By Sellah Chunda

Mchinji, August 18: Authorities have reported that Mchinji One Stop Border Post will significantly contribute to enhancement of the country’s revenue collection.

This was revealed during a media engagement tour in Mchinji on Wednesday.

Speaking during the tour, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Christina zakeyu, highlighted Malawi's progress in generating revenue compared to previous years.

“Since the implementation of the One Stop Border Post, we have seen considerable improvements in revenue collection. In the past, we collected around one billion kwacha a month through the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), but this has now increased to over three billion kwacha monthly,” said Zakeyu.

Zakeyu said coordination among border agencies has also helped towards the improvement unlike previously, when they operated independently.

Zakeyu added to say more facilities are yet to come, as this is part of the COMESA project funded with 3.5 million euros.

"We have introduced new systems, including the operational Smart Gate. The processing time for travelers crossing the border has drastically reduced from eight days to just one or two days, which is a significant improvement.

"We are witnessing increased business activity from cross-border traders, and we view this project as a game changer," said Zakeyu.

Station Manager for MRA at the Mchinji One Stop Border Post, Tapiwa Mzunga, emphasized the role of the newly installed equipment in enhancing operational efficiency.

She said the equipment will help monitor how long goods take to clear through the One Stop Border Post and facilitate faster trade and movement of people.

However, Zakeyu noted that Malawi is still exporting fewer goods compared to imports from Zambia.

The Mchinji One Stop Border Post was launched to streamline and enhance cross-border trade between Malawi and Zambia.

By: Golden Kang'oma

Salima, September 18, Mana: Minister of Tourism, Vera Kamtukule, has expressed concern over the dilution of Malawi's cultural identity due to technological advancements.

Speaking during a visit to Gwirize Cultural Village in Salima district on Wednesday, Kamtukule highlighted the importance of blending technology with cultural preservation as the country celebrates Tourism Month.

She said: "We are lamenting the loss of our authenticity as Malawians, technological progress is not the problem, but when culture is sacrificed at the altar of innovation, it becomes an issue."

Kamtukule emphasized the need to establish cultural villages in all 28 districts to preserve and promote Malawian heritage. She said the ministry aims to work closely with the Ministry of Local Government to integrate culture as a key tourism product.

"People visit Malawi to see our unique culture, so when we are doing our things, we should make sure that we do things as Malawians so that people from other countries can learn from us," she said.

Chairperson for Gwirize Cultural Village, Noah Chana, said they are in the pipeline of improving their facilities and plan to launch a website to attract international visitors.

 "We aim at marketing the village globally and offer accommodation for tourists, this is to make sure that our culture is preserved and it's marketed globally," Chana said.

Chana added that the initiative is seen as a way of boosting local revenue and contribute to community development, with proceeds supporting needy students in surrounding schools.

Salima District Council Chairperson, Ephraim Manthepa said the cultural village is putting the district on the map and it has the potential to improve people's livelihoods.

By Prisca Mashushu

Lilongwe, September 18, Mana: Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA) says is satisfied with the increased number of students with disabilities who have passed the 2024 Malawi School Certificate Examinations (MSCE).

FEDOMA Project Coordinator, Lyson Mapanga highlighted that increase of the number of students with disabilities passing exams is an indication of FEDOMA's efforts in ensuring that the rights of disabled children are observed.

“As an organization, we are pleased with the number of disability students’ performance who sat for the MSCE this year and they should be appreciated in a special way as they face various challenges in order to access quality education.

“We would like to thank the Ministry of Education for providing all necessary resources and support and other basic needs to students with disabilities to ensure they access their education," he explained.

However, Mapanga appealed to different stakeholders including the government, Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb), Malawi Union of the Blind and others to continue supporting students with different special needs to be given special consideration while accessing their education for the betterment of their performance.

He pointed out that students with disabilities face tremendous challenges including discrimination, lack of access to technology resources used for education purposes and proper care during learning hours.

