What started as a normal flirting thing in Sengabay, Salima, ended in trouble for four gays after community members descended on them for cuddling in public along Lake Malawi.
Community members were irked to see four men kissing and touching in broad daylight, a situation that was excerbated when the four told the people to 'mind your own business'.
One of the community members, Evans Kapwepwe, told Zachimalawi the four were contravening Malawi's customs by touching in public, especially people of the same sex.
"THey wanted to corrupt the morals of our children, and we took the lwa into our own hands," said Kapwepwe.
One of the suspected gays, Martin Samuel Gwetsa, said he was disappointed with the action taken by the Salima community members.
"Actually, we were having fun along the Lake (Malawi) when, all of a sudden, we heard people shouting at us. It's like we were running over each other without our clothes on; after all, it was at the lake. But people thought otherwise and beat us," he said.
He, however, could not confirm people's suspicions that he and his coleagues were homosexuals, only saying "I have a girlfriend".
Homosexuality is prohibited in Malawi.
However, Vice President Joyce Banda told a grouping of faith leaders in Blantyre Wednesday that homosexuals were crucial to Malawi's fight against HIV and AIDS and other development ills.
The Vice President urged faithleaders to be in the forefront embracing homosexuals as one way of integrating them in various facets of development.
"Homosexuality is a reality in Malawi, and we must all take action to embrace people of this sexual orientation," said Banda.
However, some people have come down hard against the Vice President, accusing her of trying to corrupt Malawian children with 'strange' beliefs.
The HIV prevalence rate among Malawian gays stands at 25 per cent, according to Principal Secretary for Nutrition, HIV and AIDS in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr. Mary Shawa.
The country is yet to ascertain the HIV prevalence rate among lesbians.
Information on homosexuals' health conditions is derived from medical facilities, mainly because this category of people has found shelter in medical ethics.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Empowering and Protecting Adolescent Girls in Haiti
AmeriCares, Population Council and a consortium of aid organizations working together to help break cycle of poverty and violence for adolescent girls
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network, a coalition of humanitarian organizations co-founded by AmeriCares and the Population Council, today received high-level recognition for its efforts to reduce girls' risks of poverty, violence, and rape. The Network's exemplary collaboration and commitment to empower and protect Haitian girls was featured during the opening plenary session of the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting held in New York City.
The innovative program was launched with leadership support from Nike Foundation, The Abundance Foundation, NoVo Foundation, United Nations Foundation, and Partridge Trust.
The earthquake that shattered Haiti last January left more than 3.7 million Haitians in need of humanitarian assistance. The quake not only leveled buildings but damaged already weak institutions and exacerbated the acute challenges facing women and children stemming from decades of political insecurity and recurrent natural disasters in that country. The earthquake orphaned thousands of children and separated thousands more from their parents.
Prior to the earthquake, 42 percent of girls in urban areas aged 10-14 years lived without parents. The numbers have increased since January, leaving girls as young as 10 years old to provide for their younger siblings.
With so much responsibility thrust upon them at such a young age, the girls are at risk of not finishing school and being caught in the cycle of poverty. Even worse, living in displacement camps and slums, girls are now especially vulnerable to violence.
A recent survey conducted by INURED, a local Haitian research organization, reported that 14 percent of the residents of Port-au-Prince's largest shantytown, Cité Soleil, witnessed or experienced violence, including beatings and rape. The study also reported that it is common for girls living in relief camps to resort to trading sex for food and shelter.
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network is spearheading a movement to bring groups of at-risk girls together at least weekly in dedicated girls-only, safe spaces. "We are empowering adolescent girls to secure their rights and health, receive psychological support, continue their education, and find safe and productive livelihoods. As their future is reconfigured, so are the families they support and the communities in which they live," said Judith Bruce, senior associate and policy analyst at the Population Council.
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network was founded on the possibility that even in times of violence and tragedy, the most extraordinary results can be achieved through collaboration and a common vision. The organizations in the Network are committed to increasing awareness among humanitarian responders and service providers about the distinctive and critical needs of adolescent girls in post-earthquake Haiti.
"Having a diverse group of local and international organizations come together with a shared vision is incredibly powerful. We invite others to join this collaborative effort. Together we can reduce risk and create opportunity for girls, and put them at the forefront of building back a better Haiti," said Curt Welling, president and CEO of AmeriCares.
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network, a coalition of humanitarian organizations co-founded by AmeriCares and the Population Council, today received high-level recognition for its efforts to reduce girls' risks of poverty, violence, and rape. The Network's exemplary collaboration and commitment to empower and protect Haitian girls was featured during the opening plenary session of the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting held in New York City.
The innovative program was launched with leadership support from Nike Foundation, The Abundance Foundation, NoVo Foundation, United Nations Foundation, and Partridge Trust.
The earthquake that shattered Haiti last January left more than 3.7 million Haitians in need of humanitarian assistance. The quake not only leveled buildings but damaged already weak institutions and exacerbated the acute challenges facing women and children stemming from decades of political insecurity and recurrent natural disasters in that country. The earthquake orphaned thousands of children and separated thousands more from their parents.
Prior to the earthquake, 42 percent of girls in urban areas aged 10-14 years lived without parents. The numbers have increased since January, leaving girls as young as 10 years old to provide for their younger siblings.
With so much responsibility thrust upon them at such a young age, the girls are at risk of not finishing school and being caught in the cycle of poverty. Even worse, living in displacement camps and slums, girls are now especially vulnerable to violence.
A recent survey conducted by INURED, a local Haitian research organization, reported that 14 percent of the residents of Port-au-Prince's largest shantytown, Cité Soleil, witnessed or experienced violence, including beatings and rape. The study also reported that it is common for girls living in relief camps to resort to trading sex for food and shelter.
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network is spearheading a movement to bring groups of at-risk girls together at least weekly in dedicated girls-only, safe spaces. "We are empowering adolescent girls to secure their rights and health, receive psychological support, continue their education, and find safe and productive livelihoods. As their future is reconfigured, so are the families they support and the communities in which they live," said Judith Bruce, senior associate and policy analyst at the Population Council.
The Haiti Adolescent Girls Network was founded on the possibility that even in times of violence and tragedy, the most extraordinary results can be achieved through collaboration and a common vision. The organizations in the Network are committed to increasing awareness among humanitarian responders and service providers about the distinctive and critical needs of adolescent girls in post-earthquake Haiti.
"Having a diverse group of local and international organizations come together with a shared vision is incredibly powerful. We invite others to join this collaborative effort. Together we can reduce risk and create opportunity for girls, and put them at the forefront of building back a better Haiti," said Curt Welling, president and CEO of AmeriCares.
POEM: Scattered flowers
BY RICHARD CHIROMBO
Pettled settled,
In the empty nest,
So lodded to the chest,
With hope's heavy load,
During time's seventhe acre so filled with golden chuff.
A question of wholesome trodding,
The way life's sign posts we passed;
We saw, as we hopped along
The 'All-alone-inside' flag
Pushed by the warmth from our hands.
Such a sweetsome, fillfull feeling,
Abruptly hindered by the mid-nood shed:
Between Dedza Mountain and the Chikudzukudzu plain;
The clean-shaven forest and well-watered pavement;
A gintantic buiding now rests.
Beaten by the Salima mid-day sun,
Whipped by the Bembeke chill,
So often suppressed by Mangochi's southerly winds,
Unlike life's natural click
Peddling us where wishes an empty will.
At sunset,
They hymn and cry,
Heroic fathers before their bewildered children,
Subdued wived kissed by lukewarm water,
Scrawling down grandular oases.
Natural salt caresses the agony within.
The dilapidated buiding that brings hope to their tattered souls and minds,
Occupies the yard cosmology designated for my feet,
Cutting through the threads on wich stands your future and mine,
Grasing down the pasture that is you and me.
Pettled settled,
In the empty nest,
So lodded to the chest,
With hope's heavy load,
During time's seventhe acre so filled with golden chuff.
A question of wholesome trodding,
The way life's sign posts we passed;
We saw, as we hopped along
The 'All-alone-inside' flag
Pushed by the warmth from our hands.
Such a sweetsome, fillfull feeling,
Abruptly hindered by the mid-nood shed:
Between Dedza Mountain and the Chikudzukudzu plain;
The clean-shaven forest and well-watered pavement;
A gintantic buiding now rests.
Beaten by the Salima mid-day sun,
Whipped by the Bembeke chill,
So often suppressed by Mangochi's southerly winds,
Unlike life's natural click
Peddling us where wishes an empty will.
At sunset,
They hymn and cry,
Heroic fathers before their bewildered children,
Subdued wived kissed by lukewarm water,
Scrawling down grandular oases.
Natural salt caresses the agony within.
The dilapidated buiding that brings hope to their tattered souls and minds,
Occupies the yard cosmology designated for my feet,
Cutting through the threads on wich stands your future and mine,
Grasing down the pasture that is you and me.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Beijing police raid gay hungout
Beijing police raided a popular park where gay men meet and detained dozens for questioning over the weekend as part of a security sweep in advance of a national holiday.
According to the Associated Press, “At least 80 gay men were taken away from a park in the capital's Haidian district by police during night raids on Saturday and Sunday, said Guo Ziyang, a project manager with the Beijing Working Group of Gay Movement, a non-governmental group that promotes gay rights.
“The men were brought to the police station where they were questioned and asked to show their identity cards," said Guo, who interviewed several of the men. He added that there were rumors that some men were made to take blood tests.
The AP reports that the Global Times newspaper said police officers and SWAT teams stormed Mudanyuan Park for a security inspection before National Day on October 1, which commemorates the start of Communist rule in 1949. It was not clear what regulations the men in the park would have violated.
According to the Associated Press, “At least 80 gay men were taken away from a park in the capital's Haidian district by police during night raids on Saturday and Sunday, said Guo Ziyang, a project manager with the Beijing Working Group of Gay Movement, a non-governmental group that promotes gay rights.
“The men were brought to the police station where they were questioned and asked to show their identity cards," said Guo, who interviewed several of the men. He added that there were rumors that some men were made to take blood tests.
The AP reports that the Global Times newspaper said police officers and SWAT teams stormed Mudanyuan Park for a security inspection before National Day on October 1, which commemorates the start of Communist rule in 1949. It was not clear what regulations the men in the park would have violated.
Report of Concerns of Youths in Malawi
1 Executive summary
1.1 Introduction
Network for Youth Development is a membership network committed to empowering young people to act around youth concerns and play an active role in the development process. The network gives a forum to young men and women from different backgrounds to share ideas, exchange experiences and learn from each other in the struggle for a better life.
Network for Youth Development is a vital and creative youth network in Malawi – Africa with room for all kinds of engagements that are youth related. It is very important that young people use their own abilities to make a difference in their own communities realize that their efforts are necessary and needed.
1.2. Background Information
In November 2006, young people representing youth organisations and groups from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe had the opportunity to come together, share ideas and experiences. During this process, young people from these countries felt that there is so much in common and want to support each other and cooperate in making a difference in each other’s lives. As a result a regional collaboration process was proposed to take place, in the form of a Regional Youth Hearing. This will give representatives of young people from participating countries the opportunity to express their ideas and concerns to decision makers.
It was further proposed that national youth hearings be conducted in the each participating country and then later a Regional Hearing where all the youth concerns solicited from these countries shall be presented.
It has been further recommended in the recent meeting held in South Africa that all participating countries will send representatives who will meet early 2008 to present their concerns to regional leaders together. This very important gathering is what has been named Youth Hearing. The process will provide a forum where young people from all walks of life use as a channel to present their concerns on the topic “the environment we want”. This will be a grand opportunity to young people from across Southern Africa to bring their problems with some suggestions as solutions to such problems.
It is a fact that young people in Africa as a continent are facing a lot of problems; this is why young people in the southern part of Africa, having similar problems, are coming together in one voice in order to make their region a better place for young people. This is a very important function for Southern African Young People such that they already expressed their commitment and interest by conducting several different programmes with specific country problems. For Example, in Malawi young people conducted a survey on Urbanization and the effects it has on Young people of which the findings disclosed causes of a lot of problems facing the young people. These range from HIV/Aids to unemployment.
A Youth hearing is a gathering where young people will present their concerns and ideas to decision makers and then decision makers will comment and share their views on the concerns presented.
The success of the hearing will depend on the levels of participation. In Malawi a large number of youth organisations and groups were invited to submit their concerns and ideas on the “Environment they Want” to Network for Youth Development which is facilitating the process in Malawi. Based on these concerns and ideas a national hearing will be organized in Blantyre where the collected concerns will be represented to the targeted decision makers. A key person will be invited to chair this event, among others shall have influential people in our societies.
2. Processes of Collecting Concerns in Malawi
2.1 Method of Accessing Concerns
The Youth for Solidarity Movement (Y4SM), a National Steering Committee of South Africa had developed a standardized questionnaire to facilitate getting data from their targeted groups; NfYD also adopted the same and used the same system of using a questionnaire.
Regional briefing meetings with members were conducted in all regions to promote, orient and seek support from all members of the network. This was to ensure that concerns were coming from a national platform.
All the organisations that participated had an opportunity to go around in their constituencies to collect as many concerns as possible, when the process was conducted in all the areas, the compiled questionnaire were submitted to NfYD to compile all the concerns into one document – a report.
