By Beni Bamusi

Thyolo, January 29, Mana: Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, has appealed to Malawians that they should not wait for reminders to construct and maintain proper sanitation facilities, on account that access to clean and safe toilets is essential in preventing waterborne diseases such as cholera.

Chiponda made the remarks Wednesday at Kwenegwe Community Ground in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Bvumbwe when the community was officially declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).

“As a ministry, and in line with United Nations protocols, we encourage every household to have a toilet. Here, toilet coverage was previously at 40 percent but now the situation has significantly improved.

“We commend the communities, Self-Help Africa and traditional leaders for making this project a success,” she said.

Chiponda, however, urged traditional leaders to enforce by-laws that require every household to have a clean toilet with proper hand-washing facilities.

Self-Help Africa Deputy Country Director, Smolden Chomoka, expressed delight with TA Bvumbwe’s ODF achievement, noting that the initiative was community-led and implemented in collaboration with the Thyolo District Council.

He reaffirmed Self-Help Africa’s commitment to improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Thyolo, disclosing that the organization has secured £270,000 in funding to sustain ODF status in areas that have already achieved the status.

TA Bvumbwe hailed the initiative, emphasizing that proper sanitation will help reduce cases of cholera and other waterborne-related diseases in the area.

The chief, therefore, urged his subjects to embrace and sustain the project to ensure long-term benefits.

By Robert Nayeja

Nsanje, January 29, Mana: An economic expert in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Elisha Limbe, has expressed optimism that the National Social Protection Policy will help limit duplication and reduce other challenges social protection programmes are facing in the country.

He was speaking Tuesday in Nsanje during the review of social protection programmes in the district.

Limbe said the new policy will eradicate duplication in the implementation of social protection programmes on top of enhancing collaboration among implementing stakeholders.

“The policy will bring sanity in social protection programmes as it brings all programmes under one roof and incorporate both social support and protection,” he said.

He said the new National Social Protection Policy has been approved by the cabinet, adding that it will soon be launched.

“This policy has incorporated all groups of people and this is in line with Malawi 2063 which says; leaving no one behind,” he said.

The economist described the review meeting as a milestone in the implementation of social protection programmes.

“This is the time when stakeholders share experiences and discuss ways and means of addressing bottlenecks,“ he said.

District Community Development Officer for Nsanje, Patrick Sipuni, said the review meeting will strengthen collaboration among stakeholders implementing social protection programmess in the district.

He said social protection programmes will help reduce poverty among people in the district.

The social protection annual review meeting was one of the activities funded by European Union through UNICEF under the SP GEAR project.

By Robert Nayeja

Nsanje, January 29, Mana: Flash floods have affected operations at Mbenje Health Centre in Nsanje following non-stop rains in the district since Sunday.

Director of Health and Social Services for Nsanje, Gilbert Chapweteka, confirmed disruption of services at the health centre as the flash floods hit the facility on Tuesday.

"The flash foods also affected staff houses rendering them inhabitable," he said adding that patients at the facility were transferred to a nearest health centre.

Chapweteka said there are no damages of drug and other medical supplies so far.

“Services will resume once water moves out of the facility premises,” he said.

Chapweteka emphasised on the need to construct a dyke to protect the health centre from floods saying this is not the first time Mbenje Health Centre was affected by floods.

By Yamikani Sabola

Mzuzu, January 29, Mana: Executive Director for National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM), Rex Chapota, has asked youth cooperatives in the country to invest more in value addition of both crop and livestock value chains to boost their earnings and create jobs for more youths.

Chapota was speaking in Mzuzu on Wednesday after presenting a K6 million grant to Wamaka Youth Farmers’ Cooperative which deals in fisheries.

He said apart from increasing income, investing in value addition across all agriculture sub sectors is a more effective and efficient way of curbing post harvest losses mostly experienced by smallholder farmers.

“I am encouraged that Wamaka youths are looking at value addition as a key vision for their enterprise. This is very important because what will happen is that they will get more income than when they are selling the raw product.

“They want to have their fish tinned so that it can be sold in major chain stores and even exported to other countries. This is a unique scenario we are seeing from Wamaka cooperative. I urge other youth cooperatives to adopt value addition,” Chapota said.

Wamaka Youth Cooperative is one of the 18 youth cooperatives nationwide which has benefited from NYCOM grants totaling K100 million to empower them economically and enable them do productive entrepreneurship. 

