After Malawian Court Rejects Same-Sex Marriages, Catholic Prolifers in U.S. Laud “wisdom of Africa”

In the Malawian legal case, two applicants, Jan Willem Akster from the Netherlands and a Malawian transgender man, Jana Gonani, reportedly brought their case to the Constitutional Court seeking interpretation of Malawi's anti-homosexuality laws following their arrest in 2021.

Akster is reportedly facing nine charges of sexual abuse and sodomy, while Gonani is charged with unnatural offenses.

Same-sex marriages have been a controversial issue in Malawi. In July last year, religious leaders spearheaded street demonstrations in the Southern African nation’s major cities, protesting against legalization of same-sex marriage.

In the July 2023 protests that members of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) spearheaded in collaboration with the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), and the Muslim Association of Malawi, the protesters called on President Lazarus Chakwera to resist “external pressure” to legalize same-sex marriages.

HLI Malawi also actively opposed the attempt to push same-sex marriage through the court and submitted a report to attorneys representing the Catholic Church in the matter before the country’s high court.

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The June 28 judgment by the Malawian court means homosexuality remains an offense in Malawi, punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

In the statement shared with ACI Africa, Fr. Alpheus Zikomankhani of HLI Malawi explains how the court’s three-judge panel rejected the lawsuit by the two men.

The duo, Fr. Zikomankhani says, attempted to have the laws they were alleged to have broken declared as unconstitutional and sought to have same-sex marriage affirmed.

The Catholic Priest shares how he and other family advocates are happy with the court’s rejection of same-sex marriage, saying, “We thank God for the victory.”

In addition to HLI Malawi’s advisory role in legal efforts, the group helped organize demonstrations of widespread public opposition to the legalization of homosexuality and same-sex marriage that made headlines in July 2023.

Malawi has traditionally been considered a God-fearing nation, with 98 percent of Malawians being classified as religious. That, HLI says, has made it a repeated target for so-called “progressive” depopulation programs.

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