Timeline Malawi
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Formerly Nyasaland. Located on the west and
south shores of Lake Nyasa, east of Zambia. Its area is 49,177 sq.
miles and the capital was Zomba.
(WUD, 1994, p.867)(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)
1859 Dr. David
Livingstone, Scottish missionary, arrived in Malawi. The town of
Livingstonia was later named in his honor.
(SFC, 8/18/99, p.A10)
1859 Maize replaced the native
crops in Malawi soon after the arrival of David Livingstone. It had
been introduced in Africa in the 16th century by Portuguese
colonizers as a reliable staple for slaving outposts.
(WSJ, 11/15/05, p.A12)
1901 Feb 23, Britain and
Germany agreed on a boundary between German East Africa [later
Tanganyika, Rwanda and Burundi] and Nyasaland [later Malawi].
(HN, 2/23/98)(WUD, 1994, p.593,990)
1915 Jan 23, John Chilembwe
(1871-1915) staged an uprising in Malawi. He and 200 followers
attacked local plantations that they considered to be oppressing
African workers. They killed three white plantation staff, including
plantation owner William Jervis Livingstone, whom they beheaded in
front of his wife and small daughter.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chilembwe)
1915 Feb 3, In Malawi John
Chilembwe, a preacher and anticolonialist rebel, was slain. His
picture was later put on every Malawi banknote.
(SSFC, 1/15/12,
p.H3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chilembwe)
1925 In San Francisco the
17-story Pacific Gas & Electric Co. building was built at 245
Market. It was designed by architects Bakewell and Brown.
(SSFC, 1/15/12, p.C10)
1958 Dr. Kamuzu Banda came home
to help campaign for independence and received a hero’s welcome. He
had graduated from Meharry Medical School in Nashville in 1937 and
worked as a doctor in Britain.
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B8)
1959 Mar 3, British government
arrested Hastings Banda of Nyasaland (later Malawi), and ended an
emergency crisis.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1963 The population of
Malawi was estimated at about 3.75 million.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)
1964 Jul 6, Malawi, a former
British protectorate and part of the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland, gained independence.
(WUD, 1994, p.867)
1964 Vera and Orton Chirwa,
lawyers, helped Malawi gain independence. Political turmoil soon
forced them into exile. Dr. Kamuzu Banda established a dictatorship
and ruled for 30 years. Soon after independence Banda jailed 400
opponents who he said were planning armed rebellion.
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Parade p.5)(SFC,11/27/97, p.B8)
1965 The Liowande Ferry sank in
the Shire River and some 150 passengers were reportedly eaten by
crocodiles.
(SFC, 6/17/00, p.C3)
1966 Kamuzu Banda declared
Malawi a one-party state.
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B8)
1971 In Malawi Kamuzu Banda
(c1896-1997) named himself president for life. He served as
president from 1961 to 1994.
(SFC,11/27/97,
p.B8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Banda)
1971 The kwacha became the
currency of Malawi, replacing the Malawian pound. It is divided into
100 tambala.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawian_kwacha)
1980 Apr 1, The southern
African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was established
by 9 countries with the Lusaka declaration (Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe).
The main aim was coordinating development projects in order to
lessen economic dependence on apartheid South Africa. On
August 17, 1992, it was transformed into the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). By 2008 it included 15 members.
(www.sadc.int/index/browse/page/52)
1981 Vera and Orton Chirwa were
abducted from Zambia by Malawi security officials, charged with
treason and imprisoned separately and incommunicado for 11 years.
Orton Chirwa died in prison in 1992.
(SFEC, 1/19/97, Par
p.5)(www.tomblock.com/detail.php?id=179)
1983 In Malawi 4 dissident
politicians were murdered. Dr. Attati Mpakati was found murdered in
central Harare, Zimbabwe while on a private visit. Dick Matenje, the
Secretary-General of MCP and two other senior politicians died in a
mysterious car accident, their deaths coming at a time when they
were being seen as possible successors to Banda. In 1995 former
dictator Banda and his “official hostess” Cecilia Kadzamira were
cleared of murder charges after an 8-month trial
(www.sardc.net/SD/sd_factfile_malawi.htm).
