MANAonline
Mastering environmental work on the go
By Fostina Mkandawire
Salima, November 6, Mana: After seating for the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) many are hopeful to find an opportunity to be selected into public universities or technical colleges, for some the latter seems like a far-fetched dream and unattainable.
Communities in Salima District are speaking highly of the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme for opening doors of job opportunities through employment such as forepersons and digitizers, informal employments that do not need higher qualifications such as a university paper.
In Salima district, under the CSEPWP about 136 forepersons have been employed who are custodians of catchments and provide technical guidance to participants of the project.
One of the forepersons, Elise Standwell from Mtende Village Traditional Authority Khombedza who is working under Mchepa catchment, describes her work under the CS-EPWP as elevating because after she wrote her Malawi School Certificate of Education in 2012 she has been employed.
"Being employed as a foreperson has given me an opportunity to gain experience on how to manage people, how to manage tree nurseries and environmental restoration activities and putting documents in order such as registering participants everyday after working at project sites," she says.
She echoes how beneficial the employment has been to her after remembering how unskillful she was when she was being employed 2 years ago.
Standwell reveals that her confidence has been boosted, after undergoing various capacity building trainings, such as tree and nursery management, social safeguards modalities, catchment and management trainings, citing the vitality of the skill set she has gained so far.
Another Foreperson from Lilongwe catchment Enita Alfred, in the area of Senior Chief Kalonga agrees with her colleague stating that being employed under the CSEPWP has been a morale booster for her, because she had been jobless and hopeless after writing her MSCE, a situation which has changed at the moment.
"My daily responsibility under the CSEPWP include supervising participants, ensuring that they are following stipulated standards and not delivering substandard work, my livelihood has improved because the wages that I receive help me to sustain my family's day to day needs," she says.
Limbani Nthala, Foreperson from Mchepa catchment underscores that despite lacking formal certifications, he has honed his leadership skills through hands on experience and on-the-job training, earning him the respect from the participants in the environmental public works program.
"I have natural ability to communicate effectively, paired with my keen problem-solving skills, enables me to manage my team and navigate complex project challenges. I believe in collaboration because it fosters a positive work environment," he says.
He says it is encouraging to note that valuable skills can be cultivated through experience and dedication, rather than solely through formal education.
District Labour Officer for Salima, Lanwell Mkisi confirms that Salima District Council through the CSEPWP has employed about 136 forepersons and 52 digitizers and this has reduced unemployment rate in the district.
"Individuals who happen to get a chance of employment, in an informal way, if well executed, after completion of all circles, they will have gained experience, in leadership, and practical or hands on type of working," he explains.
Mkisi says it is expected that the gained experience will be used when applying for formal jobs or transitioning to formal jobs. These forepersons lead a very large groups of participants, that require someone to have some attributes like how to manage people, so the skills will help them greatly.
"Such employment arrangements help to alleviate poverty in the sense that these forepersons will now have a buying power, the money earned will first of all help them as individuals to meet some basic needs like food, clothes, paying school fees and some do invest as well," he says.
On this point he says another advantage of the CSEPWP set up is that the forepersons are scattered across the district which means that there is well distribution of resources across the district.
According to the International Labour Organization the informal employment provides employment opportunities, especially within developing countries, to those who do not have employment security, work security and social security.
CS-EPWP is a component under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP). The SSRLP is a Malawi Government project, funded by the Multi Donor Trust Fund facilitated by the National Local Government Finance Committee in all the 28 district councils.
Salima Chiefs hails environmental restorative programme
By Fostina Mkandawire
Salima, November 7, Mana: Chiefs in Salima have hailed environmental interventions in the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme, for assisting them restore their degraded landscapes.
Speaking to Malawi News Agency on Wednesday, Traditional Authority (TA) Maganga, highlighted tangible impacts witnessed in her area through the programme, citing that the geographical terrain of her area makes it prone to floods and water run offs.
She said before introduction of the programme the area was experiencing dwindling farm produce caused by water run offs.
She said most crops were swept away and even soil had lost fertility.
Maganga, therefore, said the tides are now changing since the inception of the programme in 2022 as community members are now practicing climate smart agriculture upon realizing how hazardous some of their farming practices were to the environment.
“Most farmers were not following recommended ridge alignment, they could plough their ridges in the opposite direction whereby, after rains, everything in their farms was washed away.
"Unnecessary cutting down of trees was worrisome, despite putting in place bylaws; people could still carelessly cut down trees. Charcoal production had taken a centre stage in my community.
“However, introduction of the programme has helped keeping the land covered, thereby improving soil fertility,” said Maganga.