Executive Director for Wamaka Youth Farmers’ Cooperative, Francis Chirambo, thanked NYCOM for the grant, saying it will help them increase production and earnings.

“Previously we have been rearing fish from our six ponds which could make us produce about one and half metric tons of fish. For now, with grants from NYCOM, we are going to increase the number of fish ponds to 12 and increase our production to seven metric tons,” he said.

Chairperson for Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs, Savelo Kafwafwa, said his committee will lobby parliament to increase NYCOM’s grants allocation so that the Council reaches out to more youth cooperatives.

Kafwafwa noted that 121 youth cooperatives had applied for the grants. However, only 18 were successful because the K100 million, which NYCOM was allocated was not adequate.

By Prisca Promise Mashushu

Lilongwe, January 29, Mana: The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), has commended Ministry of Labour for intensifying labour inspections which have brought to light multitudes of decent work deficits and violations that workers in the country are being subjected to.

According to a statement  signed by the Union’s President, Charles Kumchenga, and Secretary General, Madalitso Njolomole, on Wednesday MCTU has commended Minister of Labour, Vitumbiko Mumba, for leading an impact labour inspection.

The statement explained that the labour inspections will enhance working conditions for Malawian workers and at the same time identify employers who fail to comply with the country’s labour laws and policies.

“From these inspections, it is evident that many employers subject their workers to inhumane conditions, including but not limited to, inadequate or poor provision of protective equipment, unhygienic work environments, low wages and insufficient representation of workers’ rights,” reads the statement.

“To keep the momentum towards the advancement of workers’ rights, MCTU has called for increased budget allocation to the Ministry of Labour which, they say, will effect effectiveness of labour inspections and expansion.

MCTU has asked for strengthening of worker representation, promotion of employer compliance, enhanced union membership and formalization of the informal economy in a quest to enhancing access to justice for the country’s labour force.

According to MCTU, the Malawi labour and employment sector should use the strides registered by the Ministry to join hands to ensure a healthy and motivated workforce that will in turn, boost workplace productivity towards national development.

By Pempho Kantayeni & Pickson Chipeso

Lilongwe, January 28, Mana: Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism on Tuesday engaged Sovereign Metals Ltd to discuss overview of the Kasiya mine exploration.

Sovereign Metals Ltd estimates that it will take five to six years before they start mining rutile from the Kasiya mine deposit.

Speaking at Parliament Building, Chairperson for the committee, Paul Nkhoma, asked Sovereign Metals Ltd to minimize the time frame to at least two years in order to expedite the process to the benefit the country.

The Committee asked Sovereign Metals to share with them a report of the findings of the feasibility study.

“From the report, we will extract the timelines at which time they will require something from any government department, from where we will oversee those government departments. If the government credits are given to them on time, they will be able to start operations much earlier,” he said.

Sovereign Metals Ltd Social Performance Manager, Garth Lappeman, said structures required to enable the project to be mined typically takes between two to three years.

He said even when expedited, it is a huge undertaking which needs to be taken with caution.

“If all goes according to plan, we are looking forward to be moving the project into an operation phase in the next five to six years,” he said.

He added that government of Malawi wants this project expedited as it is an opportunity for a significant amount of development of Malawi’s economy with a substantial amount of benefits for the people of Malawi.

“As Sovereign Metal Ltd, our legacy is important. We are a company that cares about the impact that we are going to have on communities and the environment.

“So over the next nine months, up until the end of October, we will have teams of consultants and specialist working very hard to define the feasibility of the project,” he said.

He said once fully informed, they will move to seeking and applying for a mining license.

Kasiya deposit mine was discovered in 2019.

By Martha Rukunya

Lilongwe, January 29, Mana: The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) requires approximately US$1.5 million to settle the balance for printing three national examinations administered in 2024.

Speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on Education on Wednesday, MANEB Executive Director, Prof. Dorothy Nampota, disclosed that the total cost for the printing service was US$2.7 million, but the board has only managed to pay part of it.

Despite successfully administering leakage-free examinations, the board faced several operational challenges, including late registration by schools, errors in entries, and delays in examination fee payments by parents.

This situation forced MANEB to reopen its registration portal to accommodate affected candidates.

Professor Nampota highlighted under funding as a major issue, revealing that MANEB is also struggling to meet its salary obligations.

