MANAonline
Media practitioners urged to report more on COMESA regional integration programmes
By Sarah Munthali
Lilongwe, March 7, Mana: Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe has called on media practitioners in the country to report more on Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) regional integration programmes and their benefit to the country.
He made the call in Lilongwe on Thursday when he officially opened a two-day National Capacity Building Workshop for Media Practitioners organised by COMESA in collaboration with Ministry of Trade and Industry.
He said Malawi has benefitted greatly from various programmes from COMESA, which include trainings for cross-border traders on Simplified Trade Regime, upgrading of the Mchinji-Mwami One Stop Border Post (OSBP), procurement of sewing machines for Blantyre textiles cooperative at MACOHA, and construction of COMESA Cross Border Market (set to commence around July 2024), among others.
Gwengwe also said small cross-border traders, especially women and youths, are benefitting from the simplified COMESA trade regime where they can go and trade in and out of COMESA countries without hustles.
He pledged government’s commitment in ensuring that local producers have a conducive environment to conquer the local and international markets, citing Kilombero rice and Sobo juice as some products which have penetrated the international markets.
“COMESA has organised this capacity building programme in collaboration with my ministry to give chance to journalists to write more stories and articles about the organisation, the impact the regional bloc has on Malawi, not only on trade, but also on the transport and agriculture sectors,” he added.
Gwengwe therefore said media practitioners in the country need a better understanding of the COMESA regional integration configuration under which Malawi and other state parties operate, if they are to effectively disseminate information on the regional and national development agenda to the general public.
“An enlightened citizenry is a key ingredient in our development process. Therefore, it goes without saying that well-informed journalists also make well-informed decisions. You need to utilise this opportunity to network and get contacts of the COMESA experts so that you can easily cross-check your facts from the right sources whenever you are reporting about our COMESA supported programmes,” explained Gwengwe.
COMESA Secretariat Head of Corporate Communications Mwangi Gakunga said COMESA observed a gap among media practitioners in member states despite conducting regional media trainings, hence changing the strategy to national ones.
“COMESA recognises and acknowledges the media as part of its key stakeholders whose contribution is invaluable to the success of regional integration. It is our hope that once you are done with the training, you become better communicators and ambassadors of the regional integration process at national level.
“This capacity building initiative is important in that it will deepen your understanding of the opportunities that regional integration initiatives present to the economic development of this country and the region,” he added.
Gakunga said Malawi is one of the member states to have implemented many COMESA supported programmes and has many success stories to tell.
COMESA comprises 21 African member states with a combined population of over 600 million people.
World Vision encourages faith leaders to embrace mega farms
By Leonard Masauli
Lilongwe, March 7, Mana: World Vision Malawi has emphasized the importance of faith leaders embracing the mega farms initiative to ensure adequate food supply in the communities the leaders serve.
During the ‘Enough Campaign with Faith Leaders’ held at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe on Wednesday, Advocacy and Communications Director for World Vision Malawi, Charles Gwengwe, highlighted the pivotal role faith leaders play in stewardship and responsibility.
"Faith leaders must actively support the establishment of mega farms within their congregations to address food insecurity.
“While we have constructed churches, schools, and hospitals, it is now imperative to develop mega farms to share food resources with those in need and promote sustainable land and water management practices," said Gwengwe.
He underscored the urgency of the situation, noting “the current hunger crisis affecting approximately 4.4 million people demands immediate action. If left unaddressed, these figures could escalate to over 5 million next year."
Gwengwe emphasized that churches should not limit themselves to spiritual endeavours but should also actively engage in meeting the physical needs of their communities.
Addressing the gathering, Pastor Caswell Mkanda, Chief Executive Officer at Uthunthu, praised World Vision for its campaign and urged churches to proactively tackle issues such as hunger.
"As stewards and beacons of light, churches are called not only to worship but also to offer practical solutions to societal challenges. Leveraging our collective expertise and resources, including agricultural experts, economists, and nutritionists within the church, we can establish mega farms to provide sustainable solutions,” remarked Mkanda.
JICA for inclusive energy growth for Malawi
By Patricia Kapulula
Lilongwe, March 7, Mana: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Wednesday officially handed over the Lilongwe Old Town Substation, which includes expansion of Kanengo Substation, to Malawi Government through the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM).
Speaking during the handover, JICA President Dr Akihiko Tanaka expressed commitment to working with Malawi Government and other partners to bring inclusive, sustainable and self-reliant growth for the people of Malawi.
He described the upgraded facility as important for Malawi’s development, saying it contributes to the improvement of power supply in the country thereby improving people’s livelihoods in Lilongwe City and surrounding areas.
“The reconstruction of the facility and related improvements to transformers will ensure it provides the Capital City with a sufficient and reliable supply of electricity for years to come. This goes a long way in minimising blackouts so that citizens can enjoy a better quality life,” said Tanaka.
