By Willy Kadewere and Priscilla Mwakifuna

Chikwawa, October 23, Mana: Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Network in Chikwawa District says is satisfied with the ongoing District Development Fund (DDF) and Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) projects in the district for involving community members in project planning and implementation.

Speaking on Tuesday after a monitoring tour organised by the council, Chairperson for Chikwawa CSOs network, Anderson Billiat, said community involvement is a good approach to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.

He further praised the council for adhering to project timelines at Nkudzi Community Day Secondary School (CDSS), a GESD-funded project which was built at a tune of K142,000,000 acknowledging that construction was completed earlier than the scheduled period of 90 days.

“Strengthening collaboration between CSOs, the council, and contractors is also crucial in preventing substandard construction,” he advised.

In her remarks, Public Relations Officer for Chikwawa District Council, Leah Malimbasa thanked the CSOs for working closely with the council.

“As a council, we aim to include all stakeholders in the district as we implement various development projects. CSOs are one of the stakeholders crucial for effective and efficient implementation of projects,” she said.

Malimbasa added that going forward, the council will incorporate advice and recommendations from the CSOs and various stakeholders.

“They have physically inspected the works and have provided good suggestions on how we can improve.

“We are also encouraged by the praises we have received in areas that we are doing well, the goal is to utilise funds we get through GESD, DDF and others for infrastructure development and improve service delivery across the district,” she said.

Nsangwe Umoyo Houses Project Management Committee, Chairperson, Felix Messa thanked Malawi Government for constructing a health centre and staff houses in the area, saying this will reduce the long distances people previously took to access healthcare services.

He said the construction of two health worker houses at Nsangwe Health Centre is nearing completion and further acknowledged that the contractor maintained higher standards throughout the construction.

Messa also highlighted the role of the community monitoring committee, saying it keeps holding the contractor accountable.

Similarly, the Chairperson of the Nkudzi CDSS Project Management Committee, Stephano Gomiwa said the new school is a game-changer for local students, who previously had to walk long distances to access education at Mfera CDSS which is over 12 kilometres from Nkudzi.

“Our children used to walk long distances to reach Mfera CDSS. With Nkudzi CDSS in place, children have started learning closer to home.

“45 students were selected to this school and the school has currently started its operations,” Gomiwa said.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, October 23, Mana: Director of Planning and Development at Dowa District Council Mercy Mpakule, said the council need to strengthen awareness of the new National Decentralization Policy (NDP) to make sure people are aware of it, and fully demand services from the council in accordance with decentralization and the policy.

She made the remarks Tuesday, when the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture conducted an orientation meeting with the management of Dowa district council, on the new NDP second edition of 2024, which provides a guiding framework for the local government system.

Mpakule said the orientation was important, but asked council officials and stakeholders to trickle it down to the people at the district level whom she said were the real beneficiaries of the policy.

"You should make sure that you raise awareness of the policy with all your staff so that they know how to implement it. But most importantly, amongst the community members.

"When community members are empowered and aware of decentralization and the NDP, they will know what, which services to demand from the council and how to demand these, which is their right. So, I urge you to ensure all our citizens know of this policy," she said.

The Malawi government through cabinet, approved the NDP revised edition of 2024 on February 6 2024, and it was subsequently launched by the minister of Local government, unity and culture Richard Chimwendo Banda.

Public Relations Officer for the ministry Anjoya Mwanza said some of the key priority areas for the NDP include Local governance, political decentralization, Fiscal Decentralization, Local Development Planning and Infrastructure Development for municipal services.

“We want to popularize the policy. So, we are currently meeting a few selected councils, but the plan is to meet all councils and different groups of people so that they know in detail what is contained in the new document and what their responsibilities are going forward,” she said.

By Mary Makhiringa

Balaka, October 23, Mana: A random survey conducted by Malawi News Agency (MANA) Tuesday revealed that despite the communication gap that most communities have expressed on the voter registration currently underway in Balaka district, more people are flooding registration centres to register.

Interacting with possible voters at Mseche Primary School revealed that people are mistaking the voter registration for relief food items registration, which was also underway in the district a few days ago.

“I came upon hearing from a colleague that it is a voter registration and not the other.”

“ I have then notified more people since we still have many days before the end of the registration period,” said Alefa M’bawa.

