malawi parliament rejects homosexuality

By Musa Ngubane (BTM Reporter)

January 19, 2007: A proposal to incorporate homosexuality into the Malawian Constitution was strongly repudiated by that country’s Legal Affairs Committee.

Malawi’s Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) together with Student Law Society of Malawi (SLS) submitted the proposal during a meeting aimed at getting the public’s input on the country’s constitution.

These two social and legal consortia pleaded to legislators to also endorse laws that could represent homosexuals. Despite rejection of their submissions, HRCC Chairman Justin Dzonzi said; “We want to retable the issue again with the Legal Affairs Committee, but there are not fixed dates yet. But we hope to take the issue back later this year but not later than November.”

In a December meeting last year, Benjamin Banda – Member of Parliament (MP) (for Mzimba South), emphasized that there was no evidence to prove that homosexuality was practiced in Malawi, and continued that it could not therefore be legalized for the mere reason that it has been made legal else where in the world.
“We can not rush into making provisions for things that we do not have in Malawi. If we do not see homosexuality, then it does not happen and should not be created”, he stressed.

Also speaking against homosexuality, MP Adden Mbowani Nkhotakota said that homosexuality could not be legalized in Malawi because it is evil, and stands for everything that is immoral in the country.

“Homosexuality is not only immoral but also stupid. Two people of the same sex can’t have sex and be accepted in society. We have Muslims and Christians in Malawi, and in both religions it is sinful. We are not going to let this into our laws,” said Mbowan.

Dzonzi further explained that homosexuality is illegal in that country, and therefore doesn’t believe it exists.
“We are not defining homosexuality by what happens in our prisons where men have sex with each other, they do it because they are deprived of female company. But we are defining homosexuality as preferring men even where one has an opportunity to be with a woman”, Dzonzi said.

Atupele Muluzu, who’s chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee guarantees that it would be unlikely that they would change their stance on homosexuality.

The Executive Director of the Centre for the Development of people(CEDEP), Daveson Nyadani warned MPs who didn’t believe there were homosexuals in Malawi. He said the result would come out differently from their perceptions.