Receiving the infrastructure on behalf of government, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said the upgraded substation marks a milestone in ensuring a stable and reliable power supply for Malawi.
“We need to generate enough electricity for us to reach 1,000 megawatts by 2025 and this is one way of doing that. This contributes to the Malawi 2063 through provision of reliable power supply,” he said.
Principal Secretary for Energy, Alfonso Chikuni, said the facility is a huge enhancement to transmission, as it makes the whole backbone reliable.
“Intermittent power supply will be dealt with and power will stabilize. A lot of benefits will come out of these investments,” said Chikuni.
ESCOM Chief Executive Officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda expressed gratitude for the infrastructure, saying it will go a long way in improving power supply in the city and surrounding areas.
The project will connect over 20,000 new customers.
DoDMA calls for extra funding
By Patience Longwe
Lilongwe, March 7, Mana: Director of Preparedness and Response for the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), Moses Chimphepo, has asked the Parliamentary Cluster Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to lobby government for an extra K1 billion to their budget in order for them to operate effectively and efficiently.
Chimphepo made the remarks in Lilongwe on Wednesday after meeting the committee.
He said DoDMA needs resources to support Malawi efficiently saying responding to disasters depends on the magnitude of the disaster and as such extra funding is needed.
He also said the prolonged dry spells that some districts have faced will require resources to help people in those areas.
"Currently, we don’t know how many people will be food insecure and once those people are determined, we will come up with a budget for our current course.
“For those that we know we need an additional K1 billion on top of the K1 billion which has been allocated to us. At least K2 billion will be enough for us to operate properly as a department,” he said.
Co-chairperson for the Parliamentary Cluster Committee on Natural Resources, Werani Chilenga, said as Members of Parliament (MPs) their mandate is to make sure that people are helped through DoDMA.
He said MPs will help DoDMA to get extra funding.
"We will lobby the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture so that they should have enough funding to mitigate most of these factors,” Chilenga said.
Ministry strengthens leadership capacity for primary school management teams
By George Bulombola
Mzuzu, March 7, Mana: Director of Teacher Education and Development in the Ministry of Education, Zizwa Msukuma, has emphasized on the need for strengthened leadership capacity of management teams of all public primary schools.
He was speaking in Mzuzu on Wednesday when he opened a 10-day school leaders training.
The leaders, drawn from Mzimba South, Likoma and Mzuzu City, include head teachers, primary education advisors, section heads, school inspectors and deputy head teachers.
Msukuma said leadership is paramount for improved school performance through effective teaching and learning approaches.
“Most of the teachers who are in leadership positions were just nominated in such capacities without knowing what it takes to be leaders as they did not undergo formal training on their roles, hence the training,” said Msukuma.
He said the ministry has plans to raise the current Initial Teacher Primary Education Certificate, which is the current entry qualification into the teaching service, to diploma as a way of motivating teachers and improve their performance.
“Our aim is to ensure that teacher training colleges start offering diploma and degree programs and this will be done through distance learning,” he said.
The programs are expected to roll out in the 2025/2026 education calendar after going through several process such as bench marking.
According to Msukuma, this will necessitate functional review saying the ministry will soon write a Cabinet Paper on the same.
Speaking on behalf of the teachers, Fletcher Mwale, commended the ministry for the training which he said would go a long way in improving teachers’ capacities in various fields.
“This initiative will address some of the leadership gaps which school management teams face as they execute their duties,” said Mwale.
According to one of the inspectors of schools for Mzimba South, Caroline Kadango, head teachers who are not trained in leadership roles have challenges in managing schools.
“In such situations, most teachers develop haywire approach to their duties leading to poor performance at school, zone, district and national levels,” said Kadango.
Lilongwe DHO embarks on Bilharzia drug mass campaign
By Martha Simchimba
Lilongwe; March 7, Mana. Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO) has embarked on a Bilharzia drug mass distribution campaign in order to eliminate the disease in the district.
Speaking Tuesday during a media briefing in Lilongwe, District Health Promotion Officer, Richard Mvula, said the exercise which started on Tuesday, March 5, is expected to end on March 9.
“We are targeting school going children from the age of six upwards as well as adults. At the end of the exercise we are expected to reach out to 800,000 people in the district,” he said.
He appealed to parents to sensitize their children to take the drugs at school once it is administered.
“Bilharzia is one of the diseases which has been earmarked for elimination just like we did with other neglected tropical diseases such as Lymphatic IASIS. That is why we have decided to conduct this campaign so that no one is left behind and declare Malawi free from Bilharzia,” he said.
Currently, Lilongwe DHO is working hand in hand with Ministry of Education by going to each and every school meeting primary school learners.