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B8)
1992 Oct 20, In Malawi Orton
Chirwa, a lawyer who helped establish the country’s independence,
died in prison. He was Malawi’s first Minister of Justice.
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Par
p.5)(www.hrw.org/reports/1993/WR93/Afw-04.htm)
1992 Malawi passed a moratorium
on the death penalty.
(AFP, 11/22/07)
1992 A major drought ravaged
the small farmers of Malawi.
(SFC, 12/9/05, p.A25)
1993 Vera Chriwa was released
from prison and took up working in legal and human rights education.
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Parade p.5)
1994 Bakili Muluzi was elected
president in the first multiparty elections.
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B8)
1994 In Malawi a ban on women
wearing pants ended following the end of the long dictatorship of
Kamuzu Banda.
(AFP, 1/18/12)
1997 Nov 25, Dr. Kamuzu Banda
(99), dictator of Malawi from 1964-1994, died in South Africa
(www.dispatch.co.za/1997/11/27/page%2019.htm). His official birthday
was given as May 14, 1906.
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B8)
1997 Bakili Muluzi commuted all
death sentences and pledged that there would be no executions under
his presidency.
(SFC, 10/21/98, p.A10)
2002 Oct 21, In Malawi police
arrested Gwanda Chakuamba, the main opposition leader, accusing him
of impersonating President Bakili Muluzi by signing the president's
name to a controversial letter on statehouse stationery. The arrest
came amid a government crackdown on opponents of a constitutional
amendment that would allow Muluzi to run for a third term when his
second five-year term expires in 2004. Chakuamba was released the
same day.
(AP, 10/21/02)(AP, 10/22/02)
2003 Jan 17, Massive flooding
caused by Cyclone Delfina ravaged parts of Malawi and Mozambique,
washing away homes and crops, submerging roads and bridges, and
cutting off electricity in the impoverished nations.
(AP, 1/17/03)
2003 Feb 23, In Malawi a
lion, who escaped from Kasungu National Park and attacked and killed
about 7 people, was shot and killed by game hunters.
(AP, 2/24/03)
2003 Jun 28, Malawi's army was
deployed to quell violent riots after demonstrators attacked an
American children's charity and several churches to protest the
removal of five Muslim foreign nationals suspected of working for
al-Qaida.
(AP, 6/29/03)
2003 Aug 31, At least 675,000
people in Malawi urgently need food aid despite the country's good
harvest, the UN World Food Program reported.
(AP, 8/31/03)
2004 Jan 29, Widespread drought
was reported across southern Africa. Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa
and Zimbabwe were all affected.
(SFC, 1/29/04, p.A16)
2004 May 20, Voters in Malawi,
one of the world's poorest nations, flocked to the polls for their
third multiparty elections in a decade. Bingu wa Mutharika, Pres.
Muluzi’s handpicked successor, was declared the winner. The ruling
party lost its parliamentary majority.
(AP, 5/20/04)(SFC, 5/24/04, p.A3)
2004 May 24, In Malawi
opposition supporters rioted as Bingu wa Mutharika was sworn in as
president.
(WSJ, 5/25/04, p.A1)
2004 Jul 15, The Gates
Foundation announced a $44.7 million award at the AIDS Conference in
Bangkok to a consortium of TB and AIDS researchers. The 2 diseases
were often linked. A UN report cited 7 countries as the hardest hit
by the AIDS pandemic: Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi,
the Central African Republic and Mozambique.
(WSJ, 7/15/04, p.B1)(SFC, 7/16/04, p.A6)
2004 Malawi Pres. Bingu wa
Mutharika closed the country’s embassy in Libya soon after his
election.
(AFP, 12/23/07)
2005 Feb 1, Malawi Health
Minister Heatherwick Ntaba said AIDS kills about 10 people every
hour in Malawi and the government is increasingly unable to cope
with the crisis.
