Tag Archives: Malawi

Singer Madonna wins permission to adopt two children from Malawi

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Madonna has been granted permission to adopt two more children from Malawi after the High Court in the impoverished southern African country gave its approval.

The U.S. singer’s previous adoptions stirred anger among some Malawians who accused the government of allowing the pop star to skirt laws that ban non-residents from adopting children.

Madonna was inside the courtroom when the approval ruling was delivered, Mlenga Mvula, a spokesman for Malawi’s judiciary said on Tuesday.

“Today the High Court made a ruling that she should go ahead and adopt the two children,” Mvula told Reuters, adding that the singer was smiling after the court’s ruling.

Mvula could not provide details on the children Madonna will adopting, saying it was against the law to divulge such particulars at this stage.

“Within a year she should provide us with a home survey report which the court has ordered her to provide,” Mvula said, referring to one of the conditions of the adoption.

Madonna, 58, adopted Malawian children David Banda and Mercy James in 2006 and 2009. The mega-selling pop singer has two other children, Lourdes and Rocco, from previous relationships.

Madonna had denied reports that she wanted to adopt again after she visited Malawi last month, at the time saying her trip was for her charity work.

Madonna established the non-profit Raising Malawi in 2006 to provide health and education programs, particularly for girls, in the southeast African country.

 

Source: Reuters

Madonna in Malawi court to apply to adopt 2 more kids

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US pop superstar Madonna appeared in person at a court in the Malawian capital Lilongwe on Wednesday to apply to adopt two more local children, a court spokesman told AFP.

Madonna, who runs a charity called Raising Malawi in the southern African nation, adopted Malawian children David Banda in 2006 and Mercy James in 2009.

Local media reports said the singer appeared before Justice Fiona Mwale amid tight security, accompanied by two unidentified children and several other people, before being driven away in an SUV vehicle.

“The court is looking at the application now to determine whether Madonna can adopt these two children,” said Mlenga Mvula, spokesman of the Lilongwe High Court.

“The… process requires the court to make a ruling on the adoption.”

The 58-year-old singer last visited Malawi in July, taking her two adopted Malawian children with her.

She also inspected her charity’s work, including progress at a surgical unit for children at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in the commercial capital Blantyre.

It was Madonna’s first visit in nearly two years to Malawi, where she has at times been embroiled in controversy after her earlier adoptions.

– Adoption controversy –
She was stripped of VIP status by former president Joyce Banda’s government in 2013 and accused of being “uncouth” and wanting eternal gratitude from the impoverished country for adopting the two children.

But Banda was ousted in 2014 elections and the new president, Peter Mutharika, moved to repair relations, saying “my government has always been grateful for the passion Madonna has for this country”.

Last July, Madonna said she would not revive plans for a $15 million academy for girls in Malawi, which was cancelled amid allegations of mismanagement — leading to her tiff with Banda.

The singer, who divorced film director Guy Ritchie in 2008, reportedly landed in Malawi by private jet and was staying at a exclusive lodge outside Lilongwe.

Madonna, who has four children, is reportedly among the biggest individual donors to children’s projects such as orphanages in Malawi, which is ranked by the UN Human Development Index as one of the world’s 20 least developed countries.

On Saturday, she made an unannounced appearance in Washington at a rally protesting against US President Donald Trump a day after his inauguration.

Madonna had campaigned for Hillary Clinton to become America’s first woman president, and told Billboard Magazine after the Democrat’s loss that women had a “tribal inability” to accept a female president.

Malawi Again Denies Bail To Man Paid To Have Sex with 100 Girls

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A Malawian man accused of having sex with 100 girls and women in a series of ritual cleansing acts, on Monday failed in his second bid to be freed on bail.

 

Prosecutor Christopher Botoman opposed the bail request for Eric Aniva over fears that he could “intimidate and influence” witnesses not to testify in court.

 

Given the “nature and seriousness of the offence and the severity of the punishment if convicted” it would “not be in the interest of justice to release the accused on bail.”

 

The prosecution also said the 45-year-old – who has said he is infected with the Aids virus – was likely to jump bail and cross the border into Mozambique.

