By Gift Chiponde and Paul Madise

Lilongwe, 16 August, Mana: Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Publicity Secretary, Jessie Kabwira, has expressed confidence that President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera will emerge victorious in the upcoming 2025 General Election, citing his exemplary leadership qualities.

Kabwira expressed her optimism during a press conference on Friday at the party's headquarters in Lilongwe, where she provided an overview of the 2024 MCP Elective Convention held at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) from August 8th to August 10th, 2024.

In her address, Jessie Kabwira emphasized that MCP is an inclusive party that welcomes all Malawians irrespective of age, region, or ethnicity, underscoring the party's commitment to democracy as evidenced by its recent convention.

She underscored the importance of active youth engagement within MCP, highlighting the pivotal role that young individuals play in the nation's progress and encouraging their participation in the party's activities.

"We urge all the dynamic youth in Malawi, often referred to as Generation Z, who hold significant influence in the country's political landscape, to engage actively in MCP's political affairs.

The party is a platform for all young people, and we wholeheartedly embrace their involvement,” expressed Kabwira.

Among other points, Kabwira expressed satisfaction with the Chakwera-led government, noting significant advancements such as the equitable expansion of road infrastructure nationwide, the revitalisation of the railway project benefiting local farmers and traders, and the enhancement of communities through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Programme.

She acknowledged the agricultural challenges posed by natural disasters post-harvest and commended the government's initiatives to support farmers in securing fair prices for their produce, using the tobacco industry as a prime example of successful market prices.

"President Chakwera has showcased unwavering dedication to ensuring that communities derive maximum benefits from the CDF, which has seen a doubling of funds from 100 million to 200 million Kwacha.

The commendable initiative of farmers selling tobacco at competitive prices has garnered praise from numerous farmers across the nation," highlighted Kabwira.

Kabwira pointed out the positive trend of loan repayments by National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) beneficiaries under the Chakwera administration, a practice previously lacking in past administrations, underscoring the President's strong political resolve.

She reaffirmed the government's commitment to eradicating hunger and ensuring equitable assistance to those most in need, including those residing in hard-to-reach areas.

Furthermore, she lauded the government's significant strides in addressing the country's electricity challenges, thereby enhancing the livelihoods of the populace.

Kabwira also reiterated MCP's unwavering support for President Chakwera in realizing the nation's developmental goals in alignment with his philosophy of Servant Leadership, dedicated to advancing the interests of all Malawians.

By Isaac Jim

Blantyre, August 15, Mana:  Malawi`s Vice President (VP), Dr. Michael Usi on Thursday launched the Malawi Church and Community Transformation Movement (MCCTM) in Blantyre whose mission is to join hands with government and other partners in addressing effects of climate change and food insecurity, unfavorable agricultural commodity markets and poor access to water and sanitation.

The launch started with a solidarity walk from Henry Henderson Institute (HHI) to World Alive International Ministry Church, and later the MCCTM presented petitions to government focusing on three thematic areas of climate change, food security and agricultural commodity markets and water and sanitation, sanctioning the state to seriously look into gray areas within the presented thematic areas.

Addressing the gathering, the VP said government is committed to tackle the issues presented in the petitions and assured the MCCTM that the petitions will be delivered to President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera for necessary actions.

“The main goal of government, the church and community leaders is to serve mankind, therefore it is imperative that these should pull in one direction and be part of this formidable team.

“Do not write other petitions as these ones are going to be handed to the president soonest” he said.

The VP also encouraged Malawians to responsibly address issues to do with environmental degradation as negative effects of climate change are universal to every Malawian, observing damage to the environment is un Godly.

“We therefore should keep our hope that things will change while working together in helping the government in achieving its goals. It is impressive to see how MCCTM is doing by involving churches and communities in tackling issues that have been raised here,” he added.

Regional Patron of the MCCTM, Dr. Zacc Kawalala who is also Bishop for World Alive International Ministries Church said there was need for collaboration to deal with issues of climate change, food insecurity and unfavorable markets for agricultural commodities and poor coverage and access to water and sanitation,

He said positive change will only be achieved if the church, members of community at grass root level and government are united towards a transformed Malawi.

“There is need to come together to address critical challenges affecting our society. We witnessed the birth of the Malawi Church and Community Transformation Movement (MCCTM) in 2022. This movement is a union of church organizations and the community at large,” he said.

Bishop Kawalala further said the church, community members and government have the obligation to deal with issues that will impact on the livelihood of the present and future generation.

“God teaches us to love one another, so when we destroy the environment, we pose health problems to others and the issue of environmental degradation affects every person, therefore it is a responsibility of every person to look after the environment,” he added.

MCCTM launch in Blantyre was the third after one in Lilongwe and another in Mzuzu.

By Andrew Phiri

Balaka, August 16, Mana: Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda on Thursday officially opened a newly constructed male and female ward at Balaka District Hospital, courtesy of health sector reform strategic plan that government is rolling out across the country.