Mvula said, in the communities they will be going around in places where people usually meet and also engage volunteers on door to doors services.
Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) Chief Executive Officer, George Jobe, welcomed the intervention saying it has come at the right time when the country is still receiving rains.
"Knowing that Bilharzia has affected Malawi for a long time, it is very encouraging that the country aims at eliminating the disease. My appeal to parents and stakeholders is to positively welcome the intervention," he said.
The campaign is being conducted in three districts of Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe.
GESD provides market shelter to Machinga business community
By Martin Chiwanda
Machinga, March 6, Mana: Machinga District Council has constructed a market shelter for the business community operating at Mkwepere Trading Centre with funding from the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) Project.
The modern facility has since been touted to boost trade at the trading Centre thereby, fostering economic activities in the country.
Speaking in random interviews with Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Tuesday, the business community said people in rural communities have passion for business which can only reach its full potential with provision of good market structures.
Imran Douglas, who plies his trade at Mkwepere Trading Centre in the area of Senior Chief Nyambi said more people are flocking to do business at the Centre owing to the GESD funded market shelter.
Douglas observed that in the past when there was no market shelter, those plying their trade were few.
“Lately, we have seen more people doing businesses at the market. We understand that people were not willing to do their businesses in shabby structures, which were not conducive for business.
“We thank Machinga District Council for giving us such a place to be doing our trade. We are highly motivated to sell more to our customers since they know we have a better and comfortable place to transact business,” he said.
Douglas believes that in the long run, a lot of people will venture into business because of modern market shelters as that provided by Machinga District Council courtesy of GESD.
He added that, apart from people coming from all corners of the district to do business in the new facility; business people are making more sales since more customers are patronizing the shed as they have seen no risk of contracting diseases such as cholera.
“Now, customers have confidence in what we are selling since the place is good. In the past the environment was not that good since we were operating us at an open place. We are making more money because of the new structure,” said Douglas who is also Chairperson of the newly constructed Mkwepere Market Shelter.
John Wyson, who does butchery at the market concurred with Douglas, pointing out that people from across the district have been traveling to the market to buy and sell goods because of the modern market structure.
“This structure has boosted our sales, which in turn has improved our economic status,” said Wyson.
Member of Parliament for Machinga North East, Ajilu Kalitendere, challenged the business community to use the market shelter fully by bringing a variety of goods for them to benefit as well as satisfy customer’s needs.
“The traffic for those plying business at the market is increasing on daily basis. This shows that people are really benefiting from the shelter. Let me ask communities around to take care of the structure and maintain its cleanliness as well as pay market fee so that the council gets enough revenue to implement new projects in the area,” said Kalitendere.
Machinga District Civil Society Organization Network Chairperson, Belinda Chimombo, said the network is grateful to the Council for prioritizing and considering construction of market shelter at Mkwepere, noting that the facility will improve service delivery.
Chimombo added that the initiative will also help the council to collect more revenue which will be channeled to other development projects within the markets.
“The newly constructed market shelter will also give business persons an opportunity to improve in their business activities and somehow give them both ownership and an obligation to pay market fees.
The main objective of GESD project is to strengthen local authority’s institutional performance, responsiveness to citizens and management of resources for service delivery.
Global experts call for action on climate impacts of plastics
By Leonard Masauli
Lilongwe, March 6, Mana: Global experts on plastics have called for countries to immediately act on climate impacts of plastics highlighting that about two billion tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (Co2e) is from the world’s production and use of plastic.
This comes on the sideline of a United Nations Environmental Assembly 6 (UNEA-6) conference held from 29th February to 1st March 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya.
A report shared and discussed at the conference, ‘Global actions to stem climate change and end plastic pollution’ by GRID-Arendal, a non-profit environmental communications centre based in Norway, investigates what needs to be addressed in the new international treaty to tackle the challenges of plastics in connection with climate change.
Managing Director for GRID-Arendal, Karen Landmark, said for plastics, the focus has for long been that plastics is a pollution problem hence the report highlights another problematic aspect of plastics-namely, its impact on climate, which largely stems from the production of plastic and plastic products.
“We believe it is essential to bring these findings to the attention of policymakers, making sure the international efforts are aimed at addressing this issue with plastic.
“Our analysis highlights that plastic-related greenhouse gas emissions are not sufficiently addressed,” she said.
Landmark said Greenhouse gases are emitted throughout the entire life cycle of plastics, estimated as between 3.8 and 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“This will only grow as production of plastic continues to grow. Plastic pollution is accelerating climate change and making the impact of climate change worse. To achieve the most significant impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the most time and energy should be dedicated to minimising plastic production,” emphasized Landmark.
Senior expert on plastic and one of the authors on the new report, Leva Rucevska, said Plastic pollution is making climate change worse and there is need for linkages between plastics and the triple planetary crisis.
