By: Steve Chirombo

Dedza, November 13, Mana: Social Welfare Officer for Dedza District Council, Emmanuel Khumba, on Tuesday expressed gratitude to various partners, microfinance institutions and banks for implementing mindset change interventions among Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) beneficiaries in the district.

Khumba described the partners as game changers for a successful implementation of the program saying most beneficiaries have ventured into businesses and are able to use the funds for the intended purposes.

He made the remarks during a tour to some beneficiary households in Group Village Head Kantema under Senior Chief Kamenyagwaza in the district.

He cited low literacy levels among most beneficiaries as a major challenge. He however said the program was registering major successes due to mindset change interventions as more beneficiaries are now able to set up businesses and are able to calculate profits, how to grow crops, as well as how to rear different animals on a small scale.

"With such initiatives, we have seen great improvements in a number of beneficiaries where such partners are operating from," he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Florida Chaola, said since she enrolled into the program, her life has changed for the better.

"I now have some pigs and I am able to provide for my household. We really struggled with hunger and poverty before we joined the program. But the situation is better now," she said.

Another beneficiary, Thamson Guya, said he used to sleep in a grass thatched house before he joined the program.

According to Guya, proceeds from the sale of pigs out of the first payment he got from the program, went towards buying iron sheets for his house.

"I am now a happy man together with my entire household. We also invested some money into our farming activities which have seen us having enough food, providing for our children's education as well as meeting our needs," he said.

Mefereniya Manyozo, another beneficiary of the program, said her story is different now as she owns goats which she believes will multiply with time.

"Hunger, lack of clothes as well as food were our major problems. But we can now breathe because we have two goats and the money we get from the program is also covering some gaps," she said.

While thanking government and other partners for the support, Manyozo went on to say that it is her dream to see her house improved.

There are 19,600 SCTP beneficiaries in Dedza District.

The program which targets 10 percent of the country’s ultra-poor population is funded   by the World Bank and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

By Memory Chatonda

Blantyre, November 13, Mana: Blantyre District Council is set to enroll at least 11,909 ultra-poor households into the Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) in the retargeting exercise, currently underway in the district.

Speaking during the extraordinary full council meeting in Blantyre on Wednesday, Principal Social Welfare Officer in the Ministry of Gender, Given Mukisi said the exercise follows the 2019 study on the impact of the Malawi SCTP on lifecycle vulnerabilities, which revealed that the current targeting approach indirectly reaches many individuals with lifecycle vulnerabilities.

Mukisi said it was thought necessary by the Ministry of Gender, with support from United Nations Children Fund to explore a new, innovative targeting approach to cover the lifecycle vulnerabilities.

“During the retargeting exercise, the selection criteria for the households would include those headed by a child, those with at least one member with a chronic illness, a household with a member with a disability, those with one child aged two or below and those with at least one member aged 65 and above,” she said.

Mukisi said overall, Blantyre will have 11,909 beneficiaries, a slight increase from the current number of beneficiaries which is at 7,869.

She, therefore, underscored the significance of the SCTP which aims at reducing poverty, malnutrition and improve school enrollment.

In his remarks, District Commissioner for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko welcomed the retargeting exercise, observing that it helps to address inclusion and exclusion errors.

Blantyre District Council Chairperson, Elson Dumuka urged local leaders to work in unity to ensure that various social protection programmes, like the SCTP being implemented by the council, benefit the intended households at the grassroots level.

The SCTP targets 10 percent of ultra-poor households which are sourced from the Unified Beneficiary Registry database.

By Ephraim Ngwira

Karonga, December 13, Mana: Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) has pledged its continued commitment to combating Cholera outbreak in Karonga District which has registered 48 Cholera reported cases and six deaths between September and November, 2024.

Project Officer for MRCS in Karonga, Ruth Jere was speaking on Tuesday at Kaporo in the area of Senior Chief Mwakaboko during a volunteer training session for volunteers in Cholera treatment.