The opening of the ward with male and female ward sections which is among the MK1.2 billion health projects being implemented in Balaka district will help to improve the delivery of high quality health services by reducing pressure that the hospital experienced when accommodating patients.

Speaking after touring several departments before opening the structure, Chiponda said she was impressed with the commendable work that the hospital is doing.

She challenged health workers at the facility that the government is committed to support the health sector to fulfill universal health coverage.

“This is what we are encouraging hospitals in this country that when they receive funding, they should use it prudently by addressing all the existing shortfalls.

“You can see that the way patients are being taken care of here makes life easier and also the oxygen cylinders that have been already installed in this facility will help patients to receive high quality standard treatment,” she said.

Chiponda, however, urged medical staff at the facility that apart from providing good quality medical treatment, they should also improve on provision of meals and observing effective hygiene among patients, saying this would help to speed up their recovery.

District Commissioner for Balaka, Tamanya Harawa commended the minister and the contractor for their commitment to finish and inaugurate the facility at the right time, adding that the monitoring and supervision from government is vital to promote transparency and accountability on local public projects.

“The participation of all necessary stakeholders at council level has played an important role to finish this project, the compromise on selection of contractors is also an issue because as council, you may wish to have good work but if you have unprofessional contractors, likely you also have substandard outcomes,” he added.

Apart from inaugurating the male/female ward at Balaka District Hospital, Chiponda also visited the MK700 million maternity ward that Balaka District Council is constructing at Chiyendausiku Health Centre.

By Happy Byson Milanzi

Lilongwe, August 15, Mana: Government through the Ministry of Transport and Public Works has agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Truck Drivers Association of Malawi as one way of addressing their grievances.

Minister of Information and Digitalization government spokesperson, Mosses Kunkuyu made the revelation at a press briefing in Lilongwe on Thursday afternoon.

Kunkuyu said problems that were there between the employees and employers have been solved.

The Minister further said that the government has already gazetted the minimum Salary of MK234,500 for employers to give their employees.

He said despite the gazette, there are still some challenges in regards to meeting the standard that government already gazetted.

“Issues of license and other travelling documents has also already been sorted by immigration, by August 18^th, every truck driver will have his or her license including traveling documents.

“We are worried with people that also pretend like they are also truck drivers and put some pressure on government to consider their grievances fast,” said Kunkuyu.

He however said, in the MOU, government has introduced a task force that will be working on the ground to enforce the agreed and signed agreement,” said Kunkuyu.

Spokesperson for Transporters Union of Malawi, Frank Banda, welcomed the ideal of government in introducing the task force to monitor progress of the agreed terms.

“We are thankful to government for coming up with better solutions for our problems. We are therefore hopeful that drivers will very soon call off the strike following the agreement,” said Banda.

By Elia Chibwe

Lilongwe, August 15, Mana: National Aids Commission (NAC) and National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) have joined hands in the fight against HIV and AIDS pandemic in public universities through combining resources and expertise.

In an Interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Thursday, Public Relations Officer for NCHE, Priscilla Zikapanda underscored the significance of collaboration as it plays a key role in the creation of a safe and supportive environment where students can succeed both academically and personally, free from effects of HIV and AIDS.

“We have a plan called HIV and AIDS Strategy for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with strategies on how to deal with the pandemic. The strategy spells out clearly the need for the universities to promote safe practices and provide support services to affected students,” Zikapanda said.

She disclosed that NCHE is dedicated to tackling the HIV and AIDS epidemic in universities by working with NAC as they combine resources and expertise in the fight against the disease.

Zikapanda said NCHE’s goal is to lower the number of new cases in public universities and colleges.

“NCHE is guided by the National overarching laws and policies, such as the Malawi 2063 and the National HIV and AIDS strategy. So in taking our active role in embracing those guiding policies, our goal through the strategy is to lower new cases of HIV and AIDS among students,” she said.

Acting HIV Protection and Prevention Officer for NAC, Francis Mabedi said the commission recognizes that young people have specific needs which require different delivery approaches from the adult population, and collaborating with NCHE is one way of addressing the challenges.

“The commission in collaboration with NCHE is implementing various HIV prevention activities in HEIs which comprises universities and colleges. The commission recognizes that the young people have specific needs which needs various delivery approaches from adult population,” Mabedi said.

He said the commission is involved in various interventions aimed at dealing with HIV and AIDS among the young generation.

According to Zikapanda, apart from working with all universities, it is also working with other communities targeting the young generation.

By Maria Tembo

Ntchisi, August 15, Mana: Ntchisi District Council has launched four projects worth over K1 billion under the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) in the areas of Senior Chiefs Kasakula, Nthondo, Malenga and Sub Traditional Authority Masanya.

Among the projects are a girls’ hostel and matrons’ house at Katete Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Chikaonga village, Senior Chief Kasakula and a two-classroom block at Champhoyo primary school in the area of Senior Chief Nthondo.

A girls’ hostel and matrons’ house at Katete CDSS worth K529 million is to be completed within 120 days and is expected to ease the long-distance challenge, girl learners undergo to access education, according to the legislator for Ntchisi East Constituency Bernard Chitekwe where the development is taking place.