(Reuters, 2/2/05)
2005 Aug, The UN appealed for
$88 million to feed the people of Malawi. The World Bank said it
would give $30 million.
(Econ, 10/8/05, p.55)
2005 Oct 15, A worsening food
crisis threatening millions of people prompted Malawi's Pres. Bingu
wa Mutharika to declare the African nation a "disaster area" and
call for more international aid.
(AP, 10/15/05)
2005 Nov 24, The UN food agency
said the United States has thrown a lifeline to six southern African
countries, donating food aid valued at $45 million. The food will be
distributed across Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe.
(AP, 11/24/05)
2005 Nov, In Malawi Marvin
Hanke, executive director of the radio soap opera “Zima Chitika” (So
it Happens), pushed the message that nsima, a bland corn porridge,
was not the nation’s only food. The program was produced by Story
Workshop, a Blantyre-based group with a grant by the EU’s food
security program.
(WSJ, 11/15/05, p.A1)
2005 Malawi Pres. Bingu wa
Mutharika (1934-2012) fixed the exchange rate. Administrative
measures were put in place to control the exchange rate with other
currencies. Mutharika steadfastly refused to make a major
devaluation, which he argued would hurt the poor.
(AFP,
5/8/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawian_kwacha)
2005 In Malawi Gospel Kazako
(37), the son of a security guard and a homemaker, started his ZBS
radio station. In 2009 the Malawi Electoral Commission, in
consultation with all political parties in Malawi, chose ZBS over
state-run MBC as the official broadcaster for the general elections
because it was trusted. In 2011 president accused the station of
fanning anti-government demonstrations that turned violent.
(AP, 9/22/11)
2006 Jul 27, Malawi's former
President Bakili Muluzi was arrested on corruption charges related
to millions of dollars in donor funds that allegedly ended up in his
personal account. He was released on bail after being questioned.
Muluzi faced 42 counts of theft, corruption and breach of trust.
(AP, 7/28/06)
2006 Jul 31, Malawi's top
prosecutor said theft and corruption charges against the former
president Bakili Muluzi have been dropped after Pres. Bingu wa
Mutharika suspended the chief investigator in the case.
(AP, 7/31/06)
2006 Aug 10, Malawi's President
Bingu wa Mutharika demanded the resignation of Ishmael Wadi, a top
prosecutor, for withdrawing corruption charges against the nation's
previous leader. Wadi dropped the charges after Mutharika suspended
the head of the anti-corruption bureau, Gustave Kaliwo. Wadi said
the suspension left the bureau with no powers to prosecute.
(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Oct 4, In Malawi pop
singer Madonna traveled to a village 12 miles outside the capital
Lilongwe, where she is funding the construction of a center to feed
and educate about 1,000 orphans.
(Reuters, 10/5/06)
2006 Oct 12, Madonna and her
husband took custody of a motherless 1-year-old boy in Malawi after
a judge granted her an 18-month interim order to take David Banda
out of the country. The next day Madonna jetted out of Malawi,
leaving behind the 13-month-old boy she planned to adopt. The swift
granting of the interim order angered some rights groups which
called upon the Malawian government to put the order on hold in the
interests of the child's future. Banda left Malawi on a small
private jet Oct16.
(SFC, 10/13/06, p.E15)(AFP, 10/13/06)(Reuters,
10/16/06)
2007 Feb 3, Maize reportedly
occupied 90% of the cultivated land in Malawi.
(Econ, 2/3/07, p.80)
2007 Feb 26, Malawi's vice
president pleaded innocent to charges of treason and conspiring to
murder the president at the start of his trial.
(AP, 2/26/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Malawi Garnet
Halliday (50), a senior Australian mining executive in charge
of the development of a new uranium mine, died with his pilot when
his chartered light aircraft crashed.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Jun 4, The Institute for
Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) said a study of mortality patterns
in South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania and Senegal
indicated Africa's HIV/AIDS crisis was reaching deep into elected
governments.
