By Beni Bamusi

Thyolo, May 18, Mana: Professionals and students have been urged to embrace the use of crossing cutting edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems which has revolutionized the workplace and academia to ensure productivity and efficiency.

The call was made on Friday at Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Thyolo during AI Awareness Day, which was being commemorated under the theme; ‘Embracing AI for Unlocking Professional Potential.

The AI Awareness Day was organized by the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Science Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics subjects.

Addressing the audience, Malawi Institute of Technology, Executive Dean, Michael Zimba said AI has changed the academia and workplace landscape for the better.

“Students are now able to perfect their Thesis and improve on what they might miss. In a work place, AI is being used in the health care to monitor patients how they are responding to treatment,

“This entails that if we do not embrace AI system we will be left behind,” he told them.

Zimba urged students to explore AI to unlock their various potential while being mindful of all the ethical considerations as failure to do so might cause harm to individuals and even chaos in a society.

During the AI Awareness Day, Precious Kakwete and her colleagues doing internship at Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) showcased their Automated Employee Attendance System, the Chat Board as well as the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System which they have developed.

She said the Automated Employee Attendance System would replace manual log in system and will help HR personnel to track and check the time an employee reports for work using fingerprint.

"The Chat Board will be used for data visualization and quick summary of data from debases whereas the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System uses machine learning and AI to track cars entering and leaving MRA premises.

"The system scans vehicle number plate and is able to display number plate and information of the vehicle as well as the owner of the vehicle. Through the logbook it displays number of number of vehicles on the premises," she said.

One of the Alumnus and Lecturer at the Institution, Peter Mwambananji showcased a Soil Crop Suitability System used in agriculture.

“The innovation takes features of soil and compare with different features of the soil in the database and depict which crop is suitable for the soil.

"The enthusiasm came in after I failed on soya beans farming due to unsuitability of soil for soya beans farming hence developing the system to make it smooth for those who would want to venture into agribusiness but do not know how to choose crops basing on the type of soil they have,” he said.

Some final year students pursuing Biomedical Engineering Programme led by William Chonzi displayed their deep learning machine for measles diagnosis.

He said the tool was time efficient compared to PCR which takes four hours to diagnose a patient which he said is not viable during an outbreak.

Chonzi said Biomedical Engineering bridges the gap between medicine and engineering.

AI Centre at MUST was introduced in 2023.

By Elia Chibwe

Lilongwe, May 18, Mana: For several decades, the remote Kapangarika community and surrounding villages under Traditional Authority Chiwaula in Lilongwe have suffered due to impassable roads, resulting in lost lives and unstable business activities. Poor agricultural outcomes also plagued the area due to a lack of better markets to sell their produce.

Year after year, the community's pleas for help seemed to go unheard, until legislator Dr. Mphatso Boti announced that the government, through the GESD project, planned to construct a bridge in their area. The construction of the Nambuma Bridge commenced in 2022, marking the beginning of a new era for Kapangarika.

Senior Group Village Head Kapangarika, who oversees 39 villages, stated that the bridge's timing is perfect and will address many challenges, including agricultural activities, small businesses, and reducing deaths caused by poor wooden boats on the Nambuma River.

"We never hoped this village would have a bridge, but in 2022, we saw the government bringing this great development of the Nambuma Bridge construction project. It has given us hope that many transport-related challenges will no longer exist," he said.

However, he noted that the project's slow progress is affecting local businesses and agricultural activities, as the community had hoped for completion by December 2023. Despite this, he expressed his joy at seeing the work nearing completion.

One of the bridge's beneficiaries, Lloyd Josophat from Chaomba village, highlighted the bridge's potential to improve transportation of agricultural yields to markets such as Nambuma and Mponela in Dowa.

"People from Chaomba and other surrounding villages in the North West Constituency found it difficult to transport their harvests to good markets like Mponela and Nambuma. The Nambuma Bridge is the beginning of our hope.

“It will ease the transportation of goods like soya, beans, groundnuts, and maize," he said with a smile.

He also emphasized that the bridge will help to reduce deaths in the area.

Traditional Authority (T/A) Chiwaula said the development is welcomed with antipation of building strong relationships with neighboring areas.

"I'm very excited to see this development in my area. You know we have our relatives in Dowa. We were very troubled to visit them when Nambuma River was full during the rainy season and we even failed to attend ceremonies like wedding and funeral.

