Martin Chiwanda and Charlie Ligomeka

Machinga, August 23, Mana: National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) on Thursday commissioned six tipper trucks at Liwonde barrage in Machinga for weed management, which will involve removing and transporting the weeds from Shire River to a damping site.

Speaking after commissioning of the trucks supplied by Mahindra, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Elias Chimulambe said the trucks were highly significant to Malawi because they will be assisting in conservation of Malawi's main source of electrical power.

“We are glad for this development because our main source of electrical power, which is approximately 90%, is generated from Shire River which therefore needs to be watched carefully. Removing the weeds and other damps from the river, will not only affect how water passes through the barrage, but also how Egenco manages their machines downstream,” he added.

The Principal Secretary called on those that will be responsible for running of the trucks to avoid using them on other tasks different from weeds removal and others as per their job.

He said government expects good use and productivity of energy supply in Malawi through the introduction of the trucks, which will contribute to weed management

Chimulambe also encouraged proper use of the wastes that will be disposed from the river.

According to agreement made with the Machinga District Council, the weeds will be turned into composite manure and production of biogas energy.

Engineer. James Mambulu, who is Board Chairperson for NWRA said the six trucks was a big milestone in weed management, adding that the authority will make good use of trucks to archive the intended purpose.

“What matters now is how we use these facilities, as of now we have recruited the barrage manager who will start working on September 1 this year. We will also recruit other members that at the barrage to ensure proper management of the barrage and the trucks,” he added.

MWASIP Technical Team Leader for Planning and Monitoring, James Kumwenda said MWASIP’s objective is to improve watershed services and catchment restoration and expressed gratitude with the introduction on the new trucks for weed management at the barrage

He added that will also assist in restoring quality of water in Shire River, improving water flow and assist in production of electricity downstream.

Kumwenda thanked World Bank for providing funding through MWASIP, saying provision of the trucks was significant move in the right direction.

Electricity Generation Company of Malawi (Egenco) has been managing the project but another company, Mahindra is taking over up to 2026.

By Stanley Nkhondoyachepa

Lilongwe, August 23, Mana: The Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) will on Sunday celebrate its 12 anniversary in Malawi.

The ceremony will take place at its KICC Lilongwe church, located in area 46 Bypass road in the city, where a number of activities will take place.

Speaking in an Interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Friday, KICC Malawi resident pastor, Macduff Phiri said the celebration theme: This far the Lord has brought us, relates to how far God has taken the church, since opening its branch in Malawi in 2012.

He said the theme is taken from the book of 1 Samuel 7:12 where King David is looking back and seeing how God has been faithful to him.

Phiri said since 2012, KICC has experienced expansion from just one church in Lilongwe to new branches in Blantyre under Pastor Moffat Mtegha, and another in Mzuzu under Pastor Chimwemwe Chihana.

“So on Sunday, we will come together as KICC Malawi and celebrate God`s goodness and faithfulness throughout the years” he said.

Phiri said among other activities, there will be a sermon by Pastor Moffat Mtegha, adding Arthur Fatch, a guest worship minister from Blantyre will lead the KICC worship team.

“We have also extended invitations to all people of good will, those who were part of us when we were starting and those who would just love to be part of us, as a body of Christ” he said.

Phiri said the celebration which will start at 8 am will also feature presentations from the children church, among other kid’s activities,

“We have also prepared meals, drinks and other things for free as part of the celebration for those who will come” he said.

According to Phiri, KICC envisions growing up in Christ, number and together in faith, saying it has reached out to people with the good news in its surrounding areas.

KICC was founded in 1992 by a famous Nigerian Pastor, Matthew Ashimolowo.

By Abel Ikiloni in Berlin, Germany

Berlin, August 23, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has assured Malawians in diaspora of government’s commitment to addressing their concerns such as loans which some students are struggling to get for their studies as well as on voting rights.

He was speaking at Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Berlin, Germany on Thursday when he had an audience with Malawians living in Germany.

Chairperson for Umodzi wa aMalawi, Alexander Kambiri, commended the President for granting them an audience which he described as a huge opportunity to relay their policy proposals directly to the President.

He said, despite talking and having access to the Malawian embassy all the time, it works better when things are taken directly to the Head of State.

“There are three things we raised to be considered which are to enable students get scholarship in Germany, Malawian who were not be able to access university education should have an opportunity to go on vocational training in technical colleges in Germany, challenges that Malawians face in Germany and the issue of cultural exchanges.

“We are happy because we have received positive response for example the President says we will be able to vote while outside the country as that is our right.

There are over 250 Malawian families in Germany. 

