The judge found there had been widespread irregularities in the May 21 vote.

This is the first election to be legally challenged since Malawi’s independence. A new vote will take place within 151 days.

According to the electoral commission President Mutharika won May’s election with 38 percent of the votes [Eldson Chagara/Reuters]

There have been regular anti-government protests since the election.

President Peter Mutharika was declared the narrow winner of the May election with 38 percent of votes, followed by Lazarus Chakwera with 35 percent and former Vice President Saulos Chilima third with 20 percent.

The challenge was brought by Lazarus Chakwera (left) and Saulos Chilima (centre) against President Peter Mutharika (right)

The four other candidates collectively got nearly six percent.

The five-judge panel heard arguments that the vote was rigged by the president and electoral commission. Both have denied it.

Malawi’s electoral commission acknowledged receiving 147 reports alleging irregularities including the use of correction fluid to alter some results.

The two main opposition candidates alleged that the irregularities affected over 1.4 million of the total 5.1 million votes cast.

Mutharika and the electoral commission acknowledged some irregularities but argued they were insufficient to affect the election’s outcome.

Map showing Malawi

The months-long court case has been accompanied by sometimes violent street protests demanding the resignation of electoral commission chairwoman Jane Ansah.

“Let’s try as much as possible to have elections that are free and fair. Where nobody feels cheated. These people were not just demonstrating for the sake of demonstrating. They strongly felt that they had been cheated. The system had cheated them,” Martha Chikuni, opposition protester, said.

The Malawi Human Rights Commission late last year released a report accusing the police of serious human rights abuses, including rape and assault, in one confrontation.

The judges themselves have come under pressure. In January, Malawi’s anti-corruption bureau arrested businessman Thom Mpinganjira, who was accused of approaching two judges with an offer of $135,000 to sway justice in favour of the president. The chief justice issued an official complaint to the bureau.

Mpinganjira was later released, however, after a magistrate in another court issued an order quashing the arrest warrant. The High Court then overturned that ruling, questioning the lower court’s conduct and ordering Mpinganjira’s arrest.

The international community, including the United Nations and African Union, has issued several statements before the vote urging people across Malawi to uphold the rule of law and remain calm.

A joint statement by diplomats from the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan and others acknowledged the tensions around the ruling.

The vote in May returned the sitting president to power, leading to deadly confrontations and widespread unrest [Amos Gumulira/AFP]

“Malawi can draw on an impressive history of institutions and leaders stepping forward to safeguard your democracy and ensure peaceful resolution for internal tensions,” the statement said, urging all parties to respect the court’s decision – as well as the right to appeal.”For those who choose to exercise their right to demonstrate, we urge you to do so peacefully and legally, and for security personnel to proceed with balance and restraint,” it added.

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Bobi Wine revealed on Monday that he is set for the journey and will arrive in Uganda on Thursday.

The ‘poli-scian’ has been on specialized treatment in the US for over two weeks following his the Arua scuffle in which he was manhandled by police on August 13.

Supporter of the “People Power” are planning a warm welcome for Kyagulanyi. However, police have forewarned the Ugandans against violating the Public Order Management Act.

Mr. Emilian Kayima, the Police spokesperson, has said the police will be available to escort Bobi Wine to his  home in Gayaza to ensure peace.

“He [Bobi Wine] will only be received by his close family members at the airport after; he will be escorted to his home. There will be no rallies,” Kayima said.

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According to an official with the World Health Organization, two treatment units have been established in the western border districts of Kasese and Bundibugyo to respond to any deadly Ebola outbreak,

“Ebola Treatment Units are where patients can get the best care possible with access to rehydration methods and protection from infecting their family and community,” Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, Uganda’s WHO Representative said.

Woldemariam said the treatment units were fully equipped and ready to manage any Ebola cases in the East African country. Although there are no confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda, the country remains on high alert following an outbreak in the neighboring Congo.

