By Elia Chibwe

Lilongwe, August 20, mana: Chewa Heritage Foundation (CHEFO) has disclosed that people should take Kulamba ceremony as their opportunity for learning history and preserving their culture.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency, Secretary General for CHEFO, Dr. Numeri Chalumpha Gerisomo, highlighted the need for participating in the coming occasion of Kulamba ceremony as it plays a great role for cultural preservation and unity among Chewa people.

"This function provides information to Chewa people about their history and culture. For the youths, Kulamba ceremony provides an opportunity for them to learn and participate in their cultural heritage.

"Kulamba ceremony also promotes unity among the Chewa chiefs and their subjects," Gerisomo said.

He said the ceremony also allows the Chewa chiefs from the three countries to give reports to His Majesty about the welfare of his people and other economic issues.

Deputy Director at Department of Monuments and Museums, Yohane Nyirenda accorded with Geresomo, saying the occasion plays a pivotal role in cultural continuity.

"One of the main Chewa rituals is the Kulamba ceremony, which incorporates a number of customs such as dances, songs, and ceremonies. The Chewa people make sure that their cultural legacy is preserved and handed down through the generations by consistently carrying out these rituals," Nyirenda said.

He also reiterated the importance of having the occasion as a tool for promoting unity, cultural identity, and transmission of knowledge and values.

He added that government aims to promote inter-faith, inter-political and inter-cultural co-existence to sustain peace and unity.

"The Umodzi Day seeks to sustain peace through promotion of inter-faith, inter-political and inter-cultural co-existence. The celebrations bring all Malawians together regardless of their political, religious and cultural affiliations," he said.

According to Gerisomo the Chewa people of Malawi led by their chiefs are ready and prepared to attend and participate in the Kulamba ceremony which will be held on 24 August this year in Zambia and the event will cost MK25 million.

He said different types of dances and displays have been lined up to be showcased during the ceremony.

By Wanangwa Tembo and Collings Kalivute

Kasungu, August 19, Mana: Owing to several factors, chief among them agriculture expansion and tobacco farming, Kasungu’s forests have been heavily cleared leaving the erstwhile thick landscapes bare and degraded.

Rapid deforestation is the major culprit to the environmental degradation as it triggers catastrophic impacts on wildlife, biodiversity, ecosystems and weather patterns.

In a country where 80 percent of the population are farmers, land degradation is a serious threat as it lowers crop production, exposing the majority to hunger and extreme poverty.

Malawi has lost over half of its forests in the past 40 years rendering nearly 80 percent of total land area vulnerable to experience degradation and Kasungu is one of the most affected districts.

Environmental District Officer, Herbert Bolokonya says Kasungu is not far from the national trends of land degradation and deforestation.

“Specifically, an analysis of soil erosion in selected Extension and Planning Areas indicates soil erosion rates ranging from 1.07 to 10.0 tonnes per hectare per year.

“Forests are also experiencing high deforestation rate estimated at 2.8 percent representing an annual average loss of 250,000 hectares of forest cover. As the statistics say, land degradation and soil erosion is on the negative trend and is supposed to be corrected,” Bolokonya says.

Land degradation is therefore a significant hindrance to the country’s overall economic development and achievement of the 2030 sustainable development targets. 

The World Bank Group, 2019 Malawi Country Environmental Analysis attributes the massive clearing of forests and the resultant land degradation to population growth.

It says: “Population growth places huge demand on natural systems with more land being converted to agriculture and more forests being harvested for the wood fuel supply.

“Climate change magnifies these impacts by putting greater strain on land and forests due to increased incidents of natural disasters and extreme weather events.”

Among others, the Bank cites weak land tenure security, unsustainable land management practices, shortage of funding for environmental management and weak institutions at lower levels of governance as proximate drivers of environmental degradation.

Globally, studies show that at least 20 to 40 percent of world’s total land experienced degradation thus affecting nearly half of the global population. 

In Kasungu, forests have been cleared largely due to agriculture expansion and tobacco farming activities. The district has the largest number of estates in the country and is one of the leading tobacco producers.

In 2015, Malawi joined forces with other African countries under African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative where it pledged to restore at least 4.5 million hectares of its degraded land by 2030.

This time, more non-state actors, including the Jesuit Centre for Ecology and Development (JCED), have joined the government with efforts to restore degraded landscapes through reforestation initiatives.

JCED, a social and sustainable development work of the Society of Jesus of the Southern Africa Province, engages in resilience building, adaptation and climate justice advocacy targeting those most affected and vulnerable in rural and marginalised communities.

In Kasungu, JCED has partnered with schools through a Green Schools initiative aimed at promoting environmental conservation.

Light Changatuwa, a Standard 7 learner at Kasungu LEA Primary School is among the 30 members under the school’s JCED supported conservation club engaged in landscape restoration through afforestation, sustainable agriculture and bee keeping.

She says under the club she has learnt and embraced the spirit of planting trees and taking care of the environment both at school and home.

“I have learnt a lot under this club as we focus much on planting trees at our school as well as our respective homes.

