By Rennie Tembo

Lilongwe, March 9, Mana: Lilongwe District Health Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Coordinator Chisomo Kankhwani says the district has recorded 1,054 cases of conjunctivitis disease from February to March this year.

Speaking in Lilongwe during a Public Health Emergency Management Committee (PHEMC) meeting, Friday, Kankhwali said the disease was discovered at Maula prison where 625 prisoners were reported to have shown signs of the disease.

“A clinician from the prison informed us after he got a report that the prison clinic received cases of red eye and a rapid assessment was done on 21^st February and 625 inmates out of the 3,180 were affected,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the clinician at Bwaila Hospital Isaac Kumwenda said the situation is worrisome as the disease is spreading like wild fire. We are receiving cases almost every day but the hospitals do not have enough antibiotics.

“This pandemic is out there and as it is, more cases are expected. We are very worried since we do not have enough drugs, such as chloramphenicol eye drops or gentamycin eye drops’’, he said.

Kumwenda further appealed for support from stakeholders saying there’s need to join hands before the pandemic reaches to different schools in the district.

“There is need for awareness campaign so that many people should be aware of the pandemic and start following precaution measures in order to contain further spreading of the disease,” he said.

Viral conjunctivitis or bacterial conjunctivitis is a disease which affects the eyes. It is easily spread from person to person and its signs and symptoms include; red eyes, painful eyes, blurred vision, headache, eye discharge and foreign body pain.

By Lyte Ali

Mangochi, March 9, Mana: Department of Forestry has asked detectives from Police, Wildlife and Anti-Corruption Bureau to fight environmental crimes, which it says continue to rise across the country.

Speaking in Mangochi on Friday during a one-day training session of investigators from the three departments drawn from across the country, head of law enforcement under the Department of forestry, Daniel Kabichi said results of lawlessness are causing problems such as drought and flooding.

Kabichi therefore said the newly amended forestry act requires partnership by all law enforcing agencies in the country, in order to protect nature.

“Forestry cases are widely spread across the country, a development which has fueled climate change, as you can now see that nature is now turning against us.  as such, we need to engage more detectives at all levels to enhance our partnership in the fight against such crimes

As a forestry department we cannot just implement the newly amended forestry act on our own because we will need other experts, hence this meeting is important platform for us to share what is needed in the investigation of forestry crimes,” he said.

Kabichi also urged communities to take ownership of nature, saying in most cases his department is accused of being lenient over protecting the environment, yet 90 percent of Malawians use the same resources in their homes.

In his remarks, head of Wildlife and Environmental Crime Investigation Unit at Malawi Police Service, Wellington Chindzakaza assured Malawians that police will continue to work hard in their everyday work to protect environment.

Chindzakaza said despite such crimes being well organized in a long chain, police have over the past years been able to investigate and arrest culprits.

One of the participants to the workshop, Gertrude Chonzie, a station Criminal Investigation Officer at Kawale police station in Lilongwe, hailed organizers for the meeting, saying it has helped her to acquire more knowledge on how to handle environmental cases.

Chonzie however said some cases are difficult to handle as local people that are found in possession of such prohibited properties tend to hide buyers, hence some are convicted while the real perpetrators are still left out.

By Shaffie Bakali

Mangochi, March 8, Mana: Chief Social Welfare Officer for Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Anastanzio Matewere says the ministry is set to renew the number of Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) beneficiaries in Mangochi for the coming financial years.

Matewere made this remarks on Friday during cash distribution of third quarter of 2023/2024 year to 139 beneficiaries of Changamire village cluster in the area of Senior Chief Chimwala in the district.

He said the process of retargeting beneficiaries will heavily affect the quantity of beneficiaries positively in Mangochi.

"Currently, SCTP is benefiting 18,000 households in Mangochi but after the process of reviewing beneficiaries, we expect an increased number to 28,000 beneficiaries" Matewere said.

He added that the joint-factors qualifying a household to be beneficiary of the programme remains ultra-poverty and labour constraints.

