MANAonline
WOFAD distributes goats to Blantyre women
By Benedicto Maguda
Blantyre, October 23, Mana: Women Fair Development (WOFAD) has distributed 190 goats to 95 women at Katete and Somba Villages, Traditional Authority Lundu in Blantyre as one way of empowering them to be productive in their respective families.
WOFAD Executive Director, Apostle Lindiwe Matanya, said recently that the organization will continue helping women by proving them with livestock and other requirements to improve their livelihood.
“Women need to be empowered and this is why we distributed goats to improve their income status at household level for better living standards,” he said.
WOFAD distributed 190 goats to 95 women such that each of the women received two goats through a programme called, Giving Machine with financial support from Mentors International.
“Our target is to help 350 women from both Traditional Authorities Kunthembwe and Lundu in Blantyre. We are doing this with funds from Mentors International,” she said, adding that WOFAD has put in place door to door monitoring mechanism to see impact.
The organization trained the recipients for two months in business management and how to care for the livestock before giving them the goats.
WOFAD Executive Director, therefore appealed to the women to take good care of the goats, saying the goats will provide a sustainable livelihood if well taken care of.
“It is unfortunate that some people abuse such kind of gesture. I man sure the women will not sell the goats because this will contribute a better livelihood,” she said, adding that WOFAD intends to discuss with Mentors International to introduce the programme to other parts of Malawi to empowering more women.
Mentors International, Country Director, Lameck Chisale said the organization partners very well with WOFAD because of similar goals as both seek to empower women.
Mentors international and WOFAD provide women with business management training to better empower women and youth for self-economic reliance, according to Chisale.
“Our aim is to ensure women and youth are living better life. We provide them with livestock such as goats and pigs so that they should improve their income for better living standards,
“This is why Mentors International thought of having partnership with WOFAD,” he said, adding that they were targeting to distribute over 2,700 goats to over 1,350 families in other parts of Malawi.
He said the goats’ dual purpose will achieve greater things at household level where recipients expect to use manure as alternative farm input.
“As they rear the goats, they will also able to secure manure that will be applied in their gardens for improved crop yield. They can also sell the goats once they are multiplied to improve household income.
“With improved income at household level, they should also be able to pay school fees for their children,” Chisale added.
Sarah Chinsewu from Katete area said was grateful for receiving the goats, adding that this was the beginning of another way of living,
She said the goats were an asset and also looked forward to make compost manure out of goat droppings for improved crop production.
Government pledges improved education standards in Neno district
By Wellington Sibale
Neno, October 24, Mana: Government has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing the quality of education in Neno district by addressing educational challenges, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
Deputy Minister of Education, Nancy Chaola Mdooko, made the remarks Wednesday, after touring a number of primary and secondary schools in the remote areas in the district, assessing the conditions under which students and teachers operate.
During the visit, Mdooko, expressed concern over the long distances learners travel to access education which affects their overall performance.
"The purpose of this tour was to motivate teachers working in hard-to-reach areas and to understand the challenges they face. As a ministry, we have noted the difficulties experienced by both learners and teachers and we are committed to addressing them," Mdooko said.
She emphasized that government aims at increasing the number of teachers in Neno to achieve a better student-teacher ratio.
However, Mdooko bemoaned the low attendance of girls in schools and stressed the need for programmes that encourage girls to pursue education.
Neno District Council's Director of Education and Sports, Foster Magombo, acknowledged that while educational performance in the district is improving, several challenges continue to hinder progress.
"One of the major setbacks is the lack of running motorbikes for Primary Education Advisors (PEAs), who are tasked with supervising teachers. Without motorbikes, our PEAs cannot effectively monitor the schools, contributing to poor performance at the national level," Magombo said.
Magombo pointed out that many students travel long distances to reach school which affects their focus and energy levels in class.
Mdooko also toured ICT laboratories in the district, which, according to Magombo were vital to improving education standards.
"In today’s digital world, access to ICT labs allows students to explore beyond their immediate environment. It brings them closer to information and new learning opportunities," Magombo added.
Moses Beyard, a student at Ligowe Community Day Secondary School (CDSS), said some of the issues facing his school including a shortage of classrooms and a lack of laboratory chemicals and apparatus.
However, he acknowledged the positive impact of the school’s ICT lab, which helps students better understand what they are taught.
The minister visited Chifunga CDSS, Domwe CDSS and primary school, Ligowe CDSS and primary school, Neno Mission CDSS and Chilimbondo Primary School.
