Items filtered by date: May 2025

Blantyre, May 31, Mana: National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) says they are pleased with the just ended 2022/2023 hundred percent online university selection application process saying the process has made the number of applicants to grow.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, NCHE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ambumulire Phiri said the introduction of the 100 percent online application this year was aimed at ensuring that applicants should apply anytime where they are.

“NCHE has made commendable progress in working with the Public Universities to harmonise selection since 2014/2015 and this includes the introduction of partial online application in 2018/2019 and this year, we implemented a 100% online process. Previously applicants could use both ways to apply but now it’s strictly online.

“In collaboration with the Public Universities, we are processing the data. However, we are very hopeful that this year there has been an increase in the number of applicants.  The ease of the process, the effective information dissemination and the increase in number of qualifying candidates may have contributed,” said Phiri.

She said despite the positive strides, the application process system encountered hurdles to do with how applicants interacted with the system as some candidates forgot their passwords while some attempted to create multiple accounts adding that all candidates affected by these challenges were assisted to complete their applications.

Commenting on the issue, education expert, Limbani Nsapato hailed the online application system but worried that some deserving students especially from rural and remote areas might have been left out due to challenges in access to technology, electricity, high data bundle prices and slow internet.

“We stand to see what will be the final outcome, but basically as a country, we have a lot of limitations with online processes, so we just wish that NCHE should be on the lookout in case there are issues they should find ways of accommodating those problems faced by some students.”

NCHE opened the call for applications for the 2022/23 selection to Public Universities on 3^rd April 2023 and was scheduled to close on May 26, 2023, but the due date was extended to May 26, 2023, to accommodate individuals who may have experienced time constraints or faced challenges during the initial application period.

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Machinga, May 31, Mana: Ministry of Education has launched Malawi Education Reform Programme (MEREP), a school leadership initiative, which aims at expanding access, improving quality education and performance of the primary schools’ sub-sectors.

Speaking during the launch at Hippo View Lodge in Machinga district, the Minister responsible Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima said the programme which is being implemented in all primary schools in the country, will instill leadership management skills in primary school leaders.

"We are rolling out this MEREP to 10, 200 individuals in all categories across the country. Mainly we are targeting Head teachers, Deputy Head teacher's and sections heads with mostly bias towards women.

“On the leadership programme, we are seeking to address several issues such as inclusiveness in schools by ensuring that women are not left behind including record keeping to consolidate data and teacher motivation," explained Wirima.

Wirima further disclosed that the programme will also include the construction of school blocks which will commence soon to address shortages of classrooms in primary schools.

She added,” we are going to construct 10, 900 classroom blocks in 3553 schools among other components and the construction work will commence as soon as procurement processes are finalized.

Meanwhile, head teacher for Kaombe Primary School in Ntcheu district Wasuzgika Simakwa commended the Ministry for the programme saying it will help to improve quality of education in primary schools across the country.

"This will help to reduce congestion in schools since we are forced to have larger population of children in one class especially during the rainy season, a situation which is not conducive for learning," said Simakwa.

The programme which is being funded by the World bank, Global partnership in education and Malawi government was established in 2021 and will be completed in 2025.

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LILONGWE, May 31, Mana: Four elderly women aged between 55 and 80 were spotted sitting together at Nyachirenda Evacuation Camp in Nsanje during a sensitisation meeting on gender based Violence (GBV), Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) that Malawi Irish Consortium on GBV organised weeks after the disaster.

The expression on their faces was, not surprising thou, that of despair and resignation as they peeled what, from a distance, looked like a darker variety of Irish potato.

Like hundreds of others at the camp, and in many Cyclone Freddy Camps, the four women had lost almost everything, including the food they had in their houses, and the food they were yet to realize from the crops in their fields.

The camp had, at the time of the visit, exhausted the food that the Department of Disaster and Management Affairs (DoDMA) had supplied and it was an every-man-for-himself; God-for-us-all affair as they awaited the next supply.

"The situation is dire here," complained one of the elderly women, Jessie Million, when this reporter engaged them in an interview.

"We've run out of food and this is all we can make do with," she added, showing this reporter the presumed 'dark variety of Irish potato'.

"We call this Nyika, and it is common food here in Nsanje, although we do not eat it by choice because its taste isn't all that pleasant," explained Million, who hails from Thaundi Village, GVH Ngulume, TA Ndamera in the district, just like the other three.