“To search for solutions and minimise harmful impacts on the environment and people, plastic action is climate action,” said Rucevska.
UNEA-6 is a political platform bringing together environment ministers from 193 member countries to set priorities for the global environmental agenda.
Among others, the UNEA-6 focused on the links between the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
Environmental Activist, Charles Bakolo, said Malawi requires an urgent action in waste management infrastructure and policies to effectively tackle plastic pollution.
Bakolo said despite ongoing efforts to collect waste, the rates remain insufficient, resulting in a considerable amount of plastic finding its way to the environment through various channels adding that lack of proper landfill facilities worsens the problem, with wastes often ending up in open dumpsite.
“For Malawi it is important to acknowledge both progress made and areas needing improvement. While waste collection efforts are in place, there is a clear need for more strategies which include reducing plastic usage, increasing recycling rates and stricter regulation and plastic production and disposal.
“Public awareness could also play important role for citizens to practice responsible waste management to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the plastics,” said Bakolo.
Mangochi police engage M'baluku communities on political tolerance
By Lyte Ali
Mangochi, March 6, Mana: In an effort to strengthen the relationship between police and people of M'baluku in the area of Group Village Head Ntagaluka, Traditional Authority (TA) Chowe in Mangochi, the law enforcers on Tuesday engaged communities in the area on the need to exercise politics of tolerance.
This follows a postponement of by-election for Mwansa Ward in the area for two consecutive times last year by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), following pre-electoral irregularities.
Speaking at the meeting, Officer In-Charge for Mangochi Police Station, Assistant Commissioner Morgan Dzonzi, said cordial relationship between the police and communities can help bring positive mindset among people thereby promoting working relationship in advancing tolerance.
Dzonzi said Mangochi Police is geared at creating a safe environment at M'baluku to encourage MEC to consider coming back in the area to conduct the by-elections.
"MEC has for several times failed to conduct by-election in Mwansa Ward due to some anomalies as a result of lack of tolerance. We took an initiative to come and talk with the community at M'baluku so that we together can achieve a violence free environment in order to allow communities exercise their right to vote.
"Therefore, encouraging communities to mainstream politics of tolerance would help allow citizens in the area to exercise their right to vote. We would continue with this engagement," said Dzonzi.
Group Village Head Ntagaluka commended Mangochi Police for its effort in creating a good relationship with his subordinates.
Ntagaluka assured the law enforcers of continued collaborative efforts in reducing crime in his area.
"I can assure you that the good relationship we have will help minimize some challenges that we have had in the past," said Ntagaluka.
Minister for innovative solutions
By Monica Tambala
Lilongwe, March 6, Mana: Minister of Mining, Monica Chang’anamuno, has underscored the need for long lasting innovative solutions that transcends traditional boundaries by aiming not only to provide power but also empower communities in Malawi.
She was speaking on behalf of Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola, during the launch of the Energy Delivery Laboratory at the Bingu International Convention centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
Chang’anamuno said energy, being the driving force behind industrial growth, education, health care and economic empowerment, needs long lasting solutions that foster sustainable progress.
She said it is high time for Malawi to pool a collective intellect to devise strategies that not only tackle existing hurdles but also fortify the sector against future uncertainties.
“The projects initiated under this vision are not mere endeavours; they are pathways to creating jobs, fostering economic growth and ensuring food security for our nation.
“Access to energy stands as a pillar of societal development. This is not only about electrification but also eradicating energy poverty and ensuring equitable access for all,” she said.
Head of Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), Dr Janet Banda, said the weeklong energy sector lab session has brought together relevant decision makers who share a collective commitment of advancing energy landscape in Malawi.
“This week’s assembly serves as an opportunity to assess the current project status, address challenges and chart a course towards a more robust and energy enabled future of the nation.
“Access to energy stands as a cornerstone of societal development. It is the driving force behind industrial growth, education, health care and economic empowerment as espoused in the 7th Sustainable Development Goal,” she said.
Banda is hopeful that the deliberations will provide strategies to enhance energy accessibility and explore innovative solutions to the identified challenges.
Secretary for Energy, Alfonso Chikuni, said the goal is to achieve 1,000 megawatts by 2025 and achieve 50 percent electricity access by 2030.
However, Chikuni said currently the goal is being hindered by procurement, coordination as well as lack of capacity challenges.
“A project is as good as the project managers. However, we lack capacity for project management, financial negotiations and project planning.
“We just have to innovate in terms of sourcing materials internally and improving capacity for the local manufactures so that we can have materials locally,” he said.
Country Lead for Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Dr Collen Zalengela, said their organisation is providing PDU with a grant of US$1.5 million to support delivery of energy and agri-energy projects in Malawi with the expectation that bottlenecks in energy projects will be dealt with.