MEC chairperson satisfied with voter turnout in Dedza
By Zenak Matekenya
Dedza, October 24, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja has expressed satisfaction with the 2025 General Election voter registration turnout in Dedza district.
She made the remarks Wednesday, a day after National Initiative for Civic Education and the Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice called for more voter registration awareness in the district after being concerned with low turnout.
“We have generally good turnout. In some centres, the numbers are very huge. We have had to deploy extra operators just to ensure that people are not queuing for too long,” she said after touring several centres in the district.
Justice Mtalimanja said MEC is confident that at the end of 14 days, Dedza district and all the phase one districts will have good registration.
The MEC Chairperson said though there were a few challenges with the deployment of materials, all centres were able to open by 8 o'clock in the morning.
She added that a contingent plan to ensure the availability of fuel for running generators also contributed to the effective implementation of the exercise.
Mtalimanja then downplayed claims that some people were sent back due to identification failure but pointed out that the challenge with QR code scanning on Monday was resolved by National Registration Bureau (NRB) technicians and everyone was able to register.
“No person has been sent back because of the challenge with an ID number. So far we have had no challenge that has affected the exercise,” she said.
She added that the new equipment is able to capture people faster and able to record bio-metrics which is critical for the credibility of the voter register.
NRB Principal Secretary, Mphasto Sambo said the bureau’s role in the registration process has started successfully.
He said the bureau has deployed at least an officer to each and every voter registration centre and has a pool of standby staff.
Sambo added that NRB’s role as stipulated by the law is to provide proof of identification right at the centre as the law requires only those with National Identity from NRB as eligible to register and vote in the general election.
“Anyone who registered with NRB is in our database. When someone has an issue they go to the NRB desk to report the matter.
“Such issues could be a broken ID or an ID which is not working with MEC equipment or maybe lost ID and many other things concerning the ID,” he said.
There are 266 registration centres in Dedza where registration for the 2025 General Election started on Monday, October 21, 2024, and is expected to close on November 3, 2024.
LWB pledges improved water supply among communities
By Prisca Promise Mashushu
Lilongwe, October 23, Mana: The Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) has committed to tackling water supply challenges in the Mloza Water Users Association (MWUA) with focus on curbing vandalism and illegal water sales while improving access to clean water at the same time.
Zone Manager for the Lilongwe Water Board’s Southern Zone, Dan Kafuka, said this during the MWUA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday.
Kafuka said the board is working to ensure the community has access to quality water by expanding the number of water kiosks and constructing a new water treatment plant in Area 23.
"As the Lilongwe Water Board, we are constructing a new water treatment centre that will improve water distribution across the area. In addition, we are collaborating with the Malawi Police Service to reduce cases of vandalism and raise awareness about the impact of illegal water sales," Kafuka said.
He emphasized that the ongoing Salima-Lilongwe water project is also a significant step towards ensuring that all residents, including those in Mloza, have sufficient and well-treated water to promote hygiene and healthy living standards.
The Zone Manager said the AGM, held in Area 23, Lilongwe, highlighted the persistent challenges faced by the MWUA, which covers Area 23, Area 21, Chilinde 1 and 2, and Area 44.
In his sentiment, Senior Chief Tsabango, Chairperson of the MWUA, acknowledged that vandalism and misinformation continue to affect access to water, urging collaboration with local leaders and law enforcement to impose stiff penalties on offenders.
"We are facing vandalism of water meters and other water resources, but through our partnership with the Lilongwe Water Board and the police, we are determined to stop these activities," said Senior Chief Tsabango.
Chief Tsabango also encouraged community members to reject misinformation about water kiosks and to cooperate in protecting vital water resources.
Commission calls for collaboration in child protection
By Sylvester Kumwenda
Dowa, October 23, Mana: The National Child Commission (NCC) has called for collaborative efforts in child protection interventions saying a nation that does not invest in children does not have solid foundations for the future.
NCC Chairperson, Bishop Vincent Mwakhwawa, made the remarks Wednesday in an interview with the Malawi News Agency (Mana) after an extraordinary District Executive Committee meeting held to introduce the NCC and its Commissioners to the council and its stakeholders.
He said if efforts in child protection are to bear fruits, there is need for collaboration at all levels.
“This meeting is aimed at bringing awareness to the council about the newly instituted NCC. Also, council coordinates and works with various players, institutions organizations in child protection. And for us to monitor, supervise and coordinate these players up to the grassroot level, we need this council as an entry point.