According to the elderly women, Nyika grows in marshes, or on river banks, and the plant comes in handy as food during lean periods, despite its unpalatability.

Most of the camps that the Malawi Irish Consortium on GBV visited for sensitisation in Nsanje, Chikwawa, Blantyre and Thyolo, reported insufficient food supply as key challenge facing them.

At one camp in Chikwawa, Mission for Africa, in Traditional Authority Lundu, Cyclone Freddy survivors there claimed that they had stayed for a week living on porridge and beans.

"We received porridge flour and beans: So what we are doing is to harden the porridge a bit so that it replaces nsima as we take it together with the beans," explained one, Ester Chapepa.

But while the survivors have had to endure food shortages for days before more supplies from DoDMA and other humanitarian organizations and individuals, it is life after the camp that scares the internally displaced persons (IDPs) a lot.

The future is grimmer to the elderly like Million and her fellow three senior citizens at Nyachirenda Camp; single mothers looking after their families, and children looking after themselves.

One such displaced person is Dorica Green, a single mother who hails from Group Village Headman Kasambwe, Traditional Authority Makhuwira in Chikwawa, and she was among the displaced people at Livunzu Primary School in the East bank.

Green survived the disaster together with her four children aged between 12 and two.

"We lost everything, except these clothes which we’re putting on till today," explained Green, cradling her youngest child who was half naked from the waist upwards. "I really don't know where to begin from after leaving this camp," she added.

The issue of food insecurity among the displaced people is a cause for worry to the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, too, as, according to the ministry’s spokesperson, Pauline Kaude, the situation creates room for GBV.

Kaude observed that food insecurity in camps puts pressure on household heads some of whom consequently resort to abandoning their families: a form of GBV.

“Food insecurity is also linked to GBV since it leads to high levels of sexual Exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) of survivors in camps by both the people with positions in there, and community members surrounding camps,” she added.

The spokesperson said her ministry, together with partners, will continue to carry out GBV and PSEAH awareness campaigns, consistently, while enhancing women economic empowerment to enable them to ably provide needs for their households.

Statistics indicate that the impact of Tropical Cyclone Freddy weighed heavier on women than it did on men.

According to DoDMA's Tropical Cyclone Freddy Emergency Response Plan, out of the 2,267,458 people who were affected by the disaster, 1,156,819 were women and girls of reproductive age, accounting for 51.0 percent.

The Response Plan further notes that approximately 202,095.5 hectares (ha) of cropped area belonging to 467,958 households were destroyed and, of the affected households, 241,535 (representing 51.6 percent) belonged to females.

Furthermore, according to the Response Plan, those affected and rendered food insecure, in one way or the other, were 1,637,351 people from 363,856 households where 794,399 belonged to males, while 842,952 belonged to females, respectively accounting for 48.5 and 51.5 percentages.

“The situation is critical for people who are living in camps as they lost almost all their items, especially food,” reads the Response Plan, under ‘Food Security’ section.

It adds: “Owing to this situation, there is a need to urgently support the affected people with food assistance: Priority food items to be supplied are cereals, pulses, and oil; and corn soy blend for under-five children, pregnant and lactating women for the prevention of malnutrition.”

The DoDMA’s three-month Response Plan, which was released in March, is targeting the 363,856 households (1,637,351 people) who were highly affected by the Cyclone.

The plan’s key aim is to address “the immediate survival needs while restoring basic socio-economic services, and facilitating the affected people’s transition to early recovery”.

According to DoDMA, the successful implementation of the Tropical Cyclone Freddy Response Plan requires MWK147.8 billion and the agriculture sector alone requires MWK21.1bn to help the displaced people and those who lost their crops recover.

The Response Plan intends to immediately support 279,517 affected farming households out of the overall 467,958 affected farming households.

The targeted households include 168,956 (with a total area of 50,429 hectares) with maize seed and fertilizers for winter cropping to improve the households’ food and income security to sustain their livelihoods.

Additionally, DoDMA plans to support 110,561 affected households with sweet potato vines and bean seed, on a total area of 33,000.8 hectares, according to the Response Plan.  

According to DoDMA spokesperson, Chipiliro Khamula, as of Monday, May 29, 2023, only 75 camps remained un-decommissioned in 9 councils from the initial 749 camps that DoDMA established in 16 councils to accommodate 659,278 displaced people.