Senior Chief Kambwiri expressed satisfaction with the programme saying his area has benefited from the work and people's livelihood have improved through the wages they receive.
"This programme is transformative because many households are benefiting. And after being paid, some are buying livestock’s, paying their children's school fees and buying food. We don’t take this for grante," he said.
He said, as a community leader, it pleases him to see his people benefiting from such programmes, which integrates community contribution and public works, because it instils a sense of responsibility in the beneficiaries.
"This is not a programme that distributes free things, but people have to show their responsibility by contributing towards environmental protection which will benefit everyone even those that are not participating in the programme directly," he said.
Senior Chief Kalonga described the programme’s system of beneficiary selection as good.
The programme uses the Unified Beneficiary Registry which assures everyone that the names of participants were not tampered with.
"We are satisfied with how names were selected into the programme and what is more pleasing is that participants work on fields of community members who are not in the programme, meaning that the benefits are shared evenly," he said.
The programme, which is a component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Programme (SSRLP Tidzidalire), is being implemented by the Malawi Government through the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) and is being supported by the World Bank and the Social Protection Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
Poppy Day preparations at advanced stage
By Solister Mogha
Zomba, November 7, Mana: Preparations for this year's Poppy Day are currently underway at the war memorial tower in Zomba.
The day is held in honour of soldiers that fought in two world wars under the British Colonial Auxiliary Forces, the Kings African Rifles (KAR).
Malawi will on Sunday join the rest of the world in remembering the soldiers in the two world wars with Malawi Defence Force (MDF) taking charge of the ceremony.
MDF is, currently, doing rehearsals while other sectors such as the Department of Building is erecting tents in readiness for the event at the cenotaph at Cobbe Barracks in Zomba.
Poppy Day which is also known as 11,11 is a great day as it appreciates major contributions that soldiers made during the first and second world wars.
The day is set aside to pay homage to fallen heroes who took part in the two major wars and other MDFs peacekeeping mission in recent years.
MDF Public Relations Officer, Major Kelvin Emanuel Mlelemba, said preparations for the day are progressing well.
Mlelemba said, apart from celebrating Poppy Day, the ceremony will also mark 100 years since the memorial pillar was constructed in Zomba.
Major activities of the day include laying of wreath, interdenominational prayers and sounding of maroons in honour of fallen heroes.
Communities prepare nursery in reediness for tree planting
By Andrew Mkonda
Lilongwe, November 7, Mana: Communities in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Mazengera in Lilongwe have started preparing nursery trees, under the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CSE-PWP) in order to prevent crops and their homes from floods during the rainy season.
In an interview on Wednesday during a media tour, Agriculture Extension Development Officer for Nyanja Extension Planning Area (EPA), Alepha Masaiti, said through CS-EPWP, communities have learnt that planting more trees assist in curbing effects of natural disasters such as floods.
Masaiti said trees have proven to be an important tool in bringing back degraded land as a result of uncontrolled running water from the mountain.
“Since we started planting trees through this programme, we have seen many places that were washed away by running water and had big gullies being restored. Farmers are now using such places for farming. We don’t want to lose our land because of gullies,” She said.
Masaiti said, apart from preparing their nurseries, CS-EPWP beneficiaries have also managed to construct stone bunds and swales to control running water.
She, therefore, urged beneficiaries to continue working hard in their fields so that the purpose of the programme is accomplished.
“This programme is for us. It is assisting us, so there is need to work hard because these trees, stone bunds and swales will help control land degradation, water conservation and control soil erosion hence giving us increased crop yield,” she said.
Lilongwe District Land Resource Conservation Officer, Setrida Mlamba, was impressed to see that almost all 23 catchment areas of the programme are registering progress.
“This programme is not only alleviating poverty but also conserving the environment. I am, therefore, optimistic that we will continue registering strides in the subsequent cycles of the programme," she said.
Government, through National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC), increased the number of beneficiaries in Lilongwe with 4,812 bringing a total number of 29,440 beneficiaries from 24,628.
CS-EPWP is a major component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP) which was established to promote rehabilitation of degraded micro-watersheds and restore natural resources.
SCTP retargeting exercise successfully ends in Nkhotakota
By Wongani Mkandawire
Nkhotakota, November 7, Mana: Nkhotakota District Council says the Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) retargeting exercise, it conducted, was successful, as majority of households were approved by the Council.
Speaking to Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Wednesday, Principal Social Welfare Officer for Nkhotakota, Osward Mwale, said despite an increase in the number of beneficiaries from 7,701 to 8,745, the exercise had little inclusion and exclusion errors.
