US pop star Madonna has failed in her
bid to adopt a second child from the country. "I must decline to
grant the application for the adoption of the infant," judge
Esmie Chondo said after a closed-door hearing on Friday. The
application has been rejected over residency rules.
Madonna,
who flew to Malawi on Sunday, was not in court to hear the ruling
over Chifundo James, three. Her lawyer said she would lodge an
appeal. The 50-year-old singer applied to adopt Chifundo James, whose
name translates into English as Mercy, on Monday. Had her application
been successful, Chifundo would have been a sister to David, the
first child she adopted from the African country, and her biological
children Lourdes and Rocco. Chifundo is in the same orphanage that
previously housed David, now three years old.
Trafficking
concerns
Madonna's
application was rejected because of a requirement that prospective
parents be resident in the southern African state for 18 to 24
months.
The
rule was waived in 2006 when Madonna was allowed to take her adopted
son, David Banda, to London before his adoption was finalised in
2008. In the ruling, read out outside the court, the judge also
voiced concerns about the potential ramifications a ruling in
Madonna's favour might have on adopted children's human rights. "By
removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children,
the courts by their pronouncements could actually facilitate
trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals,"
she said.
The
judge also noted that Chifundo had been placed in one of Malawi's
best orphanages and no longer suffered the severe poverty endured
after her mother died in childbirth. "It is evident that
Chifundo James no longer is subject to the conditions of poverty at
her place of birth," she said in the ruling, made at the
hearing in Malawi's Administrative Capital Lilongwe.
According
to court papers just released, Madonna had said she was "able
and willing to securely provide for Chifundo James and make her a
permanent and established member of my family. To deny Chifundo James
the opportunity to be adopted by me could expose her to hardship and
emotional trauma which is otherwise avoidable," she
continued. However, Madonna's efforts to adopt the three-year-old
attracted criticism from some parties who said the little girl would
be best off with relatives.
The
performer was also accused of using her fame and money to fast-track
the adoption process, a charge refuted by her spokeswoman Liz
Rosenberg. The singer, who was represented in court by her lawyer
Alan Chinula, first travelled to Malawi in 2006 to film a documentary
in the country.
Story
from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/8032120.stm
----------
Where the hell was Mercy's father?
The
Father of the girl Madonna is trying to adopt wants her back. James
Kambewa claims he had no idea four-year-old Mercy James was still
alive until he heard the singer, who saw her adoption application
rejected by a Malawian court on Friday, was trying give her a home,
but now wants to be part of her life.
Security
guard James, who fathered Mercy with now-deceased 15-year-old
Mwandida Maunde, told People magazine: "Now that I know Mercy
is alive I am willing to support her. Mwandida's parents were furious
that I had messed up their Daughter. They caused hell for me so I
left town. "I am afraid to approach her family because of what I
did to their daughter, but I will see what I can do."
However,
Mercy's surviving relatives, who have approved her adoption by the
American pop superstar, are furious with his reappearance. Her Uncle
Peter Baneti said: "Where was he all this time? He wasn't
there when his girlfriend was pregnant, he didn't even attend
Mwandida's funeral when she died eight days after giving birth to
Mercy. We don't think he even knew she had a baby."
Another
Uncle, John Ngalande, added: "If he cared he should have
attempted to find out the fate of his daughter. We can't accept him
coming into Mercy's life simply because she is now famous. We are
angry with this boy."
Madonna,
who flew back to England on Monday, has reportedly instructed lawyers
to fight the adoption decision, which was rejected due to the
50-year-old star not living in the African country for 18 months. She
reportedly said: "Do whatever you can to get me my Mercy, I
can't imagine her going back to the orphanage."
Mercy's
family initially opposed Madonna's bid to adopt the girl but relented
after negotiations with Government Officials and the Miles Away
singer's Raising Malawi charity.
Peter
says he is "sad and surprised" at seeing Mercy's chance for
a better life taken away and welcomes an appeal against the court
ruling. He said: "I'm just very surprised that this has
happened. And I'm so sad for Mercy. This was her chance for a better
life and I think this has been taken away from her now."
Madonna
has also been boosted by the support of ex-Husband Guy Ritchie, with
whom she adopted another Malawian child, David, now three. The
British film director, who also has a Son, eight-year-old Rocco, with
Madonna and helped raise the singer's 12-year-old Daughter Lourdes,
released a statement after the hearing on Friday praising his former
wife's parenting skills. He said: "Madonna is a fantastic and
loving mother who cares deeply about her own children, and children
who may need additional help and support."
Published
on the web by Tonight