(Reuters, 6/4/07)
2007 Jul 16, Health officials
in Malawi prepared to launch a massive HIV testing program to
identify tens of thousands of people unknowingly infected with the
virus.
(AP, 7/16/07)
2007 Aug 10, Malawi said it
will deploy 800 troops to Darfur in Sudan to serve in the future
United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force.
(AFP, 8/10/07)
2007 Aug 20, A report showed
tiny fish farms have helped 1,200 poor families hit by AIDS in
Malawi to raise their incomes and improve their diets in a scheme
being expanded to other African nations.
(AP, 8/20/07)
2007 Oct 20,
Malawi's second opposition party suspended its national
convention after 26 supporters died in a road accident on the way to
the conference. The supporters of the Alliance for Democracy, or
AFORD, died the previous night when the truck they were traveling in
overturned in the central mountainous district of Dedza.
(AP, 10/20/07)
2007 Dec 12, It was reported
that William Kamkwamba (20) of Masitala, Malawi, had built 3
windmills using blue-gum trees and bicycle parts after seeing a
picture in an old text book.
(WSJ, 12/12/07, p.A1)
2007 Dec 23, Media reported
that Malawi has asked Libya to close its mission in Lilongwe. The
Mutharika administration had suspicions that Libya funds Muluzi's
United Democratic Front, which is seeking to unseat Mutharika in
elections in 2009.
(AFP, 12/23/07)
2007 Malawi deported Michael
Sata, the head of the Zambian opposition, after he flew there on
personal business and to meet former Malawi president Bakili Muluzi.
(AP, 10/15/11)
2008 Jan 4, Taiwan's ties with
its ally Malawi were shaky after the African country snubbed the
island's top diplomat in an aborted visit to the African nation
aimed at persuading it to resist diplomatic wooing by China.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008 Jan 8, A government
spokeswoman said Taiwan cannot match China's reported $6 billion aid
offer to Malawi, but hopes a legacy of goodwill can convince the
African nation not to switch allegiance to its giant neighbor.
(AP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 14, Taiwan reported
that Malawi has cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of
relations with China, which has been using its rising political and
economic clout to reduce the number of countries who recognize the
island. Chinese state media said Beijing and Malawi had established
diplomatic relations late last month.
(AP, 1/14/08)
2008 Jan 17, Rains battered
portions of flood-ravaged southern Africa, killing at least three
people in Malawi and forcing Zambia to declare a national disaster.
(AP, 1/17/08)
2008 May 13, In Malawi police
arrested former security and political leaders over allegations they
wanted to overthrow the government of Pres. Bingu Mutharika.
(WSJ, 5/14/08, p.A13)
2008 Jun 8, Malawi began its
fifth census since its 1964 independence from Britain, a decade
after the last head count was held in the AIDS-blighted and
impoverished nation.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Sep 16, Malawi withdrew
its recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR),
proclaimed by the Polisario Front in the disputed territory of
Western Sahara. SADR was declared in 1976 by the Polisario Front, a
rebel movement that wants independence for Western Sahara. Their a
guerilla war against Rabat's forces ended with a ceasefire in 1991.
(AFP, 9/17/08)
2009 Apr 3, A Malawi judge
rejected Madonna's request to adopt a second child from Malawi even
though the country's child welfare minister had supported Madonna's
application to raise the 3-year-old girl.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 6, In Zambia western
nations and lending agencies meeting in Lusaka agreed a financing
package of more than $1 billion to improve infrastructure in
southern and central Africa at an investment conference meant to
expand transport links and trade. Britain said it would separately
provide 100 million pounds ($149.2 million) to transform the
region's infrastructure to increase trade and mitigate the effects
of the global financial crisis. New projects will link businesses in
8 African countries: Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 May 19, Malawi held
elections. Voters chose between re-electing Malawi's President Bingu
wa Mutharika (75) or replacing him with challenger John Tembo (77)
backed by his predecessor. The race between Mutharika and Tembo was
too close to predict going into the polls. Mutharika, a former World
Bank official credited with bringing economic gains to the southern
African nation of 12 million, won the national election with about
66% of the vote.
