At least 26 independent members of parliament have joined the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), making it Malawi's majority party. UDF spokesperson Ken Lipenga told IRIN that 23 independent MPs had joined the UDF on Wednesday, while "at least another three" crossed the floor last Thursday.

On 31 May 2004, the High Court in Blantyre ordered the police to reopen the Malawi Institute of Journalism's (MIJ) 90.3 FM radio station, which was shut down on 23 May. The station was closed following an interview it broadcast with the opposition Mgwirizano Coalition's spokesperson, Kholiwe Mkandawire, in which she threatened to sabotage newly-elected President Bingu Mutharika's inauguration.

Humanitarian agencies have attributed the rise in the infection rate of young women to a lack of educational and vocational opportunities. In an effort to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among them and improve their life skills, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the authorities have teamed up to assist young people. "The UN agencies are supporting two youth projects to encourage the participation of girls in social activities through clubs. The projects also empower young girls by providing vocational training where they learn carpentry, tailoring and motor vehicle mechanics," UNFPA programme assistant Daniel Msonda explained.

After a three-week delay, Malawi's new President, Bingu wa Mutharika, has unveiled a leaner cabinet, which analysts say will find favour with international donors. The new cabinet announced on Sunday contains 21 ministers and eight deputies, compared to the 46-strong cabinet under his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi.

Of 585 000 maternal deaths worldwide each year, 99% are in developing countries. What factors underlie this striking imbalance? Research involving the Malawi College of Medicine and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine studied this issue in a rural community in southern Malawi. Maternal education and access to healthcare facilities influence pregnancy outcomes, it showed.

Agricultural experts are urging Malawian subsistence farmers to use organic compost - instead of manufactured fertilisers - to boost soil fertility and increase crop productivity. Accelerating soil degradation is increasingly being linked to declines in yields throughout the global south, but use of compost can help soils to retain both water and nutrients.

Malawi's main opposition party, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), has thrown its weight behind a legal challenge to last month's presidential elections. The MCP's move bolsters the opposition's case, which took a knock when Gwanda Chakuamba, the head of the seven-party Mgwirizano coalition, and a key opposition leader, signed a post-election cooperation agreement with the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).

An anti-child labour body's efforts to renovate schools and increase access to water has helped reduce school absenteeism among communities in Malawi's Central region. "We have recorded a 22.1 percent increase in school enrollment in the 100 villages that we work in, and a 36 percent decline in absenteeism," Bobby Maynard, coordinator of the initiative for the NGO, Together Ensuring Children's Security (TECS), told IRIN. The organisation, based in the capital, Lilongwe, has been working in the tobacco-growing region for the past two years.

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) Election Observer Mission to Malawi has concluded that the elections in Malawi were "substantially free". "The mission notes however that the playing field was not levelled, which made it difficult for opposition parties and candidates to have equitable access to public resources including the state media," says an EISA report on the elections.

Malawi marks a decade of multi-party democracy with general elections on Thursday, which analysts warn are not only too close to call but, if mismanaged, could spark unrest. The seven-party opposition Mgwirizano (Unity) coalition, led by veteran politician Gwanda Chakuamba, is running the ruling United Democratic Front's (UDF) Bingu wa Mutharika a close race, but attention has also focused on the capacity and independence of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
* Profiles of the candidates
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41154

On May 10 2004, ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) presidential candidate Bingu Mutharika threatened to sue the “Weekend Nation” and “The Dispatch” newspapers for what he called defamatory articles about him.

On 10 May 2004, presidential candidate Bingu Mutharika, of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) party, threatened to sue the "Weekend Nation" and "The Dispatch" newspapers for what he referred to as "defamatory" articles. In early May, the two newspapers ran a series of stories alleging that Mutharika was fired as secretary-general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) for "abuse of office" and "failure to motivate his management team". The articles were published after President Bakili Muluzi publicly stated that Mutharika is the only qualified candidate who can "scoop Malawi from its economic malaise."

Malawi soon will begin a five-year, $196 million nationwide program to provide antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive people at no cost, Xinhuanet reports. The program is to be funded by a grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Malawi's Health Minister Yusuf Mwawa said that 50 sites throughout the country will participate in the program, including hospitals run by the Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Service - two agencies "seriously hit" by the HIV/AIDS epidemic - according to Xinhuanet.

There has recently been a feud between the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the National Statistical Office (NSO) over the correct figure for the registered voters in Malawi. During the second week of April 2004, the MEC announced that 6.5 million voters registered for the 18 May 2004 presidential and parliamentary elections. The NSO described the figure as “bogus” because it does not conform to the country's natural demographic trends. “It defies all logic”, observed the Weekend Nation, one of the country's leading weekly papers. Click on the link below to read the full article and others about key issues in the run-up to the elections on May 18.

In 1994, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) was feted for its fair and efficient organisation of a poll that ousted autocratic ruler Hastings Kamuzu Banda. A decade on, however, the lustre has been rubbed off of the organisation. It now finds itself at the centre of a row about alleged irregularities in the run-up to general elections on May 18. The MEC says it has limited powers to address these problems – but this claim has been disputed by various legal experts.

Malawi loses about $341 million every year through environmental related problems. This figure is more than half of the current annual national budget and represents a third of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product. Energy and Mining Minister Hetherwick Ntaba said: “Laws to govern the environment are there but there is no one willing to enforce them. Our small and fragile economy cannot afford this waste."

Malawi President Bakili Muluzi has threatened to expel European Union observers ahead of next month's poll. He said he had received intelligence that some observers were campaigning against his United Democratic Front. "If they come here to decampaign my government... I will ask them to leave the country... and I am not joking," he said in a campaign speech.

Tensions are high as Malawi's third multiparty general elections draw closer - the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) faces accusations of bias, while police have shot dead two opposition supporters protesting the death in detention of a comrade. Police in the southern district of Nsanje shot and killed the two opposition supporters on Monday for hurling stones at a police station, after an opposition sympathiser died in detention.

Malawi's chief elections officer has been suspended for alleged abuses of his office, including a claim that his wife used an electoral commission vehicle to campaign for office. The allegations against chief elections officer George Chimwaza forced the Malawi Electoral Commission to suspend him less than five weeks before the country's May 18 election, commission chairman James Kalaile, a Supreme Court justice, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

As Malawi's general elections draw closer, deepening national poverty is haunting efforts by the ruling United Democratic Front to remain in power. In March, a United Nations Development Programme study on governance in Malawi revealed that poverty in the country had worsened during the past decade of multi-party politics - compared to the situation under former dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda.