By Ernest Mfunya

Mangochi, January 23, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has described the first phase of the supplementary voter registration exercise that commenced on Tuesday, January 21 to Wednesday, January 22, 2025, as successful.

MEC was conducting a two-day supplementary voter registration exercise for eligible Malawians who could not register during the initial phases.

The first phase of the exercise was conducted in Mzimba, Lilongwe City, Lilongwe District, Mangochi Municipal, Mangochi District, Mwanza, Chikwawa and Nsanje.  

Speaking in an interview during the closure of the exercise at St. Augustine 3 Primary School in Mangochi on Wednesday, Director of Media and Public Relations for the Commission, Sangwani Mwafulirwa said that apart from deploying all necessary resources to designated centres, the Commission also reminded the eligible citizens through different means of communication, to exercise their right of registering.

"As a Commission, we managed to remind the eligible voters in respective districts to come out, through different communication channels such as phone short messages, and all the centres remained operational throughout the period hence the satisfaction comes in that perspective.

‘‘Our target for this supplementary exercise is to register about 271,000 people nationwide, hence we do not expect to have long queues of people similar to the initial voter registration exercise simply because we are targeting a small number of people who registered their national IDs from October 2024 to January 4, 2025," said Mwafulirwa.

He therefore appealed to all political parties in the country to encourage their supporters to register so that they can vote come September 16 this year.

A monitor for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Brunnot Patrick Eliya urged the Electoral Commission to continue intensifying community sensitization in the remaining phases to ensure the targeted number of registrations is achieved.

The second phase of the supplementary voter registration exercise is scheduled from January 27 to 28 and will cover districts such as Blantyre, Zomba, Kasungu, Nkhatabay, Rumphi, Likoma, Dowa, Mchinji, Ntcheu, Thyolo as well as Blantyre City, Zomba City, Kasungu and Luncheza Manucipality.

By George Mponda

Karonga, January 23, Mana: Director of Small Medium Enterprises, Cooperatives and Value Addition in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Limbikani Kachiwaya has reaffirmed government's commitment to empower local businesses for them to penetrate the global market.

He said this Wednesday in Karonga when he visited Twitule Community Savings and Investment Promotion (COMSIP) Cooperative Wine Production.

"Government has put a number of initiatives to make sure that cooperatives utilize opportunities to add value to their products. Through the National Economic Empowerment Fund and Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) project, there are specific loans for cooperatives to boost their businesses.

“We want to make sure that the products they make are meeting the quality and standards which can satisfy our local market as well as compete on the global market and hence ably contribute to the economic development of our country," said Kachiwaya.

On his part, COMSIP's Cooperative Development and Investment Officer Paul Kamwendo said they have launched a marketing strategy aimed at linking local cooperatives with the international market.

"COMSIP trains people in cooperatives from different areas to change their mindsets and enable them to start up income-generating activities to improve their livelihoods.

"This cooperative was registered in 2012, and we have been assisting them with training and initiatives towards certifying their wine product, so we are very happy that today, they are producing this fine wine which can also go on the international market," said Kamwendo.

Chairperson for Twitule COMSIP Cooperative Wine Production, Eliness Mwakabanga said they have plans to expand the cooperative into a fully-fledged factory.

"We also need support in order for the Malawi Bureau of Standards to certify our product so that it should be found in local and international stores. We are also struggling to get materials especially bottles," Mwakabanga said.

By Petro Mkandawire and Pempho Nkhoma

Blantyre, January 23, Mana: Minister of Higher Education Dr Jessie Kabwila has emphasized the importance of adopting professionalism and ethical conduct in the education sector, citing that they play a crucial role in building a well-functioning educational system.

Kabwila said this on Wednesday during a tour of Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA) and Malawi University of Business and Applied Science (MUBAS) in Blantyre which aimed at appreciating the condition and situation in higher learning institutions.

She said improved education can be achieved through investing in education ethics, teacher training, implementation of technology-enhanced learning, fostering a culture of innovation among students and providing access to quality resources to students.

"I am urging the tertiary sector to prioritize the modernization of accountancy and science practices by ensuring that they align with global minimum standards of education. In this era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), our institutions must equip students with the modern skills of education," said Kabwila.

Kabwila added that producing wealthy graduates is crucial for a country's economic growth and prosperity, adding that by fostering a culture of wealth education, graduates become key contributors to the economy.

