The Times Online have reported on the arrest of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjezat:
Since they became the first openly gay couple in Malawi to be engaged, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been arrested, put in prison and charged with offences that could lead to a 14-year jail sentence.
Between true love and gay martyrdom, however, is the brutal reality of life in a Malawi prison. Yesterday, in their first interview since being jailed, the pair claimed that they had been beaten in prison, and demanded to go to court to prove their innocence.
While Mr Chimbalanga, 20, who dresses as a woman, spoke defiantly of his love for the man he plans to marry, Mr Monjeza, 22, said that he was “drunk” when they met and was considering ending their engagement. The couple, who denied three charges of unnatural practices between males and gross indecency, performed a public engagement ceremony in front of 500 onlookers last weekend. They were arrested two days later.
With gay rights campaigners warning that the case marks a new wave of homophobia in Africa, the pair have been held since then at Chichiri prison in Blantyre, where the warders appear bemused by the level of hysteria surrounding their charges.
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In an interview with The Times at the weekend, Mr Chimbalanga — visibly more at ease than Mr Monjeza, who appeared confused and disorientated — said: “I love my husband and laws should not prohibit love.”
Mr Monjeza said that he was drunk when they first met. But he admitted that he sobered up later. “I love the way he talked, the way he loved me.”
When it was suggested that he sounded apologetic and remorseful, however, he expressed his doubts about the wisdom of their historic confrontation with the conservative southern African state. “Well, I was drunk. I guess I wanted to be famous but I am now regretting. Prison life is no good. I realised we have broken the laws. I am calling this off. I am not crazy. I have another woman I intended to marry but I loved Tiwonge. I guess I should apologise to that other woman.”
Mr Chimbalanga, however, remained defiant. Dressed in a blouse and describing himself as a woman, he said that they became engaged after “my darling, Steven, proposed love to me and we agreed to get married”.
Unlike Mr Monjeza, he refused to accept that he had broken any law. “Which laws? I am a woman, I can do what a woman can do,” he said. “I love Steven for what he is, he doesn’t give me money. In fact, I do everything for him, but love is love.”
But prison is prison. “They beat us up here,” said Mr Chimbalanga. “Why? Why beating us? We have done no wrong. If they say we have broken laws, why not let the courts judge us?”
Reluctant to accept that his relationship was over, he said: “Well, he is the one who proposed to me. I still love him though. Love is between two people, the third one is a spoiler. The police is the spoiler here.”
They are due to appear in court today for a bail application. “I hope they give us bail and let us out of here,” said Mr Monjeza. “It’s terrible here.”
Mr Chimbalanga said: “We are not supposed to be here. You don’t arrest someone because he loves someone.”
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A GLOBAL AUTHOR’S RESPONSE TO THE PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE GENOCIDE IN UGANDA
UGANDA MY HEART WEEPS FOR YOU!
Uganda, Uganda, my heart weeps for you! For you kill, murder, and imprison the innocent (those who express love differently) in the name of The Righteous One, but it is clear that you do not know Him!
Like America, you label them pedophiles and child molesters, yet continue to close your eyes to the true heterosexual offenders, allowing them to continually rape your children and infect them with AIDS, foolishly believing that this will cure them from the pandemic.
It has been said that you freed yourself from the tyranny and oppression of a king (Mwanga) who was demented, greedy, self-serving and who defiled the people and if these things be true, then this is good! But you forgot that even though he was said to be corrupt and accused of raping the people both physically and emotionally for years, still we must judge each human being by their own conduct, character, and deeds, and not punish the innocent for another’s sins.
Uganda, Uganda, my heart weeps for you because even though the rain falls frequently upon your land in the south and beautiful lakes run through your northern region, they have not cleansed you from your transgressions for you are still blinded by hatred, fear, and intolerance, and cannot see that the sun rises upon the just and the unjust, so that all men may be wooed to the Creator by love and mercy and not by hatred and discrimination!
For hundreds of years other nations robbed you of your wealth, stole your children and carried them away to foreign lands and enslaved them. Even today, in many regions of your country you suffer from extreme poverty because of usury and exploitation from men who lusted after your riches, saw you could not defend yourself, and carried them away to distant lands.
You must be very careful lest the handwriting of God also appear in judgment for your offenses and likewise be written upon your walls and inscribed in your Constitution now laced with fear and intolerance, having been saturated by the influence of misguided, self-seeking American Evangelists, these words spoken by the prophet Daniel: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” The interpretation:
“God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEK: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to another!”
Thousands of you marched in your city streets to rid yourself of a sin that you say will most certainly bring the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah upon your land; but like the Scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, legalism and an incorrect interpretation of the Holy Scriptures have blinded you.
Because of your hatred for what you do not understand, The Prince of Darkness deceives you yet again; prostituting you like the demented king you managed to free yourself from decades ago; have you still not heard the words of Jesus who said, “He was a murderer from the beginning?”
Uganda, Uganda, my heart weeps for you! Don’t you know that you cannot kill the innocent, batter and abuse your children, and lock them away in dungeons of cruelty for life simply because you refuse to accept who they really are without the very King of the Universe (whom you claim you worship), championing their cause, and lifting his righteous hand of justice and judgment against you?
He has heard the voices of the children devastated by earthquakes and disaster in Haiti and He has freed the oppressed in America from hundreds of years of discrimination. He has even delivered the Jews from the oppression of a mighty pharaoh (once thought invincible) in Egypt. Surely, He will not turn a deaf ear to innocent same-gender-loving people in your country, nor allow you to murder them without cause and your land and your people not be judged for doing so!
Uganda, Uganda, I alone do not weep, “FOR A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE!” (Matthew 2:18)
By Terry Angel Mason, Global Author
Excerpt from Mason’s New Book: Love Won’t Let Me Be Silent — Pride Edition
Mason is an extraordinary poet and writer who is known for his breakthrough revolutionary book, Love Won’t Let Me Be Silent, that is becoming a testament for many gays and lesbians struggling with their sexuality and the need to come out to their family and friends. What started out as a self-published nonfiction book has now become a literary phenomenon consistently earning him numerous literary nominations; while at the same time, gaining a place of reverence in the hearts and minds of millions of readers — both men and women worldwide.
Author’s Website: http://WWW.TERRYANGELMASON.COM
*Nominated for Several National Literary Awards*