By Joel Phiri

Mzimba, February 8, Mana: Minister of Health Khumbize Chiponda says government is impressed with the standard of construction works of Mzuzu Health Post and Vibangalala Maternity Wing in Mzimba.

The projects are being implemented by M’mbelwa District Council with support from Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD).

Chiponda was speaking on Wednesday during an inspection tour to appreciate progress of the construction works of the projects.

She said that construction of the two health structures will lessen distance that some people in rural Mzimba cover to access health services.

“Government is serious about taking health service closer to communities and the construction of these two facilities is a testimony to that.

“Government in collaboration with its development partners is to construct 900 health posts and we are on course to achieving that.  The idea is to bring health facilities closer to the people,” Chiponda said.

The minister then asked the council to ensure that, once completed, the facilities are opened for public use for intervention to have a positive impact on the ground.

“Some people in this district cover up to 20 kilometres to get to the nearest health facility. So, construction is one thing but using them is another.

“I therefore urge the council to ensure that these facilities are furnished with beds, mattresses and all necessities, including deployment of health workers,” she said.

Chairperson for the council, Morgan Tembo, said the council will source funds to furnish both facilities with beds and mattresses within six months for them to be ready for use.

In an interview, medical assistant at Vibangalala Health Post, which serves a population of 15,000 people, Wisdom Nyirenda, hailed the council for the constructing a maternity wing at the facility, adding expectant mothers will be assisted accordingly once it becomes operational.

“We currently refer them to Mzimba District Hospital which is some 20 kilometres away and some to Embagweni Mission Hospital,” said Ngwira.

By Salome Gangire

Neno, February 8, Mana: Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) Chief Executive Officer Dr Maxon Chitawo says the company is set to plant 35,000 trees in the 2024 tree planting season with an aim to conserve the catchment along the Shire River.

Chitawo was speaking Wednesday at Lisungwi Community Day Secondary School in Neno district during the official launch of EGENCO 2024 tree planting season where the company planted 5,000 trees at the school.

He said the initiative is aimed at mitigating siltation and debris which affect hydroelectric power generation at its stations located on the Shire River.

“Trees hold the soil and prevent it from eroding into the river which in turn prevents siltation of the dams,” Chitawo said.

Chitawo added that EGENCO has power plants along the Shire River which has tributaries from Mangochi, Balaka, Machinga, Neno and part of Blantyre going to Chikwawa and the power plants are cascaded from Nkula, Tedzani and Kapichila, adding very soon they will also plant trees at Tedzani and Kapichila.

He said the water which the company uses for power generation comes from these streams apart from the lake, saying the water comes with silt and trashes from upland and this is the reason they are planting trees to reduce erosion and siltation of rivers and prevent trash which goes into the water.

“Siltation reduces dam depth and water levels and at the same time power generation depends on the height of water, so when we lose height of water, we also lose power generation in the power stations,” he explained.

He said apart from the seedlings, EGENCO is also providing equipment, such as wheelbarrows, hoes, watering canes to schools and the village forest committees to be used for irrigating trees as they intend to achieve a 90 percent tree survival rate.

Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola commended EGENCO for the gesture, saying it is important to have catchments areas along Shire River well protected by planting trees, as deforestation and degradation affect electricity generation.

He, therefore, urged communities to protect trees, stressing they have a lot of socio-economic benefits, aside from protecting water catchment areas for power generation.

“You should not just plant trees but protect them so that they grow to minimize the impact that come because of environmental degradation,” Matola said.

President Lazarus Chakwera launched the 2024 tree planting season on January 18 this year in Phalombe district.

By Twimepoki Mangani

Lilongwe, February 8, Mana: Labour Minister Agness Nyalonje has described the newly launched Technical, Entrepreneurial, and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET) 2024-2030 strategic plan as a major milestone towards achieving Malawi 2063.