2.2 Lead Question on the questionnaire
As a young person, what is it that you need that can contribute to a better life for you?
2.3 Getting Concerns through a Questionnaire
The questionnaire was printed and distributed to member organisations that were going around in their constituencies. In the process they handed over the questionnaires to the respondents in order that respond. In order to accommodate the participants who can not write, the facilitators were asked to guide the respondents through reading the questions interpret them according to the language of choice. Responses would then be written on the questionnaire on their behalf.
2.4 How Long Did the Process Take?
The collection process began in November 2007 when NfYD got financial assistance from Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) to facilitate the whole process of the Hearing, The process took a period of 4 months (November – February) and the responses were collected and captured for analysis.
2.5 Analyzing the Questionnaire
A team of experienced members for NfYD were gathered to capture and analyze all the responses of the collection of youth concerns in all the regions of Malawi.
The questionnaire was in English but other respondents decided to respond in the vernacular (Chichewa) and was included and presented in a summary in English.
2.6 Questionnaires Distributed
NfYD had printed 6,423 questionnaires and distributed across all the three regions of Malawi. All the forms were filled and completed by the informants and NfYD received back all the forms. Though this was an original plan, in other areas they had to re-print the questionnaires due to high demand of the respondents i.e. Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Dedza respondents were members of different youth organisations, students and other youths. An estimation of 1,000 plus or minus questionnaires was a contribution from the youth from these districts.
The findings were analyzed in order to categorize the types of issues, sex, concerns and comments expressed by the various youths. These areas were not obligatory upon the youth because we believed that it is good to get first hand concerns of young people because they are the ones who are affected in their communities.
3 Summary
Young People were asked to present their information which would help classify respondents by the following categories; occupation, age, gender, region, race and area of residence.
No In-put Category
1 Occupation Youth that are;
Students
Unemployed
Employed
2 Age Youths between 15 – 30 years
3 Gender Male and female
4 Region South, Central and North
5 Areas Urban, Sub Urban, Rural, Townships, City
3.1 Results of the analysis
Out of 7,423 concerns which were collected and analyzed the following were the results of the summary;
Students: 50%
Employed: 10%
Unemployed: 40%
3.2 Age
Out of the 7,423 respondents, 6,309 (making 85%) were of ages between 15 – 26 years, while 1,114 respondents, (making 15%) were between 27–30 years old
3.3 Gender
Out of the 7,423 respondents; 2,449 respondents (making 33%) were females and 4,974 respondents, (making 67%) were male while one did not indicate their sex.
3.4 Region
Out of the 7,423 respondents; 4,082 respondents (making 55%) were from central region, while 1,855 respondents (making 25%) were from southern region and 1485 respondents (making 20%) from northern region.
3.2 Areas
Out of the 7,423 respondents; 3,340 respondents (making45%) were from urban, 223 respondents (making 3%) from townships, 148 respondents (making 2%) were from sub-urban, while 2,227 (making 30%) were from rural areas and 1,485 respondents (making 20%) were from cities.
3.4 Concerns Raised
The main concerns that young people raised by responding to the questionnaires were summarized as follows;
No Category Percentage Summery of Concern for the Category
1 Education 52.4% Most young people raised various concerns on this topic; they are able to realize that education is a key to success as such they objectively presented concerns. Among notable concerns raised included the recognition of the UDHR article 26 “right to education”.
o Access to schools within the reasonable distance or geographical location from place of residence.
o Access to university Education, Government to introduce more Universities in the country than the present number.
o Resources allocation i.e. Libraries and teachers quality in schools should be improved.
o University and Secondary school fees are not affordable.
o Government should monitor Private schools to improve Quality of education.
o Increase of Tertiary Education and Entrepreneurship Education
2 Job/Employment Opportunity 11.2% Young people expressed the following concerns on Career development, employment and Job opportunities;
o Job experience should not be a must when looking for employees; government must ask employers to introduce and adopt on the Job coaching policies
o Young Entrepreneurs must get financial support from the Government and the private sector in order to set up businesses so as to increase Employment opportunities.
o Possibility of revisiting the retirement age in order to give room to a lot of graduating young people a chance of employment
o Entrepreneurship training and Education must be encouraged to prepare young people a self reliant future
3 Drug and Alcohol abuse 2.1% Young people expressed the following concerns on Drug and Alcohol Abuse
o Calling for the Government to enforce alcohol and beverage bi-laws which restrict young people below the age of 18 to patronize or purchase alcohol
o Control of alcohol and beer drinking venues and shabeens
o Bringing about stiffer punishment for those found in possession and abusing of drugs.
4 Infrastructure Development 2% Young peoples concerns on infrastructure to contribute for the environment they want;
o Government to build more schools especially in the rural areas
o Government should improve access roads to the main roads
o Government and private sector to invest in building Libraries in each District in order to encourage the reading culture for young people
o Government and The Private sector to build more recreation centers for young people in each district
o
5 Health and HIV related concerns 8.5% Concerns on Health Related issues from young people were as follows;
o Leaders to include young people representatives in decision making forums on health issues
o Young people who are sexually active should access Life planning information, and support
o Life skills to be taken seriously as a need for young people in schools, and there should be qualified teachers for the subject.
o Government should join the Nongovernmental organisations in bringing an end to bad traditional practices that put young people’s life at risk of contracting the HI Virus, STI’s or early marriages.
o
6 Social Security 2.8% On social security young people had the following concerns;
o Tough punishments for those who Harrass,abuse and violate young people sexually, or physically
o Government to introduce more counseling centers for young people who have found themselves in conflict with the law.
o Government to emphasize on tough measure to combat pornography and information that will confuse and mislead young people
7 Crime 6% Young people expressed the following concerns on Crime;
o Government and Non governmental organisations to revisit and restructure the juvenile justice system to be effective and accessible by all young people without regard to their status.
o Make sure that the young people who have found themselves in conflict with the law must receive proper counseling.
o The Malawi prison service to be a reformatory other than as a punishing institution for young people.
8 Child abuse 11% Young people observed the following as their concerns on Child Abuse;
o Government must make Child Employment (as domestic workers, farm workers),a crime in order to stop the behavior.
o The ministry of Education should apply the same procedures of measuring standards for primary, secondary and pre- schools.
o Stiffer punishments for those who abuse children in any way.
9 Environment 7% Young people also expressed the following on their concerns on environment;
o Leaders to continue sensitizing their people on the importance of planting trees to replace the ones used
o The government and the private sector must introduce recycling plants for Plastics, metal and other materials which are a danger to the environment if just thrown away.
4 Conclusions
NfYD as facilitators for this process in Malawi would like to indicate that this process has provided an opportunity for us to observe certain areas that youths in Malawi find to be a priority and that many stakeholders ought to pay special attention to the concerns raised in this report.
It is very encouraging to note that young people are able to identify education as a very important tool in their lives.
School fees has been raised as a serious concern for the youth, many young people indicated that money is an impediment to their progress in receiving an education, which will usher them to getting a improved life in the near future.
NfYD encourages all the stakeholders in education sector to seriously investigate further to establish means of assisting youths who have a challenge of continuing education because of school fees because denying youths education, we are preparing a doomed future.
Job and employment has been expressed as a necessity to certain factions of youths in order to provide for their survival. Although some were not expressed as a means for direct gain, through families are the youths able to benefit. Job creation is cited as a more serious concern to income based on the feeling that family members can get employed in order to provide for youths financially.
The concern towards HIV/AIDS, being the only exception citing HIV/AIDS at a far more serious tone than any other problem. However, both issues pertain to engagement in unprotected sexual intercourse which leads to young girls falling pregnant and the continuous infections of sexually transmitted diseases.
Programme need to be considered to further raise awareness of this problem and to determine other means
of interventions to highlight the seriousness of this issues.
Many other young people expressed concern towards sports and recreation, which is rated among the top concerns raised. Sports and recreation is cited as a positive alternative to “idle time”, which could deter youth away from engaging in sexual activities or even drug abuse.
5. Recommendations
Malawi is one of the countries which adopts many policies but do not implement such in different fields, most of the issues raised in this report are policy-based and solutions have once suggested and policies developed but still the situation is still not improving.
It is quite important to realize that young people of these days are more advanced in terms of getting development information and are well able to follow what is happening is their countries, as such one has to realize that young people may not stay idle if they see something going wrong, especially in cases that would affect their lives.
It is very imperative to re-examine a compartment of fundamentals next to policies pertaining to education in-order to bring into line with educational concerns as presented within the findings of this report.
This should further integrate study geared towards deducing way for economic support that can be attributed to the Malawian youths for their education and education-related needs. The same approach to policies should be considered for HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy as well as sports and recreation and many other issues affecting young people in Malawi.
1.1 Introduction
Network for Youth Development is a membership network committed to empowering young people to act around youth concerns and play an active role in the development process. The network gives a forum to young men and women from different backgrounds to share ideas, exchange experiences and learn from each other in the struggle for a better life.
Network for Youth Development is a vital and creative youth network in Malawi – Africa with room for all kinds of engagements that are youth related. It is very important that young people use their own abilities to make a difference in their own communities realize that their efforts are necessary and needed.
1.2. Background Information
In November 2006, young people representing youth organisations and groups from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe had the opportunity to come together, share ideas and experiences. During this process, young people from these countries felt that there is so much in common and want to support each other and cooperate in making a difference in each other’s lives. As a result a regional collaboration process was proposed to take place, in the form of a Regional Youth Hearing. This will give representatives of young people from participating countries the opportunity to express their ideas and concerns to decision makers.
It was further proposed that national youth hearings be conducted in the each participating country and then later a Regional Hearing where all the youth concerns solicited from these countries shall be presented.
It has been further recommended in the recent meeting held in South Africa that all participating countries will send representatives who will meet early 2008 to present their concerns to regional leaders together. This very important gathering is what has been named Youth Hearing. The process will provide a forum where young people from all walks of life use as a channel to present their concerns on the topic “the environment we want”. This will be a grand opportunity to young people from across Southern Africa to bring their problems with some suggestions as solutions to such problems.
It is a fact that young people in Africa as a continent are facing a lot of problems; this is why young people in the southern part of Africa, having similar problems, are coming together in one voice in order to make their region a better place for young people. This is a very important function for Southern African Young People such that they already expressed their commitment and interest by conducting several different programmes with specific country problems. For Example, in Malawi young people conducted a survey on Urbanization and the effects it has on Young people of which the findings disclosed causes of a lot of problems facing the young people. These range from HIV/Aids to unemployment.
A Youth hearing is a gathering where young people will present their concerns and ideas to decision makers and then decision makers will comment and share their views on the concerns presented.
The success of the hearing will depend on the levels of participation. In Malawi a large number of youth organisations and groups were invited to submit their concerns and ideas on the “Environment they Want” to Network for Youth Development which is facilitating the process in Malawi. Based on these concerns and ideas a national hearing will be organized in Blantyre where the collected concerns will be represented to the targeted decision makers. A key person will be invited to chair this event, among others shall have influential people in our societies.
2. Processes of Collecting Concerns in Malawi
2.1 Method of Accessing Concerns
The Youth for Solidarity Movement (Y4SM), a National Steering Committee of South Africa had developed a standardized questionnaire to facilitate getting data from their targeted groups; NfYD also adopted the same and used the same system of using a questionnaire.
Regional briefing meetings with members were conducted in all regions to promote, orient and seek support from all members of the network. This was to ensure that concerns were coming from a national platform.
All the organisations that participated had an opportunity to go around in their constituencies to collect as many concerns as possible, when the process was conducted in all the areas, the compiled questionnaire were submitted to NfYD to compile all the concerns into one document – a report.
2.2 Lead Question on the questionnaire
As a young person, what is it that you need that can contribute to a better life for you?
2.3 Getting Concerns through a Questionnaire
The questionnaire was printed and distributed to member organisations that were going around in their constituencies. In the process they handed over the questionnaires to the respondents in order that respond. In order to accommodate the participants who can not write, the facilitators were asked to guide the respondents through reading the questions interpret them according to the language of choice. Responses would then be written on the questionnaire on their behalf.
2.4 How Long Did the Process Take?
The collection process began in November 2007 when NfYD got financial assistance from Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) to facilitate the whole process of the Hearing, The process took a period of 4 months (November – February) and the responses were collected and captured for analysis.
2.5 Analyzing the Questionnaire
A team of experienced members for NfYD were gathered to capture and analyze all the responses of the collection of youth concerns in all the regions of Malawi.
The questionnaire was in English but other respondents decided to respond in the vernacular (Chichewa) and was included and presented in a summary in English.
2.6 Questionnaires Distributed
NfYD had printed 6,423 questionnaires and distributed across all the three regions of Malawi. All the forms were filled and completed by the informants and NfYD received back all the forms. Though this was an original plan, in other areas they had to re-print the questionnaires due to high demand of the respondents i.e. Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Dedza respondents were members of different youth organisations, students and other youths. An estimation of 1,000 plus or minus questionnaires was a contribution from the youth from these districts.
The findings were analyzed in order to categorize the types of issues, sex, concerns and comments expressed by the various youths. These areas were not obligatory upon the youth because we believed that it is good to get first hand concerns of young people because they are the ones who are affected in their communities.
3 Summary
Young People were asked to present their information which would help classify respondents by the following categories; occupation, age, gender, region, race and area of residence.