Principal for Malawi College of Accountancy, Christina Chithila commended Kabwila for the visit, saying the Malawi government is helping their institution in various programmes and the recent visit demonstrated a clear commitment to supporting the institution and its endeavours.

"The visit will have a positive impact on MCA as it will help to improve both professional and academic programmes, ultimately enhancing the quality of education and training provided to students.

“By showing interest and investing time in the institution, the Ministry is sending a strong message about its dedication to fostering excellence in accounting education, which is essential for producing skilled and competent professionals who can contribute to the country's economic growth," said Chithila.

The minister also visited the University of Malawi and Domasi College of Education in Zomba this week.

By Stanley Nkhondoyachepa

Lilongwe, January 23, Mana: Minister of Information and Digitalization Moses Kunkuyu has said the government, through the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF), is giving fertilizer loans to farmers without considering their political affiliations.

He said this on Wednesday at Lizulu in Ntcheu and Balaka, when NEEF awarded fertilizer loans to farmers who successfully applied for them.

Kunkuyu who is also government spokesperson said any person who is a farmer and has farmland is eligible to apply and get the loan.

He said the distribution of fertilizer to farmers across the country fulfils the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) government pledge made during the campaign period.

“It is the wish of the president that this programme be non-partisan, that it should distribute inputs and loans regardless of tribal regional and political affiliations,” he said.

The minister hailed the impact the programme is making since its inception last year where over 11,000 farmers benefited.

He expressed hope that with the increase in the budget and number of beneficiaries this year, more households will attain food sufficiency, consequently alleviating hunger.

However, the minister challenged the beneficiaries to use the fertilizer in their farms and should not sell it.

He also urged them to repay the loans on time so that more farmers could benefit from the initiative in the subsequent years.

In his remarks, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Benedicto Chambo urged NEEF to find ways of helping farmers venture into agro-processing so that their farm produce can add value.

Speaking earlier, Ikosi ya Makosi Gomani V hailed the NEEF input loan initiative describing it as a much better solution to end hunger.

He encouraged his subjects to repay the loan in time so that they could have a chance to borrow more and that others should also benefit from the initiative.

Precious Musicha of Traditional Authority Sawali in Balaka thanked the government for the input loan, saying it would help farmers harvest more.

He however appealed NEEF to make timely distribution of fertilizer next year, observing late distribution negatively affects crop yield.

Currently, NEEF has reached out to over 35,000 people with over K35 billion worth of cash and fertilizer distributed to beneficiaries across the country, according to NEEF Chief Executive Officer, Humphrey Mdyetseni.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, January 22, Mana: Dowa District Executive Committee (DEC) has on Tuesday approved a project dubbed Tisamale Mabuku Project, which aims to empower communities and the civil society in taking an active role in protecting Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs).

Speaking in an interview, Dr. Bright Sibale, a team member of the Tisamale Mabuku Project, said the TLMs include teacher guides, leaners books, and Student Records Management systems amongst others.

“The project has three focus areas; it is a project that aims to galvanize or mobilize stakeholders to contribute to management and utilization of National Reading Program TLMs in Malawian public primary schools, by taking an active and sustainable role in ensuring oversight, transparency, and accountability.

“The project basically has three focus areas, firstly, to invest in community mobilization to ensure improved management, accessibility and utilization of TLM data for decision making and also sensitizing the general public through public awareness campaigns,” he said.

He added that through the project, which is a two-year project running from October 2024 to October 2026, with US$ 4 million funding from USAID, they hope books will last longer in schools, and there will be mentality change in protecting TLM resources.

“The project will also activate school community management groups, including School Management Committees, Parent Teacher Associations, and Mothers Groups, to co-create sustainable solutions for improved TLM management, replenishment, and use that are owned by participants and reflect local contexts,” he said.

To select schools, the project looked at availability of TLMs, utilization of School Improvements Grant, functionality of local school governance structures amongst others.

In Dowa, the project will be implemented in 44 schools in four zones namely, Chibwata, Chimbili, Mponela and Mvera.

Speaking during a DEC meeting, Director of Youth, Sports and Education Christopher Kumikundi said the project comes at the right time.

"The general scenario in the district and nationwide is that TLMs are in short supply. The expected ratio is one book against one leaner in any subject which is currently not the case because of various challenges.

“For example, books are expensive and hence are in short supply. There is also an increase in enrollment hence a mismatch between numbers of leaners and books. Also care of books has not been good resulting into loss of books before reaching their lifespan,” said Kumikundi.

