MANAonline
Former Carlsberg employees requests for dialogue over prolonged court case
By Rennie Tembo
Lilongwe, April 7, Mana: 41 former employees of Carlsberg Malawi, now known as Castel, have submitted their petition to the Lilongwe District Commissioner's Office, requesting dialogue with their former employer to resolve outstanding matters.
Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), on Monday after handing over the petition, Chairperson for the group, Numeri Elisa said the matter has been in courts since 2016, about employees working under the same condition, qualification and all working same hours, but receiving different salaries
He said: “in 2014 Carlsberg introduced a new payment system called Clean wages aimed at simplifying things, which was going well, until January 2015 when the company implemented a 20 percent salary increment for all warehouse employees across three regions. It was this period when we noted salary discrepancies, with some employees receiving K70, 000 while others got K58, 000”.
He further said they have been discussing with the company, but the two parties were unable to come to an agreement, which led to the employees filing a lawsuit against the company at the Iindustrial relations court, in October 2016.
‘’Ever since we filed the case, we have been facing many challenges, especially due to prolonged court proceedings. We have decided to take the matter to the District Commissioner, requesting him to facilitate dialogue with our former employer, so our concerns are address our concerns’’ he said.
Speaking after receiving the petition, the Lilongwe District Commissioner, Dr Lawford Palani commended the former Castel employees, for following the right procedures in presenting their petition.
‘’My duty is to receive the petition and deliver to the relevant authorities, but be assured that your concerns will be addressed, and efforts will be made to find a solution’’ he stated.
The 41 employees have given the DC up to 7 days to convene a roundtable meeting with their former employer Carlsberg Malawi.
TC cautions tobacco farmers against nesting
By Paul Madise
Lilongwe, April 7, Mana: As we are drawing closer to the official opening of this 2025 tobacco selling season, Tobacco Commission (TC) has put in place strict measures to deal with nesting during this season.
The development has been revealed in TC's statement signed by Terephorus Chigwenembe TC Public Relations Officer indicates that nesting face severe punishment with owners of the confiscated tobacco forfeiting all to the commission.
Kanengo Auction Floors is set to open its market season on 9th April 2025 with 11 companies ready to buy the country's tobacco.
According to the Tobacco Industry Act (2024), nesting is the concealment of stems, scraps, loose leaf or any object within a tobacco bale to deceive a buyer on quality or quantity.
"In 2024, more than 3,400 bales were confiscated for nesting," reads the statement. Meanwhile, the commission imposed a penalty of 50% of proceeds from the sale of re-handled nested bales.
It also clarifies that, in the 2025 selling season, all nested tobacco bales will be forfeited to the commission and the owners of the bales will therefore not get any share of proceeds.
Therefore, the Commission has appealed to all tobacco farmers to desist from the malpractice to avoid losses noting that nesting is pushed to preserve the integrity of Malawi tobacco.
Likoma Team Adventure organizes tour to promote tourism
By Ireen Mseteka
Likoma, April 7, Mana: Likoma Team Adventure, on Sunday organized a tour visiting some historical sites in the district in a bid to promote Tourism.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Tour, Director for Likoma Team Adventure, Yusufu Asima said the purpose of the tour which included non-members, was one way of promoting tourism since many people are ignorant of some historical sites.
He said during the tour, the team visited some tourist attraction sites which included, the oldest Anglican Church which is more that 100 years old, Mwala wa belu (a stone which sounds like a bell when hit) and Lodges among others.
“We organized this tour, in order to promote tourism in Likoma. As a district, we have many tourist attraction sites and people out there are not aware of,” said Asima.
One the participants, Kumbukani Salema commended Likoma Team Adventure for the initiative saying that he was overwhelmed to visit the historical sites on the island.
“It was a great experience for the nature lovers and adventure seekers. We enjoyed breathtaking views of the lake, mountains and we also had fun, credit should go to the team for organizing a wonderful tour,” said Salema.
Likoma District Council Tourism Officer, Joice Semu said the tour was vital as it will help upcoming tour guides to be familiar with the tourism sites in the district.
