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Rehabilitated Mchinji Community Ground reopens
By Majona Jabesi Mnjuzi
Mchinji, May 6, Mana: Mchinji Community Ground reopened its gates with a grand ceremony on Sunday, marking the completion of extensive renovations aimed at bringing the stadium up to modern standards.
Expressing her satisfaction, Dorothy Musa, chairperson of Mchinji Council, hailed the reopening as a symbol of progress and development in the district.
"This ground has all relevant structures that enable it to be one of the best grounds in Mchinji and even the country at large. The reopening of the stadium will advance football sporting activities and will unearth hidden football talent among youths here in Mchinji," she said.
The ground also received praise from Antonio Manda, General Secretary of the Central Region Football Association (CRFA), who commended the district council for prioritizing sports development.
"CRFA is committed and will continue working with various councils to ensure several teams from districts have been promoted into the Super League of Malawi," said Manda.
The refurbished Mchinji Community Ground boasts a fully grassed pitch, changing rooms, a VIP stand, ablution blocks for football fans, and a basketball court.
The reopening ceremony also featured a football match between Mchinji Select and Nyasa Big Bullets Reserve, and the Bullets' youth team won the match by a goal to nil.
Times and ZBS dominate media awards
By Evance Chisiano
Mangochi, May 5, Mana: The 2024 Misa media awards, Times Group emerged number one media house of the year TV category and top media house of the year in the print category while Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) took position one in the media house of the year, radio category.
The awards presentation and gala was part of the World Press Freedom Day commemorations which took place Saturday evening at Sun bird Nkopola in Mangochi.
According to the judges Times TV remains unbiased in its presentation of news and other programmes that engages the public and that Times newspapers uncover issues of public concerns such as corruption and poor governance in both public and private sector,
The Judges rated ZBS radio as number one station that was unbiased in news presentation and programming and at the 2024 facilitates public engagement on issues of national concerns.
The hall was filled with jubilation as the two media houses went in front to receive their awards with chants of self praises to celebrate their recognition as most outstanding media entities.
Others that jumped to their feet in jubilation were individuals that won trophies and prizes in various categories such as photo journalist of the year.
Bembeke FM of Dedza and Chanco Community Radio Station of Zomba saw their reporters winning trophies sand prizes mostly laptops.
National Bank of Malawi, Malawi Communication Authority (Macra), FDH bank, Ekhaya Luxury Resorts, Gazette Media, Lilongwe Water Board, Old Mutual, US Embassy, Water Aid, Plan Malawi, the British High Commission were some of those that sponsored categories in the 2024 Misa Media Awards.
Before the award presentation, Kunkuyu said government would ensure press freedom and would not stop the media from discharging their duties saying the media plays a crucial role in national development.
“We will stand with all that will stand to protect freedom of the press,” Kunkuyu said, adding that government was committed to promoting and defending press freedom against all forces that impinge on the press freedom.
US Embassy Charge d' Affaires, Amy Diaz said the US value press freedom saying media freedom part of true democracy, adding that press freedom and democracy go hand in hand.
She said the media in the country is defender of democracy, adding that the US Embassy would partner with the media in contributing to fair and credible elections.
Commissioner responsible for Media and Civic Education at the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Francis Kasaila said the Commission values the role of the press in informing citizens on electoral matters.
2024 World Press freedom Day was commemorated under the theme ’guardians of democracy; Championing Free and Independent Media for Credible Elections’.
He disclosed that MEC would ensure that the media was well oriented on the electoral process and amended electoral laws before 2025 general elections.
Salima Youths to benefit from PWP
By Fostina Mkandawire
Salima, May 5, Mana: Youths in Salima district have hailed the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CSEPWP) for improving their livelihoods.
Speaking after receiving her wages for cycle three of the CS-EPWP at Ngodzi in the area of Senior Chief Kambalame on Saturday, Amina Maulana, 20 hailed the programme for making her self-reliant after working for all the three cycles.
She said she managed to join a Village Savings Group where she has managed to save enough money to start selling second hand clothes.
"Working under this programme has improved my life, through the business I am able to buy myself necessary items such as clothes, helping my parents with small things like buying soap, salt and sometimes relish," Maulana said.
Another participant, Joseph Chituwire 27, from Chenkhumba Village in the area of Senior Chief Kambalame, said he now feels like a productive and responsible citizen after being enrolled into the programme, since he was now working towards restoring the environment.
"We felt neglected for a long time because most programmes were centered on the elderly and children but with this one we have been considered, working for three cycles under this programme has assisted me to have a better outlook about social protection programmes," he said.
On his part, Edward Kalonga, 21 from the area of Senior Chief Ndindi said they receive K 28,800 after working for 24 days a month in each cycle adding that he has managed to buy local chickens which was rearing and manages to sale when he needs to buy food items.