(AP, 5/19/09)(AP, 5/22/09)
2009 Jun 8, In Malawi an
international organization began moving more than 60 elephants from
Phirilongwe village, south of Lake Malawi, to the Majete Wildlife
Reserve. Local farmers had used violence to protect their crops from
raids by the elephants, and at least 10 people and a number of
elephants have recently died in such confrontations.
(AP, 6/8/09)
2009 Nov 9, In Malawi two
opposition leaders were convicted of sedition and inciting violence
while campaigning. A judge sentenced each to 20 months in prison
with hard labor. These were the first sedition convictions since the
late dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda's 1963-1994 rule.
(AP, 11/10/09)
2009 Dec 20, In Malawi a 6.0
earthquake destroyed several buildings in the southeastern Karonga
district, killing at least three people and injuring about 200.
(AP, 12/20/09)
2009 Dec 27, In Malawi
officials arrested 2 men for celebrating their engagement to each
other in a ceremony on Dec 26. Stevem Monjeza (26) and Tiwonge
Chimbalanga (20) were charged with indecency and could get 5 to 14
years in jail if convicted.
(SFC, 12/30/09, p.A2)(SFC, 1/19/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 31, In Ethiopia UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the AU's annual summit in
Addis Ababa and again failed to pledge peacekeepers for Somalia. Ban
Ki-Moon criticized power-grabs in Africa in a speech to the
continent's leaders as Libya's Moamer Kadhafi reluctantly handed
over the presidency of the African Union to Malawian President Bingu
wa Mutharika. The AU agreed to consider a Senegalese proposal to
resettle Haiti's earthquake homeless and possibly create a state for
them in Africa.
(Reuters, 1/31/10)(AFP, 1/31/10)(Reuters,
1/31/10)
2010 Feb 3, New African Union
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi said that food security,
transport infrastructure and energy will be his priorities.
(AFP, 2/3/10)
2010 May 18, In Malawi a gay
couple, arrested after throwing a party to celebrate their
engagement in this conservative southern African country, were
convicted of unnatural acts and gross indecency. On May 20 a judge
sentenced the couple to the maximum 14 years in prison with hard
labor under Malawi's anti-gay legislation. On May 29 President Bingu
wa Mutharika announced a pardon and ordered their release.
(AP, 5/18/10)(AP, 5/20/10)(AP, 5/29/10)
2010 Aug 15, In Mali 2
survivors of a failed journey said 12 African nationals trying to
illegally enter Europe died from thirst and hunger in the Algerian
desert.
(AFP, 8/15/10)
2010 Oct 14, In Mali a 2-day
meeting of the G8 countries, looking at how to counter the threat
posed by Islamic militants in northwest Africa, concluded. An
al-Qaida-linked group was currently holding five French citizens and
two others hostage in the area. The meeting brought together
counterterrorism experts in the G8's Counter Terrorism Action Group
as well as participants from African countries in the region, the
United Nations and regional bodies.
(AP, 10/14/10)
2011 Feb 12, Malawi drew
criticism from donor countries over "certain negative trends" in the
poor southern African nation, including a new law that allows
publications to be banned.
(AFP, 2/12/11)
2011 Feb, Malawi ordered civil
servants to open bank accounts so that they can receive electronic
paycheck deposits, as a means to crack down on fraud in the civil
service.
(AFP, 10/25/11)
2011 Apr 2, Malawi officials
closed two university campuses indefinitely because of violent
protests over what students and professors call threats to academic
freedom.
(AP, 4/2/11)
2011 Apr, Malawi President
Mutharika signed for a $350 million grant with the US agency
Millennium Challenge Corporation. On July 26 Millennium Challenge
said it was "deeply concerned by recent events in Malawi and is
placing an immediate hold on all program operations in order to
review its partnership with Malawi."