No In-put Category
1 Occupation Youth that are;
Students
Unemployed
Employed
2 Age Youths between 15 – 30 years
3 Gender Male and female
4 Region South, Central and North
5 Areas Urban, Sub Urban, Rural, Townships, City
3.1 Results of the analysis
Out of 7,423 concerns which were collected and analyzed the following were the results of the summary;
Students: 50%
Employed: 10%
Unemployed: 40%
3.2 Age
Out of the 7,423 respondents, 6,309 (making 85%) were of ages between 15 – 26 years, while 1,114 respondents, (making 15%) were between 27–30 years old
3.3 Gender
Out of the 7,423 respondents; 2,449 respondents (making 33%) were females and 4,974 respondents, (making 67%) were male while one did not indicate their sex.
3.4 Region
Out of the 7,423 respondents; 4,082 respondents (making 55%) were from central region, while 1,855 respondents (making 25%) were from southern region and 1485 respondents (making 20%) from northern region.
3.2 Areas
Out of the 7,423 respondents; 3,340 respondents (making45%) were from urban, 223 respondents (making 3%) from townships, 148 respondents (making 2%) were from sub-urban, while 2,227 (making 30%) were from rural areas and 1,485 respondents (making 20%) were from cities.
3.4 Concerns Raised
The main concerns that young people raised by responding to the questionnaires were summarized as follows;
No Category Percentage Summery of Concern for the Category
1 Education 52.4% Most young people raised various concerns on this topic; they are able to realize that education is a key to success as such they objectively presented concerns. Among notable concerns raised included the recognition of the UDHR article 26 “right to education”.
o Access to schools within the reasonable distance or geographical location from place of residence.
o Access to university Education, Government to introduce more Universities in the country than the present number.
o Resources allocation i.e. Libraries and teachers quality in schools should be improved.
o University and Secondary school fees are not affordable.
o Government should monitor Private schools to improve Quality of education.
o Increase of Tertiary Education and Entrepreneurship Education
2 Job/Employment Opportunity 11.2% Young people expressed the following concerns on Career development, employment and Job opportunities;
o Job experience should not be a must when looking for employees; government must ask employers to introduce and adopt on the Job coaching policies
o Young Entrepreneurs must get financial support from the Government and the private sector in order to set up businesses so as to increase Employment opportunities.
o Possibility of revisiting the retirement age in order to give room to a lot of graduating young people a chance of employment
o Entrepreneurship training and Education must be encouraged to prepare young people a self reliant future
3 Drug and Alcohol abuse 2.1% Young people expressed the following concerns on Drug and Alcohol Abuse
o Calling for the Government to enforce alcohol and beverage bi-laws which restrict young people below the age of 18 to patronize or purchase alcohol
o Control of alcohol and beer drinking venues and shabeens
o Bringing about stiffer punishment for those found in possession and abusing of drugs.
4 Infrastructure Development 2% Young peoples concerns on infrastructure to contribute for the environment they want;
o Government to build more schools especially in the rural areas
o Government should improve access roads to the main roads
o Government and private sector to invest in building Libraries in each District in order to encourage the reading culture for young people
o Government and The Private sector to build more recreation centers for young people in each district
o
5 Health and HIV related concerns 8.5% Concerns on Health Related issues from young people were as follows;
o Leaders to include young people representatives in decision making forums on health issues
o Young people who are sexually active should access Life planning information, and support
o Life skills to be taken seriously as a need for young people in schools, and there should be qualified teachers for the subject.
o Government should join the Nongovernmental organisations in bringing an end to bad traditional practices that put young people’s life at risk of contracting the HI Virus, STI’s or early marriages.
o
6 Social Security 2.8% On social security young people had the following concerns;
o Tough punishments for those who Harrass,abuse and violate young people sexually, or physically
o Government to introduce more counseling centers for young people who have found themselves in conflict with the law.
o Government to emphasize on tough measure to combat pornography and information that will confuse and mislead young people
7 Crime 6% Young people expressed the following concerns on Crime;
o Government and Non governmental organisations to revisit and restructure the juvenile justice system to be effective and accessible by all young people without regard to their status.
o Make sure that the young people who have found themselves in conflict with the law must receive proper counseling.
o The Malawi prison service to be a reformatory other than as a punishing institution for young people.
8 Child abuse 11% Young people observed the following as their concerns on Child Abuse;
o Government must make Child Employment (as domestic workers, farm workers),a crime in order to stop the behavior.
o The ministry of Education should apply the same procedures of measuring standards for primary, secondary and pre- schools.
o Stiffer punishments for those who abuse children in any way.
9 Environment 7% Young people also expressed the following on their concerns on environment;
o Leaders to continue sensitizing their people on the importance of planting trees to replace the ones used
o The government and the private sector must introduce recycling plants for Plastics, metal and other materials which are a danger to the environment if just thrown away.
4 Conclusions
NfYD as facilitators for this process in Malawi would like to indicate that this process has provided an opportunity for us to observe certain areas that youths in Malawi find to be a priority and that many stakeholders ought to pay special attention to the concerns raised in this report.
It is very encouraging to note that young people are able to identify education as a very important tool in their lives.
School fees has been raised as a serious concern for the youth, many young people indicated that money is an impediment to their progress in receiving an education, which will usher them to getting a improved life in the near future.
NfYD encourages all the stakeholders in education sector to seriously investigate further to establish means of assisting youths who have a challenge of continuing education because of school fees because denying youths education, we are preparing a doomed future.
Job and employment has been expressed as a necessity to certain factions of youths in order to provide for their survival. Although some were not expressed as a means for direct gain, through families are the youths able to benefit. Job creation is cited as a more serious concern to income based on the feeling that family members can get employed in order to provide for youths financially.
The concern towards HIV/AIDS, being the only exception citing HIV/AIDS at a far more serious tone than any other problem. However, both issues pertain to engagement in unprotected sexual intercourse which leads to young girls falling pregnant and the continuous infections of sexually transmitted diseases.
Programme need to be considered to further raise awareness of this problem and to determine other means
of interventions to highlight the seriousness of this issues.
Many other young people expressed concern towards sports and recreation, which is rated among the top concerns raised. Sports and recreation is cited as a positive alternative to “idle time”, which could deter youth away from engaging in sexual activities or even drug abuse.
5. Recommendations
Malawi is one of the countries which adopts many policies but do not implement such in different fields, most of the issues raised in this report are policy-based and solutions have once suggested and policies developed but still the situation is still not improving.
It is quite important to realize that young people of these days are more advanced in terms of getting development information and are well able to follow what is happening is their countries, as such one has to realize that young people may not stay idle if they see something going wrong, especially in cases that would affect their lives.
It is very imperative to re-examine a compartment of fundamentals next to policies pertaining to education in-order to bring into line with educational concerns as presented within the findings of this report.
This should further integrate study geared towards deducing way for economic support that can be attributed to the Malawian youths for their education and education-related needs. The same approach to policies should be considered for HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy as well as sports and recreation and many other issues affecting young people in Malawi.
Did you say, freedom? Lest I forget August 22, 2008: Why is armed police hunting me down?
Posted on Sunday 24 August 2008 - 13:35
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
Remove
Report
Richard Chirombo
Profile
Homepage
279 messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Chirombo, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
Armed officers from Blantyre Police on Friday stood in ambush along the Kaohsiung Road, and then chased Africa News reporter ,Richard Chirombo, through Blantyre market after the reporter discovered their plans and tried to run for safety.
But Blantyre Police Spokesperson, Elizabeth Divala, in an interview, denied knowledge about the development, also saying she did not know anything to the effect that there was any Warrant of Arrest for me.
"No, I don't know anything about that," Divala said.
The officers, who were three, hid behind a guard house which houses Popat wholesalers, GTV Kameko Communications, Armatile Roofing Sytems, Link Building Products and Flair Flooring and Furnishings along the Kaohsiung Road. The road is located where the Upper Blantyre Inde Bank is located, along the old Mandala road.
Two were in civilian clothes carrying small fire arms, while one, the only one who had an AK 47, was in Police uniform.
The development follows inquiries from some Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers from Blantyre Police Station about the residence of this reporter on Thursday. The officers asked a prominent Blantyre-based freelancer journalist about where I stay, telling him it was because I write for Nyasa Times.
According to the journalist, the CID Police officers also told him that, since articles purportedly written by this reporter had at various occasions appeared on the internet-based publication, then I must have information about some meetings opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) officers have had in the recent past.
Said he:" Some CID Police officers said they have been looking for you because you write on Nyasa Times. They said they wanted to question you on some of your articles: they also said that some senior UDF party officials had a meeting at night about two or three weeks ago, and that, since you write for Nyasa Times, you know everything about that meeting, and you were there. They then asked me about where you stay so that they should arrest you."
Another reporter also collaborated being asked by CID officers from Blantyre Police about my whereabouts, adding that, from the look of things, the officers wanted me so quickly.
Apparently, I have never worked for Nyasa Times,,and have never received even a single penny from the internet publication.
Neither do I have any knowledge about the said night meeting, for whose purpose they did not elaborate.
The chase happened when this reporter was coming from Mandala Road, after branching off from Ginnery Corner. I had met a civilian officer who, upon seeing and recognising me because of my picture found on my Africa News Profile, phoned someone else.
Then, as I went on unperturbed towards muds Residence, which houses Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, and CFAO, then upper Inde Bank branch towards the fence of the building they lay invisibly in ambush, I saw someone come from the opposite direction and enter the fence of the buiding.
Twenty meters after I passed the entry to the gate, the three police officers came out, and walked almost on their tip toes so they could not be detected. Then, I dont know why, I looked backward and one of them beckoned me, saying "Hey Nyasa guy, we are looking for you. Wait".
I did not wait but hastened my steps. Then did the same. But, somehow, I managed to reach Blantyre Market. The market has two car parks; a lower one, which accommodates over 30 vehicles, and another on the upper side. This one accommodates less than ten vehicles.
I took the upper park, but the officers went on and stood at the entry of the lower park. After which they started sharing tasks, telling one to go behind the market fence, one through the gate, and the other to take the upper park. I was just watching them, then started walking faster.
They then begun chasing me, literally, calling on me to stop. I, however, managed to run, reached where they sell cabbages on the other side of the market, went behind a brick fence, and through Word Alive Ministries (Church) where people were having a lunch hour service.It was around 13:00 hours.
I joined the congregation but, five minutes later, saw two of the police officers at the back. As people stood to pray, pretended to bend my back and went out. One followed me, but lost track of me as I went into, and hid in, the toilet. I was there for almost an hour, all the while calling fellow journalists, informing them about the ordeal so that they could be with me and see what would happen to me.
There is a river to the left side of the church, just outside as people go toward the Catholic Institute (CI).when I looked that side, I saw the officers, standing there, playing with their phones, apparently playing some 'bluff y meal' on me. I then went the other side, saw them following me, and, luckily, saw someone in a vehicle who picked me and dropped me at Vanimali House.
I then went to the Malawi Law Society (MLS), where I met, and explained the ordeal , to the president, Mandala Mambulasa.
Then on Saturday, CID officers followed me as went to the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) Annual General Meeting which was being held at the Blantyre Sports Club. I did not take long after informing some journalists about what was happening to me.
This contradicts what Ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) officials- Secretary General Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba and Spokesperson Nicholas Dausi- say that, since state president, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, took over office on May 20,2004 there has never been a journalist arrested because of their duty.
The two officials maintain that, under no circumstances will a journalist be arrested in Malawi, as Mutharika values press freedom.
Malawi does not have an access to information law: though the constitution says then press shall have the freedom to publish freely in, and without, the country.
Efforts by Namisa to have a bill of that nature passed have so far proved futile, despite assurances from the Ministry of Information. Now, with the next general elections just a stone-throw away, prospects are that the proposed bill may gather dust for a more while.
There was recently an outcry from the media after the State house accused private radio station, Joy, of employing foreigners, threatening to deport the station's manager Peter Chisale, on the basis that he was Zambian. Ironically, Chisale hails from the Southern Malawi district of Machinga.
It follows a myriad of accusations that Joy Radio was airing "slanderous and libelous articles and playing derogatory songs about the president".
Then, there is a case where Daily Times Editor, James Mphande, and reporter Mike Chipalasa got arrested by the police on allegations of publishing a 'false story' that claimed that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo had accused government of hiring rigging experts for the May 19, 2009 general elections.
Another Blantyre Newspapers reporter, Wanangwa Tembo, was arrested by the police for taking pictures of law enforcers who had gathered outside Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) offices in Mzuzu, where one cop was arrested for soliciting a bribe.
Maxwell Ng'ambi of Nation Publications Limited (NPL) was also arrested by police for allegedly interviewing former UDF Publicity Secretary Sam Mpasu at Maula prison.
According to former Namisa chairperson Martines Namingha, in his report during the 2008 AGM held on Saturday, said "the above cases of police arresting journalists and not taking them to court are a cause for concern to us. We feel police rush to arrest journalists without proper investigations; hence subject them to psychological torture".
One of the officers, apparently using a fictitious name after getting my e-mail address, richiesimons@yahoo.com on the net, e-mailed me as follows (apparently to corner me):
--- On Wed, 8/20/08, Stonoldy Ramuel wrote:
From: Stonoldy Ramuel
Subject:
To: richiesimons@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 6:27 PM
Hie,
I read some of your articles at African News.com and was very interested in most of them. I wonder if we could meet and talk more on some of the articles. I stay in Blantyre. How can we meet please?
stoney
At the moment, plain-clothed police officers are tailing me that I am living in fear.