“We also wanted to appreciate the status and map out how the NCC can work with the council, and enhance coordination and collaboration in child related issues in the district,” he said.
Mwakhwawa highlighted that this effective collaboration can lay good pillars in protecting children and a strong foundation for the future of this country.
He said the meeting also provided a chance for stakeholders to provide what he said was advice to the NCC.
“Some of the takeaway points include that we should not take this as business as usual. But we should adhere to independence and avoid outside influences, be aggressive and innovative, and work in our mandate as people are waiting for a lot from the commission,” he said.
Amongst other things, he said the NCC will enhance monitoring to bring discipline, accountability and transparency in child protection related activities.
Mwakhwawa said the NCC was working towards resource mobilization to work and support institutions and also setting up structures to fully institutionalize the commission.
Chief Administrative Officer for the council, Mathews Mkandawire, said the meeting was fruitful as it adds an extra gear in child protection related activities.
“What all of us here want is to improve the lives of our children, whether in education, health, their rights and other issues. This meeting opens doors to better engagements between the council and its partners, and the NCC.
“Above all, you are also welcome in the district at any time to monitor our activities which we do in regard to protecting, supporting, developing and investing in our children,” he said.
Kasungu farmers encouraged to use goat farming as a business
By Wanangwa Tembo
Kasungu, October 24, Mana: CML Farm Enterprise on Wednesday donated 240 goats to smallholder farming households at Katenje, Traditional Authority Santhe in Kasungu District to build their livelihood resilience and improve their economic status.
Founder and Director of the Agronomic and Horticultural Crops off-taker Chifundo Chiphazi said the communities in the area have for a long time concentrated on crop farming; ignoring livestock, which she said, has great potential to boost their economic status.
“We wanted to encourage our farmers whom we work with to also consider goat farming as a business and not just concentrate on crop farming as we have been doing.
“The idea is that we want to uplift the livelihoods of the rural communities. It’s also an incentive to the farmers that we have been working with over the years,” Chiphazi said.
She said as an off-taker in the horticulture and agronomic value chain operating in the area, the entity supports the farmers in various ways including provision of farm inputs and training in business management.
“So we want to incentivize our relationship with farmers by providing these goats which we have distributed to the first cohort of the beneficiaries.
“The expectation is that this initiative will also boost crop farming. The manure from goats will make us go fully organic,” she said.
At least 48 households received five goats each in a pass-on arrangement that will benefit 200 families.
Group Village Simphasi expressed excitement with the initiative saying it will boost the community’s economic status and help families to support their children’s education.
She appealed beneficiaries to take care of the livestock so that those on the waiting list can also benefit in fulfillment of the project’s objective.
Valued at K14.7 million, the goats were sourced from Mentors International, an organization which focuses on business training for smallholder farmers to lift them from poverty to sustainable self-reliance.
Samson Moyo, a mentor at the organization said the goats were supplied under the institution’s Giving Machine Project with financial assistance from the Church of Jesus for the Latter Day Saints.
“We will supply a total of 400 goats in two of the district’s extension planning areas.
“Our expectation is very positive because the farmers have been mentored and will operate as a business so we expect to see a huge impact on the economic status of the beneficiary households,” Moyo said.
Traditional Authority Kabuthu hails impact of E-payment for SCTP beneficiaries
By Ireen Mseteka
Likoma, October 23, Mana: Traditional Authority (TA) Kabuthu of Chizumulu Island in Likoma District, Tuesday, applauded government for introducing E-Payment system for transferring stipends to beneficiaries of Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) in the district.
Kabuthu was speaking during an extra ordinary full council meeting where Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare briefed stakeholders on the development.
He said that the transition of transfers payment system from manual to E-payment will ensure that beneficiaries access their money with ease.
“On behalf of the people of Chizumulu Island and the district as a whole, I thank government for this initiative. This has put us at par with other districts which embraced E-payment system sometime back,” said Kabuthu.
Chairperson for Likoma District Council, Barnabas Sambamo said that the new payment system is in line with digital era which he said is being embraced worldwide.
He then assured the beneficiaries of the effectiveness of E-payment system saying it is a secure and faster means for payment.
Principal Social Welfare Officer in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Gilbert Kaponda then advised stakeholders to sensitize people in their localities on the initiative.
“It is our responsibility to inform people about this system so that they embrace,” said Kaponda.
