By Manasse Nyirenda

Rumphi, March 18, Mana: Director of Agriculture for Rumphi, Malumbo Nyirongo, says a new office in Chiweta Extension Planning Area (EPA) will help his department to effectively reach out to over 4,000 farming households in the EPA and surrounding areas.

In an interview on Monday, he said before they occupied the new office built with funds from World Bank-funded Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD), the rented office they were using had limited space.

"We normally do what we call agriculture demonstrations at the office which is practice so that farmers may be able to witness what we teach them.

"These demonstrations could be about crops such as maize or others. We could not do this because we did not have enough space. Now we will be able to do that because we also have a conference room at the new office," he said.

Traditional Authority Mwamulowe said he was looking forward to quality agricultural extension services for his people which will enhance food security in the area.

Agriculture Extension and Development Coordinator for Chiweta EPA, Farewell Mkandawire, said the office will motivate them to work harder in provision of extension services as they now have a conducive working environment.

Director of Planning and Development for Rumphi, Frank Mfune, said GESD projects guidelines ensure that a project is initiated by communities themselves which ensures ownership and sustainability of the projects.

"GESD clearly outlines that all projects implemented using such funds should emanate from the community and it should be able to be traced from the village action plans (VAPs) of the area and District Development Plans (DDF).

"This therefore means that GESD really addresses the needs of the communities, and there is no room to impose a project on the community," he said.

GESD is a performance based Malawi Government project funded by the World Bank.

By Margret Praise Kalua

NKhata Bay, March 18, Mana: A Nkhata Bay based organization, Mtisunge AIDs and Community Development Support Organization (MACODESO), has embarked on an awareness campaign in the district aimed at changing people’s negative perception, attitudes and practices towards people living with HIV and AIDS.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of an awareness campaign in the area of Senior Chief Timbiri on Sunday, MACODESO Programmes Manager Michael Chirwa said the campaign, dubbed ‘Ndife Amodzi, Know Your Rights’, is targeting hard to reach areas.

"We have organized this campaign to realize strengthened community systems for effective HIV prevention and control of stigma and discrimination towards women and children living with HIV within communities.

"We also want people living with HIV and AIDS to adhere to treatment if we are to achieve reduced HIV transmission. Stigmatizing and discriminating them compromises the situation because they become shy to seek medical services," Chirwa said.

Clinical Officer for Nkhata Bay District Hospital, Chancy Kondowe, said stigma and discrimination can make young girls and women traumatized and remain withdrawn from community activities, a situation which prevents development.

"The campaign will bring different community structures in the area to advocate for change hence improving access for women and children to essential self and adequate multi-sectoral services," he said.

The campaign was organized under the “Kids’ health, kids’ rights: enhancing HIV testing, treatment and adherence among kids, lactating and pregnant mothers living with HIV” project which MACODESO is currently implementing in the district with funding from Aidsfunds Foundation from Netherlands.

By Tikondane Vega

Blantyre, March 18, Mana: Secretary to the Treasury Betchani Tchereni has challenged engineers as well as planners in the country to come up with proper infrastructure designs with high quality that can withstand adverse weather conditions, noting government is spending a lot of resources in reconstruction.

Tchereni said this on Monday in Blantyre during the opening of the African Road Maintenance Funds Association of Southern Africa Focal Group (ASAFG) that has been hosted by the Roads Fund Administration (RFA) and drew participants from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Malawi.

He said it is high time Malawi considered constructing roads, bridges and other facilities that can withstand hostile weather conditions, adding maintenance of amenities like roads and bridges is proving more expensive than just constructing strong materials that cannot be shaken during disasters.

Tchereni emphasized the need for engineers and planners to be on top of their game, as this is the only way for Malawi to move forward in as far as development is concerned.

“When we are reconstructing or doing maintenance, it means we are still investing the work we did previously and this is not progress.

“The last Cyclone Freddy taught us so many things which include the need for durable infrastructure. Imagine the country will need US$900 million to rework on bridges, roads and other facilities which were destroyed by the cyclone in 2023.

“At the same time, Malawi exports do not exceed US$600 million annually. Let me commend organizers for this meeting for coming up with a very relevant theme dubbed: The impact of legal frameworks and climate change on the sustainability of road funds. The theme is timely and befits all countries since climate change has not spared any,” he said.

Tchereni, therefore, reminded Malawians that the country needs innovations in the manner how it finances its projects, saying the country cannot continue relying on the same ways of raising funds for development.

