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A Malawian MP has expelled a suspected lesbian from her constituency because of claims she will “corrupt the morals” of the young people there.

MP Patricia Kaliati, the Minister for Women and Child Development, told African news agency PANA that 42-year-old businesswoman Nellie Somanje had been ordered to leave the town of Mkando.

She said: “She must leave the area in order to protect vulnerable girls here.”

Somanje was arrested last year and charged with gross indecency over claims that she had had sex with two girls, aged 14 and 15, in her employment.

She denied the charges, but admitted that, at their request, she had applied caster oil, known locally as nsatsi, to their private parts – a traditionalist practice thought to improve sexual vitality.

The court in Mulanje found her not guilty and she was later acquitted.

However, Kaliati claimed this decision was “legally wrong”. She said: “The law forbids women from having sex with fellow women… When we have a court, we expect it to protect the rights of the vulnerable.”

It is thought that Somanje has moved back to her original home in the district of Mangochi.

The African country is already under the spotlight over its homophobic laws with the case of two openly gay men currently going through the courts.

The men, Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, got engaged before Christmas, but have been arrested and charged with three counts of gross indecency and practising unnatural acts between males.

Both are in jail awaiting a hearing of their case next week (25 January).

Gay activists from across the world are urging the authorities in Malawi to get rid of its homophobic laws because they contradict the Bill of Rights constitution, which the country adopted in 1995, that stated that no-one could be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation.

The news comes as the focus on many African countries’ gay discriminatory laws against gay and lesbian people are under scrutiny.

Ugandan MP David Bahati has been strongly criticised by the international community for his proposal to raise the penalty for homosexual acts to life in prison – it is currently punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

In addition to this, the private member’s bill proposes the death penalty for a new offence – “aggravated homosexuality” – which is when one participant is HIV-positive, disabled, a minor or a “serial offender”.

He has said this week, however, that he may be willing to amend some clauses of the draft bill.

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