NOTE TO THE READER: THAT WAS THEN (AUGUST 22, 2008) AND THIS IS NOW. WE ARE FREE NOW!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
Remove
Report
Richard Chirombo
Profile
Homepage
279 messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Chirombo, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
Armed officers from Blantyre Police on Friday stood in ambush along the Kaohsiung Road, and then chased Africa News reporter ,Richard Chirombo, through Blantyre market after the reporter discovered their plans and tried to run for safety.
But Blantyre Police Spokesperson, Elizabeth Divala, in an interview, denied knowledge about the development, also saying she did not know anything to the effect that there was any Warrant of Arrest for me.
"No, I don't know anything about that," Divala said.
The officers, who were three, hid behind a guard house which houses Popat wholesalers, GTV Kameko Communications, Armatile Roofing Sytems, Link Building Products and Flair Flooring and Furnishings along the Kaohsiung Road. The road is located where the Upper Blantyre Inde Bank is located, along the old Mandala road.
Two were in civilian clothes carrying small fire arms, while one, the only one who had an AK 47, was in Police uniform.
The development follows inquiries from some Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers from Blantyre Police Station about the residence of this reporter on Thursday. The officers asked a prominent Blantyre-based freelancer journalist about where I stay, telling him it was because I write for Nyasa Times.
According to the journalist, the CID Police officers also told him that, since articles purportedly written by this reporter had at various occasions appeared on the internet-based publication, then I must have information about some meetings opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) officers have had in the recent past.
Said he:" Some CID Police officers said they have been looking for you because you write on Nyasa Times. They said they wanted to question you on some of your articles: they also said that some senior UDF party officials had a meeting at night about two or three weeks ago, and that, since you write for Nyasa Times, you know everything about that meeting, and you were there. They then asked me about where you stay so that they should arrest you."
Another reporter also collaborated being asked by CID officers from Blantyre Police about my whereabouts, adding that, from the look of things, the officers wanted me so quickly.
Apparently, I have never worked for Nyasa Times,,and have never received even a single penny from the internet publication.
Neither do I have any knowledge about the said night meeting, for whose purpose they did not elaborate.
The chase happened when this reporter was coming from Mandala Road, after branching off from Ginnery Corner. I had met a civilian officer who, upon seeing and recognising me because of my picture found on my Africa News Profile, phoned someone else.
Then, as I went on unperturbed towards muds Residence, which houses Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, and CFAO, then upper Inde Bank branch towards the fence of the building they lay invisibly in ambush, I saw someone come from the opposite direction and enter the fence of the buiding.
Twenty meters after I passed the entry to the gate, the three police officers came out, and walked almost on their tip toes so they could not be detected. Then, I dont know why, I looked backward and one of them beckoned me, saying "Hey Nyasa guy, we are looking for you. Wait".
I did not wait but hastened my steps. Then did the same. But, somehow, I managed to reach Blantyre Market. The market has two car parks; a lower one, which accommodates over 30 vehicles, and another on the upper side. This one accommodates less than ten vehicles.
I took the upper park, but the officers went on and stood at the entry of the lower park. After which they started sharing tasks, telling one to go behind the market fence, one through the gate, and the other to take the upper park. I was just watching them, then started walking faster.
They then begun chasing me, literally, calling on me to stop. I, however, managed to run, reached where they sell cabbages on the other side of the market, went behind a brick fence, and through Word Alive Ministries (Church) where people were having a lunch hour service.It was around 13:00 hours.
I joined the congregation but, five minutes later, saw two of the police officers at the back. As people stood to pray, pretended to bend my back and went out. One followed me, but lost track of me as I went into, and hid in, the toilet. I was there for almost an hour, all the while calling fellow journalists, informing them about the ordeal so that they could be with me and see what would happen to me.
There is a river to the left side of the church, just outside as people go toward the Catholic Institute (CI).when I looked that side, I saw the officers, standing there, playing with their phones, apparently playing some 'bluff y meal' on me. I then went the other side, saw them following me, and, luckily, saw someone in a vehicle who picked me and dropped me at Vanimali House.
I then went to the Malawi Law Society (MLS), where I met, and explained the ordeal , to the president, Mandala Mambulasa.
Then on Saturday, CID officers followed me as went to the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) Annual General Meeting which was being held at the Blantyre Sports Club. I did not take long after informing some journalists about what was happening to me.
This contradicts what Ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) officials- Secretary General Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba and Spokesperson Nicholas Dausi- say that, since state president, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, took over office on May 20,2004 there has never been a journalist arrested because of their duty.
The two officials maintain that, under no circumstances will a journalist be arrested in Malawi, as Mutharika values press freedom.
Malawi does not have an access to information law: though the constitution says then press shall have the freedom to publish freely in, and without, the country.
Efforts by Namisa to have a bill of that nature passed have so far proved futile, despite assurances from the Ministry of Information. Now, with the next general elections just a stone-throw away, prospects are that the proposed bill may gather dust for a more while.
There was recently an outcry from the media after the State house accused private radio station, Joy, of employing foreigners, threatening to deport the station's manager Peter Chisale, on the basis that he was Zambian. Ironically, Chisale hails from the Southern Malawi district of Machinga.
It follows a myriad of accusations that Joy Radio was airing "slanderous and libelous articles and playing derogatory songs about the president".
Then, there is a case where Daily Times Editor, James Mphande, and reporter Mike Chipalasa got arrested by the police on allegations of publishing a 'false story' that claimed that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo had accused government of hiring rigging experts for the May 19, 2009 general elections.
Another Blantyre Newspapers reporter, Wanangwa Tembo, was arrested by the police for taking pictures of law enforcers who had gathered outside Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) offices in Mzuzu, where one cop was arrested for soliciting a bribe.
Maxwell Ng'ambi of Nation Publications Limited (NPL) was also arrested by police for allegedly interviewing former UDF Publicity Secretary Sam Mpasu at Maula prison.
According to former Namisa chairperson Martines Namingha, in his report during the 2008 AGM held on Saturday, said "the above cases of police arresting journalists and not taking them to court are a cause for concern to us. We feel police rush to arrest journalists without proper investigations; hence subject them to psychological torture".
One of the officers, apparently using a fictitious name after getting my e-mail address, richiesimons@yahoo.com on the net, e-mailed me as follows (apparently to corner me):
--- On Wed, 8/20/08, Stonoldy Ramuel
From: Stonoldy Ramuel
Subject:
To: richiesimons@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 6:27 PM
Hie,
I read some of your articles at African News.com and was very interested in most of them. I wonder if we could meet and talk more on some of the articles. I stay in Blantyre. How can we meet please?
stoney
At the moment, plain-clothed police officers are tailing me that I am living in fear.
NOTE TO THE READER: THAT WAS THEN (AUGUST 22, 2008) AND THIS IS NOW. WE ARE FREE NOW!
Lest I forget August 22, 2008: Armed Malawi police officers chase Africa News reporter
Posted on Sunday 24 August 2008 - 13:31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
ModifyRemove
Report
Richard Chirombo
Profile
Homepage
279 messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armed officers from Blantyre Police on Friday stood in ambush along the Kaohsiung Road, and then chased Africa News reporter ,Richard Chirombo, through Blantyre market after the reporter discovered their plans and tried to run for safety.
But Blantyre Police Spokesperson, Elizabeth Divala, in an interview, denied knowledge about the development, also saying she did not know anything to the effect that there was any Warrant of Arrest for me.
"No, I don't know anything about that," Divala said.
The officers, who were three, hid behind a guard house which houses Popat wholesalers, GTV Kameko Communications, Armatile Roofing Sytems, Link Building Products and Flair Flooring and Furnishings along the Kaohsiung Road. The road is located where the Upper Blantyre Inde Bank is located, along the old Mandala road.
Two were in civilian clothes carrying small fire arms, while one, the only one who had an AK 47, was in Police uniform.
The development follows inquiries from some Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers from Blantyre Police Station about the residence of this reporter on Thursday. The officers asked a prominent Blantyre-based freelancer journalist about where I stay, telling him it was because I write for Nyasa Times.
According to the journalist, the CID Police officers also told him that, since articles purportedly written by this reporter had at various occasions appeared on the internet-based publication, then I must have information about some meetings opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) officers have had in the recent past.
Said he:" Some CID Police officers said they have been looking for you because you write on Nyasa Times. They said they wanted to question you on some of your articles: they also said that some senior UDF party officials had a meeting at night about two or three weeks ago, and that, since you write for Nyasa Times, you know everything about that meeting, and you were there. They then asked me about where you stay so that they should arrest you."
Another reporter also collaborated being asked by CID officers from Blantyre Police about my whereabouts, adding that, from the look of things, the officers wanted me so quickly.
Apparently, I have never worked for Nyasa Times,,and have never received even a single penny from the internet publication.
Neither do I have any knowledge about the said night meeting, for whose purpose they did not elaborate.
The chase happened when this reporter was coming from Mandala Road, after branching off from Ginnery Corner. I had met a civilian officer who, upon seeing and recognising me because of my picture found on my Africa News Profile, phoned someone else.
Then, as I went on unperturbed towards muds Residence, which houses Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, and CFAO, then upper Inde Bank branch towards the fence of the building they lay invisibly in ambush, I saw someone come from the opposite direction and enter the fence of the buiding.
Twenty meters after I passed the entry to the gate, the three police officers came out, and walked almost on their tip toes so they could not be detected. Then, I dont know why, I looked backward and one of them beckoned me, saying "Hey Nyasa guy, we are looking for you. Wait".
I did not wait but hastened my steps. Then did the same. But, somehow, I managed to reach Blantyre Market. The market has two car parks; a lower one, which accommodates over 30 vehicles, and another on the upper side. This one accommodates less than ten vehicles.
I took the upper park, but the officers went on and stood at the entry of the lower park. After which they started sharing tasks, telling one to go behind the market fence, one through the gate, and the other to take the upper park. I was just watching them, then started walking faster.
They then begun chasing me, literally, calling on me to stop. I, however, managed to run, reached where they sell cabbages on the other side of the market, went behind a brick fence, and through Word Alive Ministries (Church) where people were having a lunch hour service.It was around 13:00 hours.
I joined the congregation but, five minutes later, saw two of the police officers at the back. As people stood to pray, pretended to bend my back and went out. One followed me, but lost track of me as I went into, and hid in, the toilet. I was there for almost an hour, all the while calling fellow journalists, informing them about the ordeal so that they could be with me and see what would happen to me.
There is a river to the left side of the church, just outside as people go toward the Catholic Institute (CI).when I looked that side, I saw the officers, standing there, playing with their phones, apparently playing some 'bluff y meal' on me.
I then went the other side, saw them following me, and, luckily, saw someone in a vehicle who picked me and dropped me at Vanimali House.
I then went to the Malawi Law Society (MLS), where I met, and explained the ordeal , to the president, Mandala Mambulasa.
Then on Saturday, CID officers followed me as went to the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) Annual General Meeting which was being held at the Blantyre Sports Club. I did not take long after informing some journalists about what was happening to me.
This contradicts what Ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) officials- Secretary General Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba and Spokesperson Nicholas Dausi- say that, since state president, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, took over office on May 20,2004 there has never been a journalist arrested because of their duty.
The two officials maintain that, under no circumstances will a journalist be arrested in Malawi, as Mutharika values press freedom.
Malawi does not have an access to information law: though the constitution says then press shall have the freedom to publish freely in, and without, the country.
Efforts by Namisa to have a bill of that nature passed have so far proved futile, despite assurances from the Ministry of Information. Now, with the next general elections just a stone-throw away, prospects are that the proposed bill may gather dust for a more while.
There was recently an outcry from the media after the State house accused private radio station, Joy, of employing foreigners, threatening to deport the station's manager Peter Chisale, on the basis that he was Zambian. Ironically, Chisale hails from the Southern Malawi district of Machinga.
It follows a myriad of accusations that Joy Radio was airing "slanderous and libelous articles and playing derogatory songs about the president".
Then, there is a case where Daily Times Editor, James Mphande, and reporter Mike Chipalasa got arrested by the police on allegations of publishing a 'false story' that claimed that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo had accused government of hiring rigging experts for the May 19, 2009 general elections.
Another Blantyre Newspapers reporter, Wanangwa Tembo, was arrested by the police for taking pictures of law enforcers who had gathered outside Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) offices in Mzuzu, where one cop was arrested for soliciting a bribe.
Maxwell Ng'ambi of Nation Publications Limited (NPL) was also arrested by police for allegedly interviewing former UDF Publicity Secretary Sam Mpasu at Maula prison.
According to former Namisa chairperson Martines Namingha, in his report during the 2008 AGM held on Saturday, said "the above cases of police arresting journalists and not taking them to court are a cause for concern to us. We feel police rush to arrest journalists without proper investigations; hence subject them to psychological torture".
At the moment, plain-clothed police officers are tailing me that I am living in fear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote
ModifyRemove
Report
Richard Chirombo
Profile
Homepage
279 messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armed officers from Blantyre Police on Friday stood in ambush along the Kaohsiung Road, and then chased Africa News reporter ,Richard Chirombo, through Blantyre market after the reporter discovered their plans and tried to run for safety.