“We also learn how to take care of the trees so that they should survive," she says.

Changatuwa says there are a lot of trees that are planted in the country but the landscapes remain bare because most of those trees do not survive due to lack of care.

She says: “If we plant trees and fail to take care of them, the survival rate is lowered.

“Through our club, we learn how to take care of the trees so that they survive, otherwise all the effort invested in nursery preparation and the actual planting would be in vain.”

Joseph Kagwamtsabola, a teacher at the school, is the club’s patron and applauds the learners for dedicating their time to making the school campus and homes green.

He says through the Green School initiative, learners have also been taught modern and sustainable ways of farming alongside environmental conservation.

“This is a good initiative because at an early stage, learners are taught environmental conservation not just in theory but in practice.

“If these efforts are replicated in many schools nationwide, we can instruct a new mindset in the children which will help to bring back our forests and sustain them for the benefit of learners themselves and the generations to come,” he says.

Within four years of the project implementation, Kasungu LEA Primary has managed to grow a forest of its own.

“Before this initiative, all the land here was bare, but with the coming of JCED, we formulated a conservation club that has turned our school into a model when it comes to environmental conservation,” Kagwamtsabola says.

He stresses the need to intensify sensitisation on the importance of conservation arguing the adoption to landscape restoration has been generally slow in the communities.  

"Much as we are trying our level best to conserve the environment, some community members are letting us down as they come here and cut down trees when we are not around,” he says.

The initiative, a sub component of the larger Tasintha Mlimi project that seeks to build and strengthen the resilience capacity of vulnerable farmers to climate change, is also in practice in eight other schools in Sub-Traditional Authorities (STA) Ndume, Chisazima and Suza.

STA Chisazima, who is among the leaders that have embraced and supported landscape restoration activities within her jurisdiction with support from JCED, says the future is green.

“As a community, we are fully supporting the project such that on our part, we have managed to plant 7, 550 trees along Chitete stream which is fast silting and causing flash floods.”

She says the silting of the stream which is also the main source of water for the entire Kasungu municipality has been as a result of agricultural activities along its banks.

Equally, out of school youths in the area of STA Chisazima have also joined forces in nature conservation upon realizing through the initiative that the future rests on them.

Ephraim Phiri, 19, from the area says the youths recognise that environmental conservation is everyone’s responsibility hence their active participation in landscape restoration.

Officer for the project, Mathews Phwandaphwanda says the initiative follows key issues identified in Kasungu District Development Plan of 2017 to 2022.

“So this initiative is a response to such concerns as low productivity due to land degradation, unstable weather conditions and climate variability including erratic rainfall, strong winds, hail storms and dry spells.

“There is also massive deforestation due to tobacco farming, poor farming practices and increased demand for farm land,” says Phwandaphwanda.

He says JCED has been witnessing continued threat to food security and nutrition deficiencies, low income, extreme poverty, land degradation, and loss of biodiversity.

“The Green School initiative is one of the many conservation interventions that we are supporting in the district,” he says.

The deforested state of Kasungu indicates the loss of valuable natural resources and the degradation of the local ecosystem, a phenomenon that has significantly impacted on the landscape and the overall ecological balance.

Beyond mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity, conservation efforts provide essential ecosystem services such as clean air, water, soil erosion control, and act as a natural buffer against natural disasters.

It also supports livelihoods, and enhance the overall quality of life for communities.

Thus, inclusive conservation approaches that take everybody, including pupils on board, could be the key to greening the landscapes again and achieve food security amidst unpredictable climatic patterns. 

By George Mponda

Karonga, August 20, Mana: Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) and Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP) benefeciaries in Karonga have hailed government for disbursing MK150,000 once off payments to each household in a scalable mechanism funded by the World Bank.

During a media tour on Tuesday, most beneficiaries said they will now be food secure and self-resilient after at least 12,700 ultra-poor households under SCTP and CS-EPWP in Karonga received the once-off payments in their Mpamba wallets covering the months of June, July and August.

In her remarks, Rosaline Mbira, SCTP beneficiary from Group Village Head Mwanyesha attributed the programme to the transfomation in her family's life.

“In the past, I struggled to pay school fees and sometimes went to bed hungry, which affected my health. Since I was enrolled in the 'Mtukura Pakhomo', I’ve managed to build a house and send my children to school. I am grateful to the Malawi government for this life changing intervention,” Mbira said.

Another beneficiary, Mary Chilambo from Group Village Head Mwakhwawa, Traditional Authority Wansambo, highlighted how the program has helped households affected by disasters.

“Most families in our area were affected by flooding and dry spells which led to low yields. We are thankful to government for giving us MK150, 000 which will go a long away in ensuring that families from the area of Senior Chief Wansambo are well fed," Chilambo added.

Principal Social Welfare Officer for Karonga District Council, Tiwonge Mbale said the transfers are aimed at cushioning beneficiaries from climatic shocks by enabling them to be financially secure and fend for themselves.

Mbale said; “7,481 households under SCTP and 5,219 households under CS-EPWP have received the funds in Karonga.”