Nyalonje made the remarks Wednesday in Lilongwe during the launch of the plan, coined “Rethinking TEVET” - a blueprint that will guide the TEVET Authority in implementing its mandate of regulating, facilitating, and promoting TEVET as it seeks to contribute to the government’s development agenda.

Nyalonje highlighted that while the mandate of her Ministry is to develop and protect the labour force, TEVET has the role of fulfilling the first half of the mandate and added that the plan will also ensure students are well-equipped to deliver services in and outside the country.

“This is a very auspicious occasion for the labour sector because Malawi’s development can’t happen until we have skilled youth and, with this strategic plan, we should begin to witness improved skills for the needs of the industry and economy.

“We must focus on innovation, science, and technology because that is likely to be the growth area for human capital hence my ministry is working with TEVET and the Ministry of Education in order to infuse TEVET with the curriculum in primary and secondary as well as the teacher trainings,” said Nyalonje.

Executive Director for TEVET, Elwin Chiwembu Sichiola, unpacked the theme “Rethinking TEVET” and noted that there is need to provide answers to hard-hitting questions.

“We need to ask ourselves why employers are not satisfied with our graduates; we need to rethink our target groups and how we let them access TEVET, among others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Executive Director for the Employment Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM), George Khaki, pledged full support for the strategic plan, saying students make meaningful contributions to the industry.

“We are supporting the plan because, as employers, we are the ones contributing to TEVET through the levy we pay and also because the employers are in need of the skills that are being trained in the TEVET colleges,” he said.

Khaki, however, noted the existing gap where most graduates are not meeting the standards required by industries but added there is hope the pillars in the plan will address the gaps.

By Roselyn Phiri

Lilongwe, February7, Mana: Minister of Information and digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu has said Government has not engaged in any new contract with Zuneith Sattar related business and there are no plans to sign any contract with him.

This was disclosed on Wednesday in Lilongwe during a media briefing where the Government was clarifying on issues that appeared in the Daily Times Newspaper of Monday January 29, 2024 titled ‘Government, Sattar in U$19 Million (over K31 billion) Arms Deal.

Speaking during the briefing, Kunkuyu said all Sattar related contracts were terminated by Government in line with section 46 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) Act on public convenience.

“There is no new contract that has been signed with any of the company’s belonging to Sattar, Government as a procuring entity is under an obligation to pay for goods supplied, delivered or goods that were under production at the time of the termination.

“At the termination Government through the Malawi Defense Force (MDF) had several contracts with Sattar, among them was the contract with Malachite FZE for the supply of 32 Armored Personnel Carriers(APC) signed on 24^th May 2021,” He said.

The minister further explained that Government wrote Malachite FZE on the 11^th January 2022 informing them that Contract for the supply of APCs had been terminated.

He also said that the Government is concerned with how some members of the Media in the country conduct themselves when dealing with matters of national importance.

He advised members of the press to first verify any allegations before publishing any security related matters to avoid misleading the public.

“Government is always ready to clarify any issues when necessary, if approached in good faith with a common vision to develop Malawi,” Kunkuyu Said.

Also speaking during the press briefing, Minister of Defense Harry Mkandawire refuted allegations that the MDF is looking for a Journalist who published the article concerning government being involve in a contract with Sattar.

 “It is not true that there are any plans to arrest any Journalist on this matter, we respect media freedom here Malawi,” Said Mkandawire.

By Edna Moyo

Phalombe, February 6, Mana: Communities at Ganeti village, Traditional Authority (TA) Kaduya in Phalombe have hailed the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP) which has helped to transform livelihood of communities through cash for work climate smart agricultural related activities.

Migowi Catchment Management Committee Secretary, Charity Chitseko said through the CS-EPWP, communities managed to control running water, plant and taking care of trees and vetiver grass at Mwananyani hill as well as constructing stone bands, among others.

"Our aim is to reforest Mwananyani hill which had no trees because of charcoal production, but we have now seen a great change. We are able to harvest more out of land conservation techniques unlike in the past when water was running uncontrollably down the hill into our fields destroying crops and causing soil erosion,” she said.