But Blantyre Police Spokesperson, Elizabeth Divala, in an interview, denied knowledge about the development, also saying she did not know anything to the effect that there was any Warrant of Arrest for me.
"No, I don't know anything about that," Divala said.
The officers, who were three, hid behind a guard house which houses Popat wholesalers, GTV Kameko Communications, Armatile Roofing Sytems, Link Building Products and Flair Flooring and Furnishings along the Kaohsiung Road. The road is located where the Upper Blantyre Inde Bank is located, along the old Mandala road.
Two were in civilian clothes carrying small fire arms, while one, the only one who had an AK 47, was in Police uniform.
The development follows inquiries from some Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers from Blantyre Police Station about the residence of this reporter on Thursday. The officers asked a prominent Blantyre-based freelancer journalist about where I stay, telling him it was because I write for Nyasa Times.
According to the journalist, the CID Police officers also told him that, since articles purportedly written by this reporter had at various occasions appeared on the internet-based publication, then I must have information about some meetings opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) officers have had in the recent past.
Said he:" Some CID Police officers said they have been looking for you because you write on Nyasa Times. They said they wanted to question you on some of your articles: they also said that some senior UDF party officials had a meeting at night about two or three weeks ago, and that, since you write for Nyasa Times, you know everything about that meeting, and you were there. They then asked me about where you stay so that they should arrest you."
Another reporter also collaborated being asked by CID officers from Blantyre Police about my whereabouts, adding that, from the look of things, the officers wanted me so quickly.
Apparently, I have never worked for Nyasa Times,,and have never received even a single penny from the internet publication.
Neither do I have any knowledge about the said night meeting, for whose purpose they did not elaborate.
The chase happened when this reporter was coming from Mandala Road, after branching off from Ginnery Corner. I had met a civilian officer who, upon seeing and recognising me because of my picture found on my Africa News Profile, phoned someone else.
Then, as I went on unperturbed towards muds Residence, which houses Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, and CFAO, then upper Inde Bank branch towards the fence of the building they lay invisibly in ambush, I saw someone come from the opposite direction and enter the fence of the buiding.
Twenty meters after I passed the entry to the gate, the three police officers came out, and walked almost on their tip toes so they could not be detected. Then, I dont know why, I looked backward and one of them beckoned me, saying "Hey Nyasa guy, we are looking for you. Wait".
I did not wait but hastened my steps. Then did the same. But, somehow, I managed to reach Blantyre Market. The market has two car parks; a lower one, which accommodates over 30 vehicles, and another on the upper side. This one accommodates less than ten vehicles.
I took the upper park, but the officers went on and stood at the entry of the lower park. After which they started sharing tasks, telling one to go behind the market fence, one through the gate, and the other to take the upper park. I was just watching them, then started walking faster.
They then begun chasing me, literally, calling on me to stop. I, however, managed to run, reached where they sell cabbages on the other side of the market, went behind a brick fence, and through Word Alive Ministries (Church) where people were having a lunch hour service.It was around 13:00 hours.
I joined the congregation but, five minutes later, saw two of the police officers at the back. As people stood to pray, pretended to bend my back and went out. One followed me, but lost track of me as I went into, and hid in, the toilet. I was there for almost an hour, all the while calling fellow journalists, informing them about the ordeal so that they could be with me and see what would happen to me.
There is a river to the left side of the church, just outside as people go toward the Catholic Institute (CI).when I looked that side, I saw the officers, standing there, playing with their phones, apparently playing some 'bluff y meal' on me.
I then went the other side, saw them following me, and, luckily, saw someone in a vehicle who picked me and dropped me at Vanimali House.
I then went to the Malawi Law Society (MLS), where I met, and explained the ordeal , to the president, Mandala Mambulasa.
Then on Saturday, CID officers followed me as went to the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) Annual General Meeting which was being held at the Blantyre Sports Club. I did not take long after informing some journalists about what was happening to me.
This contradicts what Ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) officials- Secretary General Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba and Spokesperson Nicholas Dausi- say that, since state president, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, took over office on May 20,2004 there has never been a journalist arrested because of their duty.
The two officials maintain that, under no circumstances will a journalist be arrested in Malawi, as Mutharika values press freedom.
Malawi does not have an access to information law: though the constitution says then press shall have the freedom to publish freely in, and without, the country.
Efforts by Namisa to have a bill of that nature passed have so far proved futile, despite assurances from the Ministry of Information. Now, with the next general elections just a stone-throw away, prospects are that the proposed bill may gather dust for a more while.
There was recently an outcry from the media after the State house accused private radio station, Joy, of employing foreigners, threatening to deport the station's manager Peter Chisale, on the basis that he was Zambian. Ironically, Chisale hails from the Southern Malawi district of Machinga.
It follows a myriad of accusations that Joy Radio was airing "slanderous and libelous articles and playing derogatory songs about the president".
Then, there is a case where Daily Times Editor, James Mphande, and reporter Mike Chipalasa got arrested by the police on allegations of publishing a 'false story' that claimed that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo had accused government of hiring rigging experts for the May 19, 2009 general elections.
Another Blantyre Newspapers reporter, Wanangwa Tembo, was arrested by the police for taking pictures of law enforcers who had gathered outside Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) offices in Mzuzu, where one cop was arrested for soliciting a bribe.
Maxwell Ng'ambi of Nation Publications Limited (NPL) was also arrested by police for allegedly interviewing former UDF Publicity Secretary Sam Mpasu at Maula prison.
According to former Namisa chairperson Martines Namingha, in his report during the 2008 AGM held on Saturday, said "the above cases of police arresting journalists and not taking them to court are a cause for concern to us. We feel police rush to arrest journalists without proper investigations; hence subject them to psychological torture".
At the moment, plain-clothed police officers are tailing me that I am living in fear.
Malawi fails to tap from high coffee demand
Malawi is failing to fully reap from the current high global demand for coffee due to productive capacity constraints, says Peter Njikho, Coffee Technical and Marketing Exucutive for the Coffee Association of Malawi.
Prices for the commodity have been increasing for the past five years. In 2006, the average price for coffee on the international market was U$D2.60, U$D3 in 2007, and the association expects prices of no less than U$D3 this year, according to Njikho.
"Prices of coffee have really been favourable for the past five years such that there is high demand which, unfortunately, we are failing to fully utilise due to lack of capacity to match with demand," said Njikho, who added, however, that Malawi has been working on improving quality first.
The initiative to improve quality has now borne fruit, as the country's coffee has been elevated from Faq (Fair Average Quality) to premium, quaranteeing high market value for the crop.
Njikho also attributed the country's failure to tap from the high demand on the inactivitity of the Central region in growing coffee. He said the Central region districts of Ntchisi, Dowa, Dedza and Ntcheu, but they stopped cultivating the crop in the wake of the coffee pricing crisis that marred the world in the early 1990s.
"Not only the Central region, even some estates in the Southern region up-rooted the crop because of that crisis, and we have been trying to build from that over the years to make sure that these districts join Mzimba, Rumphi, Nkhatabay and Chitipa in the Northern region; as well as Chiradzulu, Thyolo and some estates- who are currently active growers of the crop," he said.
Malawi has, however, seen an increase in coffee production over the same past five years to the effect that, in 2007 coffee production reached 2250 metric tones. It is expected that 2600 metric tones will be produced in 2008. Already, the country has exported seven containers, and the average price for that coffee has been U$D3.
The country's coffee is sold in the Netherlands and Germany, through South African brokers.
Njikho added that many small holder farmers were now taking to the trade as 3500 farmers had joined the association, increasing the number of smallholder farmers in coffee farming from 1500 who were growing coffee five years ago.
The association, which was formed in 1981, now aims at reviving coffee farming in the Central region to meet demand, a development the Technical and Marketing executive says would ultimately see Coffee replacing tobacco as the country's net export earner.
Prices for the commodity have been increasing for the past five years. In 2006, the average price for coffee on the international market was U$D2.60, U$D3 in 2007, and the association expects prices of no less than U$D3 this year, according to Njikho.
"Prices of coffee have really been favourable for the past five years such that there is high demand which, unfortunately, we are failing to fully utilise due to lack of capacity to match with demand," said Njikho, who added, however, that Malawi has been working on improving quality first.
The initiative to improve quality has now borne fruit, as the country's coffee has been elevated from Faq (Fair Average Quality) to premium, quaranteeing high market value for the crop.
Njikho also attributed the country's failure to tap from the high demand on the inactivitity of the Central region in growing coffee. He said the Central region districts of Ntchisi, Dowa, Dedza and Ntcheu, but they stopped cultivating the crop in the wake of the coffee pricing crisis that marred the world in the early 1990s.
"Not only the Central region, even some estates in the Southern region up-rooted the crop because of that crisis, and we have been trying to build from that over the years to make sure that these districts join Mzimba, Rumphi, Nkhatabay and Chitipa in the Northern region; as well as Chiradzulu, Thyolo and some estates- who are currently active growers of the crop," he said.
Malawi has, however, seen an increase in coffee production over the same past five years to the effect that, in 2007 coffee production reached 2250 metric tones. It is expected that 2600 metric tones will be produced in 2008. Already, the country has exported seven containers, and the average price for that coffee has been U$D3.
The country's coffee is sold in the Netherlands and Germany, through South African brokers.
Njikho added that many small holder farmers were now taking to the trade as 3500 farmers had joined the association, increasing the number of smallholder farmers in coffee farming from 1500 who were growing coffee five years ago.
The association, which was formed in 1981, now aims at reviving coffee farming in the Central region to meet demand, a development the Technical and Marketing executive says would ultimately see Coffee replacing tobacco as the country's net export earner.
Meet Malawi's ageing Obamas
Wanted to know the most travelled man in Malawi? One who can be found in forty places all at once? Barack Obama, that's his name- rather, their names!
Malawi is experiencing a historic rise in Barack Obamas, following the Illinois Democratic senator's triumph over Hillary Clinton in the race to be the party's torch-bearer come November.
But the irony behind Malawian Obamas is that a majority of them seem over the hill. How can a Barack Obama be 68 years old, for example?
Leading the cart are United democratic Front (UDF) aspiring Members of Parliament, another irony because Obama, after all, is for president- President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief!
Kenson Msonda, former Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) board chairperson, aspires to stand on the UDF ticket in Blantyre-Kabula constituency. The most notable tool of his campaigning is that he calls himself 'Obama wa ku Kabula' (Kabula's Obama). He is already older than Obama himself, much much older.
He defends himself:" All I mean to say is that, for Kabula, here is an opportunity for change for the better: a new beginning in terms of development and, like Obama, I represent that change, that opportunity. No problems about that."
On Sunday this week, Msonda was at Mbayani, Blantyre's ramshackle suburb. The banners and flags flying in the July-sodden wind said it all- Our Obama, Always for Change. One banner even read: Msonda and Obama are twins, born the same day!
Born the same day? One in the US, and one in Malawi? Impossible. In Mbayani, and Blantyre-Kabula constituency, it is real and possible.
Masautso Phiri, another aspiring MP, this one in Malawi's Central region district of Dedza, aspiring to stand on a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket in Leader of Opposition, John Tembos Dedza South constituency, is 68 years old and 1.89 metres tall.
In the first place, how can Barack Obama stand for two ideologically (if Malawi's political parties have any ideology at all) different political parties? Again, how can Obama be 1.89 metres tall.
To cap it all, this Phiri is a bachelor- no wife, no wife and has never left his church since 1940 when he started praying. Surely, just recently Obama deserted his church, purpotedly because of the sayings of his pastor. Well, perhaps some things pastors say take more than eight years to understand!
"Sure, I am Obama, and will win," said Phiri, at a campaign meeting he addressed at Bembeke Trading Centre on Wednesday.
In Chitipa Wenya Constitutency, in Northern Malawi, McFord Nyirongo will stand, at least that's what he says, on Alliance for Democracy (Aford) ticket. That party which was alive, under the influence of its one-party-numbing hero Chakufwa Chihana, and died. And now says it is alive again, that, in the Northen region, DPP is nly on paper. A dead personage speaking from the grave? Obamas party has never died, but.
Nyirongo says he is greatly inspired by Obama, that he would die shouting 'Obama!' in the Middle of Malawi's largely-deteriorating road infrastructure.
Obama to him means the 'ability to win against all odds'. The problem is; the odds he is facing in Chitipa Wenya are hinged on the reality, sad to him, his number one enemy is the truth that there are no odds to run against in that constituency. President Bingu wa Mutharika's administration has done better that area than other political parties ever, according to Nyayoli Njikho, a DPP faithful.
His campaign placard reads: 'Barack Obama for McFord Nyirongo!'
Perhaps they talk, in his sweet dreams.
Jonathan Banda, a Malawian political analyst based in Switzerland, but currently in Malawi, says, with the win chalked by the US Illinois senator to represent the party despite racial bias and doubts raised by his competitor Clinton, over his capacity to become Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces should he win against Republican John MacCain, many Malawians and, in deed, Africans will now be using his name enmasse to represent success.
"People, like MPs, will even use the name even if it does not apply to them. Look at the 80-year olds saying (they) are Barack Obamas. It's interesting, though," said Banda in an interview.
As Malawi goes to the parliamentary and presidential polls on May 19, 2008, the impasse is for the Malawi government, or private operators, to open a museum, or museums, where all 80 year-old Obamas, some twice as fat and black as him, should be kept. That is, those ageing Obamas who fail to make it in any of the 2009 contested positions.