"We are training the volunteers to help in treating Cholera cases in their communities as they are preparing to take patients to their nearest health facilities.

Our goal is to establish community Cholera treatment units where suspected Cholera cases will be given Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) before being referred to a health facility,” said Jere.

She added that many of those who died of Cholera delayed in seeking treatment at health facilities and expressed hope that the intervention will save lives.

Jere then encouraged the volunteers to serve communities with dedication.

Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Officer for Karonga District Hospital, Raymond Jereni commended the MRCS initiative in complementing the hospital’s efforts in combating the disease in the district.

“We appreciate MRCS for training the volunteers. Providing ORS to Cholera suspected patients will prevent them from severe dehydration and improve outcomes by the time they reach at health facility,” said Jereni.

By Kalem Ghambi

Mzuzu, November 13, Mana: Despite rapid urbanization and increased traffic flow, Mzuzu City Council (MCC) operates without a single road traffic light in some of its streets.

This situation presents a challenge for both motorists and pedestrians hence requiring a delicate balance of patience and careful driving.

One of the taxi drivers in the city, Christopher Nyirongo said that lack of the road traffic lights is a catalyst to traffic jam in most cases in the city.

“Most motorists disregard traffic rules and regulations during peak hours and fail to yield to other vehicles. This contributes to increased road traffic congestion and preventable accidents," said Nyirongo.

Another driver, Blessings Mkandawire appealed to MCC to fast track construction of some roads within the city for improved road network, hence reducing road traffic congestion.

The spokesperson for the MCC, McDonald Gondwe said that the council is aware that the traffic lights are nonfunctional and that plans are underway to fix them.

“The absence of traffic lights causes significant disruption to traffic flow in the city, hence we need to invest in modern traffic management solutions to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and enhance road safety," said Gondwe.

He said budgetary constraints and persistent threats of social unrest are some of the factors that hinder full restoration of the city's traffic infrastructure.

“I therefore appeal to stakeholders for assistance as fixing the lights requires a lot of money,” said Gondwe.

Spokesperson for Northern Region Police Headquarters, Morris Chapola said that the office deploys traffic police officers to regulate and control traffic jam.

He, however, stated that the responsibility for ensuring the functionality of the traffic lights lies with the council.

Blantyre and Lilongwe city councils have their traffic lights operational while Zomba doesn’t have any.

By Pempho Kantayeni and Pickson Chipeso

Lilongwe, November 12, Mana: Parliamentary Committee on International Relations has expressed that it is not satisfied with the inspection done by the Ministry of Labour in various work places.

Speaking on Tuesday at Parliament after meeting officials from the Ministry of Labour, Chairperson for the committee, Patrick Bandawe, said the committee was not impressed with how the ministry is handling inspections of some work places.

“As a committee, as members of parliament we have observed that they are not doing enough when it comes to inspection, as a result, a lot of working places do not have the standards that they deserve”

The Committee also raised concerns on the recent protests Israel job seekers had on the government. Bandawe added that some members of the committee did not like how the issue was handled to the point where some of the youth protesting were arrested.

In her remarks, Principal Secretary for Ministry of Labour, Chikondano Mussa said that they were invited by the committee to give them progress on what the ministry is doing on Convention 111, Convention 100 and others, to look into the issues of discrimination in work places, equal remuneration and forced labour.

“So, we have given parliament the progress report on what we have made, these are ratified conventions by the country and therefore we have regulations to facilitate adherence to the same. We have shared with parliament many issues that the ministry is doing. We have shared with parliament that we carry out regular inspections to various work places to ensure that people are complying in terms of discrimination, that there’s no discrimination and people should not be recruited based on sex, religion and ethnicity. This is what we check when we go out, we want to go into a company or industry and find out if there is equal opportunity,” Mussa explained.

