By Innocent Chunga

Nkhotakota, June 6, Mana: Good Neighbors International Organization has donated relief items worth K166 million to 1,500 households affected by floods in the area of Senior Chief Kanyenda in Nkhotakota district.

Speaking Wednesday during the distribution exercise, Data Monitoring and Evaluation Manager for Good Neighbors, Wiseman Nkhoma, said they felt it was necessary to come in and support the survivors as one way of assisting government in times of disaster.

Nkhoma said they are hoping that the items will help overcome some of the survivors' challenges as they are waiting to rebuild their communities.

"We have supported various items including maize flour, mosquito nets, Likuni phala, cooking oil, soya pieces and salt as part of the organization's response to the devastating floods that happened here," said Nkhoma.                                           

Principal Disaster Preparedness Officer for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), Edwin Zawanda, described the support as timely but asked for more support from various partners to assist those who are still in the camps in the district.

Nkhotakota District Council Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, John Manda, said the Council is engaging traditional leaders on the issue to decommission all camps in the district.

"We have three camps; Chikupweche, Mtupi and Katimbira. The council is still engaging traditional leaders and other stakeholders in order to find proper measures to decommission all the camps in the district," said Manda.

According to DoDMA, floods that occurred in February this year affected over 14,000 people, displaced about 10,000 and claimed eight lives in the area of Senior Chief Kanyenda in the district.

By Blackson Mkupatira

Chiradzulu, June 6, Mana: National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) Budget Analyst, Jonathan Banda, has commended Chiradzulu District Council for making significant improvements in governance and service delivery.

The council's Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) score has risen from 49 percent in 2022 to 63 percent in 2023, enabling it to qualify for a K377, 412,616 Performance Based Grant under the World Bank funded Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) Project.

Speaking at the LAPA results dissemination meeting on Wednesday, Banda said Chiradzulu District Council has performed extremely well in contract management and project implementation, access to information, procurement management, scoring a perfect 100 percent in each, which is commendable and worthy noting.

Banda acknowledged the council's remarkable score of 87 percent in agriculture service delivery and average scores in budget execution, finance management, health and education. However, he was quick to say that there was room for more improvement.

“Other areas we would like to see the council improve on are; local revenue mobilization, audit and addressing audit issues, development planning and budgeting and financial reporting," Banda added.

He, therefore, advised the council to fully prepare for the next LAPA so that it continues to progress to qualify for more funding for developmental projects in a bid to provide better services to residents of the district.

Chiradzulu District Commissioner, Francis Matewere, expressed satisfaction with the council's progress, noting that Chiradzulu moved up five steps in the LAPA rankings from 26 to 21 despite being a relatively ‘minor’ council.

Matewere added that for the first time in history, Chiradzulu has attained a clean audit opinion, which is no mean achievement as it shows that its financial statements were clean and that it is managing its finances prudently.

“We have performed well; yes, but the goal is to reach 100 percent. So, I will be holding meetings at different managerial levels to see how best we can strategize to improve in the areas that we did not do well,” he said.

Chiradzulu District Council Chief Education Officer, Gertrude Maliko, lamented that the district receives inadequate funding and does not have enough development partners to meet all education performance indicators, many of which, require substantial resources.

Maliko, therefore, appealed to the assessment team to take such factors into consideration, saying some councils have unique challenges.

By Martin Chiwanda & Charlie Ligomeka

Machinga, June 6, Mana: Machinga District Director of Education, Youth and Sports, Nellie Kamtedza, has stressed the need for community leaders to start teaching children about the importance of conserving the environment so that they grow up with a responsible mind.

Kamtedza made the call on Wednesday during the commemoration of World Environmental Day at Kamwendo Primary School which was hosted by NACALA Logistics formerly Central East African Railways (CEAR), Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM) and African Parks.

She said, as the future belongs to the young ones, there is need for all stakeholders in environmental conservation to start thinking of inculcating in children a spirit of environmental management for them to be more responsible in future.

“Stakeholders in the environmental conservation sector have tried to pump sense in adults on the importance of natural resources and how they can conserve them but they seem not to care.

“Therefore, we need to invest more in the young ones as they understand the importance of conserving natural resources. This is the reason we chose Kamwendo Primary School apart from being close to Liwonde National Park.

“We thought of teaching these children and the whole community on how we can restore and conserve the environment,” said Kamtedza.

Liwonde National Park Environmental Education Officer, Susan Chimbadza, said the organization decided to commemorate the day with learners to help them understand more on issues they learn through wildlife clubs about the beauty of nature.

“Raising awareness with the learners is a very important undertaking. We know they are in wildlife clubs and, therefore, we want them to showcase and replicate what they have been learning into the community,” Chimbadza said.

Machinga District Coordinator for WESM, Daniel Nkunga, said failing to conserve and restore natural resources in the country has brought several climate change challenges ranging from droughts and flooding.

Nkunga observed that children and the youth are supposed to be involved in environmental management in order to effectively mitigate effects of climate change in the future.

“Malawi is facing a lot of climate change issues which are negatively affecting the citizens. Some of these problems are unpredictable rainfall pattern, drought and floods.

“The country’s environment has also been heavily degraded. I am happy that there have been several efforts to reverse the trend in deforestation. We will continue to encourage people in the district to manage and conserve the environment,” he added.

By Salome Gangire

Neno, June 6, Mana: Neno Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church Dorcas Women on Wednesday cheered and shared food with patients at Neno District Hospital.

According to Shepardess Nancy Zidana the women extended the gesture to the patients as part of activities commemorating community service emphasis week, where they do a number of charitable activities in their communities.

“Today, we have provided food to the patients from female, male and paediatric wards as one way of showing love and compassion to the sick as commanded by Jesus Christ in Matthew 25: 31-45,” Zidana said.