Acting Youth Officer for the district, Samuel Chimwaza said unemployment was one of the biggest challenges that the district is facing, therefore having programmes that incorporate the youth to earn an income is commendable.
He said 70 percent of the district's population consists of the youth, therefore if a larger part of the population is staying idle means there would be more cases of theft and vandalism, a development which would be worrisome.
"Most of the youths after receiving their wages, they saved money and have invested in small scale businesses making themselves self-reliant and this has led them to become responsible citizens who are contributing to the development of the district," he said.
Salima District Council is disbursing wages for cycle three of the programme in 16 catchments implementing different projects all working towards environmental restoration and management.
CS-EPWP is a component under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP).
The SSRLP is a government project funded by the Multi Donor Trust Fund facilitated by National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) in all the 28 district councils.
Kuti Wildlife Reserve now protected by law
By Lekereni Chinkhota
Salima, May 5, Mana: Salima District Council and communities surrounding Kuti Wildlife Reserve Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as a measure of conserving and protecting the natural resources in and around the reserve.
The signing ceremony took place in area of Senior Chief Kalonga and was facilitated by Assemblies of God Care (AG Care) Malawi in collaboration with the District Forestry Office.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Executive Director of AG Care Malawi, Brown Banda underscored the importance of stakeholders to work collaboratively in conserving the reserve.
“We work with communities for sustainability of our projects and we engage communities to take ownership of whatever interventions we are doing," he said.
Banda said the signing ceremony was symbolic because they have already been working with the communities for a long time to conserve the natural resources around their areas.
He added that, “The communities were able to protect the forest but there was no commitment that was made or had with the district council. But now we feel they will abide by the regulations and all the procedures put together and harmonize all forest reserves in terms of how they are operating.”
The Director said that communities have started taking ownership in terms of managing natural resources and they are showing their commitment to work with the government in conserving the wildlife reserve.
Chairperson for Salima District Council, Chifungo Katoweka said the MOU would bring together the communities and the council to work towards the protection of Kuti Reserve.
“We have been receiving many cases involving the Kuti Wildlife Reserve. Today, the chiefs with help from AG Care have led their people in an agreement to protect the reserve.
"We believe that we will now work in peace together in conserving the reserve without conflicts from either side," he said.
Katoweka noted that, "There were misunderstandings between the Kuti management and the surrounding communities that fueled the deforestation and destruction of the reserve. Salima District Council will be overseer of the MoU to make sure that Kuti is being protected even when the partners leave their areas."
Senior Chief Kalonga emphasized that the MoU would bring peace and promote collaborative working environment that will benefit the people and the reserve.
“We will follow the signed MoU to keep the promise of protecting Kuti and all wildlife reserves in Salima with all its natural resources. The MoU will help us to work well with different partners that will share with us the same vision of protecting the reserve,” he said.
Kuti Management promised to give back to the community by helping them with farming and empowering them to find other means of generating income.
The signing ceremony took place at Senior Chief Kalonga’s headquarters in the district, it will be extended to Traditional Authorities (TAs) Kambwiri and Chisamba in the subsequent days.
Kamuzu Barracks moved second on the log table
By Tione Andsen
Lilongwe, May 5, Mana: TNM Super League Champions for 2016, Kamuzu Barracks (KB) have moved to second position after claiming a 1-0 win over 14th placed, Bangwe All Stars at Aubrey Dimba stadium in Mchinji.
Kamuzu Barracks have put themselves in a frame of being title contenders rekindling their 2016 sojourn and have 11 points from five games and have scored eight goals against four.
KB scored their goal through Zeliat Nkhoma in the 38th minute when he converted a penalty making leading goal scorer of the season with five goals.
Nkhoma was at par with Silver Strikers dual of Adiel Kaduya and Binwell Katinji with four goals each.
Kamuzu Barracks have climbed three steps up and have frog jumped Mzuzu City Hammers, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers are and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets from position five to two.
Mzuzu City Hammers have dropped to third from second, Wanderers to fourth from third while Bullets have moved fifth from fourth.
Hammers were held to 1-1 draw against Moyale Barracks on Saturday and have 10 points while Bullets and Wanderers shared the spoils in 1-1 Blantyre derby and have nine points each.
Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos posted their first win of the season after beating Mafco 3-0 at home.
They are slowly make their home turf fortress as they managed to hold both FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Silver Strikers to 1-1 draws.
When they played away they lost to Civil Sporting Club 3-0 and they pulled a 0-0 draw against Moyale Barracks in Mzuzu.
They have six points and have moved to 10th position from 13 and have scored five and conceded five.
The injection of Premier Bet sponsorship amounting to K 100 million has acted as a morale boaster to the team and the win has justified their appreciation to their new sponsor.
