MANAonline
Machinga district emerges best on Covid-19 vaccine, cholera prevention
By Martin Chiwanda & Charlie Ligomeka
Machinga, June 5, Mana: Machinga District Health Office has applauded community level stakeholders for putting efforts in mobilizing community members to receive Covid-19 vaccine, making it the best performing district in the country in vaccine uptake.
District Chief Preventive Health Officer, Alfred Phiri, announced of the performance to a full council meeting on Tuesday, saying the achievement is due to efforts by stakeholders which include traditional and faith leaders as well as politicians.
He Machinga’s best performance has put the district on the map making it a role model to other districts.
He added that Machinga is very unique as traditional leaders and politicians played a crucial role in ensuring that their subjects received the vaccine.
“This is a very good achievement for the district which has come because of good coordination with the full council members,” said Phiri.
Traditional Authority (TA) Mizinga, whose area recorded good number of vaccine recipients, said Machinga’s best performance testified their good efforts in mobilizing subjects during campaign against Covid-19 pandemic and cholera transmission.
“We are happy that Machinga has emerged number one in the Covid-19 vaccine and cholera prevention in the country with 75 percent outreach. This is not a mean achievement in as far as prevention is concerned.
“As traditional leaders, we collaborated very well with all community leaders, Health Surveillance Assistants, politicians and faith leaders to reach out to our subjects to sensitize them on the benefits of the vaccines and dangers of shunning the vaccines,” he said.
He said traditional leaders have proven to have capacity to mobilize their subjects on issues of national importance.
Machinga District registered 1,025 Covid-19 cases and 43 deaths according to the USAID and UNICEF statistics.
Statistics also confirm that two villages of Mbewe in TA Nsanama and Chiundu in TA Mlomba have almost every member vaccinated against Covid-19.
Machinga District fared badly on issues of vaccine until 2022 when the district started new strategies of involving traditional leaders, politicians, religious leaders to mobilize subjects to receive the vaccine.
Thyolo registers decrease in crime, road accidents
By Beni Bamusi
Thyolo, June 6, Mana: Thyolo Police Station has registered a decrease in general crime rate by five percent and road accidents by 33 percent.
Thyolo Police Officer-in-Charge, Francis Chisoti, disclosed this Tuesday during Station Executive Committee (SEC) stakeholder engagement.
He attributed the trend to the increase of manpower and stakeholder coordination against crime which has resulted in increased patrols and police vicinity day and night.
“From January to May 2024, Thyolo registered 385 cases compared to 405 in 2023 representing a four percent decrease.
“Two road accidents have been recorded this year whereas three road accidents were recorded in 2023 representing a 33 percent decrease,” he said.
Thyolo District Commissioner, Hudson Kuphanga, applauded the police for performing well in providing security in the district.
He said it is encouraging to see minibus operators obliging to use the bus depot which has minimized minibus congestion and accidents.
The meeting attracted faith leaders, community policing chairpersons, traditional authorities, representatives of the business community and the police.
NLGFC commends KK council on LAPA results
By Innocent Chunga
Nkhotakota, June 5, Mana: National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) has commended Nkhotakota District Council for its improvement in various areas in the 2023 Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) results.
Speaking Tuesday during dissemination of the results in the district, NLGFC Social Safeguards Officer, Chawanangwa Soko, said the Council has improved in performance in accountability including Access to Information (ATI), development planning and budgeting, contract management and implementation, education service delivery and procurement management.
"The projects promote access to information to make sure that citizens, media houses and civil society organizations are aware and have information of each and every development project that is happening within their areas and Nkhotakota District Council has scored 100 percent on ATI," said Soko.
According to Soko, the Council also scored 100 percent in education service delivery and procurement management respectively.
He appealed to the Council to continue keeping their records highs that it continues shining among other councils.
However, Soko, who is also a member of LAPA System taskforce, urged the Council to improve on health and agriculture service delivery as well as budget execution.
"The performance has been good since 2020 but the council can achieve the highest if they improved in financial auditing and other services which it has not done well," he said.
Nkhotakota District Commissioner, Ben Matengeni Tonho, said the Council has taken into consideration all recommendations so that they can be addressed to fulfill objectives of the assessment.
"We have been urged to conduct regular and systematic performance evaluation, continue strengthening system operations and continue revising the indicators to make sure that they are realistic in terms of measurability and importance, among others," said Tonho.
According to NLGFC 2023 LAPA results, Nkhotakota is on position three after scoring 79 percent and received K476, 132, 889.00 for various development projects.
Law Commission moves to reduce child abuse
By Richard Kagunda
Kasungu, June 4, Mana: Malawi Law Commission Chief Civic Education Officer, Gills Msiska, says the increasing cases of child neglect in the country expose children to violence.