"The interventions are part of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods project being implemented by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) with funding from the World Bank," Mbale said.

Mbale further advised the beneficiaries to use the money they have received for its intended purposes.

By Coreta Wilton

Mulanje, August 20, Mana: Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WOLREC) in collaboration with OXFAM Malawi and the Malawi Government is meeting different political candidates and aspirants from Mulanje District.

The meeting is being conducted with the aim of promoting women, the youth under the age of 35 and people with disabilities to take part in politics as one way of promoting gender transformative and youth inclusive democracy in Malawi.

The campaign has been funded by the European Union.

Mulanje Central Constituency Shadow Member of Parliament, Rhoda Gadama Misomali, observed that one of the reasons some women do not win elections is due to lack of resources, which limits their ability to reach the entire area.

“Male candidates often receive more support than female candidates, particularly in terms of funding. Many women lack the financial resources needed to run effective campaigns and make themselves known throughout their constituencies,” Misomali said.

She, however, said there is need for a strong civic education to both the aspirants and the voters so that they should have deep understanding of politics so that everyone should be able to play their part which would lead to effective developments across the country.

In her remarks, Oxfam Malawi Country Director, Lingalireni Mihowa commended all the political candidates for attending the discussions.

“This initiative has helped to promote coexistence among candidates from different political parties, fostering unity, which is essential for development,” said Mihowa.

Mihowa, therefore, pledged that Oxfam and WOLREC will be well-equipped to support women’s participation in politics and their representation in decision-making positions at all levels.

By Damiano Thengo

Nkhotakota, August 20, Mana: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) says it is ready to begin implementing the National Addressing System (NAS) project in Nkhotakota district.

Speaking during a stakeholders meeting in Nkhotakota on Monday, MACRA’s NAS Manager Limbani Sekani, revealed that the project is expected to have many benefits as it will help to increase revenue through ease of tax collection, increase accuracy in the collection of census information and promote tourism among others.

Sekani said the project, in line with section 124 of the Communications Act of 2016, will involve identifying and naming streets and roads, numbering houses according to the new system, marking and naming appropriate big houses among others for the project to be implemented smoothly and effectively.

Nkhotakota South Constituency Lawmaker, Brainex Kaisi commended the initiative saying it will solve the challenges local scholars were facing when extending international applications since they were failing to conform to international standards following lack of zip or postcodes before agreeing with Sekani that the project will help to boost and promote tourism activities in the district.

"When Malawians apply for international opportunities, there is a section which requires one’s zip or postcode, for Malawians especially from Nkhotakota, people have failed to complete such applications meaning the coming of this project will conform Malawi to international standards of location identification, assisting us to stand at par on opportunities with other countries but also assist to boost trade and tourism since addressing systems make identifications of tourist sites easier," said Kaisi.

District Deputy Council chairperson, Fiton Khofi, hailed MACRA for the initiative but asked the regulator to continue spreading the information concerning the project to the whole district for maximum sensitization and awareness.

By Yamikani Yapuwa

Thyolo, August 20, Mana: Thyolo District Commissioner, Hudson Kuphanga has issued an urgent appeal for support to assist a newborn baby and other patients who survived a tragic accident, which took place on Sunday in Thaboni.

Kuphanga made the call on Monday stating that the accident claimed nine lives and left several others injured, many of whom are now receiving care at Trinity Hospital in Nsanje and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.

"The newborn baby, delivered at the accident scene, lost the mother in the tragedy. While the baby is in stable condition at Trinity Hospital, there is an immediate need for essentials such as milk, diapers, clothes, blankets and toiletries.

"The baby’s guardians, who are currently without food, are also in dire need of assistance," said Kuphanga.

Kuphanga also emphasized the need for additional resources for Trinity Hospital, which is struggling to cope with the aftermath of the accident.

Meanwhile, a team of officials from Thyolo District Council led by Dr. Gabriel Mtaya, on Monday visited both hospitals to review the condition of the patients.

 "We have reviewed a total of 21 patients, including the two babies at Trinity Hospital. Most patients are stable, and eight have been discharged this afternoon. Three patients need further observation, and the rest will possibly be discharged later on Tuesday."

"Two patients were discharged on request before the team arrived at the hospital to bury their child who died during the accident," said Mtaya.

Mtaya added that at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, seven patients remained under care, including four children and three women.

"Among the children, a two-year-old is in critical condition in the ICU, suffering from a head injury and multiple fractures. The other three children who are within the age range of 12 and 14 are stable but one had his right leg amputated.

"The three women have varying degrees of injuries, with one in serious condition due to a severe head injury. A male patient was discharged earlier in the day, although details about his condition were not available," he added.

Mtaya also highlighted the urgent need for support for the patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.

In response to the accident, government donated MK4 million to assist with funeral expenses, from which MK2.7 million have been distributed to the bereaved families, with each family receiving MK300,000.

The government also provided coffins and fifty bags of food and essentials, through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA).

The accident happened when the driver of a vehicle carrying people from Lilongwe going to a tombstone unveiling ceremony failed to control the vehicle due to brakes failure thereby running into people who were at Thaboni Market.