By Gift Chiponde

Lilongwe, November 16, Mana: Malawi Congress Party Member of Parliament for Lilongwe Mpenu, Eisenhower Mkaka has urged residents of Nathenje to place their trust in President Dr Lazarus Chakwera for the continued advancement of sustainable development in the country.

Mkaka made the remarks on Saturday during the final match of the Bonanza between Nathenje Stars and Chowa Football Club, held at Nathenje Primary School Grounds in Lilongwe.

He stressed that President Chakwera is implementing various initiatives aimed at improving the lives of Malawians across all regions of the country, hence the need to vote for him in the upcoming 2025 general election for such development to continue.

Mkaka also pledged to ensure that beneficiaries of the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) receive substantial benefits without falling victim to illegal fertilizer vendors who exploit farmers during the planting season.

"I am committed to ensuring that every AIP beneficiary has access to fertilizer and other farming inputs consistently.

“I urge you to report any illicit activities by these vendors so that we can effectively execute the President's vision of ensuring food security in our constituency,” said Mkaka.

Additionally, Mkaka has announced plans to launch a K10 million Football League in January 2025 to provide the youth in the constituency with an opportunity to engage in competitive sports.

He also underscored the importance of constituents registering to vote when the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) conducts voter registration in the constituency, enabling them to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming general election.

In his remarks, Senior Group Village Headman Kamundi expressed his satisfaction with the Bonanza, noting that it has significantly impacted the lives of many youths in the constituency.

"The Bonanza has indeed benefited the youths in my area who were previously idle, and I am pleased to hear about our parliamentarian's initiative to launch a K10 million League, a commendable development,” said Kamundi.

He Commended Mkaka for his unwavering dedication and commitment to developing the constituency in various sectors such as road infrastructure, water accessibility, and youth involvement.

By Manasse Nyirenda

Rumphi, November 15, Mana: Students of Rumphi Teachers Training College (TTC) petitioned the District Commissioner for Rumphi on Friday over delayed payment of teaching practice allowances for some student teachers and water and sanitation challenges at the institution.

The students argued through their petition that water challenges have led to poor sanitation and hygiene at the campus.

In an interview, the student leader, Sengerewayo Wirikani, said the students have been facing the challenges for a long time and are hoping for a lasting solution.

"There are over 500 students at the school. Due to water challenges, we are forced to use alternative pit latrines which are not even adequate for all of us.

“Some student teachers have also not been paid their allowances. We therefore ask government to come to our rescue so that we continue concentrating on our studies," said Wirikani.

District Commissioner for Rumphi, Emmanuel Bulukutu promised to take the grievances to the relevant authorities for redress.

When contacted, Public Relations Manager for the Northern Region Water Board, Edward Nyirenda said that water supply challenges in the district will be addressed once Rumphi Water Supply and Sanitation Services Project is completed.

“The project which will be finished in 2027 is funded by the African Development Bank and Malawi Government. At least 158,000 people in Rumphi and some parts of Mzimba are expected to benefit from the project,” said Nyirenda.

By Patience Longwe
Lilongwe, November 16, Mana: Chief Executive Officer for Shaping Our Future Foundation (SOFF) Dr. Micheal Mkandawire says his organization will hold a high-level breakfast on Monday as one way of helping to end Tuberculosis (TB)by 2030 and also to end stigma as a nation.
Speaking during a press briefing on Friday at the Central Office of Information in Lilongwe, Mkandawire said the high-level breakfast will bring together different stakeholders from across the country.
“The First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera will on Monday 18th November host a High- Breakfast to amplify missing voices aimed at ending Tuberculosis (TB). The function is scheduled to take place at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.
"We will be joined by people from the Global Fund and other stakeholders from across the country to amplify global health and voice towards ending the disease," said Mkandawire.
Technical Advisor for Paradiso TB patients Trustie, Mara Kubweza said their involvement in the High- level breakfast is for them to show the world that TB survivors are there to minimise stigma across the world.
"We are very honoured as TB survivors to be part of this auspicious occasion. We will take advantage of this gathering to make a statement about what is happening in the country and also bring up the issues that are affecting us in the response,” she said.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of Facilitators of Community Transformation (FACT) Thokozile Phiri said they know some of the stigmas that have been there and are working towards minimising them.
"We have been doing awareness in Malawi to make sure that people are aware of TB and how to end it. With strong political will, we can end TB. We are very happy that the First Lady of this country is an ambassador for TB,” she said.