(AFP, 7/27/11)(AP, 7/27/11)
2011 Jun, The IMF said its
program with Malawi was "off-track" as the government, amid
worsening ties with donors, had failed to review a $79.4-million
(55.7-million-euro) credit facility meant to cushion the chronic
foreign exchange shortages.
(AFP, 3/31/12)
2011 Jul 14, Britain's
Department for International Development (DFID) announced its was
suspending budgetary aid to Malawi over poor governance, as
fast-deteriorating relations between the two countries reached a new
low. The Malawi opposition quickly blamed President Bingu wa
Mutharika's "sheer arrogance" for the decision.
(AFP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 20, In Malawi
demonstrations in the commercial center of Blantyre, in the capital
and other major towns turned violent as protesters also looted
several shops belonging to ruling party officials and allies of
President Bingu wa Mutharika. At least one person was killed and
several others injured.
(AP, 7/20/11)
2011 Jul 21, Mzuzu, Malawi,
suffered half of the deaths from two days of protests and rioting
left at least 19 dead across the impoverished country. More than 275
people were arrested across the country during two days of rioting.
(AFP, 7/22/11)(AFP, 8/9/11)
2011 Jul 22, Malawi authorities
blocked a mass funeral for seven people killed during rioting in the
northern town of Mzuzu, as troops patrolled main cities to prevent
fresh unrest.
(AFP, 7/22/11)
2011 Jul 26, In Malawi more
than 250 people appeared in courts to face charges over violent
anti-government demonstrations last week.
(AP, 7/26/11)
2011 Aug 9, Malawi’s central
bank devalued its currency by 10 percent as it sought to revive a
stalled program with the International Monetary Fund.
(AFP, 8/10/11)
2011 Sep 6, In Malawi a
pro-democracy campaigner trumped the ruling party candidate in a
critical by-election that signaled increasing opposition to Pres.
Bingu wa Mutharika's 7-year rule.
(AP, 9/7/11)
2011 Sep 21, In Malawi shops,
banks and even some government offices closed across the country
beginning a three-day general strike called by the opposition.
(AP, 9/21/11)
2011 Sep 24, In Malawi Robert
Chasowa (25), a pro-democracy activist, allegedly jumped from a
five-story building and left a note saying he was killing himself
because politics are dangerous. Chasowa's family and fellow
activists said his injuries are not consistent with such a fall. His
death raised suspicions amid attacks on anti-government critics.
(AP, 9/26/11)(Econ, 10/8/11, p.62)
2011 Oct 13, Sudan's President
Omar al-Bashir arrived in Malawi for a regional trade summit, in
defiance of the international war crimes warrant against him.
(AFP, 10/13/11)
2011 Oct 14, Malawi agreed to
allow back into the country new Zambian President Michael Sata, who
had been deported four years ago while still head of the Zambian
opposition. Malawi also agreed to allow back Britain's ambassador,
who was expelled in April after criticizing President Bingu wa
Mutharika.
(AFP, 10/15/11)
2011 Oct 15, Malawi hosted six
heads of state at a meeting of the 19-member Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
(AFP, 12/12/11)
2011 Oct 25, Malawi’s
Anti-Corruption Bureau said Richard Kapinga (42), a government
accounts officer earning about $300 a month, has been arrested after
authorities found $2.4 million in his bank accounts.
(AFP, 10/25/11)
2011 Nov 13, A Malawi high
court official said some 14 local sex workers arrested by police and
forced to undergo HIV tests two years ago have sued the government
for "unfair action and violating their privacy." The sex workers
were charged for trading in sex while having a sexually transmitted
disease. They were fined $7 (K1,200) and set free. About 14% of the
country's 13 million citizens are infected with HIV.
(AFP, 11/13/11)
2011 Nov 22, A survey of some
6,000 people over the last 12 months in Democratic Republic of
Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe
said police are the most corrupt institution in the six countries.