"But I hope the bridge will now address these issues once completed," he said.

Chiwaula also hailed the government for bringing this project in his area.

Member of Parliament for Lilongwe North West Constituency, Dr. Mphatso Boti, stated that the project aims to create a mobility corridor between Lilongwe North West and Dowa, addressing the community's challenges.

"We were losing over 10 lives every year when people tried to cross the Nambuma River during the rainy season.

This project will end water-related deaths. The bridge will also promote trade and transportation of agricultural goods for the people of Lilongwe and Dowa. My desire is to create opportunities for people to do business and create wealth, and this bridge will do exactly that," Boti said.

He added that the bridge will benefit several thousands of people from the surrounding areas.

"Over 80,000 people in the immediate surrounding areas and many more will benefit from this development project. The road passing through this bridge connects the M1 road and the Lilongwe-Kasungu-Kasiya-Santhe Road, boosting agricultural businesses in the area," he said.

Lilongwe District Council is hopeful to see the completion of the Nambuma Bridge, which was delayed due to funding issues. Director for Public Works for Lilongwe District Council, Sydney Chiphaka, said the project was expected to be completed in December 2023 but faced delays due to funding.

Chiphaka reassured the community that the bridge construction project is expected to be completed next month. He explained that the bridge is a 30-ton-capacity concrete deck, 60 meters long, with a 200-meter-long embankment on the approaches.

He also mentioned that the bridge's cost is K120 million, funded by the Performance-Based Grant (PBG) under the GESD project for the 2022-23 financial year.

By Tikondane Vega

Blantyre, May 18, Mana: Government has said hosting of 9^th Africa Population Conference would boost the country’s revenue through tourism and hospitality services.

Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu ho was accompanied by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola Banda disclosed Saturday during a media briefing in Blantyre.

He said the conference would help to showcase some of the tourism potential the country has and woo would be investors to come. 

Kunkuyu said President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera would open the conference under the them; Road to 2030; ‘Leveraging Africa’s Human Capital to Achieve Transformation in a World of Uncertainty’, be held at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe with over 600 high profile delegates expected to attend.

“There will be high delegates coming in the country including Prime Minister of Iceland. The conference is coming at a time when Malawi is looking forward to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and Malawi 2063. The knowledge to be shared will highly benefit Malawi proper planning.

“The Conference will raise Malawi footprints. My plea is; let us all continue showing our warm heartedness. By doing so our image will be built on trust and tourism development will be raised,” Kunkuyu said.

The Minister said the conference would bring key stakeholders in the population sector and experiences to be share would highly benefit Malawi for in planning developments.

The Conference is held every four years and this will be the first time be held in Malawi.

Banda said the conference would strengthen partnership between Malawi and key foreign stakeholders, building capacity of next generation, enhancing collaboration as well as sharing information related to population.

He said Ministry of Finance was coordinating the conference and it would run from May 20 to 24, 2024.

“There will be Civil Society Organizations, legislators, young generation from higher learning institutions, researchers and other key stakeholder in as far as issues of populations are concerned. This is the reason we are saying the meeting will provide platform for knowledge sharing as well as exploring strategies for sustainable development,” Finance Minister added.

He pointed out that the conference would align Malawi 2063 on issues of human capital development adding with this Malawi would have evidence based policies.

Banda added, “It is expected that Malawi will highlight its achievement in health, gender equality, climate change and environment among other important areas. We take this as our opportunity to showcase what Malawi has in store.”

The Two Ministers were flanked by Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Jacob Mazalale and Secretary to the Treasury, Betchani Tcheleni. 

By Lesnat Kenan

Lilongwe, May 18, Mana: Deputy Labour Commissioner for Ministry of Labour, Wafwile Musukwa has urged all private employment agencies to follow proper policies when doing recruitments

He made the remarks on Friday during the Mapping Exercise of Private Employment Agencies in Lilongwe conducted by Ministry of Labour in partnership with International Organization for Migration (IOM) in some districts of the country including Lilongwe and Blantyre

Musukwa said this would help the country to improve and attract labour market offers from both local and international.

"We have employment agencies in the country just like other countries which are internationally recognized. We have an international labour standards and is called employment agencies convention. The reason for coming up with this is because public employment agencies alone cannot manage to save the labour market so for the efficiency of job market we need both public and private employment agencies to work together," he added.