By James Ngalande

Dowa, February 7, Mana: The Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) through its Universal Service Fund (USF) has committed its support to the Ministry of Education to introduce sign language in all primary and secondary schools in Malawi.

MACRA Executive Director Daudi Suleman made the remarks on Monday during the opening of a 5-day training of trainers in sign language in Dowa. He emphasized that for the nation to develop, every Malawian must have equitable access to communication services regardless of location and disability.

"Equitable communication services to all the citizens in Malawi including persons with hearing disability is the backbone to the development of Malawi. But there are challenges in Malawi’s education sector in fully accommodating learners who are deaf which puts them at a disadvantage in terms of performance.

“It is with this background that MACRA through USF decided to step in and support the education sector to introduce and promote sign language in all schools so that every Malawian has access to information," he said.

Daudi said inclusive access to communication and education services will also contribute to achieve Malawi 2063 goals.

Deputy Director for inclusive education in the Ministry of education Lucy Magagula said the inclusion of sign language in all schools will help learners with hearing disability in their studies and eventually bridge the communication gap.

"The Ministry is very grateful to MACRA through USF for the support. This is a very important step because we have a lot of learners who are deaf hence requiring specialists to teach them, of which we have few. Therefore, this training will help address this challenge," said Magagula.

One of the participants Hannah Chiwindi from Thyolo secondary school applauded MACRA for the initiative saying this will help them to deliver

By Moses Nyirenda

Lilongwe, January 14, Mana: Founder of Lilongwe based non-profit organisation, Zoe Foundation, Temwa Chilenga has urged well-wishers, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), companies and individuals to support her organisation in order to enhance its works of assisting vulnerable children.

She made the appeal on Saturday when women under Water Employees Trade Union of Malawi (WETUM) visited her foundation’s premises in Area 25, Lilongwe here they cheered children and donated various items worth K7.5 million.

The donated items include soap, bags of maize, sugar, flour, soya pieces and cooking oil among others.

Chilenga said the foundation faces different challenges to help vulnerable children hence the call for support.

“The problems that we face include shortage of food, lack of school fees as well as learning materials for our children. Our plea to the well-wishers is food, school fees, learning materials and other things that children may need,” Chilenga said.

She appreciated WETUM for the support saying the donation received would assist address some of the challenges which they face at the foundation.

WETUM Women's Chairperson, Elizabeth Chirambo said they decided to visit Zoe Foundation to encourage the foundation's work.

“After reading Temwa's story on Facebook about what she is doing as a young lady, we decided to visit her foundation with support in order to encourage her,” she said.

She, therefore, called upon other organisations and well-wishers to also visit Zoe Foundation with support to the foundation’s work.

Zoe Foundation was established in 2018 and currently it is looking after 74 vulnerable children.

By Joel Phiri

Mzimba, January 12, Mana: Some farmers based in Mzimba have cried foul at the lack of readily available markets for their produce and lack of access to loans.

Speaking on Thursday in Mzimba during an agribusiness forum organised by the Mzimba district agriculture office for farmers, agro-dealers and loan providers, Thokozile Jere, of Chitafika Cooperative from Champhira Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mzikubola, said they produce a lot of sunflower, soya, maize and beans but they end up selling to vendors who offer low prices.

‘‘As a cooperative, our major challenge lies in finding readily available markets where we can sell our produce at better prices. And due to the lack of markets we end up being milked off by vendors who buy our produce at lower prices,’’ she said.