Ebola is highly contagious and can cause a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain and in many cases internal and external bleeding. The WHO says as of Aug. 21, there are 103 confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC, with 61 deaths 32 were confirmed and 27 were probable.

Mortality rates of Ebola, according to WHO, are high, with the human case fatality rate ranging from 50 percent to 89 percent, depending on viral sub-type.

The current Congolese outbreak mirrors the 2014 West African outbreak that saw more than 11,000 deaths, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia. There were also 11 cases of Ebola in the United States tied to the outbreak, including four deaths.

Read also:

Ebola hits DR Congo again

Kenyans protest against detention of Bobi Wine

Why fire tear-gas, why fire bullets, Museveni questions Police

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Fish on display in Gaba landing site.

A new study has found out that eating a lot of omega 3 fatty acids found in oily fish like tuna and salmon can greatly increase one’s chances of survival from  bowel cancer.

The study released and published Wednesday by the British journal Gut bases its findings on an analysis of data from more than 170,000 people in the United States that revealed that among 1,659 who developed bowel cancer, there was a strong correlation between higher omega 3 intakes and lower risk of death.
“Compared with patients who consumed less than 0.1 grammes (0.004 ounces) of omega 3 fatty acids daily, those who consumed at least 0.3 grammes daily after their diagnosis, had a 41 percent lower risk of dying from their disease,” the study says.
“If the findings can be reproduced in other studies, patients with bowel cancer might benefit from boosting their oily fish intake to help prolong their survival.”

Further research was needed to prove the link was not coincidental, and that omega 3 actively lowered death risk, said the team.

Yet, the findings “provide the first line of population-based evidence for the potentially positive impact of oily fish omega 3 fatty acids on bowel cancer survival”.

Omega 3s plays a crucial role in growth and healthy brain function, but cannot be manufactured by the human body.

They are ingested through so-called “fatty” fish and other seafoods, some plants, and certain nut oils.

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The point of departure the dignitaries said was the attendance of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir and the remarks he made on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Museveni said court is Irrelevant to the Africa. 

ICC Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo in 2008 alleged that al-Bashir bore individual criminal responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed since 2003 in Darfur.

Museveni took time during his victory speech to throw jibes at the ICC which he said has lost credibility is no longer entertained in Africa.

“We lost interest in ICC, it is non of our business. ICC is a bunch of useless people” Museveni said as Bashir nodded in affirmative.

The diplomats were seen walking out immediately after these comments were made, a development that the American Embassy confirmed to Daily Monitor.

“I can confirm that the US delegation departed the inauguration ceremony because of the presence of Sudanese President Bashir and the comments of President Museveni regarding the international criminal court(ICC). The US did not lead the walkout, it was a mutual decision,” American embassy Spokesman Chris Brown said by telephone last evening.

Museveni also praised China and Russia, which he called Uganda’s genuine friends and made negative comments that were interpreted as targeting the western countries.

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Film Your Issue Global Competition: The United Nations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other organizations and media leaders have joined forces to engage young adults (14-24) in contributing to the public dialogue on pressing social issues using the power of the Internet and user-generated content.

Film Your Issue invites high school and college students in the United States and around the world to express themselves on pressing contemporary issues by creating and up-loading short two-minute films on issues that impact them andtheir generation.

Films can be uploaded to multiple parti-cipating platforms, including MTV, YouTube, and American Film Institute Screen Nation, as well as promoted on MySpace TV.

Awards and prizes include internships at USA Today, the UN, the award-winning PBS Series “P.O.V.”, and the Humane Society of the United States; a $5,000 college scholarship from the Gates Foundation; having your film broadcast on Starz; having entries distributed by the Associated Press to its 1,800 Online Video Network media outlets; being profiled on MTV News and presented at the NAACP annual conference; VIP Pass/film presen-tation at AFI Silverdocs; the Walter Cronkite Civic Engagement Leadership Award and Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award; and many more.

Deadline: April 14 each year.

