One of the strongest limiting factors in the transition to participatory democracy in Malawi is the failyre of independent and sustainable cadres of young politicians to emerge. This is caused by the role that money, genered via the informal economy, plays in Malawian politics.This money is channelled into politics via achikulire (neo-parerimonial patrons or 'big m...

This study, informed by historical and socio-cultural studies into HIV/AIDS, examines the political and commercial appropriation of female music by males specifically in Malawi and, in general, Southern Africa.1 Once appropriated, this music is often used, via the oral public sphere, in ways that, politically and economically, impact negatively on women. It is here...