Jere said some unscrupulous vendors go into the village and buy their maize produce at K5,000 per pail of 20 litres which they in turn sell at over K12,000.

Another farmer, Luka Kaweche Manda of Sekelerani Cooperative from Unyolo Section in Khosolo EPA in T/A Khosolo, lamented lack of capital for growth of their cooperative.

‘‘We produce a lot of Irish potatoes but we don’t make a lot of profits because we don’t have markets so we just sell at local markets in the village, and in the end incurring hefty losses.

“The sad part of it all is that we incur a lot in buying farm inputs, such as fertilizer and chemicals yet we can’t make any gains from it. We appeal to government to help us on how we can gain access to loans and also help identify markets for our produce,’’ said Manda.

Speaking during the forum, FDH Bank’s Financial Access for Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprise (Farmse) Project officer Eloshadieh Fologonya appealed to the farmers to apply for loans under Farmse programme.

‘‘Under Farmse we provide loans to associations, cooperatives and clubs at no loan interests at all. So those of you farmers grappling with lack of finances to grow your various businesses, apply for these loans and you will be given,’’ said Fologonya who also works as Direct Sales Agent for FDH Bank.

In his remarks, acting Chief Agriculture Officer for Mzimba, Raphael Msyali, said his office organised the meeting so that farmers’ concerns about access to loans, markets and other things could be dealt with by stakeholders in agribusiness.

By: Andrew Mkonda

Lilongwe, January 16, Mana: All Africa Conference Sister to Sister (AAC:SS) a network within the Catholic Church has called for collaborated efforts in providing support to the Cyclone Freddy survivors so that they start living their normal life.

Network’s Senior Programme Officer Sister Eneless Chimbali from the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary (SBVM) made the call Monday, in Lilongwe during a four-day advocacy training whose aim was to equip participants with advocacy skills in engaging government and other stakeholders towards reducing the plight of the survivors.

Chimbali said it is sad to see many people who were affected by Cyclone Freddy are still having challenges to find basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing for their families.

She also noted that many houses, roads, classroom blocks and bridges that were destroyed by Cyclone Freddy are still not maintained in some parts of Chiradzulu, Mulanje, Phalombe and Chikwawa making movements of people from one place to the other difficult.

“We want to appeal to the government, NGOs and well-wishers to continue assisting these survivors. As sisters, we feel bad when we see these people coming to our houses, schools and hospitals asking for help and it becomes difficult to assist all of them,” she said

On her part, Chairperson for Association of Women in the Religious Institution of Malawi (AWRIM) Sister Agness Jonas said the association has been assisting the survivors with food stuff, clothing, kitchen utensils, building materials and psychological.

Said Jonas: “Human dignity is a very important aspect of our lives. We are all created by God and in His own image. Therefore, we are born with dignity, we should live and die with dignity.

“This can only happen if we truly love and care for each other, the way we love and care for ourselves (Matt: 22 vs 37-39),”

All Africa Conference Sister to Sister (AAC:SS) is a network within the Catholic Church and  consists of six countries in Africa, namely: Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Recently, Government through the Tigwiranemanja Initiative which was initiated by President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera handed over 45 houses to the survivors of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Phalombe district which were constructed to the tune of K500 million.

By Austine Patrice Kachilika

Mzimba, January 12, Mana: Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) says persistent blackouts that Mzimba District has been facing have been mainly caused by understaffing and vandalism of its power supply structures in the district.

Speaking on Thursday during an engagement meeting with civil society organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders in the district, public relations manager for ESCOM, Kitty Chingota, said inadequate staff has been a challenge in addressing faults that affect the district frequently due to vandalism. 

“Vandalism poses a greater threat to improved electricity power supply in the district. It is worrisome to hear and see that up to date some retrogressive individuals continue to steal ESCOM’s earth wires, stay wires, damage transformers and break insulation disks for unsound reasons,” said Chingota.

She said ESCOM is equally affected and concerned with persistent blackouts in the district since it affects the corporation’s revenue generation capacity.