By Patricia Kapulula

Lilongwe, August 23, Mana: Deputy Secretary to the President and Cabinet, who is also Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit, Dr Janet Banda, says despite Malawi doing well in institution and structure in as far the fight against corruption is concerned, there is more to be done in terms of the fight itself.

She was speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday when she officially opened a day long Controlling Officers Forum.

She cited the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Institutional Integrity Committees (IIC) in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as some of the structures and institutions put in place in the fight against corruption.

Over 100 MDAs have functional IICs since the National Anti-Corruption Strategy II was put in place in 2012.

“For the fight against corruption to be effective it needs leadership buy in. In this forum we have challenged and asked controlling officers, as leaders, to lead by example. Otherwise, it they are not pushing and are not implementing their mandate and taking their responsibility seriously in fighting corruption then nothing will work at the bottom,” she said.

ACB Acting Director General, Hilary Chilomba, appealed to controlling officers to strive to bring tremendous impact in the society by implementing anti-corruption activities through IICs.

He said it is important that controlling officers take internal mechanisms such as IICs seriously in regulating the conduct of corruption in their institutions.

“We are talking of IICs of which controlling officers are key. This meeting is a platform where we need to discuss issues and come up with way forward in as far as the fight against corruption is concerned,” Chilomba said.

Chairperson for the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, Peter Dimba, said there is need for collective action that builds a positive culture that upholds principles of accountability and integrity in the fight against corruption.

He said, as a Committee, they are geared to providing oversight role to IICs and make sure that those IICs that are not performing are summoned.

“Through that oversight role we have seen a number of IICs that were not doing well improving in their performance,” he said.

The forum drew together controlling officers from different MDAs to discuss issues of corruption and come up with a way forwarding in addressing corruption in the country.

By Abel Ikiloni in Berlin, Germany

Berlin, August 23, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera on Thursday witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Malawi and Re-Thinking Foundation for the 50 megawatt solar farm project between Mzuzu University (Mzuni) and Tauber Solar in Berlin, Germany.

Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola, signed the MoU on behalf of the government of Malawi.

He described the MoU as a great milestone in the energy sector where Ministry of Energy, Egenco as a generating company and Mzuni have signed an MoU with Germany company Sun Power Africa Limited in order to develop the solar park in Malawi.

Early this year, President Chakwera made an emphasis of adding more power to the country’s grid.

Matola said the signing of the MoU will see students doing engineering and electrical at Mzuni doing practical work and exchange of programs.

“The President has been talking about job creation; Malawians are going to be employed, the youth, who are graduates, and those doing engineering and electrical will also be employed in order to develop the solar power park,” Matola said.

Shareholder and Chief Executive Officer for Tauber Solar Group, Zeno Fleck, said the project is a great business investment for the people of Malawi as it will create employment.

“We will start the project immediately; we made the visibility study and in the next four weeks the project will start. It is a huge project which will need about 100 people from the beginning and we are investing about €70 million,” he said.

Mzuzu Vice Chancellor, Professor Wales Singini, expressed excitement because Mzuni has an idea of taking part in the energy sector through development of its solar farm at Choma.

“Our initial idea was that we should be able to provide a platform for our students to learn practically in terms of how to deal with renewable energy systems but at the same time, as a university, we should also be able to generate some resources to support our functionality,” he said.

He said the university took the idea seriously by working through all processes such as the visibility study and all what is required after getting permission from the Minister of Energy.

“We were given a go ahead to engage ESCOM for the possibility of obtaining power purchase agreement and we have reached an advanced stage,” he said.

By Abel Ikiloni, in Berlin, Germany

Berlin, August 22: Mana: President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Thursday met and engaged in fruitful discussions with leadership of Lubeck University in Berlin, Germany.

Chakwera lobbied for capacity building in the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases in Malawi’s health sector which he says is key to building sustainable communities.

He said this during an interface with a delegation from Lübeck University Clinic who have expressed interest to help the country through specialized training of nurses.

Currently, Malawi has one specialized nurse in dialysis while the rest are trained as general nurses. Currently, government is training another lot of specialized nurse in few programmes offered at Kamuzu University of Health and Sciences (KUHES).

In addressing this gap, Lübeck University Clinic which is a leading research university in situated in Northern Germany which focuses almost entirely on medicine and sciences with applications in medicine and Government of Malawi intends to build and enhance collaboration so that most nurses are equipped in NCDs.

Head of delegation of Lubeck University who is also Director, Professor Kristina Kusche-Vihrog, said they are geared to help Malawi adopt new systems and technologies towards a healthier society.

“We are geared and committed to helping Malawi build on its capacity and adopt new technologies in overcoming challenges in the medical field.”

The development aligns with the Health Sector Strategic Plan among other requirements promotes the specialization of the nursing profession for effective service delivery.