“We are now looking for K600 million to pay the board’s employees for the remaining three months of the 2024/2025 financial year,” she stated.

The board is now seeking urgent financial intervention to ensure smooth operations and future examination administration.

By Tamala Kamanga

Dowa, January 29, Mana: Dowa has registered a low turnout on voter registration in the supplementary voter registration exercise which Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) conductede from January 27 to 28 in the district.

Speaking Tuesday after supervision of four registration centres, MEC Commissioner Dr Emmanuel Fabiano said this can be attributed to the fact many people had already registered during the major registration exercise which took place last year.

"As you know that this is supplementary voter registration, so the number we were expecting was very small. For example, in some centers we expected to register 80 people during this exercise.

"In one of the centres, the highest registration we have seen is 21; the centre was at a primary school and the majority that registered were learners for that school," said Dr Fabiano.

The supervision noted that some centres had recorded zero registrations while some registered only one.

By Rosalia Kapiri

Lilongwe, January 29, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera returned to Malawi on Wednesday after attending the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Tanzania, describing the initiative as a “tremendous boost” for the country’s energy and industrial ambitions.

Upon his arrival at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, President Chakwera was welcomed by government officials before inspecting a guard of honour mounted by the Malawi Defence Force.

He later addressed the media, emphasizing the significance of Mission 300 in advancing Africa’s energy sector.

“For Mission 300, for Africa generally, it is a milestone. For Malawi, it is a tremendous boost,” Chakwera stated.

He explained that the initiative would help Malawi achieve its goals in power generation, transmission and usage, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, industrialization, mining, and value addition.

“It’s a boost because it will enable us to achieve our goals in terms of power generation, power transmission and the usage of the same for agricultural industrialization, production, value addition, all of the factors we need to have, and mining particularly, a sector that needs power,” he said.

Chakwera highlighted that the agreement provides nearly US$300 million to kick start the process, with Malawi playing a key role.

“I am happy that I was one of the signatories to this particular issue. Now, we have a stepping stone, as it were, to this M300, which is the essence agreement that we have, and we signed for that as well,” he said.

The president also expressed pride in Malawi’s recognition at the summit.

“And our team was commended as an example of which the World Bank, African Development Bank and Rockefeller Foundation desire to have for us as nations and countries on the continent,” Chakwera said.

He emphasizing that Africa must move away from its past energy struggle and make sure that the continent is no longer a dark continent but is lit up.

The Mission 300 initiative aims to accelerate Africa’s transition to sustainable and renewable energy, with global partners supporting infrastructure development and energy access.

Malawi’s participation signals a strategic step toward boosting the country’s economic growth through reliable power supply.

By Bishop Witmos

Mangochi, January 29, Mana: Deputy Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Halima Daudi encouraged parents and guardians in Mangochi to enrol their children in Community Based Childcare Centers (CBCCs) saying early childhood development (ECD) is significant in building strong foundation for Malawi’s future.

 Addressing parents and guardians at Chindamba, Traditional Authority Chowe in Mangochi, during her familiarization tour on Tuesday, Daudi called for stakeholders' combined efforts in promoting welfare of children, stressing that investing in early childhood education was crucial for children’s growth.

Daudi said she was impressed with community members and Chindamba CBCC caregivers’ active role in providing early child education.

The Deputy Minister added that it was encouraging to learn that children attend school regularly and actively participate in learning activities.

‘‘I came here to Mangochi to appreciate how the district fare in terms of early childhood development. I have seen that children come to learn regularly and that they are being supported by parents who contribute money to promote early childhood development.

 ‘‘We are very excited about what is happening in Mangochi where we have 15 active early childhood development centres, but we still need more of these centres. We would like to thank the World Bank for supporting with infrastructure development in early childhood development centers,’’ added Daudi.

She added that Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare is committed to improving ECD by training CBCC caregivers, saying the initiative was already taking place in phases to ensure that all caregivers are provided with necessary teaching knowledge and skills for effective ECD.

After touring communities at Chindamba, the Deputy Minister also visited participating communities in Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP), which she noted was improving livelihood of rural households in the district.

According to the Principal Social Welfare for Mangochi, Patrick Cholopi, this year, the number of households under SCTP increased from 18,000 to 28,000 households in the district.

In his remarks, Senior Chief Chowe commended government for improving ECD, saying the intervention was bearing fruits in Mangochi.