“The retargeting exercise was successful, many of the selected households have already been approved by the Council. Other than the few errors we had in some centres of the system selecting some households already benefiting from the climate smart enhanced public works program; we can say the exercise was a success,” said Mwale.
Mwale expressed satisfaction with the use of the Unified Beneficiary Registry (UBR) saying it was paramount as it has helped in terms of easy identification of households to benefit from the program.
District Commissioner for Nkhotakota, Ben Matengeni Tohno, said the Council’s intention was to have the rightful deserving people on board as beneficiaries of the program.
Beneficiaries in the World Bank funded SCTP, receive an average amount of K14,919 per household per month, to be able to meet their basic needs and build resilience.
PASD commits to support ECD centres with food
By Prisca Promise Mashushu
Lilongwe, November 7, Mana: Partners in Action for Sustainable Development (PASD) has committed to help Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres with food in order to promote quality livelihood, growth and development of children amid hunger crisis in the country.
PASD Executive Director, Amos Ezekiel Chiyenda, said hunger which has affected some parts of the country has also impacted on children in ECD centres.
He said this greatly poses a threat to under-five children to suffer acute malnutrition which can lead to stunting, iron deficiencies and anaemia thereby affecting children’s physical, cognitive and emotional growth.
“As PASD, we are implementing school feeding program to respond to these challenges,” said Chiyenda.
PASD, with support from Feed the Hungry Malawi and Hope for Malawi Foundation is feeding 9,100 children with fortified rice every day in 120 Community Based Childcare Centres (CBCCs) in Traditional Authorities Malemia, Mlumbe, Nkapita, Ngwelero and Mwambo in Zomba district.
He said the CBCCs are just a portion of hundreds in Zomba district where children are learning without something to eat.
“We also bring together some local leaders including Members of Parliament and Community Based Organisation directors in one forum where we discuss and share ideas on sustainable means of addressing the issue to promote ECD in their areas,” he said.
He said several ECDs in the country are facing numerous challenges due to lack of support at community level.
He urged government and other organizations to help ECDs by implementing interventions that will address hunger at household level so that children will live a full life beginning from home.
“Additionally, Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, which is responsible for ECDs, should promote the idea of farming for each ECD centre to have maize, groundnuts and soya beans for children’s porridge, and introduce lunch so that children should not just eat breakfast and go home,” he explained.
ECD National Trainer, Khumbo Kachali, concurred with Chiyenda saying nutrition is prominent to children’s wellbeing.
“It is important to help manage hunger starting from communities where ECDs are located to avoid malnutrition, poor growth development among children and lack of concentration in class which leads to poor performance in schools.
“A special budget should be allocated to nutrition to promote health growth of children especially in rural areas. Children are leaders of tomorrow and their future begins now,” said Kachali.
Nyambadwe United face Ndirande Stars in Thumbs Up league
By Pempho Nkhoma
Blantyre, November 6, Mana: It will be an all Ndirande affair when Nyambadwe United Football Club (FC) will lock horns with Ndirande Stars on Friday, November 8 at Kamuzu Stadium in a Southern Region Thumbs Up Premier Division League, Top 8 match.
Nyambadwe United reached this stage after finishing on position 2 in Group B while Ndirande Stars FC finished on position 3 in Group A.
In this Top 8 stage, all teams will play against each other in a home and away series and the team that will accumulate the most points at the end of this round, a winning team, will be crowned champions of the league.
General Secretary for Nyambadwe United FC, Kondwani Gelevazio, told Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Wednesday that they are expecting a tough encounter considering that both teams are coming from the same area.
“Playing with Ndirande Stars will be a tough game since this is Ndirande derby, and being the first game of the top 8 stage, no one would want to lose the game.
“Nyambadwe United will treat each game as normal and this is also a motivation to our players to stop Ndirande bragging,” he said.
Gelevazio said his charges are well prepared for the match and will be aiming for maximum points.
“The boys are ready because our team is full of young stars and the energy levels are high. We know that it is important to win each and every game to finish on position one and go to Super League,” he said.
Ndirande Stars General Secretary, Mike Lampu, is sure of his team’s preparedness for the match saying all players are fit and no one will miss this game through suspension.
“Preparations are normal as we do with any other game. There is nothing to worry about because we have the full house. All players will be available,
“We did not give our players any target since that can give them pressure, we just want them to play their game,” he said.
Lampu, therefore, called upon all football lovers from Ndirande to come in large numbers to appreciate the talent and support the boys.
“Both teams play exciting football. So, I believe that fans coming to this game will witness a very good and competitive match,” he said.
