February 05

• Southern Africa: Regional States Helped CIA Renditions, Says Report

  The shocking extent of the CIA's highly classified programme of secret detention and extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects has finally been made laid bare by a remarkable... Read more »

October 03, 2012

• Malawi: Presidential Pay Cuts and Austerity [analysis]

  There has been widespread praise for Joyce Banda's decision to slash her own presidential salary by 30 percent and an equal amount of shock and surprise (particularly, I would... Read more »

October 02, 2012

• Malawi: Will Banda Fight for Gay Rights?

  One of the earliest indications that Joyce Banda was going to be a very different president from her predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika, was her suggestion - soon after coming to... Read more »

September 05, 2012

• Malawi: Rule of Law in Malawi On the Road to Recovery [analysis]

  There is no doubt that Malawi is a very different country with Joyce Banda in State House - a country that is returning to the path of democracy, constitutional government and... Read more »

August 21, 2012

• East Africa: Oil Under Troubled Waters [analysis]

  There are fears that conflict might be looming between Malawi and Tanzania over the ownership of a portion of Lake Malawi - or rather of the oil reserves that are believed to lurk... Read more »

August 10, 2012

• Malawi: Govt Must Cut Numbers in Pre-Trial Detention [analysis]

  Malawi is ahead of some of its neighbours, such as South Africa and Zimbabwe, in having laws that limit the time a person can be held on remand awaiting trial - but often practice... Read more »

July 25, 2012

• Malawi: Shining a Light on Nation's Darkest Day [analysis]

  July 20th 2011 was the darkest day in a very dark period for Malawi - when twenty innocent protestors were killed by police during mass demonstrations calling for an end to... Read more »

July 27, 2012

• Malawi: Broadcasting Boom for Malawi [analysis]

  Malawians on their way to work in the morning or eating supper home in the evening will soon be struggling with a new and decidedly tricky problem - which of the myriad TV and... Read more »

July 25, 2012

• Southern Africa: Fund's Crisis Devastates Aids, TB Work [analysis]

  Everyone knew that the crisis at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria would have a serious impact across southern Africa, which is still the epicentre of the HIV and AIDS... Read more »

June 12, 2012

• Africa: Banda Stands Up for Darfur Victims [analysis]

  Less than a year after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was officially welcomed to Malawi, he now finds himself persona non grata - thanks to the principled stand of the country's... Read more »

June 05, 2012

• Malawi: Govt Repeals Repressive Media Law

  Malawi has taken another crucial step away from the authoritarianism of the past under former President Bingu wa Mutharika back towards the path of constitutionalism and democracy... Read more »

April 19, 2012

• Africa: Osisa Statement to the African Commission [document]

  OSISA called on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to take urgent action to protect and promote human rights in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo... Read more »

April 12, 2012

• Malawi: Top Ten Tasks for New President [analysis]

  While there was a mixed reaction to the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, the ascendancy of Joyce Banda to the highest office in the land has given most Malawians hope that something... Read more »

April 11, 2012

• Malawi: Smooth Transition Is Cause for Cheer [analysis]

  Africa is easily associated with failed elections, flawed constitutional arrangements, lack of democratic accountability, and volatile and violent political transitions. The death... Read more »

March 27, 2012

• Malawi: Impact of Judicial Strike [column]

  It is not often that a constitutional democratic state faces a full blown strike by one of the three arms of government but that is exactly what happened in Malawi this year - with... Read more »

March 19, 2012

• Malawi: Human Rights Commissioner Arrested [press release]

  Just a week after State House in Malawi issued a shocking statement threatening the media and civil society for 'insulting' the President, the police have arrested one of the... Read more »

March 09, 2012

• Malawi: Citizens Ordered to Stop Insulting Bingu [opinion]

  Occasionally, there is no point in adding to official statements - and the latest alarming diatribe from State House in Blantyre is a case in point. If people were wondering how... Read more »

February 23, 2012

• Malawi: A Country Without a Justice System [opinion]

  The old adage that justice delayed is justice denied has never been more pertinent in Malawi - as the whole arm of government that helps citizens to access justice has not been... Read more »

February 21, 2012

• Malawi: Pressure Mounts on Govt Over Kasambara

  The storm around the arbitrary arrest and continued police persecution of Ralph Kasambara in Malawi shows no signs of abating. Indeed, pressure is mounting on the state with both... Read more »

February 17, 2012

• Malawi: Sliding Towards a Police State [press release]

  In a joint statement, OSISA and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) condemned this week's persecution of Malawi's former Attorney-General, Ralph Kasambara, and expressed... Read more »

January 31, 2012

• Malawi: Country's Media Freedom Ranking Collapses [analysis]

  The days when Malawi's increasingly autocratic leader, President Bingu wa Mutharika, and his equally undemocratic ministers and cronies could act with impunity, safe in the... Read more »

December 09, 2011

• Malawi: Bingu Bows to Pressure Over Repressive Laws [analysis]

  Local and international pressure finally seems to be getting to Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika. Read more »

November 28, 2011

• Malawi: More Pain for Malawi's Poor [analysis]

  For the first time since independence, Malawi has implemented something called a Zero Deficit Budget (ZDB). In a nutshell, ZDB means that instead of receiving the usual 40 percent... Read more »

November 03, 2011

• Malawi: No One Knows What Politicians Own [analysis]

  Malawi's Declaration of Assets law is just a rubber stamp, which is there to hoodwink people because no one has access to the records and there is no enforcement mechanism. Read more »

• Malawi: No One Knows What Politicians Own in Country [column]

  The Declaration of Assets law is just a rubber stamp in Malawi, which is there to hoodwink people because no one has access to the records and there is no enforcement mechanism. Read more »