By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, May 28, Mana: Mother to businessperson Frank Mvalo and in-law to Justice Minister Titus Mvalo, Agnes Grace Mvalo, has been laid to rest in Traditional Authority Mabilabo’s Emanyaleni Village in Mzimba at a ceremony attended by Vice President Saulos Chilima.

In his eulogy, Inkosi Mabilabo described the deceased as a mother and pillar for many people within and beyond her home village.

"We have lost not just a woman but a mother and pillar that anchored this village and beyond," he said.

Family representative Peter Mvalo also described the late Mvalo as a loving and hard working mother.

"Her departure is a great loss to the family. Her death is a shock to us," he said.

He said Mvalo got sick while in South Africa where she had gone to cheer her sick sister.

He expressed gratitude to the Malawian High Commissioner in South Africa for assisting the family with arrangements to repatriate the body to Malawi.

The late Agnes Grace Mvalo, who worked as a secretary and a teacher before joining NBS Bank, was born in 1946 and died Tuesday last week aged 78.

A dedicated member of the Anglican Church, she is survived by two children and eight grandchildren.

By Sellah Chunda

Lilongwe, May 28, Mana: Head of Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), Janet Banda, has said that the mining sector requires 40 percent of the electricity generated from the national grid to support various activities.

Speaking at the launch of the pre-lab meeting held at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) on Tuesday in Lilongwe, Banda highlighted the significant challenges faced by the industry and the need for stakeholder coordination to enhance mineral management in the country.

She noted that despite facing issues such as electricity shortages, political will has been crucial in driving sector transformation.

"The mining sector struggles with inadequate infrastructure, particularly in energy access and roads, lack of capacity, lengthy bureaucratic procedures for obtaining licenses and signing agreements, and insufficient investments.

“We have identified energy access as a key challenge because the mining sector needs at least 230 megawatts, which constitutes 40% of the country's current generation capacity," she explained.

Banda further emphasized government's commitment to transforming the mining sector by establishing cooperatives, signing agreements, and improving the value chain.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Mining, Joseph Mkandawire, also stressed the importance of the pre-lab meeting in identifying issues hindering the sector's progress.

He added that the public would benefit from the sector if mining development agreements are advanced.

"There is progress in the mining sector, but it needs enhancement. Kanengo is using our coal, and road construction is utilizing our quarries, which shows progress. Now, we seek companies that will export our minerals. This is why we are advancing mining development agreements for the country's benefit," Mkandawire stated.

By Eunice Disi Lole

Lilongwe, May 28, Mana: President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday received letters of credence from Mozambique Ambassador Alexandre Herculano Manjate at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.

 Speaking to journalists after presenting his letters of credence, Manjate expressed his eagerness to build a strong partnership between Malawi and Mozambique, focusing on increasing trade, transportation and energy through the Malawi-Mozambique electricity interconnection.

He said the partnership will create opportunities for both countries to enhance integrated business between their communities.

Speaking on behalf of President Chakwera, presidential spokesperson Anthony Kasunda reaffirmed Chakwera’s commitment to strengthening relations with the Government of Mozambique.

He said the president has made it a point to be in good terms with Mozambique, as it is beneficial to Malawi’s economy when it comes to trade and transportation of goods, as well as in the agriculture sector where Malawi’s fertilizer is transported through Mozambican ports.

“Mozambique and Malawi have been in bilateral relations for quite a long time and, as we all know, Malawi is a landlocked country and, as such, it relies on Mozambican ports to receive goods from other countries hence the need to strengthen the bond,” Kasunda said.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, May 27, Mana: Minister of Agriculture Sam Dalitso Kawale has asked people in Dowa to own projects to ensure sustainability.

He was speaking on Monday at Chibanzi Community Day Secondary in Dowa after he launched construction works of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) lab at the school.

The lab is one of the 75 smart labs the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is constructing across the country, 73 in CDSS's, one in a national secondary and one in a primary school.

"Sustainability of every project heavily relies on community ownership of that project. If a community requests something and we have provided that project or service, it is imperative that they have to be fully involved in that project.

We have seen in other scenarios the community abandoning a project, even failing to make small maintenances as a community, waiting for the one who provided that project to maintain it. There is no way we as a nation can develop like that.

"That is why we encourage chiefs, citizens, parents, students to take care and take ownership of projects like these so they may be sustained," he said.

Kawale said access to ICT services will help students at the school to access quality education within their localities, and open various linkages to the global world for both learners and the community.

He then urged learners to avoid spending time on the internet on useless things but use it for their career and personal development.

The labs are being constructed under MACRA's Universal Service Fund through the Connect a School project.

MACRA IT Manager Gabriel Alli said as Malawi 2063 agenda envisions all Malawians to have access to ICT services, young people must also be empowered technologically.

"Through these labs, learners will have access to computer, online lessons, coding, programming, research and other things which is an important step in the digitalization vision of Malawi.

And for the community, they will be able to access the internet at a radius of 100 meters which they can use for their socio-economic activities," he said.

In his remarks, Head-teacher for the school, Lawrence Samuel Mtembe thanked the minister who is also parliamentarian for Dowa north east for spearheading the construction of the lab at the school.

"This lab is vital to us because unlike other nearby schools, our infrastructure here is old and we lose a lot of students to other schools, but this development will attract many learners to this school.

But most importantly, the lab will help our learners access important information and help teachers in various ways like keeping records, as such improving the quality of education here. We promise to take good care of the construction resources and lab equipment," he said.