 

But Aniva, whose first bid to secure bail was earlier this month, rejected the idea, saying he was “not scared” to face trial.

 

Malawi, which has one of the highest HIV infections in the world, criminalises sex with a person under the age of 16.

 

If he is found guilty of underage sex, Aniva could be imprisoned for life.

The little-known local practice of having sex with adolescent girls to mark their passage to womanhood is performed in southern Malawi by men known as “hyenas” at the behest of a girl’s parents after her first menstruation.

 

The ritual is believed to train girls to become good wives and protect them from disease, or misfortune could fall on their families or their village.

 

Aniva is said to have slept with at least 104 women and girls, some as young as 12, in a ritual that lasts three days. He said each family paid him a fee of between $4 and $7.

 

His two wives were both present at the court house.

 

“We want him back home. We are suffering because we have no food,” his 25-year-old wife Fanny told AFP.

 

“When he is around, we don’t suffer because he is a man and he finds means to bring food to the house.”

 

His second wife, Sophia, said he had long abandoned the “hyena” business.

 

“Thieves and murderers get released on bail, but what is wrong with our husband?” she said.

Malawi Orders Arrest Of Man Paid To Have Sex With Children

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Malawian President Peter Mutharika ordered the arrest Tuesday of a man paid to have sex with more than 100 adolescent girls as part of a traditional ritual marking their passage to womanhood.

The order was issued after the man from the southern district of Nsanje gave a media interview confessing to have slept with the girls for a fee of between four and seven dollars paid by each of their families.

“I order police to immediately arrest Mr Eric Aniva, investigate him and take him to court forthwith for defilement cases,” Mutharika said in a statement.

This little-known local practice is performed in southern Malawi by men known as “hyenas” at the behest of a girl’s parents after her first menstruation.

The ritual is believed to train girls to become good wives and to protect them from disease, or misfortune could fall on their families or their village.

But it is blamed for spreading AIDS.

In a BBC interview broadcast last week, Aniva confessed to being infected with HIV and sleeping with virgin girls without using protection.

Aniva said that the girls were as young as 12.

“All these girls find pleasure in having me as their ‘hyena’,’ he said. “They actually are proud.”

Mutharika said Aniva should “be investigated for exposing the young girls to contracting HIV and further be charged accordingly.”

He also ordered an inquiry into the role of parents, saying “harmful cultural and traditional practices cannot be accepted.”

The sexual cleansing ritual by a “hyena” is also performed on bereaved widows in Nsanje district to exorcise villages of evil spirits or to prevent another death occurring.

Aniva said a “hyena” was selected by the community based on good morals and that custom did not allow him to use condoms.

Malawi, which has one of the highest HIV infections in the world, criminalises sex with a person under the age of 16.

Credit: Guardian

Mob Burns 7 To Death Over Suspected Witchcraft

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A mob in Malawi’s southern district of Nsanje burned seven people to death for allegedly possessing human bones for use in witchcraft, police said Wednesday. The seven were “found in possession of human bones and the mob took it upon themselves to burn them with petrol,” Kirdy Kaunga, police officer in charge of the district, told AFP. A traditional chief said local people became suspicious due to the movements and telephone conversations of one of the seven men who was discovered with a bag containing the bones. “He was chased and arrested,” chief

A traditional chief said local people became suspicious due to the movements and telephone conversations of one of the seven men who was discovered with a bag containing the bones. “He was chased and arrested,” chief Tengani, who only uses one name, told AFP. “The man is said to have confirmed that his bag contained human bones and that’s when the mob began rounding up the seven and burned them one by one.” Police arrived after the incident on Tuesday in Nsanje, which borders Mozambique, and have made no arrests. Officials said they were investigating whether the bones belonged to albinos, who have white skin and yellow hair as a result of a genetic disorder that causes the absence of pigmentation. Albinos are killed regularly in some African countries including Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania for their body parts, which are used in witchcraft rituals.

Albinos are killed regularly in some African countries including Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania for their body parts, which are used in witchcraft rituals.