After all, they will have lied to the nation. And sending them to their home villages to start farming, or evangelism, as former presidential hopeful Gwanda Chakuamba promised in the run-up to the May 20, 2004 general elections in case of his failure to make it as Citizen Number One, is a waste of creativity.
Obama, for all he stands for, is history in the making- part of it already made.
Malawi is experiencing a historic rise in Barack Obamas, following the Illinois Democratic senator's triumph over Hillary Clinton in the race to be the party's torch-bearer come November.
But the irony behind Malawian Obamas is that a majority of them seem over the hill. How can a Barack Obama be 68 years old, for example?
Leading the cart are United democratic Front (UDF) aspiring Members of Parliament, another irony because Obama, after all, is for president- President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief!
Kenson Msonda, former Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) board chairperson, aspires to stand on the UDF ticket in Blantyre-Kabula constituency. The most notable tool of his campaigning is that he calls himself 'Obama wa ku Kabula' (Kabula's Obama). He is already older than Obama himself, much much older.
He defends himself:" All I mean to say is that, for Kabula, here is an opportunity for change for the better: a new beginning in terms of development and, like Obama, I represent that change, that opportunity. No problems about that."
On Sunday this week, Msonda was at Mbayani, Blantyre's ramshackle suburb. The banners and flags flying in the July-sodden wind said it all- Our Obama, Always for Change. One banner even read: Msonda and Obama are twins, born the same day!
Born the same day? One in the US, and one in Malawi? Impossible. In Mbayani, and Blantyre-Kabula constituency, it is real and possible.
Masautso Phiri, another aspiring MP, this one in Malawi's Central region district of Dedza, aspiring to stand on a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket in Leader of Opposition, John Tembos Dedza South constituency, is 68 years old and 1.89 metres tall.
In the first place, how can Barack Obama stand for two ideologically (if Malawi's political parties have any ideology at all) different political parties? Again, how can Obama be 1.89 metres tall.
To cap it all, this Phiri is a bachelor- no wife, no wife and has never left his church since 1940 when he started praying. Surely, just recently Obama deserted his church, purpotedly because of the sayings of his pastor. Well, perhaps some things pastors say take more than eight years to understand!
"Sure, I am Obama, and will win," said Phiri, at a campaign meeting he addressed at Bembeke Trading Centre on Wednesday.
In Chitipa Wenya Constitutency, in Northern Malawi, McFord Nyirongo will stand, at least that's what he says, on Alliance for Democracy (Aford) ticket. That party which was alive, under the influence of its one-party-numbing hero Chakufwa Chihana, and died. And now says it is alive again, that, in the Northen region, DPP is nly on paper. A dead personage speaking from the grave? Obamas party has never died, but.
Nyirongo says he is greatly inspired by Obama, that he would die shouting 'Obama!' in the Middle of Malawi's largely-deteriorating road infrastructure.
Obama to him means the 'ability to win against all odds'. The problem is; the odds he is facing in Chitipa Wenya are hinged on the reality, sad to him, his number one enemy is the truth that there are no odds to run against in that constituency. President Bingu wa Mutharika's administration has done better that area than other political parties ever, according to Nyayoli Njikho, a DPP faithful.
His campaign placard reads: 'Barack Obama for McFord Nyirongo!'
Perhaps they talk, in his sweet dreams.
Jonathan Banda, a Malawian political analyst based in Switzerland, but currently in Malawi, says, with the win chalked by the US Illinois senator to represent the party despite racial bias and doubts raised by his competitor Clinton, over his capacity to become Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces should he win against Republican John MacCain, many Malawians and, in deed, Africans will now be using his name enmasse to represent success.
"People, like MPs, will even use the name even if it does not apply to them. Look at the 80-year olds saying (they) are Barack Obamas. It's interesting, though," said Banda in an interview.
As Malawi goes to the parliamentary and presidential polls on May 19, 2008, the impasse is for the Malawi government, or private operators, to open a museum, or museums, where all 80 year-old Obamas, some twice as fat and black as him, should be kept. That is, those ageing Obamas who fail to make it in any of the 2009 contested positions.
After all, they will have lied to the nation. And sending them to their home villages to start farming, or evangelism, as former presidential hopeful Gwanda Chakuamba promised in the run-up to the May 20, 2004 general elections in case of his failure to make it as Citizen Number One, is a waste of creativity.
Obama, for all he stands for, is history in the making- part of it already made.
Kristof of NY Times Spotlights Population Council Contraceptives
In his column in yesterday's New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof argued that it's time to make family planning a priority as a basic human right and a crucial component in the effort to overcome global poverty. We at the Population Council agree.
We were pleased that Kristof cited the contraceptive research and development underway at the Council as an example of the promise that greater investments hold. He described the the Council's contraceptive vaginal ring, a user-controlled method that provides protection for one year without replacement, which means lower costs and fewer trips to the doctor, pharmacy, or health clinic. The Council is now preparing a new drug application on the contraceptive ring for submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review during 2001 to 2012. Kristof's column also highlighted Council research on dual-purpose rings that once developed, not only should prevent unintended pregnancy, but may also help prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections or provide additional benefits, such as safeguarding breast health.
Please read Nick Kristof's column (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26kristof.html). I hope it encourages you to visit the Population Council's website and learn more about our pioneering contraceptive research and development. We are proud of our history of innovation, which includes the Copper T intrauterine device, the Mirena® intrauterine system, and the contraceptive implant, Jadelle®--products that have been used by over 120 million women around the world. Consider sharing Kristof's article with friends and family to encourage greater support for developing safe and affordable contraceptive options, especially methods well suited to women and their partners in need in developing countries.
Contraceptive research and development is one aspect of our long-standing effort to advance human rights, save women's lives, and enhance development prospects through better quality, more available family planning services. You can learn more about this work at www.popcouncil.org.
We were pleased that Kristof cited the contraceptive research and development underway at the Council as an example of the promise that greater investments hold. He described the the Council's contraceptive vaginal ring, a user-controlled method that provides protection for one year without replacement, which means lower costs and fewer trips to the doctor, pharmacy, or health clinic. The Council is now preparing a new drug application on the contraceptive ring for submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review during 2001 to 2012. Kristof's column also highlighted Council research on dual-purpose rings that once developed, not only should prevent unintended pregnancy, but may also help prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections or provide additional benefits, such as safeguarding breast health.
Please read Nick Kristof's column (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26kristof.html). I hope it encourages you to visit the Population Council's website and learn more about our pioneering contraceptive research and development. We are proud of our history of innovation, which includes the Copper T intrauterine device, the Mirena® intrauterine system, and the contraceptive implant, Jadelle®--products that have been used by over 120 million women around the world. Consider sharing Kristof's article with friends and family to encourage greater support for developing safe and affordable contraceptive options, especially methods well suited to women and their partners in need in developing countries.
Contraceptive research and development is one aspect of our long-standing effort to advance human rights, save women's lives, and enhance development prospects through better quality, more available family planning services. You can learn more about this work at www.popcouncil.org.
"The elderly are History still living"
Have you ever touched hands with History? No..,here is how you saw History, and never really saw it!
Women and Child Development Minister, Anna Kachikho, says Malawi cannot develop if policy makers overlook the needs of women and children.
Kachikho said today in Neno when the Association of Progresiive Women (APW) launched a shelter for orphans the aged women, policies that excluded the needs of the two groups were efforts in futile.
"Women and children are a crucial component of national development: they feed our nation, because they do all the farming, and also tender for our sick; yet society is prive to their needs, their plight. It cannot be denied that such attitude throw spanners in the work of developing our nation," she said.
Kachikho said, however, things had begun to change with the current administration of president Bingu wa Mutharika.
"Now our women, especially the aged, are taken as citizens of this country. In the past, we had common cases of the aged being tortured or their houses burnt on suspicions that they were practicing witchcraft. How can a normal child work up today and accuse the very woman who tendered them to grow of practicing witchcraft? Why, if that were the case, couldn't she just eat them when they were young? That is nonsense," said Kachikho.
APW Executive Director Reen Kachere, who used her personal finances to construct the shelter, located in Southern Malawi, described the aged as "walking libraries" whose services should be utilised for the benefit of posterity.
"In old people we have our past with us, today. Let us take care of them, let us not accuse them of practicing witchcraft, let us give them fertiliser subsidy coupons because they are still active citizens of this country," said Kachere, who pledged to continue uplifting the lives of the aged in Malawi.
She said the shelter would not be the last, as APW planned to construct more shelters in Mwanza, a neighbourly district to Neno. Mwanza and Neno used to be one district, but the Bakili Muluzi administration declared the later a district before he handed over the reigns of power to Mutharika.
Todate, perhaps reflecting the hasteness of that fateful decision, Neno has no tarred road- perhaps the only administrative centre in Malawi without the black staff on top of its red dust.
There are, however, developments taking place now, what with former United States president, Bill Clinton, in partnership with Scortish anthropologist Thom Hunter, constructing a hospital that is billed to be one of the best in Southern Malawi.
Francis Mkandawire, Bingu Silver Grey Foundation executive director- an charitable organisation owned by Mutharika- said it was time Malawians treated the elderly better.
"In fact, we say life begins at 60, and that is true. Those below 60 are tied up by work, their wives, the battle for every day survival; while those at 60, and above, have all the world to them, they are free.
"It becomes as a bad omen, therefore, to find people accusing these people of all sorts of things, most of which are aimed at making life at 60 the beginning of a bad end. Accusations of witchcraft, exclusion in societal activities, among others, yet these people are a treasure to all nation, a library, a gold-mine of experience," said Mkandawire who, at over 60 years of age, has just started her life.
Neno has 3450 aged men and women, and 10,690 orphans who look up to them for survival. That is, food, school fees, shelter, and advice- having lost their parents to HIV and Aids or road accidents, Malawi having one of the highest incidences of road accidents.
But, according to former Member of Parliament (MP) for the area and aspiring DPP, Joe Manduwa, the aged are left out during distribution of subsidised inputs like fertiliser and maize.
"Yet, these are the people who are nurturing our children into productive citizens. But it is true that the Mutharika administration is doing fine in taking care for the elderly," he enthused.
His statement could emanate from the fact that, apart from having a ministry for the elderly, Bingu's Silver Grey Foundation has so far disbursed items worth over K30 million to the elderly in Malawi since its establishment.
What's more: plans are in the offing to construct shelters for the elderly through out the country, a move that has drawn criticism from opposition parties, fearing the shelters would act like Nazi concentration camps since the elderly will be taken from their places of residence and communities and put in secluded places.
"Waiting for what? Death?", asks John Tembo, the leader of opposition in Parliament.
To which Information Minister, Patricia Kaliati, responds: " Tembo himself has failed to look after his grandparents properly; so when we want to give them a decent life, what is wrong with that?".
A question for a question. And, still, the question remains: Arguing over what?
Women and Child Development Minister, Anna Kachikho, says Malawi cannot develop if policy makers overlook the needs of women and children.
Kachikho said today in Neno when the Association of Progresiive Women (APW) launched a shelter for orphans the aged women, policies that excluded the needs of the two groups were efforts in futile.
"Women and children are a crucial component of national development: they feed our nation, because they do all the farming, and also tender for our sick; yet society is prive to their needs, their plight. It cannot be denied that such attitude throw spanners in the work of developing our nation," she said.
Kachikho said, however, things had begun to change with the current administration of president Bingu wa Mutharika.
"Now our women, especially the aged, are taken as citizens of this country. In the past, we had common cases of the aged being tortured or their houses burnt on suspicions that they were practicing witchcraft. How can a normal child work up today and accuse the very woman who tendered them to grow of practicing witchcraft? Why, if that were the case, couldn't she just eat them when they were young? That is nonsense," said Kachikho.
APW Executive Director Reen Kachere, who used her personal finances to construct the shelter, located in Southern Malawi, described the aged as "walking libraries" whose services should be utilised for the benefit of posterity.
"In old people we have our past with us, today. Let us take care of them, let us not accuse them of practicing witchcraft, let us give them fertiliser subsidy coupons because they are still active citizens of this country," said Kachere, who pledged to continue uplifting the lives of the aged in Malawi.
She said the shelter would not be the last, as APW planned to construct more shelters in Mwanza, a neighbourly district to Neno. Mwanza and Neno used to be one district, but the Bakili Muluzi administration declared the later a district before he handed over the reigns of power to Mutharika.
Todate, perhaps reflecting the hasteness of that fateful decision, Neno has no tarred road- perhaps the only administrative centre in Malawi without the black staff on top of its red dust.
There are, however, developments taking place now, what with former United States president, Bill Clinton, in partnership with Scortish anthropologist Thom Hunter, constructing a hospital that is billed to be one of the best in Southern Malawi.
Francis Mkandawire, Bingu Silver Grey Foundation executive director- an charitable organisation owned by Mutharika- said it was time Malawians treated the elderly better.
"In fact, we say life begins at 60, and that is true. Those below 60 are tied up by work, their wives, the battle for every day survival; while those at 60, and above, have all the world to them, they are free.
"It becomes as a bad omen, therefore, to find people accusing these people of all sorts of things, most of which are aimed at making life at 60 the beginning of a bad end. Accusations of witchcraft, exclusion in societal activities, among others, yet these people are a treasure to all nation, a library, a gold-mine of experience," said Mkandawire who, at over 60 years of age, has just started her life.