In his remarks, Principal Social Welfare Officer for Mangochi District Council, Patrick Cholopi said the council will from December 2024 embrace the newly revised rates of income.

One of the beneficiaries from Kafucheche village in the area, Cecilia Dailesi hailed government for the programme, saying it has helped to improve her livelihood.

By Salome Gangire

Neno, March 9, Mana: District Commissioner (DC) for Neno, Rosemary Nawasha has hailed Livelihood Improvement Programme (LIP) being implemented by Umodzi Consulting in the district for improving the livelihood of community members.

She said this, Friday when she visited Mlindi Cooperative at Magaleta Village during a field visit by the Agriculture Service Committee organised to appreciate the strides made by the programme in transforming the lives of people.

Umodzi Consulting is implementing LIP with funding from United States Africa Development Foundation (USADF) by working with cooperatives with the aim of improving the nutrition well-being of its members particularly those with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) conditions, as well as improving their social –economic and building resilience.

 “I am so impressed with what is happening here as people are growing different kinds of crops and rearing different kinds of animals which they use in their homes. They also sell 30 percent of the produce thereby achieving food security,” Nawasha said.

She therefore, asked them to replicate what they are learning at the cooperative in their homes so that they can have all the food groups they need in their lives and earn money for their livelihood.

Umodzi Consulting Director of Finance, Enerst Luhanga said through the programme they are working with farmer’s groups in different countries by providing grants to farmer’s cooperatives at different levels.

He said in Neno, the programme is targeting people with NCD like diabetes so that they should have access to nutritious food but also have excess to sale for them to have income in their homes.

“We are working with 14 cooperatives and they have received grants to implement their projects,” Luhanga said.

He added that the project has made positive impact in the district as beneficiaries have replicated the technologies they are learning at the demonstration site in their homes by having backyard gardens where they grow various vegetables and fruits and they are also rearing livestock’s.

Luhanga added that 4,417 participants are benefiting from the project in the district of which 2,268 are NCD patients representing 51 percent and of these 291 are diabetic patient with type 1 and 2.

Chairperson for Mlindi Cooperative James Mazingaliwa said the benefits that members are getting from the project are remarkable, as they also get skills and later replicate in their homes apart from also growing crops for selling and home use.

“Most of us now have backyard gardens and no longer buy vegetables thanks to the project. We have also planted various fruit trees our group received at the cooperative,” he said.

Some of technologies the cooperatives are using includes green house and drip irrigation to grow different types of crops.

By Ernest Mfunya

 Mangochi, March 9, Mana: A hired truck, registration number SA 6421, which carried maize flour for distribution under the Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme on Friday evening killed five children, at Chowe Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Chowe in Mangochi district after the driver lost control of the vehicle.

Confirming the development in an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Saturday, Public Relations Officer for Eastern Region Police, Superintendent Patrick Mussa said the truck was coming from Namwera to Mangochi, to offload the flour for distribution at Chowe Village.

Mussa said eye witnesses told Traffic Police officers who rushed to the scene that the driver lost control of the vehicle upon reaching Chowe, following malfunctioning of the truck breaks.

"Upon noticing that breaks were not working, the truck driver moved towards a tree which was near to his left hand side, but unfortunately it hit the five children who were under the tree," said Mussa.

He said well-wishers rushed the children to the hospital, where upon arrival they were all pronounced dead.

Meanwhile Mussa has said investigations are underway to gather more information about the accident.

By Mary Makhiringa

Balaka, March 9, Mana: Balaka District Council has been applauded for constructing a K38 million guardian shelter at Balaka District Hospital.

There was jubilation when Member of Parliament (MP) for Balaka North, Tony Ngalande officially commissioned the state of the art guardian shelter constructed through the District Development Fund.

Since time immemorial, guardians at the facility have been facing numerous challenges especially during rainy season as they used to sleep in tiny corridors of the hospital.

Speaking after inaugurating the shelter, Ngalande said as a true son of Balaka and on a number of occasions that he has been coming to the hospital, he was sad seeing how people were struggling.