Credit: Vanguard

Malawi Pastor, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri Acquires A Third Private Jet In 2 Years

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One of the richest pastors in Africa and the Leader & founder of the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church, Prophet Sheperd Bushiri has acquired a third private jet in a space of two years.
The unveiling ceremony of the new jet ZS-VIP was by the biggest Company of Aviation NAC in South Africa on Wednesday, January 6. The handover was presided over by Gulf Stream Manager Larry Flynn. Bushiri received a certificate from Flynn for becoming the youngest buyer of Gulf Stream jet.

 

 

The pastor who is popularly referred to as “Major 1” of ‘Papa in Christian cycles dedicated the new jet to all the people who follow him and understand vision.
He posted photos of the new jet on his Facebook page. When a follower criticised him for spending money that could have been used to help the poor, Bushiri replied:

“When are you going to sell your phone which you have used to type here and give the money to the poor?”

 

In a phone interview with Nyasa Times after the ceremony, the very excited Bushiri said:
“I am a man of God. I believe I need to live by example. I teach the word that strenghtens the faith of all. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’, and that is exactly what I am doing now. I am what God says I am and not how other people judge me.”

Xenophobia: Malawi To Close All South African Businesses Today

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The Malawi government has resolved to close all south African owned businesses today, the 24th of April. The decision is not unconnected to the ongoing Xenophobic massacre in South Africa, where two Malawians were killed..

However, after 390 Malawians were resuced from south African two days ago, the government has decided to for now place embargo on South African companies such as ShopRite, Games ,PEP among others operating in the country. The decision according to report will take effect from today.

Read More: dailypost

Malawi Protests Against Attacks On Immigrants In SA

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A diplomat at the South African High Commission in Malawi said hundreds of people protested outside the commission in the capital, Lilongwe, against anti-immigrant attacks in South Africa.

The commission’s Welcome Simelane said on Tuesday that it was a peaceful protest and demonstrators handed over a petition to High Commissioner Cassandra Mbuyane-Mokone. Malawi’s information minister Kondwani Nankhumwa said nearly 400 Malawians arrived home on Monday, travelling overnight by bus from South Africa.

Police said there was no new violence reported in Johannesburg and surrounding areas.

Credit: AP

Xenophobic SA: Malawi Evacuates Their Own

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Malawi says it will repatriate its nationals from South Africa, following an upsurge in xenophobic violence. At least five foreigners, including a 14-year-old boy, have been killed in attacks in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban since last week.

Some foreign-owned shops in the main city Johannesburg have shut amid fears that the violence could spread. Zimbabwe has also condemned the attacks, blamed on locals who accuse foreigners of taking their jobs.

Tens of thousands of foreigners, mostly from other African states and Asia, have moved to South Africa since white-minority rule ended in 1994. At least 62 people died in xenophobic attacks that swept South Africa in 2008.

Credit: sunnewsonline

Malawi Diplomat Called Mugabe ‘Idiot’ Refuses Zimbabwe post

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A Malawian diplomat who once reportedly described Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as an “idiot” said Monday he had turned down a posting as his country’s top envoy to Harare.

“I am sure there are other Malawians more amenable to serving at that particular post at this particular time,” Thoko Banda said in a statement seen by AFP.

Banda’s scathing insult to neighbouring Zimbabwe’s long-serving head of state was recalled by social media last week, shortly after he was named as Malawi’s high commissioner (ambassador) to Zimbabwe.

Banda was widely quoted as telling Germany’s The Foreigner magazine in 2006 that “Zimbabwe has an idiot — I am sorry, I know you are recording — but they have an idiot for president.

“This guy Robert Mugabe, I hope that he lives a long time, so that one day he can go before an international tribunal. He is a horrible man.”

Banda said in his statement Monday that he had an “extensive history of effective human rights advocacy and I would never sell out my human rights commitments just for a position.”

Banda, who has served previously as a diplomat in Japan and Germany, said he was not consulted on his Harare appointment by President Peter Mutharika and was “surprised” to learn of it through the media.

Malawi’s Foreign Affairs Minister George Chaponda refused to comment, telling AFP: “Ask Mr Banda himself.”

Malawi and Zimbabwe, both members of the Southern African Development Community, have enjoyed cordial diplomatic relations in the past.

Credit: Yahoo News