Senior Chief Nsakambewa representative thanked government for the lab but asked for staff houses at the school observing that many teachers at the school reside far from the school due to lack of school teachers’ houses. This he said was a challenge in provision of quality education.

By Pempho Nkhoma

Blantyre, May 27, Mana: Thoms Park Events Management has organized a music show on Saturday, June 1 at Melusi Park in Lilongwe to celebrate 10 years of existence on the music and entertainment scene.

Director of Thoms Park Events Management, Thomson Madulira told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that they have organized the show to bring people together to celebrate 10 years they have been in the event management and entertainment industry.

“We want to celebrate the 10 years that we have been organizing music shows and managing various events in the country “, Madulira said.

He therefore appealed to music and entrainment lovers to patronize the Melusi Park show, promising that the show will be a massive one.

He said the show is a “must be there” because all invited artists have confirmed to perform and further promised that the setup up for the show will be different from others.

“All artists who were invited to perform have confirmed that they are coming and Thoms Park will bring something new. The setup will be different from other shows and this is why l am calling all music and entertainment lovers to come and celebrate with us,” he said.

He added that there will be other activities like raffle draw where people will win prices like t-shirts and caps.

One of the artists who is set to perform on the day, Eli Njuchi promised fun and nonstop entertainment to those that will attend the show.

“On Saturday, Melusi Park is the place to be. There will be fun and people will be entertained,” he said.

Apart from Eli Njuchi, Lulu other performers such as Giboh Pearson, Joe Gwaladi, Mwanache, Ma Blacks and Anthony Makondetsa and other supporting artists will take their turns on stage from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am the next day.

The Lilongwe based Thoms Park Events Management has over the period, organized several music shows in the country including; North Beach Music Festival in Nkhata Bay, Kelly K vs Lulu at M1 Center Point in Lilongwe, Summer Slam at Kameza’s Club 27/7 in Blantyre

By Moses Nyirenda

Lilongwe, May 27, Mana: Minister of Labour, Agnes Nyalonje has advised tobacco growers and concerned players in tobacco industry to avoid child and forced labour when producing tobacco if the country’s tobacco is to attract international buyers.

She made the remarks on Monday in Lilongwe during the launch of Agriculture Labour Practice Code for Malawi which was organized by The Tobacco Commission and Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation (ECLT).

Nyalonje said that tobacco produced using child and forced labour do not please tobacco buyers on international market hence the stakeholders in tobacco production in the country should involve it when producing their tobacco.

“As far as the customers of tobacco are concerned globally, any tobacco which was produced using child and forced labour cannot sell on a global stage.

Therefore because Malawi’s economy is dependent on tobacco it is the duty of all the players in the industry to make sure we do not use child and forced labour if we are to sell our tobacco on the global market,” Nyalonje said.

She therefore commended the launching of Agriculture Labour Practice Code for Malawi saying it would help address the issue of child, forced labour and exploitation of workers which occur during tobacco production.

“The code is going to enforce that we achieve wellbeing of the workers and children, through that we will improve productivity of our tobacco and that will facilitate the generation of more forex,” she said.

Speaking at the same function Tobacco Commission Board Chairperson, Dr Godfrey Chapola said there is need to take concrete steps in dealing with issues of child and forced labour in the country’s tobacco industry if the industry is to thrive.

He further applauded the launching of Agriculture Labour Practice Code for Malawi saying that would help deal with human rights violations which happen in tobacco production in the country.

“At the Tobacco Commission, we are happy that after more than 100 years of tobacco production, the industry now has a way of dealing with human rights violations in the production of our green gold,” Chapola said.

ECLT Foundation National Consultant, Andrew Namakhoma said the launching of Agriculture Labour Practice Code for Malawi is great milestone for the country highlighting that it would assist to monitor and follow what is happening in tobacco industry.

The launch of Agriculture Labour Practice Code for Malawi brought together officials from Ministry of Labour, Tobacco Commission, Agricultural Research and Extension Trust (ARET) as well as other key stakeholders from the country’s tobacco industry.

By Vida Msiyo

Blantyre, May 27, Mana:  A 28 year’s old pencil sketch artist Esmeralda Julio Zwaki, has bemoaned lack of support for arts from the public saying she is contemplating on quitting the stage.

“Whenever I am hired for clients work, it often doesn't end well. They either don't pay me or stop responding to my calls,” the artist added and confessed that the reality is quite different from her expectations.

 Zwaki started sketching when she was young and drawing was her passion.

“Growing up, writing was my only friend. I had no friends but drawing was my passion,” Zwaki told Malawi News Agency on Monday.

The Chigumula based artist who completed her secondary education said no one inspired her but just developed a passion on drawing with her lead pencil.

“No one inspired me; I just developed passion for drawing,” said Zwaki who started drawing at 11.

Despite her talent, Zwaki struggles to get support from people in a society where she expected women to receive more encouragement and attention.

In 2022 Zwaki expected to participate in an exhibition at Chigumula in Blantyre but failed to do so due to lack of financial support.

With a string of frustration, the artist said was considering quitting to look for other things to do.

“I am passionate about pencil sketch drawing but I feel let down in most times. This led to me to do few sketches,” she added.

Currently she does sketches that depicts issues to do with gender based violence citing rape and bullying. 

Gilbert Mpakule, President of the Visual Arts Association of Malawi, urged artists not to be discouraged.

“No matter what happens, when you have a passion for art, things will work out over time,” he added.

Mpakule said artists need support to progress with the skill and urged people to pay even ever they hire an artist.

“When an artist is hired, it is important to pay for the work because this encourages the artist to work hard. Some might not like the art but some might look at it and appreciate.” he added.