As of Tuesday afternoon, in most centres that MANA visited, data showed that they had passed over 100 accumulative figures from Monday, which was the start of the registration.

Balaka District Elections Officer, Harry Yohane said despite everything, the district has received massive support and people are coming out in numbers to register.

“We have 202 registration centres in Balaka District and all of them rolled out on Monday.

“Our civic education team is currently on the ground, day and night sensitizing the public on this very important exercise,” he said, adding that special interest will be given to areas mistaking registration on relief food with voter registration.

Balaka is among the districts in the first phase of the registration prior to the 2025 General Elections.

By Evance Chisiano

Blantyre, October 23, Mana:  A group of women with various professional backgrounds under the name; Umodzi Wathu Cooperative Society Limited said they are well set to do more than dairy cattle farming on their farm at Chigumula where they started after a K111 million grant from Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) project in 2023.

Umodzi Wathu Cooperative Society disclosed this when Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale visited the group at Chigumula on Monday in Blantyre where they are rearing cattle with support from the AGCOM project which seeks to transform smallholder agriculture from subsistence to commercial.

Kawale said is impressed with the women’s determination and unity in the dairy enterprises, adding that this was in line with Malawi’s commercialization drive and women’s participation in agricultural development.

“Just know that the ministry is impressed with what you are doing. Be in touch with the Ministry of Agriculture and are ready to guide you.

“Always ask us whenever you are stuck somewhere. Don’t limit yourself. Opportunities are there,” Kawale said and encouraged them to get themselves familiar with various technologies of making animal feed other than depending on maize stalks only.

“Get to know many agricultural technologies in making animal feed. Keep learning, keep asking questions and keep engaging,” added Kawale after appreciating the dairy cows farming at Chigumula farm which the group said is set to develop the place by growing other crops to complement the dairy cattle farming.

The cooperative operates under the motto; Cultivating Dreams, Nourishing Hope and is comprised of 54 women including pensionaries, bankers, lawyers, accountants, university students and young women.

Mid 2021, four women came together to start a group and decided to mobilize fellow women into what is called Umodzi wathu Cooperative Society, today, a legally registered entity.

The minister said it was pleased that the women who are from different professional backgrounds grouped themselves into a society with one purpose of moving forward to become a cooperative which looks forward to embarking on various value-adding agricultural activities.

He added that Ministry of Agriculture was looking forward to support such cooperatives and encouraged Umodzi wathu to routinely seek technical expertise from livestock veterinarians for successful daily farming.

“Let us shift from subsistence farming to commercialization. This is where Malawi is driving to,” he added and expressed optimism that Umodzi Wathu Cooperative Society will rise to become a successful agricultural commercial entity.

Umodzi Wathu Cooperative Society, Chairperson Sylvia Mataka hailed Kawale for visiting the group saying this is motivation enough to keep the women going with a vision of becoming one of the successful cooperatives in Malawi,  

The cooperative received a grant of K111 million in 2023 from the AGCOM project after meeting many requirements that included submission of a concept note, business plan and registration with the authorities.

Mataka commended AGCOM project management for being accommodative and supportive to Umodzi wathu Cooperative Society, saying the cooperative has a mission to become a force to reckon with in dairy cattle farming with intentions to make dairy products such as cheese and butter.

Blantyre District Commissioner, Alex Mdooko also hailed the women for teaming up to become a cooperative which is geared to provide jobs for people at Chigumula and surrounding areas in the course of dairy cattle farming.

He disclosed that Blantyre District has 17 cooperatives with some of them in dairy, poultry, piggery, soya beans and ordinary beans farming.

“Most of these groups are supported by the AGCOM project. Agricultural commercialization is the way to go and we should think of value chain, value addition,” Mdooko added.

With the K111 million AGCOM grant, Umodzi wathu Cooperative Society procured dairy cattle, water storage tanks, constructed feeding sheds, manure sheds, ponds and an office among others.

The group said, if funds permit, it will buy additional cattle, lorry for feed transportation, tractor and cooling to effectively manage the farm for better results.

AGCOM is a Malawi Government project funded by the World Bank to transform the country’s agriculture sector.

By Innocent Chamtulo

Mulanje, October 23, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Commissioner Rev. Philip Kambulire has commended the great momentum that Mulanje District has started with in the current voter registration exercise.