According to Chitseko, communities around Mwanayani hill also planted vetiver grass to control running water while using the same grass as feed for livestock.

She advised other community members to take advantage of all development activities that come in their area, saying most developmental interventions were eye openers capable of bringing best practices worth advancing.

Speaking earlier, Group Village head Ganet said CS-EPWP was ideal and relevant to communities in her area and was sure that the intervention would improve people’s livelihood.

She observed that most household in her area were food secure after abiding by the programme guidelines that in turn helped to build communities’ capacity on appropriate agricultural practices.

He asked fellow traditional leaders and their subjects to embrace interventions such as CS-EPWP for the good of their subjects.

Phalombe District Land Resource Officer, Aron Mwala also called on communities to make use of knowledge and skills acquired through CS-EPWP to plant more trees and practice all measures that would help in mitigating effects of natural disasters.

"Phalombe is a disaster prone district and the works been done helps to block running water that may cause flooding," he said.

The programme started with 200 people during a pilot phase, but now has 500 participants.

By James Ngalande

Dowa, February 7, Mana: The Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) through its Universal Service Fund (USF) has committed its support to the Ministry of Education to introduce sign language in all primary and secondary schools in Malawi.

MACRA Executive Director Daudi Suleman made the remarks on Monday during the opening of a 5-day training of trainers in sign language in Dowa. He emphasized that for the nation to develop, every Malawian must have equitable access to communication services regardless of location and disability.

"Equitable communication services to all the citizens in Malawi including persons with hearing disability is the backbone to the development of Malawi. But there are challenges in Malawi’s education sector in fully accommodating learners who are deaf which puts them at a disadvantage in terms of performance.

“It is with this background that MACRA through USF decided to step in and support the education sector to introduce and promote sign language in all schools so that every Malawian has access to information," he said.

Daudi said inclusive access to communication and education services will also contribute to achieve Malawi 2063 goals.

Deputy Director for inclusive education in the Ministry of education Lucy Magagula said the inclusion of sign language in all schools will help learners with hearing disability in their studies and eventually bridge the communication gap.

"The Ministry is very grateful to MACRA through USF for the support. This is a very important step because we have a lot of learners who are deaf hence requiring specialists to teach them, of which we have few. Therefore, this training will help address this challenge," said Magagula.

One of the participants Hannah Chiwindi from Thyolo secondary school applauded MACRA for the initiative saying this will help them to deliver quality lessons to leaners with hearing problems.

By Innocent Chunga

Nkhotakota, February 7, Mana: Feed the Children, a non-governmental organization has oriented journalists in the lakeshore districts of Salima, Nkhotakota and Nkhatabay, on issues of malnutrition among under five children and pregnant women, with a call for the scribes to enhance their programming and reporting on malnutrition issues in the districts.

Speaking on Tuesday during the orientation workshop in Nkhotakota district, Social and Behavior Change Coordinator for Feed the Children ‘Akule ndi Thanzi’ project, Isaac Manda said the media plays a crucial role in disseminating information in the country, therefore the industry needs to be empowered with information for smooth implementation of the project.

He emphasized the need for the media practitioners to amplify messages on project goals of nutrition and hygiene practices among other health issues.

"We need more collaborative efforts and a cordial relationship between media practitioners and implementers of the project in the districts to eradicate malnutrition at the district level,” said Manda.

District Information Officer (DIO) for Nkhatabay, Chisomo Kambandanga and Tapiwa Mbewe of Chisomo Radio Station in Salima, described the orientation as an eye opener adding that it has empowered them on issues to do with child malnutrition.

The orientation workshop brought together media practitioners from various media outlets from Salima, Nkhotakota and Nkhatabay districts.

With support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Feed the Children, School of Agriculture for Family Independent (SAFI) and Total Landcare are implementing ‘Akule ndi Thanzi’ project in districts that include Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota and Salima aiming at improving nutrition status of pregnant and lactating women as well as under five children.