“The tour was very important for upcoming tour guides because apart from getting familiar with tourism sites, the tour will also help to boost their confidence since they now know how they can move with the tourists,” said Semu.
Blantyre and Zomba farmers trained in potato value addition
By Nellie Nyirenda
Mana April 6, Blantyre: In a bid to avoid post-harvest losses, Tehirah Bakeries, in collaboration with the Centre for Resilient Agri-Food Systems (CRAFS) at the University of Malawi, organised a two-day training for Blantyre and Zomba farmers on sweet potato value addition.
Under the theme: Good Agriculture Practices and Post-Harvest Management, the training was held recently at Lunzu Rural Training Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture to empower farmers from the two districts with skills and knowledge to turn the crop into reliable food against hunger and poverty.
Tehirah Bakeries Director, Jean Pankuku said sweet potato was capable to play a pivotal role in addressing food insecurity if grown on larger scale.
“Sweet potato is one of the most climate-resilient crops. With the unpredictable weather pattern we are experiencing, potato offer a sustainable solution to minimising hunger in Malawi.
“Beyond just eating potatoes, we can make bread, biscuits, and flour to reduce our dependence on imports and opening up income opportunities,” she added.
Associate Professor of Food Science at the University of Malawi, Victoria Ndolo challenged farmers to rethink how they treat their harvest.
“Farmers should normalise reserving part of their harvest for household consumption rather than putting everything up for sale. Climate-resilient crops like sweet potatoes are key in mitigating climate change related hunger and improving livelihood,” she said.
The training was combined practical and theoretical aspects such that on the second day, farmers learnt hands-on techniques to improve yield, manage harvests, and transform sweet potatoes into profitable food products.
Each cooperative farmer group was encouraged to brainstorm and decide on a sweet potato-based business they wanted to pursue ranging from baking, flour production to snack making.
Tehirah Bakeries and CRAFS were committed to provide support and follow-ups, to ensure acquired skills and knowledge on potato growing and value adding take root to grow into sustainable enterprises.
A farmer from Matindi in Blantyre, Saidi Banda hailed Tehrah and CRAFS for organising the training, saying skills and knowledge gained was life-changing.
“I gained a lot of new ideas and skills. I learnt how to produce flour, and bake using sweet potatoes.
“I will go back home with a lot of skills and knowledge and will put this into use. This will help farmers start small businesses instead of selling everything after harvesting.” he added
As Malawi continues to grapple with climate change related challenges, alternative initiatives in value addition signal a shift from vulnerability to resilience and from survival to sustainable growth.
With sweet potato at the center, Banda expressed hope that the trained farmers sowed seeds of transformation their fields and sustainable future.
Deputy minister calls for speedy identification of TA Mwamlowe’s replacement
By Manasse Nyirenda
Rumphi, April 6, Mana: Deputy Minister of Local Government, Joyce Chistulo has called for a speedy identification of a replacement of late acting Traditional Authority (TA) Mwamlowe who was laid to rest on Saturday.
She made the remarks during the funeral ceremony of the late traditional leader at his headquarters in Mlowe where she represented the president, Dr Lazarus Chakwera.
She said Mwamlowe was a representative for his people in the local assembly and his demise has created a gap that needs to be filled quickly.
"Traditional chiefs are very critical in championing government's development activities in their respective communities and the death of Mwamlowe has created a gap that needs to be filled.
"We hope the family will quickly identify a replacement to represent them at the local assembly. We also hope the process will be according to laid down succession procedures to avoid wrangles," said Chistulo.
She also echoed calls by Member of Parliament for area, Kamlepo Kalua and the late chief’s family to elevate the Mwamlowe Chieftaincy to Senior Chief because it is one of the oldest chieftaincies in the district.
Senior Chief Katumbi who represented Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe, described late Mwamlowe as a peaceful person who was friendly to everyone.
Family representative, Weston Mhango described the late chief as the pillar to the family who loved his family and community very much.