The remaining camps are in Zomba (1), Machinga (8), Thyolo (5), Chikwawa (22), Mulanje (7), Phalombe (1), Chiradzulu (1), Mangochi (1) and Nsanje (29).

“In collaboration with various humanitarian partners, we are providing the affected people with a return package, which includes food and non-food items such as tarpaulins, plastic sheets for temporary roofing, maize flour, clothes and in some cases, cash,” explained Khamula in response to this reporter’s brief questionnaire.

He added: “Plans are also at an advanced stage for the provision of cement, through councils; to selected marginalized households for reconstruction of houses in safer places.”

For the displaced people in some areas such as the Lower Shire, with the winter cropping season now at hand, timely provision of farm inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, as highlighted in the DoDMA Response Plan, is a most welcome idea.

“We farm all year round, here” explained Million, one of the senior citizens at Nyachirenda, gathering the Nyika food she had been peeling together with her three other contemporaries.

“Other than rain-fed farming, we rely on winter cropping here using residual moisture; so, if we can be assisted with the required inputs in time, perhaps life after leaving the camp would not be as scary as we are imagining it now,” she said.

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Thyolo, May 31, Mana: Police in Thyolo are keeping in custody a driver and 10 others for allegedly being found transporting metal scraps suspected to have been stolen from Limbe- Sandama Railway Line.

Deputy Public Relations Officer for Thyolo Police Station, Rabecca Kashoti  confirmed the arrest of the people and identified the driver as a 55-year-old Kenneth Adam of Kanji Village, Traditional Authority Likoswe, in Chiradzulu district.

"It is reported that during the night of 29th May 2023, officers from Masambanjati Police Post working on a night shift were tipped off by a well-wisher that motor vehicle registration number PE 2443 was transporting metal scraps from Sandama Village heading towards Masambanjati Trading Centre

"Upon receiving the information, the police officers mounted an adhoc road block along Makwasa-Masambanjati-Thekerani road. In course of executing official duties around the area they came across a motor vehicle bearing the same registration number PE 2443 loaded with metal scraps as well as five gas cylinders which are believed to have been used in the commissioning of the crime. Upon interrogation, it was found out that the metal scraps were stolen from Limbe-Sandama Railway Line," she said.

Kashoti added that Police officers later communicated with officials from Central East Africa Railways who identified the metals to be of their company.

Meanwhile, the vehicle which was being used to transfer the metals has been detained at Thyolo Police Station and the suspects will appear before court soon.

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Lilongwe, May 30, Mana: Forum for African Women Educationalists Malawi (FAWEMA) Executive Director, Wesley Chabwera says there is need for teachers and school administrators to mainstream gender responsive methodologies in school programmes to improve learning outcomes of boys and girls.

Chabwera said this in Salima on Tuesday, during the opening of a five day Gender Responsive Pedagogy training for education officials organised by FAWEMA.

FAWEMA is, through the Innovations in Health Rights and Development (iHEARD) project the organisation is implementing in conjunction with Ministry of Education, using the gender responsive pedagogy model.

iHEARD is a five year project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) targeting 3,000,000 adolescent girls and young women aged between 10-24 years in primary and secondary schools to dismantle barriers that affect girls in the realisation of their sexual and reproductive health rights

Chabwera said the pedagogy model is building capacity of teachers and school administrators to ensure that there is gender equality in schools.

“We are working with the Ministry of Education to build capacity of teachers and school administrators to ensure that there is equality in schools as regards management in terms of gender by ensuring that pedagogical processes that teachers employ in the classrooms are gender responsive and taking care of   the needs of boys and girls so that they are equally engaged but also participate in classrooms,” he said.

He said although there is progress in gender equality in schools, evidence shows that girls are lagging behind in terms of school enrolment in upper classes.

“Girls are dropping out in upper classes compared to boys, because of societal and cultural beliefs so we want to ensure that teachers pay attention to the needs of boys and girls to ensure that girls are retained in schools.

“We want teachers to change attitudes and perceptions around gender equality, we want the language they use and materials in classrooms are gender responsive,” he said.

FAWEMA Programmes Manager, Mphatso Kapalamula,  the gender responsive pedagogy training will  impart skills and knowledge to education officials who will in turn train teachers on topics such as  gender responsive teaching resources, gender responsive  lesson planning , gender responsive  language use, among others.

Education Division Manager for Central East Education Division, Billy Chikhwana Banda said some of the gender disparities happening in most schools are largely contributed by teachers and school authorities.