Zidana said Dorcas women are replicating the works of Dorcas in the Bible who was doing charity works, feeding and clothing the poor and the sick.

She said the whole of this week, they have been engaged in a number of charity activities as they also shared food with suspects in holding cells at Neno Police Station, swept surroundings of  Neno Police formation and cleaned offices, swept Chikonde market and primary school, respectively.

“We are also cheering women and people in need in our communities where we are donating clothes, food and also praying with them,” she said.

Zidana said all the initiatives have been made possible by donations from Dorcas women who contributed money and resources to carry out the charitable activities.

Neno District Hospital Nursing Officer, Martha Kutsamba, thanked the women for the generosity to the patients and sharing the word of encouragement.

One of the beneficiaries, Tadala Mwangala, thanked the women for the food provided to them, saying the nutritious food will complement the medication they are receiving at the hospital.

“I am grateful for the food we have received today which will make a difference in our lives. The visit has assured us of God’s love and presence,” Mwangala said.

Community service week was launched on June 1 at Balaka Stadium. During this week, Adventists are involved in a number of public services following the method of Jesus to bring help and hope through the ministry of compassion.

By Golden Kang'oma

Salima, June 6, Mana: National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) has advised Salima District Council to be creative in coming up with activities that will increase locally generated income in order to attain a better score in the Local Authorities Performance Assessment (LAPA).

The call has comes after Salima District Council dropped some points in the LAPA from position two in the 2022/2023 assessment to position five in the 2023/2024 assessment.

Speaking during the dissemination of the LAPA results at Salima District Council, Director of Local Government Services, Douglas Mkweta, acknowledged the council's achievements but stressed the need for continuous improvement to maintain their high standards as other councils strive to attain better scores.

"The council performed well in several areas, but its overall scores have declined compared to the 2022 LAPA. This indicates that there is much room for improvement to ensure the council can climb higher in the rankings," Mkweta said.

Salima District Council achieved a perfect score in procurement management, improving access to communication, physical progress and financial reporting, conducting audits, addressing audit issues and education service delivery.

The council has been urged to focus on improving mobilization of locally generated revenue and development planning, areas where it did not perform well.

Salima District Commissioner, James Mwenda, affirmed the council's commitment to addressing the recommendations thereby improving its performance.

"What we have here is a learning point, and we will work hard to improve our performance so that we can attain better scores for enhanced development initiatives," Mwenda said.

Chairperson for Civil Society Organizations in Salima, Paul Duncan, praised the council's performance and expressed confidence that the council could achieve better results by addressing the recommendations.

Salima District Council received MK544 million Performance Based Grant after scoring well in the 2023/2024 LAPA. The grant will be used for the implementation of projects under the Governance to Enhance Service Delivery (GESD) projects being supported by World Bank.

By Ernest Mfunya

Mangochi, June 6, Mana: Centre for Civil Society Strengthening (CCSS), in partnership with Oxfam Malawi, has embarked on Liu la Amayi M'ndale project to promote meaningful participation of women leaders in political and decision making processes by 2025 in Mangochi and Nkhotakota districts.

Funded by Embassy of Iceland, the project, which runs for two years will enhance political representation of women and young women in elected positions at national and local levels and increase influence of women and young women on political parties’ operations by 2025.

Speaking Wednesday when briefing District Executive Committee (DEC) in Mangochi, CCSS Executive Director, Viweme Chavula, observed that Malawi has less representation of women in political spaces and decision making processes at national and local level.

He said the project was meant to increase awareness among community members on the importance of women participation in political and decision making processes.

Chavula further said that women’s equal representation in political or decision making processes improve development at local and national level.

“Women should flourish and share their needs and interests even in political space. The more women participate in political and decision making processes, the more the country will improve in the fight against poverty and other attributions to development,” said Chavula.

The project, among other things, seeks to develop training manuals to support campaign apart from conducting coaching and mentorship sessions of female aspirants in Mangochi and Nkhotakota. Targeted beneficiaries also include current female Members of Parliament.

In his remarks, representative of Mangochi District Council Director of Planning and Development, Blessings Stove, said the project will play a significant role in empowering women and young women in line with the Malawi 2063.

“This is a welcome development. It is a very good project as it is going to promote participation of women leaders in political and decision making processes. We are happy to have this project in the district ahead of general elections next year,” said Stove.

Mangochi has 12 constituencies and out of these, four constituencies are represented by female parliamentarians.

CCSS and Oxfam began advocating for women leadership in decision making positions in 2017 to support the 50-50 national campaign in collaboration with the Malawi Government through Ministry of Gender.

By Gift Chiponde

Lilongwe, June 6, Mana: Deputy Director of Arts, McDonald Maluwaya, has expressed optimism that the establishment of the National Arts and Heritage Promotion Fund will help promote culture and arts sector in the country.

He made the remarks in Lilongwe on Wednesday during the official opening of the central region consultative meeting on the development of regulations for the National Arts and Heritage Promotion Fund.

According to Maluwaya, the fund aligns well with the National Arts and Heritage Council Bill, which is yet to be presented to Parliament.

He described the fund as a key aspect to national development in the attainment of Malawi 2063 in enhancing and improving arts and culture in the country.

“The initiative will witness the establishment of the Arts and Culture Council, which ensures that the fund is properly regulated with a full operational secretariat for effective implementation.

“It will also provide a platform for job opportunities among the youth, a development which is likely to improve lives of most Malawians in the country,” he said

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) expert, Ayeta Anne Wanjusa, highlighted the importance of the meeting, saying the process will help the country to have a strong legal framework in the culture industry.

The initiative is being implemented by the Department of Arts in collaboration with the National Commission for UNESCO with technical support from UNESCO-Aschberg.