She added that they have also shown parliament that through the same inspections they are able to ensure that companies and all work places both private and public are complying to issues of health and safety at work.

Mussa also addressed the concerns raised by the youth who protested against the government's involvement in job placements in Israel. The protesters urged the Ministry of Labour to halt its recruitment efforts and allow private recruiters to handle the process instead. Mussa stated that the reasons for this demand have been acknowledged and that the Ministry of Information is yet to release an official government statement on this.

She explained that the Ministry of Labour is responsible for overseeing and implementing labor export programs, as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which states that the recruitment of workers for farms in Israel is managed by the Malawian government under the Ministry of Labour. However, recent protests by job seekers have called for the Ministry of Labour to stop conducting the recruitment and instead allow private recruiters to take over the process. This raises questions about who has the authority to decide that the recruitment should shift from the government to private recruiters. The current program is government-to-government, with Israel specifically requesting that the Malawian government handle recruitment. Therefore, any decision to change to private recruiters would need to be agreed upon by Israel.

By Andrew Gondwe

Chitipa, November 13, Mana: National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust has said that journalists are important in disseminating messages to woo people to participate in electoral processes in readiness for the forthcoming 2025 General Election.

NICE Trust District Manager for Chitipa, Lusako Swira, was speaking on Tuesday during an interface meeting between NICE Trust and Chitipa Media Network.

"If district based journalists can work with our office, we believe that people will get accurate information besides what Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and other stakeholders are giving out," Swira said.

Swira added that district based media network is vital in disseminating civic education messages on various issues affecting communities.

‘We therefore request journalists to collaborate with us in mobilizing people to get registered during the extension period of voter registration which will be opened after concluding phase three of the exercise," Swira said.

He then appealed to political parties to be mobilizing their followers to participate in all electoral processes to avert voter apathy come 2025 General Election.

One of the journalists, Asimenye Sibale thanked NICE Trust for recognizing the media as another important stakeholder in the electoral process.

"As Chitipa District Based journalists together with NICE Trust, we will make sure that we disseminate accurate information related to electoral processes,” Sibale said.

About 86, 659 against 144, 000 people registered during the initial phase of voter registration exercise in the district.

By Yewo Munthali

Lilongwe, November 13, Mana: Lilongwe District council has urged its citizens to take heed amidst the measles outbreak in some of the areas in the city.

In a published statement, dated November 7, 2024, titled, Measles Outbreak in Lilongwe District, the Council cited Area 18, 23, 24, 25, 36, 49, 50, Chinsapo, Dzenza, Kauma, Chiunjiza, Nathenje, Nthondo, Nsundwe, Mtsiliza, Mtandire and Likuni as the affected areas.

Some notable signs and symptoms of the highly infectious disease include red watery eyes, a rash that stems from the face and proceeds to the whole body as well as high fever, a cough and runny nose.

In a telephone interview with the Malawi News Agency (Mana), Tuesday, Lilongwe district Health Office Public Relations Officer, Richard Mvula, highlighted that the district health office embarked on mass vaccinations of children aged 9 months to 15 years in schools and other designated spaces in affected areas.

“We started the vaccinations last week and we are winding up today [Tuesday], the campaign was projected to vaccinate 142,945 children and by the 12^th of November, 132,938 children have been vaccinated. This represents a 93% success rate which is very encouraging especially when dealing with targeted areas.” Mvula said.

Mvula further emphasized the importance of seeking medical treatment as soon as signs and symptoms appear and encouraged parents to get their children fully vaccinated against measles at public health facilities near them.

Commenting on the outbreak, health expert, Maziko Matemba, has called upon Lilongwe district to intensify vaccination campaigns to prevent further spread of the disease.

“It is sad to note that Lilongwe is affected by measles, a disease that is preventable through vaccination that is given for free,” he said

He also urged the public to take into action advice given by medical experts to prevent further spread.

The daily measles update as of 12 November shows that the district had registered 28 cases.