He as such said the coming in of the project, which even though is not purchasing any books, is timely for the district as it will help in empowering structures on how best they can protect the available resources in the schools.

The project is being implemented is six districts, one in every education district. These are Rumphi, Zomba urban, Chikwawa, Phalombe, Lilongwe rural west and Dowa.

By Alinafe kapatamoyo

Lilongwe, January 22, Mana: Amref Health Africa, in collaboration with World Bicycle Relief, has handed over 111 bicycles to Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs).

The handover ceremony was held at Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe, recognizing the critical role Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) play in delivering essential healthcare services to rural communities.

The event follows the recent HSA graduation ceremony that was held in November 2024.

Speaking at the event the Project Manager for Amref Health Africa, Yani Samanyika clarified that it was very important to help the Ministry of Health on some of the challenges that the ministry is facing mostly on shortages of transport for HSAs that enable them to travel easily in communities where they provide health services to the people.

"In order to improve health services in communities we need to provide resources to the workers so that their job should be easily executed; that's why as Amref Health Africa we decided to help them by giving them bicycles so that they should be able to reach rural areas to provide health services to the people,” said Samanyika.

Also speaking at the event was the District Environmental Officer for Lilongwe District Council, Paul chunga who appreciated Amref Health Africa for the gift of bicycles and also the support that they have rendered to the health surveillance Assistants.

"This is good news for us and we thank Amref for the support that they have given us by handing over these bicycles to our HSAs, because this will help them to make their work easy when they are traveling to rural areas to provide health services,” said Chunga.

The Health Surveillance Assistants, recently completed a comprehensive one-year training program under the Health Workforce Project. This initiative was funded by the Pfizer Foundation, aimed to address gaps in community health care by enhancing the skills and knowledge of HSAs.

One of the HSAs also expressed gratitude to Amref for their support, stating that it will make their work easier, particularly when traveling to communities to provide health services.

"We are very happy with the handover of these bicycles to us because we were facing transportation challenges when traveling to rural areas where we provide health services to communities. With the coming of this donation our work will be so easier to reach a lot of communities,” the HSA noted.

The handover of these bicycles will enable HSAs to traverse challenging terrain and reach remote areas, facilitating timely and efficient delivery of healthcare services. This initiative is expected to significantly improve health outcomes, particularly in rural areas where access to healthcare is often limited.

By Solister Mogha

Zomba, January 22, Mana: Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Jessie Kabwila has challenged University of Malawi (UNIMA) to strive for quality tertiary education and ensure that the college is competitive at international level.

Kabwila said this at UNIMA offices in Zomba as part of her tour to institutions of higher learning, adding that it was a concern to see college graduates failing to articulate issues and deliver as expected after going through corridors of an institution of higher learning.

She said the UNIMA and other colleges in the country should strive to produce well baked students that should work everywhere in the world.

“We want our degrees to be equal to that of China, USA and other countries. Our graduates should be able to find jobs on the international space with degrees they get from a Malawian college,” the minister added.

She said Ministry of Higher Education will soon be tabling education bill in parliament which will among others sanitize education systems in the country on top of checking on the mushrooming of “fake universities, buying of degrees and shortcuts in acquiring tertiary education,

"We have over 56 universities in the country and some are not up that standard. We want this to stop so that people should enroll with well-established colleges where lectures are qualified,” Kabwila said.

Apart from improving quality of education, the minister also appealed to the UNIMA to consider providing accommodation for students, observing that poor accommodation outside the campus compromises quality education.

“Something has to be done on accommodation. There is no way that only 1, 200 students should be accommodated in the campus out of the total 16,000 students,” she said.

UNIMA, Vice Chancellor, Prof, Samson Sajidu promised to uphold standards of education and keep the university competitive.

Prof Sajidu said the University is proud to have produced quality graduates who are contributing to national development and beyond.

“As a university, we have developed a number of policies aimed at improving education. We will strive to uphold standards of education by all means,” the Vice Chancellor added.

On accommodation, Sajidu said UNIMA was looking for partners willing to support construction of student hostels.

Earlier in the day, the minister visited Domasi College of Education in Zomba where she emphasized the same.

The minister was yet to visit Malawi College of Accountancy, University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) formerly Malawi Polytechnic, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES) in Blantyre, Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Thyolo and Catholic University of Malawi at Nguludi Chiradzulu on Wednesday and Thursday,  

Kabwila also toured National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) offices at Area 47 in Lilongwe on Tuesday.