He said: “I am glad that what started as a dream has materialized, let me pledge that as an MP I will strive to lobby for resources for a proper District Hospital as this current facility was handed over by Catholics which was used as a leprosy treatment center."

Meanwhile the MP has also pledged to provide a proper kitchen and beddings to be used by the guardians at the facility.

In an interview, Director of Planning and Development for Balaka, Chris Nawata said the district needs a district hospital.

“We already have land reserved for the district hospital, we must move with speed, what if one day the Catholics will need their facility, where will we go?” he wondered.

Amos Mvula, a Clinical Officer hailed the council for the timely intervention saying people were struggling.

"Many times guardians had no proper place to sleep," he said.

Traditional Authority Nsamala also hailed the council for constructing the shelter, observing it will alleviate the challenges that guardians were facing at the hospital.

Nyalunganu Construction, constructed the shelter for a period of three months.

By Memory Kutengule Chatonda

Blantyre, March 9, Mana: Head of Public Health and Disaster Resilience in the office of the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Allison Raw has commended Malawians for being resilient to the impacts of climate induced disasters.

Raw said this on Friday in Blantyre at the conclusion of her trip to the country where she visited different districts that were heavily affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy.

Raw had come to Malawi to appreciate the impact of the devastation and also give hope to the affected families.

She said: “I have heard for myself the touching stories of Malawians who have been directly affected by cyclones. However, I must say that I am completely overwhelmed with how resilient Malawians are, everyone seemed so happy.”

Raw said her office will come up with a comprehensive plan to support Malawians and the results will also be a point of reference during the 27^th meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations to take place later in the year.

“Certainly, one of such plan to be incorporated, is to increase their resilience to the potential future climate impacts. In this way, we will work with the government of Malawi to solicit funds from international organizations and other banks to support Malawians and give them skills that would help them generate income to support their livelihoods. In that way we can make them more resilient,” she said.

In his remarks, Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Michael Usi described the visit by Raw to Malawi as crucial in providing solutions to Malawians’ needs.

“In our deliberations with the commonwealth team, they have demonstrated a strong commitment to support Malawians with among others, skills to venture into small scale businesses to alleviate poverty,” he said

By Yamikani Yapuwa

Thyolo, March 9, Mana:  Self Help Africa (SHA) on Friday donated a vehicle to Thyolo District Council’s Agriculture Office to ensure that there is easy monitoring of activities and interventions implemented under the Kulima Better Programme which phased out in 2022.

Handing over the vehicle to District Commissioner for Thyolo, SHAs Project Coordinator Khwima Msiska said the vehicle will help the agriculture office to ease transport challenges that were there.

“SHA has been implementing a lot of projects in Thyolo district and Kulima Better programme which was funded by the European Union (EU) from 2018 to 2020 is one of them.

“So in agreement with the donor, we thought it wise to donate the vehicle to agriculture office to sustain the activities and interventions which the project implemented in Thyolo,” said Msiska.

Msiska also appealed to the council to take good care of the vehicle for it to be in good condition thereby serving its intended purpose.

Acting Director of Agriculture Services at the council, Mphatso Mbulukwa hailed SHA for the donation saying it will promote easy monitoring of agriculture activities.

“We have five Extension Planning Areas which are very far away and the office has more than 30 officers, so relying on two vehicles only was very difficult.

“With the coming in of this extra car, we hope that it will ease some of the challenges which we were facing in terms of mobility,” said Mbulukwa.

She said the car will also help in following up so many interventions under Kulima Better to ensure that the gains which were registered during the project period are sustained.

“So we will be using the vehicle to visit those farmers and see that we maintain the gains,” she added.

In his remarks, District Commissioner for Thyolo Hudson Kuphanga described the vehicle as a blessing to the council and the agriculture sector which will ease mobility issues.

“We are happy with the gesture as we have seen a lot of projects exiting the district without leaving their assets behind for easy continuation of monitoring of the interventions implemented,” said Kuphanga.