(AFP, 11/22/11)
2011 Dec 12, The world court
(ICC) said it was referring Malawi to the UN Security Council over
its refusal to arrest Sudan's Pres. Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the
court for genocide, during his October visit for a meeting of the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
(AFP, 12/12/11)
2011 The population of Malawi
was about 13 million with half living below the poverty line.
(AP, 7/22/11)
2012 Jan 9, Malawi's courts
ground to a halt as some 2,000 judicial workers began an indefinite
strike over work conditions and higher pay.
(AFP, 1/9/12)
2012 Jan 18, Malawi said police
have arrested a gang that had been terrorizing trouser-wearing women
in the capital Lilongwe by stripping off their clothes.
(AFP, 1/18/12)
2012 Jan 20, In Malawi hundreds
of outraged girls and women, among them prominent politicians,
protested the recent public stripping of women of their miniskirts
and pants. Many wore pants or miniskirts and T-shirts emblazoned
with such slogans as: "Real men don't harass women." Men also took
part.
(AP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 23, In Malawi scores
of lawyers wore their court white wigs and black robes as they
marched around court buildings in the commercial capital, Blantyre,
to support court clerks who have been striking for higher pay for
two weeks. The strikers have said they won't return to work until
they get increases of 40% promised in 2006 and 50% promised in 2009.
Clerks earned an average of 16,200 kwacha ($100) a month.
(AP, 1/23/12)
2012 Feb 6, Malawi police fired
tear gas to disperse stone-throwing vendors resisting orders they
move off the streets to designated flea markets.
(AP, 2/6/12)
2012 Mar 14, Malawi riot police
patrolled the streets of Blantyre and Lilongwe as a leading rights
group defied a ban and opened a meeting on political and economic
reforms. The government has accused the Public Affairs Committee of
holding the meeting to call for the resignation of President Bingu
wa Mutharika, whom the group accuses of mismanaging the economy and
trampling on democratic freedoms.
(AFP, 3/14/12)
2012 Mar 17, Malawi's leading
rights activist John Kapito, who was detained by police for
possession of foreign currency, was released on bail. Police
conducted a two-hour search at his home looking for guns and
T-shirts he had printed that had words promoting the overthrow of
the government.
(AFP, 3/18/12)
2012 Mar 20, Malawi police
arrested an opposition lawmaker who is the son of ex-president
Bakili Muluzi, after his supporters torched a police station over
the weekend.
(AFP, 3/20/12)
2012 Mar 31, The IMF again
pressured impoverished Malawi to devalue its currency, which is
trading on the black market at nearly double the official exchange
rate.
(AFP, 3/31/12)
2012 Apr 5, Malawi's President
Bingu wa Mutharika (78) died after a heart attack. Under the
constitution, Vice President Joyce Banda (b.1950) is next in line.
But that succession is politically fraught because Mutharika kicked
her out of the ruling party in 2010 as he chose to groom his brother
as heir apparent instead of her.
(AFP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 7, In Malawi Joyce
Banda was sworn as the new president, the nation's first female
leader. She called for reconciliation after the divisive Bingu wa
Mutharika died in office.
(AFP, 4/7/12)
2012 Apr 10, Malawi's new
President Joyce Banda unveiled a shake-up of top officials charged
with government finances and media, purging loyalists of the late
leader Bingu wa Mutharika.
(AFP, 4/10/12)
2012 Apr 26, Malawi's new
president Joyce Banda named a 23-member cabinet but gave herself
several key portfolios to beef up her powers as southern Africa's
first female president.
(AFP, 4/26/12)
2012 May 7, Malawi floated its
currency, with the kwacha plunging a third against the US dollar, as
the impoverished nation bowed to a key demand of the International
Monetary Fund to fix its troubled economy. Official exchange rates
put one dollar at 250 kwacha, compared to 166 kwacha on May 4, a
33.598 percent value drop.
(AFP, 5/8/12)
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End of File