He made the remarks in Kasungu on Tuesday during a training of Area Civic Education Coordinators (ACECs) who are part of the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust volunteer structure.
Msiska said the commission has observed a knowledge gap on child and gender related laws among the communities which negatively impacts on child education hence embarked on the trainings to bridge the gap.
“In 2022 we partnered NICE Trust to conduct legal literacy sessions in schools and communities to raise awareness on child rights and protection issues.
“This time we are continuing with capacity building for the ACECs who are the people on the ground, updating them on laws that have changed in regard to child protection so that they should also help in raising awareness on the same,” he said.
Msiska said the country still lags behind in enhancing child protection hence called for collaborated efforts among stakeholders to curb the vice.
He said: “As a country we still have a lot of work to do in dealing with violence against children. That is why we are raising awareness on laws regarding child protection to ensure that every one is aware of child protection matters.”
NICE Trust Programmes Officer for Kasungu, Pilirani Chaguza thanked the Law Commission for organising the training which he said will help to reduce cases of child abuse in the communities.
“Like our case in Kasungu, we have many cases of child marriages, child labour and now cases of child trafficking are also becoming rampant. So the training has come at the right time.
“We have a large community of volunteers who will help to take the messages to every corner of the district so that we collectively deal with violence against children,” Chaguza said.
According to a recent ‘Violence Against Children and Young Women’ survey report, at least 40 percent of girls and 64 percent of boys suffer physical abuse during childhood.
The Malawi Law Commission in partnership with NICE Trust are implementing the legal literacy activities with financial support from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Malawi for serious partnership in ICT
By Andrew Mkonda in Seoul, Korea
Seoul, June 5, Mana: Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu, has asked Korea and African countries to take issues of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) seriously so that it assists in transforming lives of the rural masses in African countries.
Kunkuyu made the call Wednesday during the 10th Global ICT Leadership Forum which has brought together high level officials from Korea and African countries to discuss solidarity strategies for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) though digital innovation.
Kunkuyu said there is need for well-developed countries like Korea to embrace African countries so that they too develop in ICT usage.
Said Kunkuyu: “It is a fact, if you leave someone behind, then digitalization is not complete. Similarly, if you leave Africa behind, then ICT is incomplete,”
He said many African countries are facing challenges of connectivity, infrastructure, skills and fiber insecurity issues, saying if these can be rectified, then Korea and Africa will be connected easily.
In his remarks, Minister of Science and ICT for Republic of Korea Dr Lee Jong-Ho assured African countries that Korea is committed to work closely with African countries in ICT.
“We are living in a global world and we do not want any African country to remain behind in ICT in areas of agriculture and education, among others,” he said.
The 10th Global ICT Leadership Forum which was held under the theme Strengthening Global Solidarity in the Sophisticated Digital, brought together African countries such as Tanzania, Lesotho, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Kingdom of Eswatini and Malawi among others.
Two arrested for trafficking Ethiopians
By Monica Banda
Mchinji, June 4, Mana: Police in Mchinji have arrested Golden Enock, 41, and Davie Botomani, 35, for assisting and transporting 25 Ethiopians from Dzaleka Refugees Camp in Dowa to Mchinji.
According to Mchinji Police Public Relations Officer, Limbani Mpinganjira, during the night of June 2, 2024 officers on duty intercepted a vehicle, white Toyota Dyna, registration number DZ 4062 with 25 Ethiopians on board, and without valid supporting documents on their way to Mozambique.
“The vehicle got impounded and the matter was reported to Namizana border police and the department of immigration and citizenships and the two suspects were taken into police custody,” he said.
He further said, the 25 illegal immigrants have also been detained at Mchinji police station and will appear before the court soon to answer their charges.
“The names of the detained Ethiopians include; Tezazu Erinyand, 48, Peere Watumo, 29 and twenty-three others ranging from the age of 15-18,” Mpinganjira said.
Golden Enock hails from Chipo village, Traditional Authority Msabwe in Thyolo while Davie Botoman hails from Jeremani village, Traditional Authority Kalolo in Lilongwe.
Chilima meets Korean PM
By: Andrew Mkonda
Seoul-Korea, June 5, Mana: Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima, Wednesday morning made a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister of Korea, Han Duck Soo, at his official office in Seoul.
Dr Chilima is leading Malawian delegation to the first ever Korea-Africa Summit after being delegated by President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.
The Vice President is also scheduled to make a statement during a business conference which is part of the main activities during the summit.
In 2023, Malawi and South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on various sectors of development during a one-day visit of Prime Minister of South Korea, Dr Han Duck-Soo to Malawi.
