By Rennie Tembo

Lilongwe, February 23, Mana: Opportunity International Malawi (OIM) is set to introduce a project targeting the ultra-poor in Lilongwe with an aim of improving household livelihood in rural areas in the district.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday during an interface meeting with stakeholders, OIM Country Director, Richard Chongo, said the project will benefit 120 households to the tune of K402 million in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Masula in the district.

Chongo said, despite government and other non governmental organisations assisting the ultra-poor with different interventions, there is still need for other players to come in and assist government in its quest to improve the status of the people especially in rural areas.

“As OIM, we will be working with female headed households with exceptions in some cases where the household is headed by a male child under the age of 18.

“The targeted households will be given K30,000 cash per month for six months with additional assets such as goats or pigs worth K350,000 per household to help them improve their livelihoods,” he said.

Chongo said they intend to achieve the project goals through the use of case workers employed by OIM who will help to provide adequate support to the beneficiaries. Each worker will support at least 30 households.

Lilongwe District Council Chief Economist, Dumisani Chiwala, thanked OIM for the initiative saying there are still many vulnerable people who need such assistance for their day to day living.

Chiwala urged OIM to follow government social support policies in identifying beneficiaries saying that is the only way of making sure that the project contributes to the Malawi 2063 blueprint through medium term implementation plan.

“I also call upon all those who will benefit from this project to make sure they use the support for the intended purpose so that poverty levels should be reduced,” he said.

According to OIM, 63 percent of people living in Lilongwe rural live below the poverty line.

Usiwa Watha Ultra Poor Project was also implemented in Blantyre rural in TA Machinjiri and TA Makata in Ndirande where many households have now graduated from poverty.

By Vincent Khonje

Mchinji, February 23, Mana: Beneficiaries in the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CSEPWP) in Mchinji are anticipating dual benefits from the programme.

CSEPWP is a component under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Programme (SSRLP) which aims at, among others, rehabilitating the degraded environment, strengthening households’ resilience to shocks and increasing household income.

Rhoda Mwerwa, a beneficiary from Luzare Catchment in Traditional Authority (TA) Nyoka, said in an interview that the programme gives hope to communities in two dimensions.

“We have worked on sub-projects that will help recover the environment and help the degraded soil to be like before. This will help us have more crop yield, at the same time we will earn money in form of wages for working in the sub-projects,” said Mwerwa.

She said, from the first phase of the programme, they are seeing significant results in that runoff water from the hills is being controlled and cannot destroy crops anymore.

Another beneficiary from Kamphoro Catchment in TA Kapunula said with the interventions under CSEPWP most farming fields have been saved.

“We have not seen runoff water from the hills destroying the fields because the stone bands and semi-secular bands we have constructed have helped slow down the water. We hope to have enough food for our families,” said Phiri who is part of a savings and loans group formed by CSEPWP beneficiaries.

Desk Officer for Luzare Catchment, Michael Mwenefumbo, said communities have now understood the importance of soil and water conservation.

“They understand that they are not only benefitting the wages but also protecting the environment which in turn has a bearing on their crop production. They have reclaimed gullies, planted trees, made contour ridges and are taking care of natural regenerants and all these have protected their fields,” said Mwenefumbo.

Chief Planning Officer for Mchinji, Martin Pindamkono, said the programme has progressed well in the district.

“Progress on the sub-projects has been good. We intensified supervision just to see that everything was in order,” said Pindamkono.

CSEPWP is funded by the World Bank and the Social Protection Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

By Christer Kalukusha

Lilongwe, February 23, Mana: In a bid of to connect youths in Malawi to different opportunities, mHub conducted a job and opportunity fair in Lilongwe which seeks to capacitate youths with different skills in entrepreneurship as well as job seeking.

Speaking at mHub offices in Area 15 in Lilongwe, mHub Communications Officer, Peter Chiwaula, said due to high unemployment rate among youths in the country, many are venturing into business hence the training to equip youths with skills for them succeed on the market.

"We are here to add value to what youths in the country are already doing; helping them in marketing skills, writing winning proposals and business plans, elevator pitching and accessing grants. So, we come in as a link to connect them to different stakeholders through these trainings," said Chiwaula.

Harvey Mmangisa, a participant who runs an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) business, Octet Systems, described the training as important saying it is a platform to meet potential clients.

He finds such conferences helpful as he has been equipped with skills that will scale up his business.

Managing Director for Thathwe Farms, Ngaaghila Chatata, who was one of the guest speakers, encouraged the youths to pursue their dreams and take such trainings seriously.

"There are opportunities out there but how you present them matters. As such, you need to be a self-starter and improve your curriculum vitae (CV) writing, proposals, pitching skills and, of course, continue to seek mentorship so that you stand out in the competition out there," she said.