He added that the community will also miss his passion for sports in particular football and had a social football team which he accompanied to various areas to watch it play.
Born Ian Kachipapa Mwamlowe on 21 June in 1967 he became acting chief in 2014 following the death of his father, but was never officially installed as TA.
He is survived by a wife and two children.
151 students graduate from Glee Grace Hospitality and Tourism Academy
By Gift Wahuta
Blantyre, April 5, Mana: 151 students graduated from Glee Grace Hospitality and Tourism Academy, in Blantyre on Friday at its first graduation since the establishment of the academy four years ago at Blantyre Lodge campus.
Out of 151 students, 147 were females while four were males, and all received certificates in various fields of hospitality and tourism.
Speaking during the ceremony, Marketing Brand Manager for Multi Choice Malawi, Susan Mpunga, encouraged the newly graduated students to be dedicated to duty and uphold work ethic wherever they will work.
“Don’t belittle yourselves. Keep working hard; you have what it takes not just to look for job opportunities, but to create your own business opportunities using the skills you have gained from this institution,” said Mpunga.
The Principal of Glee Grace Hospitality and Tourism Academy, Jonathan Samalani, said the institution will hold more graduation ceremonies in the future to gain recognition and to also inspire students and make parents and guardians proud.
Samalani added that the institution operates under two streams: a private stream, where students pay K150,000 per semester, and a bursary stream supported by Blantyre Malabada legislator, Ishmael Mkumba.
“This institution was initially established to help people of Blantyre Malabada Constituency with bursary schemes. We are therefore committed to equip other students with required skills in the hospitality and tourism industry,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of fellow students, Brian Jordan Maonga, pledged to add value to the nation’s hospitality and tourism industry through the acquired skills and knowledge from Glee Grace Tourism and Hospitality Academy.
The ceremony was spiced up by students’ various performances.
Farmers in Balaka urged not to sell their 2024-2025 maize harvest
By Mary Makhiringa
Balaka, April 5, Mana: Balaka District Council on Friday urged all farmers in the district to avoid selling their maize produce to vendors, citing an average maize crop yield in the 2024/2025 agricultural season.
Council Chairperson, Councilor Pharao Kambiri, made the call at the 2025 district agriculture field day at Rivirive Extension Planning Area which was held under the theme: Climate smart and diversified agriculture, key to sustainable food and nutritional security.
He observed that the district received average crop yield in the 2024/2025 agricultural season with most people prone to hunger following anticipated little harvest.
Kambiri said, “We have noted with concern that farmers are selling their maize to vendors with others going as low as K30,000 per bag. This is very worrisome considering the fact that they are the same people who literally had no food at home just two months ago.
“What we are saying is that, farmers must make calculations of their household members before selling out their maize. For a fully grown up person, every year he or she consumes up to six bags of 50 kilograms of maize, so before selling, people must take this into account.”
He said farmers need to wait till government releases the farm gate prices of commodities so that they sell at a recommended price.
Director of Agriculture at Balaka District Council, David Alli said field days provide opportunity for farmers to share experiences and showcase technologies that need to be adopted to increase crop production.
“We bring together non-governmental organizations in the agricultural sector, farmers and other stakeholders so that together we showcase technologies for farmers to adopt. We also remind one another challenges we face in executing agricultural practices.
“Apart from this, agro dealers also bring forward more new improved seed varieties that have been introduced on the market, in which farmers are encouraged to adopt especially now that the agriculture sector has faced serious challenges related to climate changes,” he added.
Commenting on the overall crop performance in the farming year, Alli said the district has seen a better yield as compared to the previous year.
“It is encouraging that apart from maize, a lot of farmers have also invested in sorghum and the crop has really done well in most areas which will act as a cushion to the people as it can be substituted with maize,” he added.
Orant Charities, Opulence enter partnership on project implementation
By Sylvester Kumwenda
Dowa, April 5, Mana: Orant Charities Africa and Opulence, two of the established Non-Governmental Organizations in Dowa, have entered a one-year partnership with an aim of maximizing impact on the communities they serve.