Neno has 3450 aged men and women, and 10,690 orphans who look up to them for survival. That is, food, school fees, shelter, and advice- having lost their parents to HIV and Aids or road accidents, Malawi having one of the highest incidences of road accidents.
But, according to former Member of Parliament (MP) for the area and aspiring DPP, Joe Manduwa, the aged are left out during distribution of subsidised inputs like fertiliser and maize.
"Yet, these are the people who are nurturing our children into productive citizens. But it is true that the Mutharika administration is doing fine in taking care for the elderly," he enthused.
His statement could emanate from the fact that, apart from having a ministry for the elderly, Bingu's Silver Grey Foundation has so far disbursed items worth over K30 million to the elderly in Malawi since its establishment.
What's more: plans are in the offing to construct shelters for the elderly through out the country, a move that has drawn criticism from opposition parties, fearing the shelters would act like Nazi concentration camps since the elderly will be taken from their places of residence and communities and put in secluded places.
"Waiting for what? Death?", asks John Tembo, the leader of opposition in Parliament.
To which Information Minister, Patricia Kaliati, responds: " Tembo himself has failed to look after his grandparents properly; so when we want to give them a decent life, what is wrong with that?".
A question for a question. And, still, the question remains: Arguing over what?
Cyber Lotto acquires majority shares in Aflot
Employment creation, social responsibility, employment creation, business generation, turn some Malawians into instant millionaires, and a million customers to boot- and there comes Cyber Lotto Limited, a new Malawian lotteries company that has just acquired majority shares in African Lotteries Company (Aflot) to effectively take over operations.
The launch of Cyber Lotto follows a shift in focus by Aflot, whose hitherto majority shareholder, Intercorp Inc Limited sold its stake to the new company.
Chris Kanyuka, Cyber Lotto's Chief Executive Officer told the press in Blantyre today the new kid on the block brings on the market new games, new commitment, new management and new excitement, and would not take over-board former Aflot employees except those with exceptional skills.
Cyber Lotto faces dwindling confidence among Malawians for lotteries, after the former company wound up business without anyone hitting the jackpot of K5 million, a development most people view with both suspicion and contempt.
But Kanyuka assures Malawians that, with the new company came a new hope, and that, as part of this commitment, the operators would make sure that people win often.
"People should differentiate us from Aflot, because we are entirely a new company that intends to improve the living standards of Malawians. This will be in form of scintillating games, playing an active role in the area of social development, to plow back our profits to society and the less privileged, apart from creating employment and business opportunities to a lot of unemployed people," said Kanyuka.
How Cyber Lotto intends to ascertain its impact on the unemployment queue remains to be seen, as Malawi does not have official unemployments rates.
Even how the company plans to make sure that customer confidence retains the normal mark, and that people win that often, is yet to be calibrated.
But Operations Director, Ivan Goh, seems so eager to dispel the negative notions so soon, saying just mid-next month Cyber Lotto launches the first game, christened March-Two- where customers will have to chose two numbers, out of 26 figures, to win prises 100-fold the ticket price.
Said Goh:" For this one, the chances of winning are one-to-four, so we are really committed to making sure that people win. Then, in September, we will launch another game, March-Six- where will have to chose six out of 26 figures and win. From a mobile phone, each Short Message Service (SMS) will cost K140 while from our merchants (1000 to be hired by September), the minimum entry will be K75," said Goh.
The launch of Cyber Lotto follows a shift in focus by Aflot, whose hitherto majority shareholder, Intercorp Inc Limited sold its stake to the new company.
Chris Kanyuka, Cyber Lotto's Chief Executive Officer told the press in Blantyre today the new kid on the block brings on the market new games, new commitment, new management and new excitement, and would not take over-board former Aflot employees except those with exceptional skills.
Cyber Lotto faces dwindling confidence among Malawians for lotteries, after the former company wound up business without anyone hitting the jackpot of K5 million, a development most people view with both suspicion and contempt.
But Kanyuka assures Malawians that, with the new company came a new hope, and that, as part of this commitment, the operators would make sure that people win often.
"People should differentiate us from Aflot, because we are entirely a new company that intends to improve the living standards of Malawians. This will be in form of scintillating games, playing an active role in the area of social development, to plow back our profits to society and the less privileged, apart from creating employment and business opportunities to a lot of unemployed people," said Kanyuka.
How Cyber Lotto intends to ascertain its impact on the unemployment queue remains to be seen, as Malawi does not have official unemployments rates.
Even how the company plans to make sure that customer confidence retains the normal mark, and that people win that often, is yet to be calibrated.
But Operations Director, Ivan Goh, seems so eager to dispel the negative notions so soon, saying just mid-next month Cyber Lotto launches the first game, christened March-Two- where customers will have to chose two numbers, out of 26 figures, to win prises 100-fold the ticket price.
Said Goh:" For this one, the chances of winning are one-to-four, so we are really committed to making sure that people win. Then, in September, we will launch another game, March-Six- where will have to chose six out of 26 figures and win. From a mobile phone, each Short Message Service (SMS) will cost K140 while from our merchants (1000 to be hired by September), the minimum entry will be K75," said Goh.
G4S-Malawi workers’ compensation a pittance- union
A prominent workers’ union representing the interests of security guards in the country has quashed the K500, 000 compensation awarded to two G4S employees injured while on duty, describing the monetary compensation as a “pittance”.
The Textile Garments, Leather and Security Services Workers Union (TGLSSWU) says the gesture to give K544, 008.35 to Cosmas Harawa and Benson Phiri reflected the little regard employers accord security workers in Malawi, yet guards were in an occupational risk that put their lives on the line everyday.
MacDonald Chuma, TGLSSWU deputy General Secretary, said on Tuesday the money was barely enough to enable the two employees live a better life, since they could not discharge their normal duties as was rightly observed during the presentation ceremony by G4S Managing Director Basie Loubser.
Loubser said during presentation of cheques to the two employees the compensation package was meant to “enable them live a better life since they cannot discharge their normal duties”, a statement the security workers union say is merely a smoke-screen since K544, 008.35 is not even “enough to buy a second-hand minibus”.
Harawa, who was a dog handler, got injured on December 1, 2007 when armed robbers stormed Mbayani Filling Station, where he was on duty, and shot him on both thighs. Phiri lost his right eye and suffered serious injuries to his right leg when robbers attacked him while guarding at Dyson Kamkwatira’s residence in Chileka, on August 27 last year.
“We feel it is a mockery to these people and their families because they will never be able to discharge their duties normally again, and that puts a strain on their family. In fact, giving the two administrative duties should not be the reason they have received a pittance like K544, 008.35 because we have information from GMB, the union that represents G4S workers in the United Kingdom, that guards there receive much more than this,” said Chuma.
He added that it was hard to understand the reason Malawian guards were being given “below-par compensation” yet their colleagues working for the same company elsewhere were entitled to better compensation packages.
The move to compensate Harawa and Phiri is part of a newly-introduced Employee Trust Fund set aside by G4S in the UK to compensate workers injured while on duty. On June 3 this year, the G4S Cash Services and the GMB Union announced to Members of Parliament in Westminster the launch of a fund aimed at providing financial assistance to employees who suffer serious injury as a result of criminal attacks at work.
The fund, named The Criminal Attack Fund, awards workers based on the effect of an injury on the employee and is fully financed by contributions made by both the company and its employees, according to Chuma.
G4S Chief Executive Officer for Cash Services, Ian Nisbet, was quoted last month as saying the fund would go a long way in acting as a safety net for G4S workers, adding while the company was striving to reduce the number of attacks on guards, their safety and welfare came first in cases of attack.
Even GMB Union National Officer, Gary Smith, welcomed the development but warned that compensation should apply equally to all G4S workers world wide, a point Chuma said seemed to be overlooked in the Malawi scenario.
Said Chuma:“But that is not our only worry, the other problem is that it is only two employees who have been compensated yet we have records of more than 15 security guards who have been seriously injured in the course of duty but are yet to be compensated.”
He urged other security companies, however, to emulate the G4S gesture. Chuma also said companies should design their compensation packages in such a way that, after calculations, it should be 100 times more than the salary for security workers to be dedicated.
The Compensation Act we have now, he said, is outdated and should be reviewed. The TGLSSWU accused the Malawi Law Commission on the Review of the Constitution of frustrating security workers efforts in the quest for favourable conditions of service.
Security workers are some of the lowest paid workers in Malawi, receiving U$D23 on average, he added.
The Textile Garments, Leather and Security Services Workers Union (TGLSSWU) says the gesture to give K544, 008.35 to Cosmas Harawa and Benson Phiri reflected the little regard employers accord security workers in Malawi, yet guards were in an occupational risk that put their lives on the line everyday.
MacDonald Chuma, TGLSSWU deputy General Secretary, said on Tuesday the money was barely enough to enable the two employees live a better life, since they could not discharge their normal duties as was rightly observed during the presentation ceremony by G4S Managing Director Basie Loubser.
Loubser said during presentation of cheques to the two employees the compensation package was meant to “enable them live a better life since they cannot discharge their normal duties”, a statement the security workers union say is merely a smoke-screen since K544, 008.35 is not even “enough to buy a second-hand minibus”.
Harawa, who was a dog handler, got injured on December 1, 2007 when armed robbers stormed Mbayani Filling Station, where he was on duty, and shot him on both thighs. Phiri lost his right eye and suffered serious injuries to his right leg when robbers attacked him while guarding at Dyson Kamkwatira’s residence in Chileka, on August 27 last year.
“We feel it is a mockery to these people and their families because they will never be able to discharge their duties normally again, and that puts a strain on their family. In fact, giving the two administrative duties should not be the reason they have received a pittance like K544, 008.35 because we have information from GMB, the union that represents G4S workers in the United Kingdom, that guards there receive much more than this,” said Chuma.
He added that it was hard to understand the reason Malawian guards were being given “below-par compensation” yet their colleagues working for the same company elsewhere were entitled to better compensation packages.
The move to compensate Harawa and Phiri is part of a newly-introduced Employee Trust Fund set aside by G4S in the UK to compensate workers injured while on duty. On June 3 this year, the G4S Cash Services and the GMB Union announced to Members of Parliament in Westminster the launch of a fund aimed at providing financial assistance to employees who suffer serious injury as a result of criminal attacks at work.
The fund, named The Criminal Attack Fund, awards workers based on the effect of an injury on the employee and is fully financed by contributions made by both the company and its employees, according to Chuma.
G4S Chief Executive Officer for Cash Services, Ian Nisbet, was quoted last month as saying the fund would go a long way in acting as a safety net for G4S workers, adding while the company was striving to reduce the number of attacks on guards, their safety and welfare came first in cases of attack.
Even GMB Union National Officer, Gary Smith, welcomed the development but warned that compensation should apply equally to all G4S workers world wide, a point Chuma said seemed to be overlooked in the Malawi scenario.
Said Chuma:“But that is not our only worry, the other problem is that it is only two employees who have been compensated yet we have records of more than 15 security guards who have been seriously injured in the course of duty but are yet to be compensated.”
He urged other security companies, however, to emulate the G4S gesture. Chuma also said companies should design their compensation packages in such a way that, after calculations, it should be 100 times more than the salary for security workers to be dedicated.
The Compensation Act we have now, he said, is outdated and should be reviewed. The TGLSSWU accused the Malawi Law Commission on the Review of the Constitution of frustrating security workers efforts in the quest for favourable conditions of service.
Security workers are some of the lowest paid workers in Malawi, receiving U$D23 on average, he added.
Malawi to increase boat ambulances
Malawi plans to increase the number of boat ambulances to, at least, 20, up from less than four that currently ferry patients in Lakeshore districts to nearby public hospitals.
This, according to Health Minister Moses Chirambo, will help reduce the number of patients who die on the way to medical facilities in a country dogged by transport problems for people who live along Africa’s third largest freshwater lake.
Malawi is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the world that, out of every 100, 000 births, 894 have to die. Malaria remains another challenge crippling the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) member state’s health care delivery system- already devastated by the twin challenges of HIV and AIDS and Tuberculosis.
Chirambo said communities living along Lake Malawi were facing insurmountable transport challenges during emergencies, a development that was increasing the number of preventable deaths.
“We talk of communities living along such Lakeshore districts as Nkhatabay District Hospital and others. There are very few boats ferrying patients to these hospitals. Government will, therefore, increase the number of boats in a bid to help improve service delivery of health services,” said Chirambo.
Chirambo said the initiative will be implemented in the course of two years. During the same time, renovation works will be taking place at Nkhatabay District Hospital, to cost a whopping K15.7 billion.
“We really want to change the face of health services in Malawi. As you can see, boat ambulances and a state-of-the-art hospital will help improve the health status of many people, not only in Nkhatabay and the Northern region but, in Malawi in general. We want to help meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Chirambo.
This, according to Health Minister Moses Chirambo, will help reduce the number of patients who die on the way to medical facilities in a country dogged by transport problems for people who live along Africa’s third largest freshwater lake.
Malawi is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the world that, out of every 100, 000 births, 894 have to die. Malaria remains another challenge crippling the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) member state’s health care delivery system- already devastated by the twin challenges of HIV and AIDS and Tuberculosis.
