The British government has denied legalising gay relationships is a precondition that it has set for Malawi to be a beneficiary of its aid. The United Kingdom (UK) Secretary for International Development Andrew Mitchell said at a press briefing he had alongside President Joyce Banda at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre. Mitchell said even though the UK champions the promotion of human rights, it has not particularly attached its aid to gay rights as had been earlier reported.

A journalist with one of Malawi's major publishing houses, Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL), is languishing in police custody for writing a story on an alleged engagement ceremony involving two women. Reports indicate that the journalist, Clement Chinoko, was arrested on the evening of Saturday 26 May 2012 for penning a story that appeared in The Sunday Times of 20 May 2012. The story stated that two women from Malawi?s southern city of Blantyre had engaged.

Dorothy Dyton and her family have been removed from their land. The government, which owns all customary land, sold it to a sugar company. Like many other African countries, small-scale farmers in Malawi lack secure title to land. And a new law which would allow farmers to register their customary land as private property has stalled in Parliament.

The Malawi government will not arrest two lesbians who got engaged recently in Blantyre because the law on homosexuality is currently under review, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General Ralph Kasambara has said. 'Right now the two women will not be arrested or prosecuted, the reason is that the law under which they could have been arrested and consequently prosecuted is under review,' said Kasambara.

President Joyce Banda has said she wants to repeal Malawi's laws against homosexual acts, going against a trend in Africa in which gays are being increasingly singled out for prosecution. Banda, who assumed the presidency in April when her predecessor died, made the announcement in her first state of the nation address. 'Indecency and unnatural acts laws shall be repealed,' she said. But repealing a law requires a parliamentary vote, and it is unclear how much political support Banda would have for sweeping changes in this impoverished and conservative nation in southern Africa.

Employees at Kayerekera Uranium Mine in Karonga have gone on strike demanding a 40 per cent salary increase in the wake of the recent devaluation of the Malawi currency, the kwacha last week. Effectively, this has completely halted all activities at the mine which is supposed to run for twenty fours on daily. A senior management employee was reported as saying that their demands are justified by the 49.7 per cent devaluation of the kwacha.

The tough times for Malawians after the kwacha was devalued by 49 per cent on are finally here, reports Malawi Today. The announcement made on Friday of the rise in fuel prices is expected to trigger a reciprocal upward movement in the prices of other basic commodities. Petrol is now selling at K490 from K380, representing a 29 per cent increase. Diesel is selling at K475 from K360 representing a 31 per cent surge while paraffin has been pegged at K171 for domestic use and K388 for industrial use from K171, translating to 126 per cent increase.

The late President Mutharika was hailed at home and abroad. But after the 2009 landslide re-election victory, his quest to engineer the election of his brother to succeed him in 2014 and increased autocracy astounded many.

Malawi's NGO Gender Coordination Network has expressed concern over low female representation in President Joyce Banda's cabinet, in which out of 30 ministers and deputies, only eight are female. The organisation’s chairperson, Emma Kalia, has been quoted as saying that the low representation of female ministers in the new cabinet is contrary to the Southern African Development Community and Africa Union regulations that call for equal opportunities between men and women.

Various forms of solidarity have been seen in Malawi recently. But effective solidarity can only be achieved when the elites shed their tendency to alienate those groups they see as ‘illiterate’, ‘uneducated’ and ‘ignorant’.

Although the Malawian constitution is clear about succession in the event of the death or incapacitation of the president, a cabal close to the late President Mutharika wanted to install their own man in power instead of Vice President Joyce Banda.

Shoppers in Malawi have been scrambling to buy basic goods, fearing huge price rises after the currency was devalued by 33 per cent. The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says that many shops had run out of staple foods such as sugar, cooking oil and bread by the end of Monday. The kwacha was devalued as part of moves by the new government to restore donor funding. The central bank announced that one dollar would now be worth 250 kwacha, up from 168, while the peg to the US currency would be scrapped.

Malawi President Joyce Banda has said she had asked the African Union to prevent Sudan's wanted leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir from attending a summit in her country, saying his visit would have 'implications' for the economy. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Sudan's President Bashir to face charges of masterminding genocide and other war crimes during his nation's Darfur conflict. Malawi angered international donors when it played host to Bashir last year - ICC members countries like Malawi are supposed to arrest people wanted by the global court.

The Malawi Law Society convened a meeting where among others they discussed attempts by former ruling DPP ministers to prevent Joyce Banda from taking over power after President Mutharika’s death. Speaking at a press briefing in Lilongwe President Joyce Banda also hinted that she wants an investigation into attempts by some DPP ministers to prevent her from ascending to the highest office in the country.

The Guardian reports that for 48 turbulent hours she was the victim of a conspiracy that left the future of Malawi hanging in the balance. Then Joyce Banda made a critical phone call to the head of the army, asking if she could rely on his support. He said yes. And at that moment her place in history was assured. In the interview, she revealed the inside story of how Mutharika's sudden death pushed Malawi to the precipice of a coup. By 6 April, the news had spread worldwide yet there was still no official confirmation inside Malawi itself. The cabinet met secretly in an attempt to thwart Banda and install Mutharika's brother, Peter, as acting president.

Malawi will devalue its currency, the kwacha, by 40 per cent to unlock blocked aid by meeting conditions set by the International Monetary Fund, President Joyce Banda said. The government has resumed relations with the UK and held talks with the IMF, World Bank and U.S. after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, the leader who clashed with western donors, Banda said. She was sworn-in as president of the southern African nation this month after Mutharika died of a heart attack on April 5.

In Malawi, like most other countries in the region with the exception of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, more than 60 per cent of land is customary, meaning that it is mostly untitled and administered by local chiefs on behalf of the government, with local communities merely enjoying user rights. The system has led to many abuses, with some government officials and chiefs selling off customary lands and dispossessing smallholder farmers who are already competing for dwindling arable land as Malawi’s population increases.

Thousands of Malawians last Monday converged on Ndata Farm, the sprawling private estate of former President Bingu wa Mutharika, to witness the funeral service of the 78-year-old economist-turned politician. Mutharika died suddenly on 5 April after collapsing in his office at the New State House in the capital, Lilongwe. Several African leaders, including Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and Armando Geubuza of Mozambique and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping, attended the Catholic Church Ceremony.

In Malawi, an audience-driven radio programme - Nkhani Zam’maboma or 'News from Districts' - has captivated the nation by exposing everyday injustices experienced by Malawians. Grievances are articulated through local idioms and proverbs that have little in common with the individual freedoms espoused by human rights activists. Never before has it been possible for Malawians to share experiences of injustice so publically.

It remains to be seen whether the new president will be careful in her efforts to mend bridges with the West in order not to be seen as an unconditional supporter of the West.