Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

One of the most controversial foreign policy decisions taken by the government of Malawi in recent times is the barring of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from entry into Malawi to attend a planned summit of the African Union.

If you do a search of President Joyce Banda’s speech on May 18 2012, you will find a range of international media articles with headlines such as “Malawi president vows to repeal gay ban” (BBC, Huffington Post); “Malawi to overturn homosexual ban” (Guardian); “Malawi president to repeal gay laws” (Al-Jazeera) or “Malawi’s Banda seeks repeal of gay ban” (South African Independent Newspapers). These headlines do not reflect the truth of Banda’s speech, and unfortunately they completely miss the significance of the occasion.

Zambia’s 2011 elections were a boost for democracy in the country and the region – as the opposition Patriotic Front of Michael Sata swept to power and Rupiah Banda graciously accepted defeat. Sata’s victory and the smooth transition underlined the growing strength of Zambia’s democracy.

People with hearing impairments in Malawi bemoan the failure to include the use of sign language on state-owned TV. People with visual impairments complain that the bank notes, which Malawi has recently introduced, do not have features to enable them distinguish and identify the different denominations.

And the list goes on. The simple fact is that disabled people are among the most vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalised people in Malawi – excluded from the enjoyment of their rights despite the Constitution guaranteeing human rights to all people without discrimination.