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We have learnt with sadness that Uganda’s Tennis ace Duncan Mugabe is stranded in the United States of America where he had gone for training.

Mugabe reportedly reached United States last month and started sending missiles to the Uganda Olympic Committee boss, Rogers Ddungu and the Uganda Lawn Tennis Association.

Information reaching us is that Mugabe is now stranded in America after swaging for long without cash. Some of his pals in US also jokingly told us that Mugabe is now as poor as a church mouse.

We hear Mugabe is not straggling to return back to Uganda and he is on bended knees. After walking away from Kinetic Management Group, Mugabe reportedly thought that he would be better off alone but he is now suffering.

Walakira Nyanzi

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The Institute for Humane Studies Scholarships of up to $15,000 are awarded to undergraduate or graduates to study in the United States or abroad.

About 180 scholarships are awarded to outstanding undergraduate, graduate, law, and professional students who are exploring the principles, practices, and institutions necessary to a free society through their academic work.

Each year IHS award scholarships to students from universities around the world and sponsors the attendance of hundreds of students at its summer seminars and other educational programs.

All qualified men and women will be considered for Humane Studies Fellowships without regard to race, religion, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, or handicap.

Although IHS considers applications from outside the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, fellowships are generally awarded to applicants who live, or are studying, in those countries.

Application deadline: December 31.

For further details, and application materials, contact: Institute for Humane Studies Scholarships Website

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Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women Studies: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation’s Women’s Studies Fellowships support the final year of dissertation writing for PhD candidates in the humanities and social sciences whose work addresses topics of women and gender in interdisciplinary and original ways.

The Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies encourages original and significant research about women that crosses disciplinary, regional, or cultural boundaries.

Previous fellows have explored such topics as women’s role in African-American adult literacy, militarism and the education of American women.

The Women’s Studies Fellowships are provided to PhD candidates at institutions in the United States who will complete their dissertations during the fellowship year.

To be eligible, applicants must have completed all pre-dissertation requirements;

• be writing on issues related to women’s studies;
• be enrolled in a graduate school in the United States.

Fellows receive $3,000 to be used for expenses connected with the dissertation.

The application process for the Women’s Studies Fellowship competition starts at the end of August every year.

Deadline: October 10.

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The Media for Liberty Award seeks to acknowledge and encourage media contributions that explore the relationship between economic and political liberty.

The most outstanding entry, published or transmitted in the preceding calendar year (between January 1 and December 31) will receive an award of $50,000.

Economists and political theorists have long debated the relationship between economic liberty (i.e., freedom of individuals to make economic choices in a free-market environment) and political liberty (i.e., freedom from government intervention and fostering of civil liberties).

Prominent economists such as Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises, have argued that free economies are conducive to, or even an inseparable element of, political freedom.

The promotion of economic and political liberties requires continual examination by policy makers both in the United States and across the globe. But the media can play an equally vital role in promoting these freedoms through its treatment of and attention to issues of the day, and the societies, cultures and people who are either prospering or struggling in their pursuit of them.

Journalism – from various viewpoints and in various format – that illustrates this correlation will become increasingly relevant as boundaries are lifted and these ideas applied globally.

Sample topics and issues might include (but are not limited to):

• Government involvement in private enterprise (TARP, health and financial reform)
• Dependency on foreign oil
• Access to healthcare (universal care, rationing, Medicare)
• Sovereign debt
• Basic goods (food, housing, healthcare) becoming prohibitively expensive for the middle class consumer
• Ultimate cost of globalization from a societal, cultural, economic perspective True cost of ethanol and its impact on food and fuel
• Fair trade
• Global tax and regulatory changes

Entries must have been published or transmitted via print or electronic media between January 1 and December 31.

Eligible media outlets, including newspapers, magazines, journals, radio, television and websites, must be generally recognized in their markets and accessible to a broad audience in the United States.

For more information and scholarship applications, see: Media for Liberty Award

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