Government commits to address fuel shortage
By Sheminah Nkhoma
Lilongwe, October 23, Mana: Minister of Information and Digitalisation Moses Kunkuyu has said government is working tirelessly to ensure that fuel is available in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday during a press briefing in Lilongwe, Kunkuyu said government understands the difficulties, which Malawians are facing due to fuel shortage and how it has affected many lives.
He said the shortage of fuel has come due to accumulated debts owed to fuel suppliers and shortage of forex.
“Government is doing everything possible to normalise the situation by among others borrowing money from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) to buy more fuel for the country,” said Kunkuyu.
He further stated that government has allocated 21.5 million United States dollars to fuel importers as a way of lessening the burden.
“44 tankers are already in the country and additional fuel supplies are on the way, including 29 trucks carrying 1.1 million litres of petrol, 30 wagons transporting 1.2 million litres of petrol, 150 trucks delivering 5.7 million litres of petrol and nine trucks carrying 350,000 litres of diesel to restore the country's fuel supply”, he said.
In his remarks, Chief Executive Officer for National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) Clement Kanyama said that the country continues to receive a constant supply of fuel and that the current fuel shortage will be electrified soon.
Kanyama assured Malawians of NOCMA’s commitment and unwavering dedication to ensure the availability of fuel in the country.
ACCEL Africa project celebrates success in the fight against child labour
By Eunice Disi Lole
Lilongwe, October 22, Mana: Chief Technical Adviser of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Project ACCEL Africa, Minoru Ogasawara has expressed satisfaction with the successful conclusion of the child labour elimination project.
Ogasawara made the remarks on Tuesday during the celebrations of the success of the Project in Malawi which was held at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC).
‘The project has extremely been successful by bringing together all technical expertise within ILO and working together with different stakeholders namely Ministry of Labour, Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) and Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM),” he said.
He added that through these collaborations they had a comparative advantage and it is what made it possible for them to address child labour and the supply chain in a comprehensive manner.
Deputy Labour Commissioner, Wafwile Musukwa expressed gratitude to ILO for bringing together key partners in the tea and coffee sectors who are working in a very collaborative way and due to that, a lot of progress has been made in child labour elimination.
“Communities have received a lot of sensitization on child labour and the employers in the tea and coffee sectors have also been capacitated on how to identify and prevent child labour in the activities that they are doing and the approach is to tackle child labour in the supply chain,” said Musukwa.
Speaking during an interview, one of the beneficiaries from the project, Lucia Raphael Lastone from Thyolo commended ACCEL Africa for rescuing her from working at a tea estate and changing her life for the better. She was given a chance to go to a technical college where she did fabrication and welding.
With the skills that I have acquired I will be able to run my own business and support my family and all this has been made possible due to ACCEL Africa project,” She said.
The project’s overarching goal has been to accelerate the elimination of child labour in Africa through targeted actions in selected supply chains in Cote d’ivoire, Egypt, Malawi, Mali Nigeria and Uganda.
In Malawi, the focus has been on the tea and coffee industries, both of which are critical to the country’s economy and particularly vulnerable to child labour.
Sauli advocates for a comprehensive scholarship program to support the needy
BY Gift Chiponde
Lilongwe, August 27, Mana: Biggers Sauli, a Malawian-born educator specializing in Chinese language and Literature, has passionately urged secondary school administrators in Malawi to grant scholarships to deserving students, drawing on his own extraordinary journey as a testament to the transformative influence of education.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA) Sauli highlighted that he was granted a pivotal scholarship to enroll at Maranatha Boys Academy in Blantyre, where he excelled in his academic pursuits from 2014 to 2016.
He noted that the opportunity paved the way for him to pursue a bachelor's degree at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), and that he is currently embarking on his first year of a Master's Degree program in Chinese language and Literature in China.
"Secondary education is pivotal in shaping one's trajectory.
"It serves as the gateway to higher education and ultimately a prosperous career. I stand as living proof of this assertion," Said Sauli.
In his remarks, Ernest Kaonga, the Managing Director of Maranatha Academy, expressed admiration for Sauli's accomplishments, saying the institution is committed to fostering excellence and providing top-notch education, we take immense pride in the impact we have had in our community.
"We take great pleasure in Sauli's narrative and we are exceedingly proud of him and all those who have preceded and succeeded him courtesy of Maranatha.
"Sauli's remarkable odyssey stands as a beacon of hope for numerous young Malawians, underscoring the crucial role that education plays in unlocking individual potential and propelling national progress," said Kaonga.
Kaonga further stated that Sauli's tale serves as an inspiration for a new generation of scholars to pursue their aspirations, undeterred by any obstacles.