“We understand the impact blackouts have on businesses, health and other interrelated sectors. On our part, we have lost approximately K19,700,000.00 in three months, starting from November 2023 to January 2024,” said Chingota.

Officer in-Charge for Mzimba Police Station, Sydon Mpina, called ESCOM officials to report to his office on issues about vandalism of the corporation’s property.

Chairperson for Mzimba CSOs, Christopher Milele, lauded ESCOM for engaging stakeholders on such an issue that affects the livelihoods of many in the district.

He said ESCOM has been given two weeks from January 11 to January 29, 2024 to rectify all the existing faults in the district for a smooth and uninterrupted power supply.

By Winfrida Kamwana

Mchinji, January 13, Mana: Girls Activist Youth Organisation (GAYO) has engaged youths on psychosocial counselling as one way of fighting the rise of suicide cases in the country.

GAYO organised an interaction meeting with Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) champions in Mchinji on Saturday to enlighten them on the importance of psycho-social counselling and how they can help youths in their communities to overcome depression.

Program Manager for GAYO, Gilbert M’bwana stated that as SRHR champions are being recognised in their communities, it is important that they also learn and understand counselling for them to be able to counsel youths in distress.

“These SRHR champions are posing as helpers in the communities. There are a lot of youths in those communities who are fighting mental battles and are at the verge of emotional breakdown. Therefore, it is the duty of youths to help one another in the fight against depression and suicidal thoughts,” said M’bwana.

M’bwana also explained that, apart from psych-social counselling, the youths are encouraged to work with different stakeholders in the society such as chiefs and health practitioners to make their work more effective and easy.

Senior Health Surveillance Assistant, Chimwemwe Somanje highlighted the importance of involving youths in psycho-social counselling saying it will make their work easier and will help youths overcome their fears.

“Some of the youths find it hard to express themselves to health practitioners especially on issues of sexual reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases thereby suffer in silence but since it will be their fellow youths offering counselling sessions, I believe they will be able to open up and will be assisted accordingly," explained Somanje.

He appreciated GAYO for the initiative and for linking them with the youth in different areas to work together in making their communities for a better environment.

Vice Secretary for Mikundi Youth Network, Chimwemwe Josiah, expressed gratitude towards GAYO for the training saying it will help the youth network to reach out to many youths on the importance of communicating and expressing oneself to mitigate suicidal thoughts.

Apart from psycho-social counselling training, the youths were also encouraged to use community dialogue as a way of addressing issues that arise in their communities.

GAYO is working with SRHR champions who are youths that work within their communities in addressing challenges they are facing including health issues.

By Memory Khutuliwa

Blantyre, January 14, Mana: Glee Grace Hospitality Academy founded by Blantyre Malabada Parliamentarian, Ismail Rizziq Mkumba is providing free hospitality management and driving courses to youth in his constituency to ensure they become productive citizens in the society.

Principal of Glee Grace Hospitality Academy, Wiza Mpande said in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MAN) over the weekend that the institution offers certificate course in hospitality management that runs for six months and three months free driving courses through Mkumba Driving School.

“Within the hospitality course, we offer hotel management, food production, tourism, front office administration and entrepreneurship, among others.

“Youths benefit with jobs after they have done well in attachments and internship. We send them to various hotels nationwide and they become employable with the skills they are imparted with and a certificate as evidence of their qualification,” Mphande said.

He, therefore, appealed to the youths to enroll with the academy to acquire technical and vocation skills to transform them into self-reliant citizens.

One of the youths that graduated from the academy, Madalo Pakula, was grateful to be enrolled and given the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in the hospitality industry.   

“I have learnt skills and I am very happy because I will be able to start my own business to support my family. I was hopeless after passing Form Four with good grades but the problem was school fees to pursue further studies,” she said.

She, therefore, encouraged fellow youths in the constituency to enroll with the academy and acquire technical and vocational skills.

1,588 youths have enrolled with the academy since its establishment in 2019.