The defeat has just heaped misery to struggling Mafco who were baptized last weekend when they suffered 5-1 hammering at the hands of the current league leaders, Silver Strikers.
Mafco are still stuck in the relegation zone at number 15 with two points from five games and have conceded 11 goals and they been able to put the ball at back of the net three times.
Civil Service United collected maximum points when they narrowly beat FOMO 1-0 with the goals scored by striker, Emmanuel Savieli.
The Servants have now six points from five games, have not moved and they are still on 11th position.
With the defeat FOMO has dropped from position nine to 12 with six position owing to their wins over Bangwe All Stars and Chitipa United at home.
Karonga United and Creck Sporting played out to a 1-1 draw in Karonga and the former is till on position 7 with eight points while the latter have seven points but still on position eight.
Mighty Waka-Waka Tigers on Thursday pulled a 92nd stunner through Precious Chipungu to claim three points over Chitipa united in Karonga.
With the win, Tigers have moved to position nine with seven points while Chitipa has dropped to position 13 from 12.
Three teams namely Bangwe All Stars, Mafco and Baka City are still struggling to move out of relegation.
Silver Strikers are leading the pack with 13 points from five games.
Traditional leaders told to champion mindset change
By Memory Chatonda
Blantyre, May 5, Mana: National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust has encouraged traditional leaders to raise awareness on mindset change among their subjects for the attainment of Malawi 2063.
NICE, Blantyre District Advisory Forum (DAF) Chairperson, Ken Mdala said this on Saturday at Traditional Authority (TA) Chigaru in Blantyre during community engagement meeting with community leaders and Citizen Forum members on transformative leadership.
He said apart from traditional leaders being the custodians of culture, they have a role to guide their subjects towards prosperity and self-reliance.
“We wanted to share with the traditional leaders what we call transformational leadership skills just to prepare them as they will be engaging their subjects. The issue about mindset change basically means that if the leadership is not vibrant, development fails.
“So we want chiefs to champion mindset change and, most importantly, to be in the forefront to demand transparency and accountability of development projects being implemented in their areas. As NICE, we will only guide them on the steps to take,” Mdala added.
Group Village Head (GVH) Kaphikamtama thanked NICE Trust for organizing the meeting, describing it as crucial in empowering and reminding the chiefs of their role in development.
He pledged to engage his subjects on the mindset change agenda and encouraged the youth, women, and disadvantaged groups to take up leadership positions in electoral processes.
Chakwera set to attend 2024 US-Africa Business Summit
By Gift Chiponde and Kondwani Banda
Lilongwe, May 5, Mana: All is set for 2024 US-Africa Business Summit which is scheduled to commence on May 6, 2024 in Dallas, Texas, with President. Dr Lazarus Chakwera among the African leaders taking part.
During the visit, President Chakwera is expected to hold bilateral talks and investment agreements among other engagements.
The Summit and all other engagements will provide another platform for Malawi to bolster its economic transformation.
Since ascending to power in 2020, President Chakwera has consistently articulated his vision for Malawi's economic transformation.
Central to this vision is the shift towards a more export-oriented economy.
President Chakwera's economic roadmap aims to elevate Malawi to a middle-income status by 2063, with a focus on strategic sectors such as Agriculture, Tourism, and Mining, affectionately called the ATM strategy. With a practical action plan in place, government is steadfast in its commitment to translating this vision into tangible results.
Minister of Tourism, Vera Kamtukule who is part of the Malawi Delegation said the summit would provide a platform for the country to promote the ATM strategy.
"As a country, the gesture to participate in this forum is an indication that Malawi is open for possible markets and this will help us as a country to market our products and services," she said.
The Minister indicated that the forum would serve as a catalyst for collaboration among the African nations to promote and develop tourism and other business deals.
"You can see that the forum has attracted African heads of state, and this will give us an opportunity to discuss bilateral talks in various sectors and how we can collaborate in various fields"
This will give us an opportunity to connect our private sector with other private sectors within Africa as well as the private sector in America, " she said.
Upon his arrival, President Chakwera was welcomed by Malawi and US senior government officials, including Malawi's Ambassador to the US, Dr Agness Chimbiri.
The high-level summit has attracted African Heads of State and Government, Public Sector Executives, International Investors, and US and African government officials among others.
Government pledges adherence to upholding media freedom
By Evance Chisiano & Martin Chiwanda
Mangochi, May 4, Mana: Minister of Information and Digitization, Moses Kunkuyu has said government will continue to uphold media freedom and will not allow unfair arrests of journalists in the course of carrying out their duties.
Kunkuyu gave the assurance at Sun Bird Nkopola Leisure Centre in Mangochi during the 2024 MISA Malawi Annual Media Award Gala Dinner.
He said there is a political will in safeguarding media freedom in Malawi as has always been demonstrated by the State President, Lazarus Chakwera on commitment to freedom of the press.