On his part, Board Chairperson for RFA in Malawi, Matthews Chikankheni, said the meeting is aimed at sharing best practices and experiences from different member countries.

Chikankheni said RFA has benefitted a lot from such meetings, citing some knowledge on how to run toll gates which was borrowed from countries like Zambia and Mozambique while others also keep on learning from Malawi when it comes to road fuel levy management, among others.

“RFA continues to make progress despite facing some challenges. We will shortly establish other two toll gates, Lilongwe-Mchinji and Lilongwe-Salima roads. All these are aimed at serving Malawians better,” he said.

Meanwhile, ASAFG Chairperson Nkekeletse Makara has called for serious investment in all the RFAs, saying despite other modes of transport, road transport is used by 90 percent of people in Africa and 80 percent of goods are also transported through roads in the same continent.

“We need to fulfill the African Union Agenda of ensuring connectivity and free trade but these can only happen when there are good roads and bridges networks in the African continent.

“I agree with the Secretary to the Treasury that reconstruction is expensive. Most importantly is to come up with durable infrastructure that can stand the test of time,” said Makara.

This year's meeting is the fourth to be held in Malawi, following other meetings which were held in 2011, 2016 and 2019.

By Chisomo Kambandanga

Nkhata Bay, March 17, Mana: Chief Irrigation Officer for Mzuzu Agricultural Development Division, Tinkho Msimuko Mpezeni has disclosed that 200 000 fingerlings have been stocked in Linga Dam which is located in the area of Senior Chief Fukamapiri in Nkhata Bay District.

Speaking in an interview Saturday, Mpezeni said the stocking of fingerlings in the dam was started by the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Michael Usi on January 24, 2024.

“130 000 fingerlings were stocked in January out of the targeted 200 000. Today I am glad to say we have finished the balance by stocking 70 000 fingerings.

“The stocking of the dam is a plus to us as an irrigation sector because it is promoting multipurpose use of the dam,” Mpezeni said.

Mpezeni added that the stocking of the fingerings will provide an alternative source of income to the communities surrounding the dam than relying on charcoal burning for survival hence contributing to catchment conservation.

In his remarks, Centre Manager for Mzuzu Aquaculture Centre who is also Zone Manager for Sustainable Fisheries Aquaculture Development and Watershed Management Project, David Mbamba said the country has high demand for fish due to rising population. 

“The cheapest source of proteins in Malawi is fish and with the increase in the population of people it is hard to meet the demand for fish that is out there. As such we want to make use all small water bodies by restocking fish which will increase production and ease its access.

“Plans are under way to make this a mega farm where we intend to introduce cage cultures. Besides that, people will still be allowed to do fishing in the dam for sale and consumption as long as they follow guidelines and use legal fishing gears,” Mbamba said.

One community member, Thomas Manda hailed government for bringing the irrigation scheme in the area, saying it has changed livelihoods of many people by increasing crop production.

By Martha Simchimba

Lilongwe; March 16, Mana: Malawi Legal Aid Bureau says it has expanded its operations in service delivery and human resource in the nine years of its establishment.

Malawi Legal Aid Bureau Director, Trouble Kalua, was speaking in Lilongwe on Friday during celebrations marking the Bureau’s nine years of existence.

He said the Bureau will continue to provide legal aid, legal advice and legal assistance including representation in any court, tribunal or similar body to the indigent in the country.

“As we speak we have made tremendous achievements. We have 48 lawyers and over 50 paralegals. This means our institution is one of the largest government department that operates under one roof.

“We have managed to register over 23,000 cases. We have also migrated from paper work to a new electronic case management system. This is a milestone for a government institution like ours to be able to collect data electronically," he said. 

Kalua said the Bureau is working with Malawi Law Society in implementing the probono scheme, collaborating with Women Lawyers Association and also passing the paralegal advisory services in a number of cases.

Law Expert, Ayuba James, commended the work that Malawi Legal Aid Bureau is doing by contributing to people’s awareness about the rights they have under the law.

“Considering that the Bureau is operating under very limited resources, I would say they have done a very tremendous job as they have increased people’s access to legal services particularly those that cannot afford to hire private lawyers; for this I give them credit,” he said.

The Malawi Legal Aid Bureau started its operations in the country on 15^th March 2015, with 35 employees. Meanwhile, they have over 200 employees in 21 districts across the country.