Commissioner Kambulire said this on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a monitoring tour in the district to appreciate the commencement of the exercise amid interest from different sectors.

"Since the exercise started yesterday, we have had many people flocking to various registration centres. One issue we have noted is that because most people work in tea estates, they have been coming as the centres are about to close.

“So we have engaged estate managers to find a way of releasing them in good time so that their work should also not suffer," he said.

He appealed people who are eligible to go and register for them to be able to exercise their right of voting on 16^th September 2025.

Commissioner of Police for South East Region, Chikondi Chingadza said security status since the onset of the registration has been tight and that they have not received any complaints from any registration centre.

"We have a large number of police officers who are committed to providing security in an eventuality situation," she said.

Malawi will hold General Elections in September 2025 and the registration sessions have been split into three phases of 14 days each.

By Yamikani Sabola

Mzuzu, October 22, Mana: Turn-up for fresh voter registration has improved in Mzuzu on Tuesday which marked the second day of the exercise ahead of 2025 polls.

There were queues of people waiting to register in some of the centers visited in the afternoon, unlike on Monday when elections management device (EMD) operators were found idling in most of the centers visited because they had no people to serve.

Center supervisor for Matope Junior Primary School in Mzuzu City North Constituency, Mariam Simfukwe expressed satisfaction with the numbers of people coming to the center for registration.

“There is tremendous improvement if we compare with the figures of yesterday. Today we have managed to register 123 people by now and more are coming. Yesterday we only registered 39 the whole day,” she said.

One of the registrants at Ching’ambo Primary School, John Munthali said he was happy to have registered his name and encouraged others to do the same to be able to exercise their right to vote next year.

“Elections come once every five years so I cannot afford to lose an opportunity to cast my vote. I urge everyone to come and register like myself so that they should be able to choose their desired political leaders next year,” he said.

City Elections Officer for Mzuzu, Pilirani Simkonda expressed hope that the turn-up will continue improving due to a mobilization campaign which Malawi Electoral Commission is carrying out in the city to ensure that more people register.

MEC is conducting first phase of fresh voter registration from October 21 to November 3, 2024.

The councils included in the phase are Chitipa, Karonga, Mzuzu and Nkhotakota, among others.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, October 22, Mana: Participants under the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Program (CSEPWP) at Chankhungu in Traditional Authority Nkukula in Dowa, have hailed the project saying it has helped raise awareness on environmental conservation amongst community members.

In an interview during a media tour to appreciate progress of the project, Liston Chipokosa of Kaliza village said at first, there were high cases of environmental degradation due to little awareness on environmental management.

“Many people were not aware of the importance of protecting the environment and how degradation can directly affect us. For example, there was careless cutting down of trees.

“This resulted into high incidences of soil erosion and loss of soil fertility, which affected crop production and food security,” said Chipokosa who is also chairperson for Chankhungu catchment.

However, he said since joining the program in 2022, there has been an improvement in environmental management.

Under the program which is being funded by the World Bank and Multi Donor Trust Agency and facilitated by the National Local Government Finance Committee, he said participants are implementing various interventions to reclaim degraded lands.

“We are constructing swales to improve water drainage, constructing stone bunds for soil and water conservation, planting vetiver grass to reduce soil erosion and rainwater runoff. We are also conducting reafforestation activities.

“Apart from that, we have check dams to reduce water speeds, conserve soil and fill gullies. So far, we have seen that we have a better environment, and our fields are more productive than before,” he said.

Christina Chigeza of Chigowo village said previously there were some pieces of land they had stopped cultivating due to degradation. But under the project, they have managed to reclaim the fields and resumed cultivation.

She said this has also motivated other people who were at first reluctant to allow projects like swale construction on their lands, to embrace the interventions.

“Apart from land reclamation activities, the program has also been a source of income for us.

“As a single mother, it was difficult to take care of my family without income. But under the program, we receive some money at every cycle which helps me take care of my children. We are thankful for that and wish for the program to continue,” she said.

Land Resource Conservation Officer at Dowa District Council, Tamerson Mhone, who is also Desk Officer for the project in the district, said it was encouraging to note that the project is creating not only physical structures but also knowledge.

“Knowledge is priceless. If people understand the importance of environmental conservation, it is easier for them to own the interventions and implement these for a very long time,” he said.