Today in Malawi

Malawi against EPAs
Malawi has stumped its foot down against signing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) being engineered by the European Union, describing them as a perpetuation of the EU’s divide-and-rule tactics.
Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika vowed on Wednesday the country “will not sign the EPAs, even if it means being the only African country that will not sign”, because the new instrument stood to make Africa worse than it is now.
“These are the tactics of the West; these countries have never supported African solidarity and are reverting to their old tactics of divide and rule. These people were not happy with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) agreement and now want to divide us,” said Mutharika.
Mutharika said, now that the EU had started signing specific packages with some African countries, who also happen to belong to such regional groups as Ecowas, Comesa, SADC; a development he said would kill regional integration and African unity.
“I have asked them to give me one single benefit Malawi and Africa stands to benefit from the EPAs and they can’t give me one. I warn Africa to be careful,” he said.
He feared that EPAs would kill Africa’s growing economy,. And help spur new levels of poverty in a continent still struggling to improve the social-economic status of its people.

Malawi starts preps for Angola
Malawi has started preparations for Angola 2010, following Guinea’s 2-1 loss to Burkina Faso on Sunday.
The loss gives Malawi a life line in a group where Ivory Coast have already qualified for the World Cup to be held next year in South Africa, followed by Burkina Faso with nine points. Malawi has four points while Guinea remain stuck at three points, their campaign now facing the black clouds because they will have to play their last match against Ivory Coast away from home.
Malawi go to Burkina Faso on November 10, and are confident that they will qualify.
“We have already started preparing for Angola 2010. There is no way Ivory Coast can loose at home. We are cock sure of our qualification,” said Football Association of Malawi Chief Executive Officer Charles Nyirenda.
Nyirenda said Fam has already started mobilizing resources in preparation for Angola.
But Fam’s sentiments have drawn fire from national team coach, Kinnah Phiri, who feels the country’s soccer authorities are being carried away with Guinea’s misfortune.
“It’s very unfortunate that Fam is being carried away with the win, thinking Ivory Coast will do the job for us. We must prepare well for the Burkina Faso game and see where we go from there. As it is, it is too early to start preparing for Angola,” said Phiri.
Malawi go to Burkina Faso without two of its top notch players, captain Peter Mponda and defender James Sangala. The two accumulated two yellow cards, ruling themselves out of a game Phiri takes for a decider.
There is solace, however, as injured defenders Elvis Kafoteka and Moses Chavula, and suspended midfielder Hellings Mwakasungula come back to pitch action. The three missed the game against Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast had to come from behind and redeem their reputation as Africa’s leading side. They needed a point to qualify for a World Cup slot, and one point they got.

Netball on the rise
Malawi has managed to beat prophets of doom who predicted dwindling fortunes for netball, thanks to good player-succession plans.
Just some two years ago, many feared that netball was on its death bed as many of Malawi’s top notch netball players near retirement.
The instrumental Mary Waya, probably the world’s fattest netball player, has a reputation running across the continents. Captain Peace Chawinga-Kalua, too, has had an industrious career spanning over two decades.
The two have been the heart beat of the Malawi National Netball team but now faces prospects of retirement as age catches up with them.
The print media has been awash with debate over whether the old guard should retire now, but national coach Edith Kaliati has turned such a suggestion down- opting to blend old and new blood.
The move seems to be bearing immediate fruits following Malawi’s growing dominance in netball.
Teenager Mwai Kumwenda, for instance, hardly existed in the minds and hopes of Malawian netball fans some four years ago. Now, the Escom Netball Team player has become a house hold name, even leaving a mark on the international netball scene.
She scored the most baskets in the World Under-17 Netball Tournament held last month in Cooks Islands. Within two weeks of that record, Kumwenda accompanied Malawi to South Africa, and took part in the Confederation of Southern Africa Netball Associations (Cosana) tournament.
She blended well with goal shooter Waya to make South Africa look like ordinary amateurs. Malawi retained the Cosana tournament and proceeded to Tanzania where they took part in a Six Nation Invitational Tournament.
The Queens, again, carried the day but did not have time to receive the trophy as they were rushing to the United Kingdom to take part in a competition pitting the world’s top six netball teams.
The Queens braved managed to move up from position six in world netball rankings to 5. The encouraging part was that the team managed to reduce the number of baskets conceded from such giants as England, New Zealand, and Jamaica to within five baskets difference on average. Teams like Samoa were easy folder for the marauding Queens.
The Queens came back home on Tuesday this week, and Kaliati is buoyed by the players’ performance.
“Contrary to fears that we were on the down ward spiral, we are moving from better to best. There is good coordination in the team, and our blending process (mixing the old guard with up-coming players) seems to be working wonders. South Africa can attest to that. In fact, we consider the South African Senior Netball Team as our Team B or concubines,” said Kaliati.
Sports Development Minister, Dr. Luscious Kanyumba, is also thrilled with the new events brewing in netball cycles.
“Netball is one sport that makes us proud. As you know, we have been struggling in soccer- though we now are coming back to where we were in the 1970s. We could beat the likes of Ivory Coast by five-goals-to-one then,” said Kanyumba.
Ivory Coast’s worst defeat (in soccer) came at the hands of Malawi when they went down 5-1.
Kanyumba said government was committed to supporting netball, a sentiment echoed by state president Bingu wa Mutharika.
Mutharika has vowed to increase state funding to all sporting disciplines.
“Let’s spread our net wider and success will come. Netball, especially, has given us the hope that we can do better. It’s not only soccer that matters, netball and other sports disciplines are crucial to success, too,” said Mutharika.

Mutharika demands accountability in sports funding
President Bingu wa Mutharika has bemoaned the level of accountability in sports, saying officials hardly accounted for resources channeled to them.
Mutharika, responding to concerns over poor funding to sports associations, said his government was committed to promoting sports in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) member state, but only after assurances all resources would be accounted for.
“At the moment, I think investing in sports is tantamount to investing in a bottomless pit or basin. Officials seem to think that state funding is a gift that should not be accounted for and, as a result, we find that some of the things earmarked for funding are not done,” said Mutharika.
Mutharika, who invites the netball and football national teams when they perform beyond people’s expectations, is an avid follower of netball and soccer.
He often says he supports netball because he likes winners and football because he is long-time friend to the president of Brazil.
“Gone is the time people pocketed money meant for sports development. We are in an era of accountability and transparency. I will arrest those who fail to account for tax payers’ money,” he said.