Malawi

Second Malawi cabinet minister dies of Covid-19

We reported earlier that the local government minister Lingson Belekanyama had also died.

The two senior ministers died within two hours of each other.

Over the weekend, Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera made a special radio address to the nation calling for strict adherence to Covid-19 prevention measures following a sudden sharp rise in deaths and infections.

Mr Chakwera's office tweeted that the country had "entered the eye of this pandemic's storm".

He went on to announce a three-day period of mourning.

     

'Vampires' torched, stoned to death

The lynch mob attacks began in mid-September in a country that is one of the world's poorest and where belief in witchcraft is widespread.

Six people had already died in the attacks.

In Blantyre on Thursday, mobs "torched a 22-year-old epileptic man in Chileka, and another man was stoned to death ...after being suspected of being a blood sucker," said Ramsy Mushani, a national police spokesman.

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Rihanna is giving bikes to girls in Malawi to help their education

It's part of a new partnership between the singer's Clara Lionel Foundation and Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo.

The campaign called 1 Km Action will fund scholarships to help hundreds of girls attend secondary schools in Malawi.

Those who qualify for a scholarship will receive bikes to make sure they get to school.

According to the foundation, there are approximately 4.6 million students across Malawi but only 8% of students complete secondary school.

One of the reasons for that is because of the poor transport links.