MANAonline
Chakwera applauds Livingstonia Synod for help in crises
By Tawonga Moyo
Mzuzu, March 10, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has applauded the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod of Livingstonia for complementing government’s efforts when the country is struck with disasters.
The President made the remarks on Sunday in Mzuzu when he congregated at Mchengautuba CCAP Church of the Synod of Livingstonia.
Chakwera noted that the church never chooses to be silent when calamities befall the nation, but is always quick to render a helping hand which demonstrates good relationship between government and the church.
He said such a positive relationship between the church and government is crucial in spearheading the Malawi 2063 (MW2063).
"It is a great privilege for me to worship here today. I applaud the great work the Synod of Livingstonia does. When we faced Cholera crisis last year, you took a step to help and I'm grateful.
"In the education and health sectors, the church is always active to help. When we talk of MW2023, it is important to note that each one of us can accomplish our goals faster through mindset change. Once a vision is shared and repeatedly shared, it becomes everyone's vision,” he said.
Chakwera quoted the scripture from Acts 16, where Apostle Paul's companions agreed with the vision he had and took a step to help him accomplish it, saying such a spirit is what can help build the country.
CCAP Synod of Livingstonia General Secretary, Rev. William Tembo, thanked the President for his continued quick response to disaster affected areas, saying it demonstrates fatherly love.
In his sermon titled "Raising the Bar" taken from Exodus 17:10-13, Moderator for the Synod, Reuben Msowoya, called upon Malawians not to be ordinary spectators of what is going on in their nation but take responsibility in making things better.
"We don't need spectators. Good citizens work for their lives, family and nation. We need to raise the bar as a nation by taking responsibility of everything that concerns us without always expecting to receive something. God doesn't bless lazy or jealous people.
"Our nation is blessed with natural resources. We just need to change our mindset and work in unity to defeat poverty. We need to have a vision and strive to reach where we want to be," said Msowoya.
Chakwera made a K5 million contribution towards the church's tiling project.
Keep the faith – Pastor Esau Banda
By Moses Nyirenda
Lilongwe, March 10, Mana: Pentecost International Christian Centre (PICC) founder, Pastor Esau Banda, has advised people, including his followers, to embrace faith amidst various challenges the country is experiencing.
He made the remarks Saturday at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe when his church was celebrating 14 years of existence in God's ministry.
Banda said God does not abandon his children and what people need to do is to keep faith and trust in God.
“Let us keep the faith. Jesus came as our hope of glory and has never failed. I want to assure Malawians that regardless of what we are going through, the Lord is on our side; he has proven throughout history that he has never abandoned his people.
“You may recall that the children of Israel were stuck in Egypt for 430 years but God came through for them. So, no matter how long it may take, there is hope for Malawi,” Banda said.
He said PICC has in its time of existence, both within and outside the country, helped transform people’s lives and bring hope to the hopeless, among other things.
Pastor Banda said moving forward, PICC plans to continue with construction of churches across the world.
“PICC is a global ministry. We have plans to plant churches across Africa, Europe, North and South America as well as Asia,” he said.
One of PICC members, Gift-Jamie Mawerenga, said his life has changed since he joined the church in 2020.
“PICC has a mandate to bring hope to the hopeless, life to the dying and help them become true disciples of Jesus Christ and this has changed my life. I am full of hope in its entirety now and I am a true disciple of Jesus Christ,” Mawerenga explained.
The event featured a celebration march from Area 25 to BNS followed by prayers and entertainment activities.
New Nanyangu primary school block in Sharpevalle excites people
By Maston Kaiya
Ntcheu, 09 March, Mana: Communities of Sharpevalle education zone in Ntcheu have expressed excitement with the new school block at Nanyangu primary school for improving education standards at Nanyangu primary school in the district.
The school block which was constructed under the Government to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) was handed over to the community in 2022.
Parents Teachers Association Chairperson for the school Clement Matemba said the school was established in 1999 with two classes, standard one and two, then it expanded to standard 5 where learners were learning under grass thatched blocks.
"With support and encouragement from chiefs, members of the community mobilized bricks, sand and grass and constructed the now dilapidated blocks. The initiative was to ensure that our children get some education," said Matemba.