Musukwa pointed out that government has labour rules such as employment act that touches on issues of regulations and the labour export guide that focus on employment agencies that recruit for employment abroad.

He said employment agencies should ensure that there was fair and ethical recruitment when recruiting people abroad and to check human trafficking.

Musukwa appealed to all employers to comply with government on minimum wage saying that it was a crime to pay below minimum wage and people should complain to the Ministry of Labour if they are getting below minimum wage.

IOM Programmes Officer, Jeremiah Joshua said they partnered with government to make sure that migration or job recruitments are done formally and orderly.

"Over time, studies have shown that labour experts have started bringing slavery where employers take advantage to migrants. IOM is partnering with government and private employment agencies to ensure that migration is done properly and all employment recruitment process should be done well documented to avoid human trafficking and slavery," he added.

Director of Administration for Nswala Employment Bureau, Songazaudzu Sageni said that as an employment agency they are facing some challenges saying that some of them they do not know what exactly to do and he asked for the coordination of private employment agencies to come up with an association for agencies.

He added that the coming in of private employment agencies has helped a lot in provision of employment to people across the country by removing favoritism and bias and he appealed to all youths in the country to follow proper channels and policies whenever they are looking for an employment.

Owner of Hope Employment Bureau, Mphatso Chabwana expressed her gratitude to Ministry of Labour and IOM for working together with private employment agencies saying this makes work easier.

The aim of conducting this mapping exercise is to find out how many employment agencies are in the country and where are they operating.

Over 40 private employment agencies have been visited countrywide.

By Bishop Witmos               

Mangochi, May 17, Mana: President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera is in Mangochi, to grace the enthronement of the Third Bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire, Right Reverend William Mchombo at St. Peters and Paul Cathedral in the district.

Speaking upon his arrival at Mtakataka Turn off on Friday evening, the President said he was happy to be in the Eastern Region and asked people in the region to continue having hope in his government and his leadership, saying he is developing the country to the best level.

The Malawi leader said that despite external economic and weather challenges locking the country, his government is achieving tremendous developments that he promised Malawians.

‘‘I am happy to be back here, even though for a short time, as I am here to attend the enthronement of Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire.’’

‘‘I am urging you to continue supporting my government because what we are doing across the country is just a small portion of what we intend to do,’’ he said. 

Chakwera added that his government has plans to develop the country and people are yet to see more development.

‘‘We have plans, and some of the plans are to initiate developmental projects that you are seeing across, therefore expect more from us.’’ the president added.

Amongst people who received the president included party officials, as well as Malawi Congress Party (MCP) supporters in the Eastern Region.

In his remarks, MCP, Deputy Secretary General, Gerald Kazembe thanked Chakwera for putting efforts to improve livelihoods of people in the country regardless of region.

“I have lived in Mangochi for about 50 years, but this is the year that I have started drinking piped water because of the Nkhudzi Bay Water Supply Project, which was commissioned by your administration. ‘’

As of now, we have witnessed the construction of Cape Maclear tarmac road, The Mangochi – Makanjira road has also started taking shape, all these project are implemented because of your commitment to development,”  said Kazembe.

By Bishop Witmos

Mangohi, May 17, Mana: Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire is set to enthrone Right, Reverend William Mchombo as the third Bishop of the diocese taking over from Brighton Vitta Malasa.

This follows close to one and half year as the diocese had no bishop, following disagreements between the faithful Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire leadership.  Mchombo replaces Malasa who left office in October 2022.

Chairperson of the Bishop's enthronement organizing committee, Winasi Boma said in an interview that all is set for the enthronement of Bishop Mchombo as the next bishop of Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire

He disclosed that President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, his vice Dr. Saulos Chilima, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara, and other top government officials are among those that will attend the event.

"Bishop William Mchombo will be enthroned tommorow (Saturday) to become the third Bishop of our diocese, at a function that will take place at St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral at Mpondasi in Mangochi, as  of now all is set for the event," said Boma.

Boma added that Archbishop Dr. Albert Chama, who is head of the Anglican Province of Central Africa (APCA) in which Anglican  Dioceses in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana fall, will preside over the enthronement.

Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire covers districts of Mangochi, Machinga, Zomba, Balaka, Ntcheu, Mwanza, Neno and part of Dedza.

Meanwhile, Anglican faithful’s, as well as all other Malawians are all over the streets of Mangochi to welcome President Chakwera and other dignitaries.