Chitekwe said it is disheartening to see that many girls in the district are performing poorly while others are dropping out of school due to among others long distance covered when going to access education

He said the coming in of the hostel will act as a motivation to the girls.

“We have noted with concern that many girls in this area are getting pregnant while others go into early marriages because they stay far away from school.

“We hope to see a lot of girls performing well in school once construction works of the hostel is completed as they will only be able to focus on studies and not on distance covered,” he said.

The school’s head teacher, Robert Zefa concurred with Chitekwe, saying some of the girls drop out of school due to pregnancy and hoped that once the construction of the hostel is completed, school dropout cases will be reduced.

“Sadly, every year we have girls sitting for the Malawi School Certificate of Examination (MSCE) while pregnant. It is our hope that this issue will be addressed once the hostel is completed as the girls will only be focusing on their school work and not school-unrelated issues” Zefa said.

Olipa Chimangeni, Member of Parliament for Ntchisi northeast said the K103 million two-classroom blocks being constructed at Champhoyo primary school will help to decongest the number of learners in other classes.

She asked the district council and non-governmental organizations to renovate the old classroom blocks describing them as a death trap.

Also launched were a Police Unit and staff house at Malambo in Sub T/A Masanya and a staff house at Kansonga police unit in Senior Chief Malenga.

In her remarks, Inspector Stella Chipala of Ntchisi Police Station said once the construction of a police unit at Malambo in the area of Sub T/A Masanya is finalized, it will help to reduce criminal cases currently on the rise in the area.

“I would like to thank the district council for the Malambo Police Unit and staff house project worth K449 million. We believe that the area will be crime-free once the police unit is operational,” Chipala said.

Council chairperson, Arnold Kapolo, who was a guest of honour, warned contractors against substandard work and missing deadlines.

By Abel Ikilioni

Blantyre, August 15, Mana: Parliamentary Committee on Public Assurance and Public Sector Reforms recently conducted a tour of Malawi Rural Electrification Programme, (MAREP 9) in two districts of the southern region and one in the central region.

In an interviews with Malawi News Agency (Mana), Chairperson for the Committee, Noel Lipipa said the committee embarked on the tour to Dedza at Kaname, Mulanje at Kasankha and Chanje in Monkey Bay, Mangochi district to appreciate progress on MAREP 9 programme.

“We are impressed with the work done in all the areas we have inspected” Lipipa said.  

He said although things were progressing well, there were still some challenges such as a disconnect between MAREP and ESCOM and that a solution to the problem was to hold a meeting involving ESCOM, MAREP and the parliamentary committee.

He said such a meeting would ensure that the objective of MAREP is achieved and that all the challenges that existed in MAREP 9 should be ironed out.

According to Lipipa, the committee also observed that communities do not know that even grass thatched houses can also be connected to the grid.

“They are not supposed to do wiring in their houses, all they have to do is to apply to ESCOM and then they will get the power.” He said.

Deputy Director for Rural Electrification in the Ministry of Energy, Francisco Chingoli said the project is running smoothly with an initial target of 460 centres to benefit 46 000 households.

He said at least the Ministry has already completed and commissioned 160 sites which translate to 16 000 households, hoping that the phase would finish by the end of August.

“We have reached our targets; we are now working hard to make sure that we should also improve in some of the areas that we had bottlenecks and we intend to revitalize the Ndawala 2 Project to connect a lot of households,” Chingoli said.

He however pointed out some of the bottlenecks that MAREP 9 faced, citing scarcity of forex as one of the main challenges, adding the Reserve Bank of Malawi always intervened in such situations.

He disclosed that the Ministry of Energy will soon embark on MAREP 10 with a target of about 700 sites which translates to 70 000 households benefitting from the project.

MAREP 9 had a budget of K62 billion while MAREP 10 is pegged at K105 billion.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) Stephen Romasi, from Kasankha Village in Traditional Authority Nankumba in Mangochi expressed gratitude to government for extending electricity to his area.

“Our women were walking long distance to a maize mill. But now we have power within our locality.”  

Concurring with Romasi, Ellena Daniel said she was overjoyed to have electricity in her home, noting that electricity would improve her livelihood.

By; Tiyanjane Nandie Mambucha

August 14, MANA: Malawi1s President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has arrived in Zimbabwe for the 44th Ordinary Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit of Heads of State and Government, which the Republic of Zimbabwe is hosting.

Chakwera arrived at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Thursday evening to attend the meeting which will be   held in Zimbabwe`s capital, Harare.

On arrival, the President was welcomed by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi and Malawi`s Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Major General Elius Mpaso.

President Chakwera and the First Lady also met senior government officials from Zimbabwe, and officials from the SADC Secretariat.

This year’s 44^th ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government will be held under the theme “Promoting innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an industrialized SADC”.

In 2023 the Summit elected Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola, Chairperson of SADC,

Lourenco is expected to handover the SADC chairmanship to Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.