Kunkuyu’s sentiments come barely two days after Chakwera during the presidential breakfast in Lilongwe as part of World Press Freedom Day at State House in Lilongwe, said he had never ordered the police to arrest any journalist and will never do that.
The minister, therefore, said this was evidence enough of the assurance to press freedom which is also in the country’s constitution.
“The president values press freedom. Government will stand with all who protect freedom of the press,” Kunkuyu said, noting that for decades the media in Malawi has gone through a lot of challenges such that the current administration was committed to do more on the press freedom than previous regimes.
MISA Malawi Vice chairperson Chisomo Ngulube said MISA Malawi wanted media freedom during the 2025 general election, adding that the media is crucial in attaining free, fair and credible elections.
“As MISA Malawi, we will continue to report cases of police searching media gadgets, arrests, physical attacks in football matches,” Ngulube added while calling for unconditional guarantee in media freedom.
On the annual media awards, Ngulube expressed gratitude to all those who submitted their entries in various media categories.
“We received overwhelming entries despite limited time,” Ngulube said.
United States (US) Embassy Charge D’Affaires, Amy Diaz said the US Government values press freedom and applauded Malawi for its Access to Information Act.
“This is an important piece of legislation. Freedom of press and democracy go hand in hand,” she said, adding that the Access to Information Act is a true commitment to open press, freedom of press and true democracy.
She, therefore, called upon government and state structures to guard against all forces that threaten media freedom such as arrests, saying failure to safeguard media freedom will only dent government image.
“We will not remain silent on issues that impinge on media freedom,” she said, adding that the US Government will partner with the media in contributing to free and credible elections.
In his keynote address, Commissioner responsible for Media and Civic Education for the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Francis Kasaila said the 2024 MISA Annual Media Awards theme: “Guardians of democracy: Championing Media Independence for Credible Elections’ came 30 years after the multiparty democracy.”
Kasaila said the theme also called on the media to contribute to free, fair and credible elections that should be acceptable by all electoral stakeholders and that MEC will always recognize the media that empower citizens to make well-informed decisions.
“MEC recognizes the role of the media in elections. MEC is optimistic that there will be good turn up in the forthcoming general elections than years before,” Kasaila added.
He disclosed that MEC will reach out to train more than 300 journalists on electoral issues including amended electoral laws.
Silver lining for Bankers
By Tione Andsen
Lilongwe, May 4, Mana: Current TNM Super League leaders, Silver Strikers have opened a three-point gap after silencing log table anchors, Baka City 2-0 to register a first away win for the season.
The Central Bankers have 13 points from five games three away from second placed, Mzuzu City Hammers who were held to 1-1 draw against Moyale Barracks at Mzuzu stadium.
Silver’s win has created a four-point gap with defending TNM Super League Champions, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers after they played out to a 1-1 draw in a Blantyre derby at Kamuzu stadium.
Both Bullets and Wanderers have nine points in their bags and are yet to taste their first defeats of the season.
They have all registered two wins and three draws but Wanderers have a better goal difference over their rivals.
The Bankers seem to have found the new formula to win the league after being eluded in the past 10 years.
Silver Strikers looks to be clinical on goal scoring this time around under the tutelage of their coach, Peter Mponda.
They have scored 13 goals against three and the Bankers dual of Adiel Kaduya and Binwell Katinji have scored four goals and they are at par with Kamuzu Barracks striker, Zeliat Nkhoma.
Silver Strikers goalkeeper, George Chikooka has registered his second clean sheet and the first one was against his old club, Chitipa United when they won 2-0 at home.
They have won at home thrice, draw once away, win away and are yet to register a defeat for the season.
Newcomers, Baka City will have to dig deep in order to move out of the relegation zone and are currently anchoring the table with a point from five games.
They have scored two goals and conceded seven and are yet to register a win.
Police for free and fair elections
By Emily M’mangisa
Zomba, April 17, Mana: Eastern Region Police Commissioner, Violet Magwaya says police in the region is geared to ensure that the September, 2025 general elections are conducted in a free and fair manner.
The Commissioner made the assurance Tuesday in Zomba during a meeting which was organized by Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) with district commissioners, chief executive officers and officers in charge from the eastern region.
“This time around, there will be no violations of human rights and let me assure you that police will arrest anyone who will try to mess up things during election period,” Magwaya said.
Magwaya also assured citizens of maximum security during registration period and poling day.
District Commissioner for Zomba, Reighgurd Chavula said the meeting with MEC was crucial and timely.
“This meeting was very important to us because we have been equipped with relevant information which will help us to carry out this task in a fairly,’’ Chavula said.
MEC Chairperson, Justice, Dr. Chifundo Kachale, said the meeting was meant to familiarize all electoral stakeholders with electoral reforms that have taken place in the electoral laws.