Concurring with Mapanga, Education expert Douglas Nyirenda said the success observed highlights government’s commitment in the provision and promotion of education which implies that Malawi is on course towards achieving Malawi agenda 2063 that aims at promoting inclusion of people of all statuses.

“In the just released MSCE results students with special needs scored 55.59 percent pass rate which is a commendable figure compared to previous years as well as the history of special needs education.

“This also signifies that government is working tirelessly to provide adequate teaching, learning and assessment resources to help learners who have special needs," he said.

Nyirenda said government and other stakeholders should follow different strategies to provide more support to learners with special needs including increasing number of specialist teachers in all government schools to respond positively to such students.

“Government should also offer continuous professional development courses to help students with special needs and provide more material resources in schools for example construction of friendly usable schools as one way of promoting education among special need students,” he explained.

About 734 special needs students sat for the examination and 411 have passed the examinations representing 55.99 percent.

By Beatrice Bangula

Blantyre, September 18, Mana: Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has commenced its lean season food distribution in Blantyre where thousands of residents gathered at Kamuzu Stadium to receive the much needed relief.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana), DoDMA’s Director of Preparedness and Response, Reverend Moses Chimphepo, said the initiative follows a directive from President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera after his visit to the Lower Shire and other districts in the southern region.

“During the President’s visit, people raised concerns about food shortages and in response, he directed that DoDMA immediately begin distributing food,” Chimphepo said.

Laytton Nkata, Director of Administration for Blantyre City Council, described the hunger situation in Blantyre as ‘quite serious,’ noting that 50, 000 households will benefit from the food distribution.

“We’ve learned a lot from the Tropical Cyclone Freddy and with this cooperation between the council and DoDMA, we will be able to assist those affected,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries, a 70-year-old woman from Machinjiri, Vera Chiwaula whose farmland was destroyed by floods, expressed her gratitude for the support.

“I’m so happy with what the government has done, I usually buy 10kgs of flour to feed my children and grandchildren, having my crop field swept away by floods, it has been difficult to survive as such this 50kgs of maize will help us a lot,” she said.

DoDMA is distributing 50-kilogramme bags of maize to individuals, an effort prompted by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report, which indicated that around 5.7 million Malawians are expected to face food shortages this lean season.

By Mary Makhiringa

Balaka, September 18, Mana: At least 51, 800 households in Balaka district stand to benefit from the 2024 – 2025 lean season programme, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has revealed.

Briefing the full council members on Wednesday, an official from DoDMA, Annie Mapulanga said following the El Nino impacts that the country faced, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report indicated that 233, 101 people which represents 51, 800 families do not have enough food to sustain themselves for a year in Balaka.

“We are responsible to respond to the food situation in the country. In Balaka, it will be a 50 kilogrammes of maize, which will be given for five months to households.

“We have secured resources for two months only for Balaka, which the World Food Programme (WFP) has sub granted Find Your Feet to help in the distribution of the relief food,” she said.

Mapaulanga added: “We could not wait to finish up the processes to all the five months considering that people are struggling with no food to eat, which is why we opted to start distributing even though we do not have the cover for all the five months.”

According to Mapulanga, all beneficiaries of the Social Cash Transfer will automatically be included in the programme because of their vulnerability.

Mapulanga pointed out that the maize was specifically to benefit a household and the community leaders are discouraged from asking beneficiaries to share the maize with anyone.

Member of Parliament for Balaka North, Tony Ngalande hailed government through the WFP for the timely assistance, saying Balaka is one dry area which makes it prone to disasters almost annually.

“Let me urge the implementing partner to consider distributing the relief maize at Group Village Head level than T/A because doing so will be simple as it will avoid missing out deserving people,” he said.

However, Ngalande bemoaned the tendency of sideling political leaders in the programme, saying they are equally instrumental in lobbying for such interventions in parliament.

Countrywide at least 5, 692, 112 people in 28 districts of Malawi are food insecure and require food assistance ranging from three months and the hardest hit requiring six months food assistance.