“We have noted that some of the gender issues happening in our schools are because of the teachers themselves. We have noted that some teachers bully or mistreat learners in terms of punishment and use of abusive words to female learners when they fail to answer questions. This is a critical gender gap, coupled with a shortage of resources the learning environment for girls becomes hostile so we want teachers to change their way of  treating the girls in our schools,” he explained.

He appealed to participants to the training to use the training as an opportunity to engage gender issues that affect schools to ensure that the trainings are worth impacting on communities and school authorities to change their mindset.

“With the support we are getting from FAWEMA we are sure that with intense monitoring and supervisions we will address gender gaps. We want the administrators and teachers to change their mindset before they start changing the minds of other stakeholders,” he explained. 

A participant to the training, Loyce Tembo said the skills acquired through the training will help her train more teachers to mainstream gender issues in their programmes.

“We will use the skills gained to train more teachers to be gender sensitive when teaching. Most girls are left behind, because teachers do not create a conducive environment for learning,” she said.

The training has targeted 14 participants who include School Health and Nutrition Coordinators from Lilongwe Rural West, Dowa, Ntchisi, Central East Education Division and Central West Education Division, Primary Education Advisors and FAWEMA volunteers from the three districts.

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Mzimba, May 30, Mana: Construction of the 12,500 seater M’mbelwa Stadium in Mzimba is expected to be completed by end of September,2023 contractor for the project has said.

In an interview on Tuesday, Manobec Construction Company Project Manager, Victor Msowoya said the stadium would have been completed by 2022 but the devaluation of the local currency delayed the completion time.

‘‘We are hoping that all things being equal, we should be completing construction works on the stadium September this year’’, he said.

According to Msowoya, although the work remaining could be completed by September, it largely depends on addendum submitted to the Public Procurements and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA).

‘‘We encountered some challenges when erecting the roof of the VIP covered section hence we had to redesign the roof of the VIP section. And redesigning took our time. We also suffered the consequences of the devaluation. It meant reworking the whole budget to factor in the devaluation.  All these factors have worked to delay the completion of the stadium,” he said.

Malawi News Agency visited the project site on Wednesday and observed that construction of terraces was completed and what remained unfinished were VIP rooms as well as the turf.  

‘‘We completed all the terraces. We are now doing finishing touches to the VIP section where several rooms remain to be completed such as what would be bars, dressing rooms and others. The main work remaining is plastering,’’ Site Supervisor and Foreman, Justin Magalasi said.

A Football fan, Mayeso Banda from Chanthomba location at Mzimba Boma said he wished the stadium was completed quickly to start hosting games.

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Blantyre, May 30, Mana: Police in Blantyre have arrested three people on allegation that they were in possession of fake K5, 000 banknotes amounting to K40, 000.

Southwest Region Police Deputy Spokesperson, Beatrice Mikuwa alleges that the three were found with a laptop, printer and cell phones suspected to have been used to print the notes.

"The suspects wanted to deposit money to a mobile money agent at Chitawira area on Monday who suspected the notes to be fake and alerted the Police who were patrolling the area," she said.

According to Police, the accused are Ishmael Ackim, Enock Likanga Chirwa and Vinkula Kavwenje from Machinjiri, Ntcheu and Ntchisi respectively.

Earlier this year, Police in Mangochi arrested Panganani William, 21 after he was found with K300, 000 fake banknotes.

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Lilongwe, May 30, Mana: Lingazi Police Station in Lilongwe has registered a 12.8 percent upturn in crime rate from January to May this year.

Presenting a report on the state of security in Lilongwe during Station Executive Committee (SEC) meeting on Monday at Ufulu Garden, Officer In-Charge, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Billy Chimbonga said the station has registered 588 criminal cases compared to 521 cases during the same period last year.

Among others, Chimbonga attributed the rise in thefts, burglary and break-ins during the period under review.

He said: “Lingazi Police Station is not doing well in reducing crime looking at how we have fared on theft, burglary and break-in. They are many factors to the rise, but the major one is that the station is under-resourced with only two functional vehicles.

“This means that we are not doing well in patrols. The reason is that Lingazi is still being treated as a sub-station when it was upgraded to a full-station.”

However, the OC said there was a 65.5 percent decline in traffic offences as the station had only 76 cases in the period under review against 116 the same period in 2022.