The job and opportunity fair was organised by mHub in collaboration with GIZ through its Empowering Youth on Agribusiness (EYA) project which seeks to create jobs and improve skills for rural youth and women in Malawi.

The two-day training is also being held in Nsundwe, Traditional Authority Chimutu, Nkhoma nd Mitundu areas in Lilongwe district.

By James Mwale

Ntchisi, February 23, Mana: Ntchisi District Full Council has resolved that authorities should consider transferring some members of the District’s Health Management Team (DHMT) following complaints made by their junior staff who expressed dissatisfaction in the execution of their duties.

In a letter dated 19^th January, 2024, addressed to the District Commissioner, junior members of staff at Ntchisi District Health Office (DHO) demanded immediate transfers of the Director of Health Services (DHSS), Dr Alinafe Kalanga; District Medical Officer, Dr Yakobe Machira; District Environmental Health Officer, James Mtonga and Administrator, Lydia Sibale, among others.

The letter alleged that the stated members of the DHMT were, among other incompetencies, involved in inexplicable absenteeism during critical duty call hours, misappropriation of fuel logistics for ambulances and disregard of staff and patients’ welfare.

The letter, which gave a five-day ultimatum, was followed by protests from the junior workers including closure of hospital offices, marches to the DC’s offices and demonstrations by community members to hospital premises to prove dissatisfaction with the district council’s intervention to their grievances.

“Following this ‘tense atmosphere’ in the district, Ministers of Health and Local Government, along with their deputies and Principal Secretaries, visited the council’s secretariat and advised that the matter be presented before the district’s Full Council before a final decision can be made at ministerial level,” explained the Director of Planning and Development, Violet Kamasumbi who was representing the DC.

In an interview after the Full Council meeting on Thursday, Chairperson for the Council, Arnold Kapolo, said: “Having thoroughly gone through the grievances of the junior workers, and the defense from the members of the DHMT being complained of, we members of the full council have resolved that the five DHMT be transferred and replaced.”

The five had appeared before the district council’s secretariat where, in her defense, the DHSS had said she is mostly not in office because she is mostly engaged in managerial meetings and occupied with tending to other health service related issues as per dictated by her official duties.

The council, however, argued that her predecessors had executed the same duties but still remained in office hence her explanation was not convincing enough.

They resolved that since the members in question had proved to prefer to operate from Lilongwe for reasons not convincing enough to the council, it was in the best interest of everyone involved that they be relocated to areas of their professional comfort and be replaced with other willing peers.

However, Kapolo was quick to say that the Full Council had disapproved the way taken by the junior workers, which included closure of offices and influencing release of gule wamkulu to hospital premises during one of their demonstrations, to have their grievances addressed.

He said the council would send a delegation to engage the workers on proper procedural way of handling such grievances for future reference.

By James Mwale

Ntchisi, February 22, Mana: Build On Malawi, a nonprofit organization, has commenced construction of a two-classroom block in Chimbiri, Senior Chief Chilooko in Ntchisi upon whose completion is expected to accommodate at least 200 primary school learners.

Appreciating the development at the construction site during the ground breaking ceremony on Wednesday, Senior Chief Chilooko, said the school blocks are a critical intervention as learners in his area travel long distances to get to school, with some experiencing life-threatening encounters along the way.

He said: “Learners in my area have had challenging experiences travelling long distances to access the luxury of education. Some have even drowned in Mpherere River during rainy seasons while some have suffered sexual exploitation while returning from school during late hours.”

He, therefore, described the project as a life saver and asked for more blocks so that the area has a full primary school of classes from standard one to eight.

The project is engaging community members in the area who have so far ferried river sand to the site and moulded sunbaked bricks for the project.

According to Chief Operations Officer for Build On Global, Rosann Jager, the project is scheduled for completion in the next 12 weeks.

She said community involvement in the US$30,000 (approximately K50.4 million) project is one way of instilling a sense of ownership in the community members.

“We have a target of 40 school blocks for districts including Ntchisi which will have 15 school blocks,” said Jager.

It is expected that 40 blocks will be built in Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa and Ntcheu districts.

Jager commended community members for their involvement and hopes that other members in designated communities would emulate the gesture.          

Member of Parliament for Ntchisi North, Arnold Kadzanja, commended Build On for the project saying it is directly aligned to the Malawi 2063.

He said: “This development in my constituency has served more than one purpose because, on one end, the Constituency Development Fund meant for such a project will now be used to develop another area.”

Ntchisi District Council Human Resource Development Officer, Thokozani Dzekedzeke, said the Council is ready to support the initiative by, among other interventions, providing well qualified teachers and learning materials once classes are operational.

The school block project is being implemented under Build On Malawi’s “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty project.