By Brighton Thengoliweta Chimsinde

Mchinji, September 18, Mana: Women’s Hope for Change (WHFC) a local non-governmental organization in Mchinji says business skills and management are essential in the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) that always deters women and teen-mothers to be prosperous in their lives.

WHFC Programs Officer Faith Chiwenda made the remarks on Tuesday after opening a two-day long business skills and management workshop organized by WHFC held at NICE Conference Hall at Mchinji Boma. 

Chiwenda said the workshop was among activities under their project called Ending Violence Against Women and Children (EVAWC) which is implemented with funding from Segal Family Foundation in America.

“Advocacy alone can’t end GBV, and that’s why we are empowering women with business skills and management. It has proven that women who have been abused are solely dependent on men.

“To curtail the dependency syndrome the project has funds to be shared to the women for them to sustain their small scale businesses,” Chiwenda said.

The Programs Officer said the project objective is to ensure that women are financially independent, self-reliant and prosperous in their lives.

She said initially, the project has earmarked 60 women from Mchinji Boma who are going to benefit from the training and business capital support.

“We have also engaged the district community development office to orient them on Village Savings and Loans (VSL) concept, importance of saving culture and investing their money in various investments. Among the 60 women, there are GBV survivors, teen-mothers, single mothers, change agents who were already plying their own small-scale businesses,” the programs officer said.

Speaking on the behalf of the participants, Emily Phiri of Robert 2 village, Traditional Authority Zulu in the district said by the end of the training they will be able sustain their businesses and VSLs.

Phiri then commended WHFC for organizing the training that has empowered them with knowledge and skills which would help them to support their families and pay school fees for their children.

Women’s Hope for Change (WHFC) is a non-governmental organization formed in 2008 and was formed by a group of women who had passion to fight for women and children’s rights with a special emphasis on a girl child.

By Pickson Chipeso

Lilongwe, September 18, Mana: Dyson Nthawanji, Communication Officer of DVV International, stated that the Integrated Adult Education Environmental Management project has been promoting sustainable community living.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana), he mentioned that, in addition to literacy, adults are learning critical skills such as environmental management which he said help communities understand how to manage the environment both at the community and household levels.

“We have been receiving positive feedback from communities because when we talk about adult education, we target individuals who did not attend school during their early years. They are pleased when they hear about environmental management because most Malawians depend on agriculture, which in turn relies on a healthy environment," Nthawanji said.

Nthawanji added that there are challenges the project faces, as some individuals or communities lack awareness or understanding of environmental issues.

"People rely on natural forests for their activities, such as charcoal burning and sales, which they view as a source of income. It takes significant effort to convince them about the importance of environmental management, but everyone has a responsibility to take care of the environment," he explained.

Environmental expert Maloto Chinkombero remarked that the project, which has been in place for over a year, focuses on encouraging tree planting and the care of existing trees. Despite the challenges, the initiative is seeing positive results.

"You can see that even though there are challenges, when you go to rural areas, people are growing tree seedlings and organizing community tree-planting activities. I must commend all stakeholders for implementing the project. We do face some difficulties, but we need to address these challenges," he said.

Chinkombero further emphasized that the environment is the backbone of every development project and that no human progress can occur without nature. He said Malawians must realize that achieving Vision 2063 is only possible if we take care of the environment, as everything relies on a healthy ecosystem.

"Whether we are aiming for progress in agriculture, technology, or infrastructure, we need a well-preserved environment. We must address the climate change crisis. Environmental conservation plays a key role in realizing Vision 2063 by promoting the availability of natural resources essential for achieving this vision," he said.

Chinkombero urged Malawians to find ways to control the nation's population as one approach to environmental conservation and the promotion of a sustainable future.

"As we approach 2063, the population may double or even triple compared to today. If we don't focus on population control, we will face more challenges because the growing population will continue to depend on the same environmental resources," he warned.

He encouraged Malawians to strike a balance between population growth and environmental resources to avoid further climate crises and achieve the goals of Vision 2063.