“Apart from that, we also had a decrease in rape and defilement because of the community court initiative,” added Chimbonga.

SEC chairperson, Matthews Mtumbuka said Areas 10, 43, 11 and 12 were highly targeted for thefts, break-ins and burglary following the presidential pardon of prisoners in the period under review.

“We had problems starting from the time prisoners were released on presidential pardon. Many targeted areas such as 10, 12, 11 and 43 where they know high profile figures live. Of course we are happy to hear most of these suspects were apprehended, but we feel there is more we cans do especially on effort coordination with community policing and neighborhood panels to always be active and act as informant,” Mtumbuka said.

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Mangochi, May 29, Mana:  Islamic Relief Malawi, a faith-humanitarian and development agency, has embarked on a K2 billion worth project in Mangochi to alleviate sexual abuse, poverty, and food insecurity in the district.

Speaking during presentation of the project to stakeholders in Mangochi on Friday, Food Security and Livelihood Coordinator for Islamic Relief Malawi, Christopher Malamba said the project, which will run for three years in Traditional Authority (TA) Mponda, follows an assessment which showed that the area is falling behind in the fight against sexual abuse as well as food security.

“In our 2022 survey, we established that due to cultural practices, Gender Based Violence (GBV) is increasingly continuing in areas of Group Village Headmen Mponda, Muchande and Chipeta, under TA Mponda in Mangochi. Most affected groups are girls and women, and in other cases even boys.

“This violence includes sexual abuse, finance-related, physical abuse, and emotional abuse,” said Malamba.

He said the survey also showed poor performance of agriculture production, a development which is leading to chronic food and nutritional insecurities by most people in the district.

Malamba, therefore, said based on the established gaps, the organisation secured funding worth over K2 billion to implement the project aimed at reducing vulnerability of women and girls.

The project is also aimed at improving food and nutritional security of 3,000 vulnerable smallholder households in the three villages.

Malamba said amongst main activities that they intend to implement within three-year project include raising awareness on issues affecting adolescent girls and women, supporting community structures in addressing harmful cultural practices that lead to early marriages and pregnancies, as well as providing start-up grant to 150 village saving and loans association to implement resilient collective businesses.

Agriculture, Gender Roles Extension Support Services Officer for Mangochi, Chimwemwe Chisenga commended Islamic Relief for the project saying that it will help vulnerable communities to be self-reliant.

Chisenga said that due to lack of support by guardians, many adolescent girls in Mangochi get married earlier, a development which results into teenage pregnancies.

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Lilongwe, May 29, Mana: The High Court of Malawi has granted an order for an interlocutory injunction restraining Minister of Homeland Security and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services from seizing nine containers belonging to a refugee, Sylvestre Bizimana.

The injuction further restrains disrupting his business and forcing him and his family to move to Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa until after the determination of the judicial review or until a further order is made by the court.

The claimant, filed an application on May 18, 2023 before Justice Howard Pemba for permission to commence judicial review of the Minister of Homeland Security and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (defendants) decision to force him and his family to move to Dzaleka Refugee Camp.

The claimant also applied for an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from, among others, forcing him and his family to move to Dzaleka Refugee Camp until the final determination of the judicial review.

This is not the first time that refugees and asylum seekers have obtained a court injunction stopping government from relocating them to Dzaleka Refugee Camp since issues of their relocations started 13 years ago.

In a judicial review cause number 20 of 2023, Justice Howard Pemba granted permission to Sylvestre Bizimana to apply for judicial review while the application for an interlocutory injunction was ordered to come for an inter partes hearing on May 25, 2023.

Surprisingly, both the Minister of Homeland Security and Director General of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services as 1^st and 2^nd defendants respectively did not show up and no good reason was proffered to the court by the defendants for their failure to attend the hearing.

“In view of these circumstances, the court allowed the claimant, Bizimana, to proceed with the hearing in the absence of the defendants,” reads part of the order.

Bizimana in his application for judicial review claims to be a Malawian after following all due processes. He attached a number of documentary evidence such as his national identity card, a certificate of naturalisation as a citizen of Malawi, tax clearance certificate from Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and a certificate of registration for his business premises licence from Lilongwe City Council (LCC) to prove that he is a Malawian.

The defendants are regarding Bizimana as one of the illegal immigrants hence enforcing a policy that he is not authorised to conduct his businesses at Mgona Market in Lilongwe where he has his nine containers containing agricultural produce.

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