Two weeks ago gay couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were convicted of "unnatural acts" and gross indecency and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Yesterday, they were pardoned by Malawi's president. It seems that international pressure had some effect after all.
But while this is good news, the problem remains. Malawi is still a bigot-state. It still bans private consensual sexual behaviour between same-sex partners and punishes gay people for who they are. And that is simply barbaric. What consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes is no business of government. And that applies in Africa every bit as strongly as it applies here.
