By Pempho Kantayeni

Lilongwe, May 2, Mana: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has developed a draft framework for data protection registration regulation, which will require data controllers and processors to register with the authority at a fee. 

Speaking on Friday in Lilongwe during a validation workshop with various stakeholders, Head of Data Protection, Daniel Chiwoni, disclosed that the purpose of the workshop is to engage with stakeholders on developing a framework to support the Data Protection Act by providing detailed processes on how MACRA will regulate the processing of personal data in the country.

"So we have developed, for now, two sets of regulations; the first one being the data protection registration regulations. Under the Data Protection Act, there is a requirement that those that are processing vast amounts of data, we call them data controllers and data processors of significant importance, should register with the with the MACRA," he said.

Chiwoni emphasised that the regulations will outline the information to be

submitted during the registration process and the fees to be paid.

He added that the framework will specify when the registration process is complete and how the authority will communicate to the registrants.

Chiwoni highlighted that Data Protection Handling Regulations will address the complaints from data subjects affected by processing activities by providing a process for handling complaints lodged with the data protection authority.

"The framework will specify the period within which a company must respond to a complaint and the steps to be taken afterward," he said.

One of the participants, for Youth Intiative Executive Director Precious Phiri, said that the new regulations and protocols will help in safeguarding data and privacy in the country.

"The workshop will help us to actually safeguard the data and the privacy for almost everybody in Malawi, so what we're trying to do is to safeguard these by putting protocols so that people should be safeguarded, whereby people cannot hack and issues of identity theft should not happen," he said.

The regulations aim to streamline the registration process and ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act.

In order to ensure that data subjects rights are protected, MACRA has also developed the Data Protection Complaints Handling Regulations draft.

By George Mponda

Karonga, May 2, Mana: Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka of the Karonga Diocese has announced that proceeds from the newly launched St Denis Primary School will be utilized to rehabilitate rural primary schools.

The school, located at Karonga Boma, has been constructed with funds from Steven Peck through the Cross Catholic Outreach and it is offering classes from Standards One to Six.

Speaking at the launch on Thursday, Bishop Mtumbuka said the school will be operating on a business model and profits made will be used to improve schools located in rural areas.

Mtumbuka said: "This particular private school will help give very good primary education holistically. In other words, the parents who send their kids here pay a little bit more money, and we will use that money to improve the schools in rural areas.

"The philosophy of education in the Catholic Church is that you can't have proper functions in a church full of members who have not gone far with education. It can't work, especially in today's world where you want most of the things run by the church to be done by the Christians themselves; which is why we want to educate learners from all over the diocese despite their denomination," he added.

According to Mtumbuka, the school's staff will have the autonomy to make decisions, subject to approval by the school's board, as part of a self-sustaining management approach.

On her part, Director of Education Services for Karonga District Council, Mercy Mayuni, commended Karonga Diocese for opening the school, saying it has complemented government's efforts in delivering quality education.

"This resonates with enabler number five of the Malawi 2063 which stresses development of human capital. In order for our country to be self-reliant, we need to educate learners from all corners of the country," said Mayuni.

Headteacher for St Denis Catholic Primary School, Eunice Ndhlovu, promised to nurture learners' spiritual growth and help them become productive citizens who will contribute positively to Malawi's development.

During the launch of the school, Bishop Mtumbuka also commissioned two priests who will be heading to South Africa to launch the Ad Gentes Missionaries of St. John Paul II.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, May 1, Mana: District Trainers of Trainers (DTTs) from Dowa District Council have on Wednesday undergone an orientation on Case Management (CM) process, under the Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) to improve efficiency in case management under the program.

The Training, which also included members of the District Social Support Committee (DSSC) aimed at equipping the team with knowledge on how to handle various challenges or complaints that could arise under the SCTP.

Speaking during the orientation, Natasha Mtika, Chief Social Welfare Officer from Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare said the orientation was crucial in empowering the team with case management knowledge and skills.

"In the course of implementation, there are some issues which may arise such as updates, suspensions, claims, change and replacement of household heads, complaints amongst others.

"So the training aimed at orienting the DDTs and DSSC on some of these issues, especially how they may handle these in adherence to SCTP protocols," said Mtika.

Some of the topics tackled during the training, which took place at Dowa Council Lodge conference hall, included Roles of Case Management stakeholders, Categories and Reporting Channels, and Case Management Protocols.

Gift Kambadya, Principle Social Welfare Officer for Dowa asked the DTTs to ensure they understand the Case Management protocols for the benefit of the participants.

"The orientation was important as it will help us in serving the participants better. After this, the DDTs will go into the communities and train local structures there on the same. So we are assured that the knowledge and skills acquired today will help in the implementation of SCTP in Dowa," said Kambadya.

He then urged the DSSC to continue supporting the program in terms of supervision and other activities.

In Dowa, the SCTP previously had 17,400 participants but the district has now targeted 19,043.

By Zenak Matekenya

Dedza, May 1, Mana: Dedza District Council Chief Agriculture Officer, Matilda Mtambo has expressed the council’s commitment to support Civil Society Agriculture Network’s (CISANET) project called Combating Corruption in the Affordable Input (AIP) Program.

She was speaking following CISANET’s presentation of the project to Dedza District Executive Committee on Wednesday.

“It is interesting to have a project by CISANET which is meant to end corruption in AIP. We are committed to work with them because we are one of the key stakeholders and as a council we strive to achieve the same goal.