Village headman Solijala said the school block was a priority for the community and hailed the World Bank funded project for constructing a modern school block at Nanyangu.
On his part, the school’s Head teacher Enock Chikaliso said the new school block has motivated dropout learners who were just staying idle at home and others who were travelling long distances to other schools in Bwanje area to enroll at the institution.
"Even teachers are also motivated to teach in such a modern facility,” said Chikaliso.
According to Chikaliso, the school which is in Bwanje North Constituency, Sharpevalle zone has enrollment of 625 learners comprising of 301 boys and 324 girls.
He said the new classroom block has further expanded enrollment of learners to standard eight.
GESD projects which is funded by the World Bank aims at strengthening local authority’s institutional performance responsiveness to citizens and management of resources for good service delivery.
Lilongwe records 1,054 cases of viral conjunctivitis
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 21st 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.
Department of forestry drills enforcement agencies on environmental crimes
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.
First Lady cheers the sick and donates equipment to Mzuzu Central Hospital
By Rose Cross Mahorya
Mzuzu, March 9, Mana: First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera Saturday donated assorted medical equipment to Mzuzu Central Hospital and gift hampers to patients in the facility’s maternity, pediatric and gynecology wards.
The donation included 16 sick beds with mattresses, medical gloves and respiratory ventilators.
Speaking after the visit, Chakwera said she was impressed with the commitment of health workers at the facility despite having overwhelming numbers of patients to be attending to.
She applauded them for their continued efforts to deliver quality health services to the populace despite high ratio between increased population and health workers whom she said are not adequate amidst limited space for patients.
"It is true that the population is growing and our structures are still the same, government is working towards expanding the existing health facilities such as hospitals besides constructing new ones to address the challenge of limited space in such facilities.
" Ministry of Health will continue employing more health workers to reduce the ratio between patients and medical staff," said Chakwera.
The First Lady also commended the institution for doing its best in fighting cervical cancer and encouraged them to intensify awareness on prevention of the same.
Director for Mzuzu Central Hospital, Dr. Ted Bandawe while appreciating Chakwera for the donation, appealed to government to construct additional maternity and pediatric wards at the facility, saying the current structures are too small to better serve the growing population.
“We also need more specialized personnel to march with the increasing number of specialized medical cases," said Bandawe.
Ministry to increase Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries in Mangochi
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.
Neno DC hails livelihood programme
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.
Truck kills five children in Mangochi
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.
New school block to reduce distance among learners
By Clarabella Chipolonga
Chiradzulu, March 9, Mana: Community members from Chanje village under Traditional Authority (TA) Kadewere in Chiradzulu district have expressed gratitude to government for constructing a new classroom block at June Junior Primary School in the district, saying it will cut short the distance learners used to cover when accessing education.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, Group Village Head Chanje said the coming in of the school block has added classrooms for standard 3 and 4 pupils, which were previously unavailable, adding the new classrooms have potential to increase enrollment of pupils at the institution.
"The old block we were using was built by Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), and could only support standard 1 and 2 learners. So as a community we decided to make bricks and ask for help from the government. After several attempts, we were granted this development, so we are really happy, " he said.
Chanje therefore assured authorities in the district that as a community, they are dedicated to taking care of the block so that it should help many generations to come, adding they will set up by-laws to prevent vandalism and theft within the premises.
On his part, Chairperson for the school's committee, David Matenda said the new development has reduced the fear parents had of their children being kidnapped or being swept away by running water when going or coming from distant schools.
"Parents used to worry about the safety and wellbeing of their children as they were walking long distances to attend standard 3 and 4 classes as most of the surrounding schools are almost 10 kilometers away. With the new classroom block, this will be history," he said.
In his remarks, Head teacher for June Junior Primary School, Damson Chisemula, said the new block has contributed to the growth of the school as it used to have classes 1 and 2 only, but now it goes up to standard 4.
He however expressed wish for the school to continue growing to a full primary school as there is still need for more classroom blocks.
He has since requested well-wishers to help them with desks because the pupils currently sit on the floor.
The class block has been constructed with funding from the World Bank under the Governance to Enable Service Delivery Project (GESD) to the tune of K23 million.