In other fixtures, on Thursday, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers Reserve will host Red Lions at Mpira Stadium, Mwanza Stars will play against Ekhaya FC at Balaka Stadium as Bullets Reserve plays against Ntaja United at Kamuzu Stadium.
On Sunday, Ekhaya FC will host Mighty Mukuru Wanderers Reserve at Mpira Stadium, Red Lions will host Ntaja United at Balaka Stadium.
NGORA appeals to NGOs to comply with the law
By Pickson Chipeso & Pempho Kantayeni
Lilongwe, November 6, Mana: The Non-Governmental Organisation Regulatory Authority (NGORA) has reminded NGOs to observe laws and have themselves registered saying operating without a registration certificate is illegal.
Speaking Wednesday during a press briefing at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe, NGORA Chief Executive Officer, Edward Chileka Banda, said NGOs need to register before starting operations in Malawi.
The directive is a follow up to the public notice and several communications that NGORA made.
Banda said the call is meant to protect the community and NGOs from being involved or targeted by risk activities, hence the need to ensure that NGOs are operating legally in the country.
He said once NGOs are registered, it is required of them to submit annual reports to the Authority.
“So, by not registering and not submitting reports, it becomes hard for Government to ascertain accountability and transparency and sometimes it may be difficult to monitor operations of NGOs and ensure that they do not cause any harm to communities.
“These reports are meant to appreciate NGO activities, their impact on society and any challenges they may face so that government should create an enabling environment for them to conduct their operations,” he said.
According to Banda, about 344 NGOs are operating without valid licenses, 173 without registration certificates while 419 have failed to submit their annual reports.
NGORA has set a compliance deadline of December 31, 2024 for all NGOs that have not met the legal requirements.
Non-compliance will result in enforcement actions, including potential suspension of operations.
Zomba DC cautions against tardiness
By Solister Mogha
Zomba, November 6, Mana: District Commissioner for Zomba, Reinghard Chavula has cautioned officers who fail to submit monthly activity reports after implementing their various activities of unspecified disciplinary action.
Chavula sounded the warning on Wednesday in Machinga during the second quarter review meeting for the Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP).
She said she has noted with concern of a growing tendency of some officers delaying submission of their activity reports despite drawing funds for such activities.
"I feel it's high time we took some serious action over this growing behavior. It really doesn't make sense that months after implementing activities, officers should relax and fail to submit a report," she said.
Chavula said the immediate action would be to intensify performance appraisals and also change or transfer officers who are misbehaving.
"I have already started an appraisals exercise with directors and I expect them to do the same to their juniors. However, should I notice no change, I will be forced to do a reshuffle of activity managers," she said.
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Zomba District Council, Davie Sato concurred with the DC, saying it is always hard for officers to submit reports to the office.
"Seriously, it is getting out of hand, people have forgotten their responsibility of submitting reports and always wait for me to keep pushing them," Sato said.
Mwasip Programme Coordinator for Zomba, McKinley Dupu said delayed submission of reports was a big challenge at the council.
"I really don't understand why people take long to submit reports forgetting that it is only where activity reports are submitted when the council can request for more funds," Dupu said.
During the meeting, members agreed to offer their best for the betterment of the district and the nation at large.
NICE kick starts voter registration awareness in Zomba
By Emily M'mangisa
Zomba, November 6, Mana: National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust in Zomba has embarked on an extensive voter registration awareness campaign as one way of encouraging Malawians to register for next year's elections in large numbers.
District Programmes Officer for NICE in Zomba, Kondwani Newa said as registration exercise commences this Saturday, it was important that people are given the right information and encouraged to register in large numbers.
"We intend to use a multispectral approach where we will spread out messages in prayer houses, markets, suburbs and everywhere to ensure that people register for the 2025 general elections," Newa said.
Newa said in addition, NICE has also deployed mobile vans to ensure messages reach out to every corner of the district.
He said the recent constituency demarcation exercise needs more information to flow among voters.
"It is our duty to pass on the information to the general public so that they make an informed decision," he said.
Newa expressed optimism that the campaign will achieve its intended goal and that more people will register once registration centres open this Saturday.
A prospective registrant from Senior Chief Mlumbe, Hamilton Kapito applauded NICE for coming up with the awareness campaigns on voter registration and constituency demarcation.
Kapito said through the messages people would be encouraged to go and register for the forthcoming general elections.
Second phase of voter registration targets Zomba district and city councils, among other coucils starts on November 9 to 23 this year.
Electoral Commission has already engaged traditional, religious and community leaders on the impending exercise.