Through that MoU, Malawi is expected to benefit in various areas of development including Agriculture, Health, Education and Technology.
NRB develops innovations for effective service delivery
By Patricia Kapulula
Lilongwe, June 4, Mana: The National Registration Bureau (NRB) is implementing a number of innovations in order to improve service delivery.
Principal Secretary for NRB, Mphatso Sambo, said one of the innovations is the Document Tracker Software which allows Malawians to follow and track the status of their national identity (ID) cards.
Sambo was speaking in Lilongwe on Tuesday during a press briefing to update Malawians on the National Registration and Identification System (NRIS).
He said the development is important as it goes a long way in keeping up with the digital era in as far as national registration is concerned.
“We are also implementing Digital Identity Solution, Biometric Verification System and functional review to establish offices at each and every Traditional Authority (TA) across the country, among others,” he said.
In the 2023-2024 national ID outreach registration, NRB covered all the 28 districts in eight phases with each phase lasting 15 days. A total of 1,556,613 new registrants were registered surpassing the target of 1,500,000 people.
According to Sambo, the statistics do not indicate those for replacements as the figures were already in the system by the time of the exercise.
“As NRB, despite beating the target of new registrants, there are still pockets of Malawians who have turned the age of 16 but are yet to register with us,” he said.
The Bureau expects to run a mop up registration exercise from June 10 to August, 2024 in order to register all those that were left out during the outreach registration and register all resident foreigners with valid documents from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
FM Foundation in free youth vocational skills training
By Pempho Nkhoma
Blantyre, June 4, Mana: Francis Mkonda Foundation (FM Foundation) a charitable organization founded by Might Mukuru Wandreres player, Francis Mkonda is providing free vocational skill training to the less privileged youths in Machinjiri to ensure their economic empowerment.
FM Foundation is based in Blantyre, Machinjiri Area 5 and started free training sessions with two courses namely; electrical installation plus dish installation targeting the less privileged youths within Blantyre and surrounding areas.
Chief Executive Officer for FM Foundation, and Founder, Mkonda told Malawi News Agency that despite assisting the elderly and orphans with basic needs, the foundation thought of introducing programmes that could address issues of unemployment among the youths through free vocational skill trainings.
“We have been assisting the elderly and orphans with basic needs and we noticed that there are a lot of young people who are just staying at home. This is why we came up with the free trainings to give them something to do,” he said.
Mkonda added that the foundation is planning to start its own electrical installation company which will be employing graduates from FM Foundation.
“But as of now, we have partnered with other local companies that will be offering job opportunities to our students. After successfully completing the trainings, we will be sending them to work in residential places and companies that we have partnered with,” he said.
Blantyre District Youth Officer, Peter Mizedya commended FM Foundation for the initiative saying that it was impressive that a youth has taken Centre stage in finding solutions to problems which fellow youths were facing.
“It is important for young people to learn vocational skills for them to be employed or to start their own businesses and employ other youths to reduce unemployment rate,” he said.
Mizedya added that Blantyre Youth Office gives the youths guidance on what to do after the trainings and his offices also connect them to institutions that give loans to youth groups.
“We urge them to form cooperatives so that they can run their own businesses as a group and we give direction on how to manage the cooperatives,” he said.
However, he advised youth organizations that teaches vocational skills to consider working with Teveta to be accredited.
The first cohort of students to enroll with FM Foundation for skills programme started classes in January this year and the classes are in progress.
Parliamentary Committee impressed with construction progress of Likoma Jetty
By Ireen Mseteka
Likoma, June 4, Mana: Members of Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Public Infrastructure, says it is impressed with progress of construction works of Likoma Jetty.
Speaking Tuesday after visiting the construction site, chairperson for the committee, Enock Phale said the committee was impressed to note that the project has additional scopes and that the structure would not be a jetty but a port.
“It will be called a port because of the additional scopes such as the passenger bay, waiting places and other additional structures that have been added.
It’s unfortunate that the project that started in 2018 delayed for the reasons best known by the leadership then, but we are happy with the current leadership that has put a lot of interest in making sure that this Jetty is completed and becomes operational,” said Phale.
He said once, completed, the infrastructure will ease some challenges which customers currently face when embarking and disembarking vessels.
Principle Secretary responsible for administration in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Madalo Nyambosi said the project faced a lot of challenges, hence its delay in completion.
She among other challenges cited erratic funding, rising water levels culminated by washing away of one of the machines.
“This was supposed to be an 18-month project, so we have shared the challenges with the committee and we are pleased that they have promised to lobby for the required resources,” said Nyambosi.
Speaking on behalf of Likoma District Council, Chief Education Officer for Likoma, Zimulange Mhango said the committee’s tour to the site was an assurance to the council that the project would be completed soon.