Speaking after the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday at Kasese in Senior Chief Chakhaza in Dowa District, Founder and Chief Executive Officer for Opulence, Hugo Ngwira, said the collaboration comes after realizing that the two organizations serve similar purposes.
This, he said, has been coupled to enhance resource mobilization and utilization.
"The most important thing is that we will be sharing expertise. As Opulence, we know what we are good at, and we also know the strengths of Orant Charities Africa. So when we join hands and share expertise, we will be able to bring tangible change to our communities.
"It also gives us the ability to reach more people. If individually you reach 1, 000 people, you can double or triple the figure through collaboration. So this is a very important development," said Ngwira.
Opulence comes into the agreement with knowledge in education, Water and Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), economic empowerment, and permaculture, which has been deemed as crucial in averting the effects of climate change on agriculture and its potential in maximizing productivity at low costs.
Orant Charities Africa, on the other hand, also established interventions in five key thematic areas of education support, healthcare, WASH, agriculture, and business development programs, where it supports local entrepreneurs.
In his remarks, Country Director for Orant Charities Africa, Gabriel Kapanda said the signing of the MoU is significant and will kick start various collaborations between the two organizations.
"In this partnership, we will be working together to implement various projects in education, agriculture, economic empowerment and other areas.
"We are also going to do joint grant writing, looking for other partners out there, including sharing data to ensure that we all understand various aspects of program implementation as well as ensure we help each other in capacity building," said Kapanda.
He said that through the collaboration, there will be a greater impact on the communities they serve.
"We also foresee sustainability of projects because when one organization is having challenges, it will be able to draw strength from the capabilities of the other," he said.
District Commissioner for Dowa Stallichi Mwambiwa described the agreement as a milestone.
He said, basing on their interventions, these are some of the big organizations in the district and the council anticipates a lot from the collaboration.
"If you notice, most of their thematic areas are almost common. Now, when people are doing common issues and come together, it entails there will be kinds of economies of scale in terms of knowledge, expertise, resources and other things.
"As a council, we will still be there in helping and guiding them where necessary, but most importantly, seeing to it that their interventions are completely aligned to the aspirations of the district,” said Mwambiwa.
District Monitoring Officer for Non Governmental Organizations Regulatory Authority, Dan Kumbalika commended the partnership, saying it will help empower the two organizations.
Mudslide damages crops in Chitipa
By Aliko Munde
Chitipa, April 5, mana: A mudslide that occurred on Thursday and Friday due to heavy rainfall in Chitipa has damaged crops belonging to 27 households at Kasambara Village in Senior Chief Mwenemisuku in the district.
In an interview, Disaster Risk Management Officer for Chitipa District, Mphatso Nedson
said the mud resulting from the disaster blocked Katete River flow, causing flooding in nearby crop fields.
“The mudslide is expected to exacerbate due to the continuous rainfall experienced in the area,” Nedson said.
He further said that the Area Disaster Risk Management Committee (ADRMC) is on the ground conducting preliminary assessments to establish the extent of damage.
ADRMC Chairperson for Misuku, Cecilia Simwela said that crops like maize, beans, sweet potatoes, amongst other crops have been damaged by mudslide.
M005 Road closed in Nkhata Bay
By Chisomo Kambandanga
Nkhata Bay, April 5, Mana: The Malawi Roads Authority has announced closure of the M005 Road in Nkhata Bay due to heavy rains that have made the road impassable.
The affected section is located at Tukombo in the area of Traditional Authority Zilakoma.
According to a press release signed by the Roads Authority Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Ammiel Champiti, the Armco Pipe Culvert at Tukombo has been washed away at a distance of 76 Kilometers from Nkhata Bay towards Dwangwa Trading Centre.
Motorists travelling between Nkhotakota and Nkhata Bay are advised to take Nkhotakota-Kasungu-Mzuzu-Nkhata Bay (M018), (M001) and (M005) Roads accordingly.
The statement says efforts are underway to restore the situation.