Born on August 21 1962, Bishop Mchombo is transferred to Malawi from the Diocese of Eastern Zambia.

By Solister Mogha

Zomba, May 17, Mana: Zomba District Council says it is planning to construct boarding facility at Chisi Island to accommodate learners whose classes are mostly disrupted in times of floods on Lake Chilwa as was the case with Tropical Cyclone Freddy disaster.

Speaking during the Full Council Meeting, Chairperson of Development Committee, Macferson Sulumba said due to continued disruption of classes at Chisi Island the council would like to have a boarding facility that would accommodate learners in times of disasters.

Sulumba cited Tropical Cyclone Freddy as the case of concern which disrupted classes at schools Chisi, Chinguma and Ngotangota schools when rising waters in Lake Chilwa forcing total closure of the schools.

He added that rising waters in the Lake Chilwa heavily affected learners especially those in Standard 8 who were preparing to sit for Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations.

“The facility is meant to accommodate learners only in times of disasters. The decision is as a result of the experience during tropical Cyclone Freddy. Learners were accommodated at St Michael's Primary School to prepare for their examinations," he said.

Member of Parliament for Zomba Lisanjala. Dr. William Susuwele Banda while acknowledging the importance of the facility asked the council to critically look into what the Education Policy says about establishment of boarding facility in primary schools.

Dr. Banda further said the council should also look into who will be responsible for feeding learners at the proposed boarding facility.

“Boarding facility is expensive to manage and this is why some schools are struggling to keep learners in such facilities. Will parents going to bear the responsibility, have we done research on that,” the MP asked.

Director of Education, Youth and Sports, Thomas Mbwembwe said although there is no policy on boarding facility for primary schools, the case of Chisi Island is exceptional especially considering access to quality education.

“Much as we know there is no policy but this issue has to be carefully looked into. In terms of who will be responsible… obviously parents will be responsible unless a partners come in to support," he said.

During Tropical Cyclone Freddy schools on Chisi Island were disturbed and this compelled school authority to closure the schools for learners’ safety but at the expense of child education.  

Standard 8 learners at Chisi were affected for about three months and were forced to leave their homes and join the other school upland to prepare for PSLCE examinations.

By Patricia Kapulula

Lilongwe, May 17, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has emphasized on the need to enhance climate smart agriculture in order to build self-reliant and climate resilient communities to address effects of climate change amongst communities.

He was speaking at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Friday during the launch of the Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) 2024 Flag Week.

He said climate smart agriculture that includes winter cropping through the use of irrigation technologies are important in addressing climate change related shocks.

“Presently, Malawi is in the midst of the state of disaster which I declared almost two months ago in 23 districts of the country on account of El Niño weather conditions that have destroyed much of the country’s food crops adding to the already acute food shortages caused by Cyclone Freddy last year, cyclones ANA and Gombe a year before,” he said.

The cyclone has left a total of nine million Malawians in need of food assistance this year.

President Chakwera, therefore, called upon Malawians to support MRCS whose work, he said, is important in the advancement of the welfare of Malawians.

“MRCS is an indispensable player with operations worth of our support. There is need to enhance response to humanitarian aid as implications of food crisis on public health are enormous and demand collaborative efforts to ensure that every Malawian household is reached with the necessary humanitarian support,” said Chakwera.

The President made a donation of K2 million towards the Flag Week.

Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, appealed to Malawians to join hands in helping MRCS raise funds for its humanitarian activities.

MRCS President Innocent Majiya, said the society is expected to raise K160 million that could see them having readily available funds in their reserves for emergencies.

He, therefore, appealed to well-wishers and the corporate world to support them with donations towards the cause.

“With so many global challenges competing for attention and resources, the Red Cross movement is committed to addressing the forgotten crises around the world.

“Beyond borders and amidst our diverse backgrounds, the unity of our movement lies in shared commitment to humanitarian action,” he said.

As part of activities to raise funds during the week, MRCS has organized a Cycling for Humanity which aims to raise K100 million for disaster response.

Two cyclists, Dziwani Mwachumu and Kenneth Chikazunga will, on Monday, cycle from Lilongwe to Blantyre on voluntary basis.

It is expected that Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima will send off the cyclists from Lilongwe whose cycle will take two days.

MRCS Flag Week, which is held to raise funds for various activities, follows commemoration of the Red Crescent Day which falls on May 8 every year.