“We are ready to provide information that they will need. Be it information for beneficiaries, our roles, stakeholders we are working with or any other information,” she said.

Civil Society Agriculture Network Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Edwin Munthali said the project aims to bring to light corruption and any other malpractices on AIP.

He said the AIP gets a bigger chunk of funding in the Ministry of Agriculture but fails to produce desired results.

He decried poor harvest among beneficiary farming households associated with delayed delivery of inputs, missing identification, women getting abused and contractors’ failure to meet inputs supply contracts.

“We would like to understand the cause of all these. Any malpractices will be discussed at district and national level for a possible solution,” he said.

He mentioned the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Malawi Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture among key stakeholders.

He added that the project will work with the media to expose wrong doings and encourage communities to take to task duty bearers to achieve efficiency in the AIP implementation to promote food security.

By Bazilio Chingoli

Ntcheu, April 30, Mana: Fourteen farmers from Ziipilana village in Traditional Authority Phambala in Ntcheu district have each received five goats under the pass-on program.

The initiative is part of the community livelihoods support program under the AREECA project of land and forest restoration, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Speaking during the ceremony on Wednesday, Ntcheu District Animal Health and Livestock Development Officer, Getrude Kanjere, urged farmers to abandon malpractices such as charcoal burning and venture into livestock farming.

"Livestock such as goats and chickens can easily elevate our livelihoods because we can sell them for money, have meat for our health, and harvest manure for our farm fields to have bumper yields," Kanjere said.

Kanjere advised the second beneficiaries of the goat pass-on program to take good care of the goats they received, so that they can also give other farmers who have no livestock in the future.

David Simon, a lead farmer of Chimwankhuku Farmer Field School, commended FAO for the support.

"The goats we received from this program have indeed transformed our lives. We can make organic fertilizer from manure we get from these goats." He said

Halima Austin, one of the second beneficiaries of the livestock pass-on program, echoed Simon's sentiments, saying the support will enable them to pay school fees for their children and provide food for their families.

As part of efforts to restore 5,000 hectares of land and forest around the Mpira catchment area, FAO distributed goats and chickens to farmers to provide them with a sustainable livelihood and discourage encroachment into reserved land.

By George Mponda

Karonga, April 30, Mana: National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) has launched a Micro Irrigation Farm Inputs Loan initiative in Karonga, aiming to boost agricultural productivity and enable farmers to harvest three times a year

Speaking on Wednesday during the launch at Mwakalenga Village in the area of Paramount Chief Kyungu, where members of Wiyule Irrigation Scheme received inputs worth K30 million, NEEF's Director of Finance Benedicto Kananzi said they want to boost agriculture production in Malawi by providing loans for farmers to be engaged in irrigation.

"We want to support 200,000 Malawian farmers with nearly K100 billion in loans. The initiative aims to boost food security, create jobs, and generate foreign exchange by providing modern farm equipment, fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides. The goal is to enable farmers to harvest three times a year, increasing productivity and exports," Kananzi said.

"Karonga has plenty of water sources, so farmers, especially women and youths, should take advantage of these loans to keep themselves busy throughout the year and get paid three times while using farming methods which are not manually exhausting," he added.

On his part, acting Deputy Programme Manager for Karonga Agriculture Development Division (ADD), Dr Martin Ng'oma, said the initiative will boost food security for people in Karonga, a disaster-prone district.

"Besides being food secure, farmers will also be financially stable from the sales of their produce, which they will be harvesting three times in year through the proper utilization of these loans," Ng'oma said.

Chairperson for Wiyule Irrigation Scheme, Bertha Mogha, hailed NEEF for the loan, saying they will use the inputs to expand their 50-acre scheme.

"We have received a solar water pump, 104 bags of fertilizer and 350 kilograms of maize seed worth K30 million, which will help us expand our scheme, which has 50 members. We were not producing enough since the work was being done manually, but with this solar water pump, we will increase production as well as membership of our scheme," Mogha said.

By Lesnat Kenan

Lilongwe, May 1, Mana: Following a robbery of K52 million at Capital Printing Press at area 4 in Lilongwe on March 11,2025 and the subsequent arrest of three culprits, detectives have nabbed a fourth suspect, Douglas Mulumbe, aged 37 who got a share of K7 million.

According to Lilongwe Police, Public Relations Officer, Inspector Hastings Chigalu, Mulumbe was arrested during a day time raid at his girlfriend's house in area 23, where he has been hiding.

"Mulumbe admitted to taking part in the robbery and got a share of K7 million which he used to purchase a piece of land at Gada location at K3.8 million price and spent K85,000 on mattress.  police have since made recovered both proceeds", he added.

Chigalu further said other culprits who were already arrested on the same include Welford John ,29, Sautso Mandala,44, and Samuel Kasala,42.

He also said the suspects, while armed with Panga knives and metal bars, invaded Capital Printing Press offices, tied up two security guards before breaking into the office where they dismantled a money safe and went away with the cash.

Meanwhile, to complete the criminals’ roundup, detectives have relentlessly intensified a manhunt for one more suspect, identified as Patrick Mtengula who is still on the run and once arrested will also face robbery chargers in court.

All the arrested suspects are from Ntcheu Districts, with two from Traditional Authority (TA) Ganya, one from T/A Makwangwala and the other from TA Njolomole.