Chirambo said communities living along Lake Malawi were facing insurmountable transport challenges during emergencies, a development that was increasing the number of preventable deaths.
“We talk of communities living along such Lakeshore districts as Nkhatabay District Hospital and others. There are very few boats ferrying patients to these hospitals. Government will, therefore, increase the number of boats in a bid to help improve service delivery of health services,” said Chirambo.
Chirambo said the initiative will be implemented in the course of two years. During the same time, renovation works will be taking place at Nkhatabay District Hospital, to cost a whopping K15.7 billion.
“We really want to change the face of health services in Malawi. As you can see, boat ambulances and a state-of-the-art hospital will help improve the health status of many people, not only in Nkhatabay and the Northern region but, in Malawi in general. We want to help meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Chirambo.
Local governments ordered to clean up
Malawians hate paying up. This became more evident during consultative meetings for the introduction of ‘Polluter Pays Principle’ some two years ago, sending government to the drawing board.
Many stakeholders, industry players and community members alike, came flat out against the initiative, saying it would make life expensive since it would, in effect, make people pay for that they needed not.
There fears could, somehow, be understood since they emanated from the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. Now, government wants to start from the ground and instill a sense of cleanness over public infrastructure.
Minister of Local Government, Goodall Gondwe, has started the process, beginning with Mzuzu City in Malawi’s Northern region.
Mzuzu was declared a town in 1964, before graduating into the region’s only city. The country has four cities, one in the North, another in Central region, which also hosts the country’s capital city, and two in the Southern region. These are Blantyre and Zomba, Malawi’s former capital.
Gondwe is not happy with album dwellers he accuses of developing ‘strange’ tendencies.
“People seem to have developed strange tendencies, one of which includes litter- throwing in most parts of the country’s urban areas. This does not happen in rural areas, which means that it is not part of our culture,” said Gondwe.
Gondwe said government wanted to improve the level of cleanness in Malawian cities, some of which were once considered the cleanliest in Africa. Foreign heads of state even came to just appreciate how City Assemblies such as Blantyre managed to keep litter out of the streets.
But Gondwe said this reputation was fast dying because urban dwellers were losing sense of environmental management and throwing all responsibility to the wind.
“We want to start with local assemblies and take the initiative to the national stage. It is not too late to bring things back to normal,” said Gondwe.
He hoped that people would soon begin to own up to their mess.
Many stakeholders, industry players and community members alike, came flat out against the initiative, saying it would make life expensive since it would, in effect, make people pay for that they needed not.
There fears could, somehow, be understood since they emanated from the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. Now, government wants to start from the ground and instill a sense of cleanness over public infrastructure.
Minister of Local Government, Goodall Gondwe, has started the process, beginning with Mzuzu City in Malawi’s Northern region.
Mzuzu was declared a town in 1964, before graduating into the region’s only city. The country has four cities, one in the North, another in Central region, which also hosts the country’s capital city, and two in the Southern region. These are Blantyre and Zomba, Malawi’s former capital.
Gondwe is not happy with album dwellers he accuses of developing ‘strange’ tendencies.
“People seem to have developed strange tendencies, one of which includes litter- throwing in most parts of the country’s urban areas. This does not happen in rural areas, which means that it is not part of our culture,” said Gondwe.
Gondwe said government wanted to improve the level of cleanness in Malawian cities, some of which were once considered the cleanliest in Africa. Foreign heads of state even came to just appreciate how City Assemblies such as Blantyre managed to keep litter out of the streets.
But Gondwe said this reputation was fast dying because urban dwellers were losing sense of environmental management and throwing all responsibility to the wind.
“We want to start with local assemblies and take the initiative to the national stage. It is not too late to bring things back to normal,” said Gondwe.
He hoped that people would soon begin to own up to their mess.
13-year old Mswati inherits Ngoni chieftainship
Malawi has a 13-year old chief.
Willard Mswati Gomani, a Form Two student at Milanda Secondary School, has been named the next Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani following the death of his father, Kanjedza Alexander, who died last week at Ntcheu District Hospital.
He has held the position for less than 15 months, after being installed Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani 1V in June, 2008.
Willard Mswati Gomani, the first born to the late Inkosi, was installed Inkosi ya Makosi at a Ngoni ceremony held in Ntcheu. He becomes Inkosi ya Makosi V.
However, little Mswati will have to wait a little longer to sit on the royal throne as he will have to finish his education.
The new chief’s god father is King Mswati of Swaziland, who gave him the name Mswati.
Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani is a paramount chief for the Ngoni people, mostly found in Ntcheu district of Southern Malawi.
The Ngoni people originated from South Africa, and were forced, during the late 1800s, to spread across many parts of Southern Africa owing to the perceived cruelty of Tchaka Zulu, their paramount chief in South Africa.
Willard Mswati Gomani, a Form Two student at Milanda Secondary School, has been named the next Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani following the death of his father, Kanjedza Alexander, who died last week at Ntcheu District Hospital.
He has held the position for less than 15 months, after being installed Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani 1V in June, 2008.
Willard Mswati Gomani, the first born to the late Inkosi, was installed Inkosi ya Makosi at a Ngoni ceremony held in Ntcheu. He becomes Inkosi ya Makosi V.
However, little Mswati will have to wait a little longer to sit on the royal throne as he will have to finish his education.
The new chief’s god father is King Mswati of Swaziland, who gave him the name Mswati.
Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani is a paramount chief for the Ngoni people, mostly found in Ntcheu district of Southern Malawi.
The Ngoni people originated from South Africa, and were forced, during the late 1800s, to spread across many parts of Southern Africa owing to the perceived cruelty of Tchaka Zulu, their paramount chief in South Africa.
Malawi president for AU chairmanship
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi could become the next African Union chairman in 2010, following a decision by Southern African Development Community leaders to proffer him up for the position. A SADC meeting held this month proposed Mutharika and the president of Lesotho for the position which falls vacant 2010.
The AU’s current chair is Muammar Gadaff of Libya.
The next AU chairmanship, which operates on rotational basis, will go to SADC next year. SADC leaders then earmarked Mutharika for the position, but the final decision will be arrived at after another contest between Mutharika and other leaders to be held in January next year- though Mutharika is well-placed and favoured to become the next chair.
Malawi’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. Ettah Banda, has confirmed the development. “SADC leaders settled for Mutharika. The final event to come up with the final name will be held in January. Mutharika’s chances are very high, looking at his political and economic performance,” said Banda.
Mutharika has led Malawi to three successive bumper harvests, rescuing the country once known for befriending perpetual hunger from the pangs of poverty and food insecurity.
“We are happy with the decision of the SADC leaders and the probability of holding the AU chairmanship,” said Banda.
The AU’s current chair is Muammar Gadaff of Libya.
The next AU chairmanship, which operates on rotational basis, will go to SADC next year. SADC leaders then earmarked Mutharika for the position, but the final decision will be arrived at after another contest between Mutharika and other leaders to be held in January next year- though Mutharika is well-placed and favoured to become the next chair.
Malawi’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. Ettah Banda, has confirmed the development. “SADC leaders settled for Mutharika. The final event to come up with the final name will be held in January. Mutharika’s chances are very high, looking at his political and economic performance,” said Banda.
Mutharika has led Malawi to three successive bumper harvests, rescuing the country once known for befriending perpetual hunger from the pangs of poverty and food insecurity.
“We are happy with the decision of the SADC leaders and the probability of holding the AU chairmanship,” said Banda.
Banda, Chavez call for Africa, S America unity
Malawi's vice president Joyce Banda has called for closer working relationships between Africa and South America, saying good working relations between the two continents were crucial to attaining sustainable social-economic development.
Banda said while there is disparity in terms of social-economic development, the two continents had some common challenges that needed shared solutions. She was speaking at a meeting of African and South American heads of state being held in Venezuela the two regions.
“It is sad that South America and Africa have often trodden on difference paths over common challenges. The end result has been disintegration, lack of unity, increased poverty and social-economic uncertainty among the people of the two great areas. This must change,” said Banda.
Banda cited mining, energy development, agriculture and industry development as some of the areas that needed a common approach, adding failure to harness each others’ ideas had increased economic disparities for the peoples of the two regions.
“Isolationism will never help us; it will never help things. Let us begin to work more closely, and join hands in development projects that may change the facet of people’s lives. For example, we have the Shire-Zambezi Waterway in Southern Malawi, a project that will help reduce transport costs by as many as 45 per cent and make life easier; we need you to work with us towards this goal.
“The project will help many other neighbouring countries and render the export and import of raw materials and finished products cheaper for many people. In the end, poverty will no longer be a reality but a song, and prosperity will come home for many poor people,” said Banda.
Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, acknowledged that there is a ‘big gap’ between Africa and South America, and called for the immediate bridging of the prevalent gap.
“There is real need for unity. It is time Africa and South America got united and up lift the lives of our people. Why have we allowed this gap to grow? Why have we let it drift us apart? Closer relations between us needed today more than ever before; what with the on going global economic crisis?” queried Chavez.
African leaders have since committed themselves to working more closely with South America, as the world grapples with the effects of the global economic crisis.
Banda said while there is disparity in terms of social-economic development, the two continents had some common challenges that needed shared solutions. She was speaking at a meeting of African and South American heads of state being held in Venezuela the two regions.
“It is sad that South America and Africa have often trodden on difference paths over common challenges. The end result has been disintegration, lack of unity, increased poverty and social-economic uncertainty among the people of the two great areas. This must change,” said Banda.
Banda cited mining, energy development, agriculture and industry development as some of the areas that needed a common approach, adding failure to harness each others’ ideas had increased economic disparities for the peoples of the two regions.
“Isolationism will never help us; it will never help things. Let us begin to work more closely, and join hands in development projects that may change the facet of people’s lives. For example, we have the Shire-Zambezi Waterway in Southern Malawi, a project that will help reduce transport costs by as many as 45 per cent and make life easier; we need you to work with us towards this goal.
“The project will help many other neighbouring countries and render the export and import of raw materials and finished products cheaper for many people. In the end, poverty will no longer be a reality but a song, and prosperity will come home for many poor people,” said Banda.
Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, acknowledged that there is a ‘big gap’ between Africa and South America, and called for the immediate bridging of the prevalent gap.
“There is real need for unity. It is time Africa and South America got united and up lift the lives of our people. Why have we allowed this gap to grow? Why have we let it drift us apart? Closer relations between us needed today more than ever before; what with the on going global economic crisis?” queried Chavez.
African leaders have since committed themselves to working more closely with South America, as the world grapples with the effects of the global economic crisis.
Malawi intensifies search for gold, diamond
Malawi has intensified the search for gold and diamond in a latest bid to prop up its agro-based economy. The country depends largely on agriculture, which contributes over 60 per cent to the national economy.
But tobacco, its highest foreign exchange earner faces an uncertain future in the face of a global onslaught against the health hazards associated with smoking.
Price instability for other strategic crops such as cotton, tea and maize have also meant diminished returns for impoverished farmers, prompting government to experiment with new viable forms of economic spinning.
Leonard Kalindekafe, Director for the country’s Geological Surveys Department, said mineral exploration offered the next best alternative for Malawi.
“Mineral exploration can contribute significantly towards economic development for Malawi. That is why we have intensified the search for gold and diamond. There are strong possibilities that we have these precious minerals in the country, and what was remaining has been exploration,” said Kalindekafe.
He said the department has started drilling for diamond and gold, a process he said would take as long as six to one year to bring results.
“We have started exploration works for diamond in Mangochi. So far, we have extracted some substantial amount of Kimberlitic stones. These are the stones that contain diamond, though it is not always the case that you will get the diamond,” he said.
While drilling works for diamond have already started in the Southern Malawi district of Mangochi, exploration works for gold have also started in Neno district, another Southern region district.
The works are taking place at a former blitz mine. Malawi has a variety of mineral resources. Some of which include bauxite and uranium.
Uranium mining has already started at Kayerekera in the Northern Malawi district of Karonga. Paladin Africa, an Australian company carrying out the works, announced last month uranium exportation would start between September and October this year.
Grain Malunga, Malawi’s Energy and Mines Minister, is thrilled with the prospects of Malawi becoming an uranium exporter.
“It is such a great thing to happen to Malawi. We will be making an average US$10 million from uranium exportation every year,” said Malunga.
President Bingu wa Mutharika has called for more investments in the country’s mining sector.
But tobacco, its highest foreign exchange earner faces an uncertain future in the face of a global onslaught against the health hazards associated with smoking.
Price instability for other strategic crops such as cotton, tea and maize have also meant diminished returns for impoverished farmers, prompting government to experiment with new viable forms of economic spinning.
Leonard Kalindekafe, Director for the country’s Geological Surveys Department, said mineral exploration offered the next best alternative for Malawi.
“Mineral exploration can contribute significantly towards economic development for Malawi. That is why we have intensified the search for gold and diamond. There are strong possibilities that we have these precious minerals in the country, and what was remaining has been exploration,” said Kalindekafe.
He said the department has started drilling for diamond and gold, a process he said would take as long as six to one year to bring results.
“We have started exploration works for diamond in Mangochi. So far, we have extracted some substantial amount of Kimberlitic stones. These are the stones that contain diamond, though it is not always the case that you will get the diamond,” he said.
While drilling works for diamond have already started in the Southern Malawi district of Mangochi, exploration works for gold have also started in Neno district, another Southern region district.
The works are taking place at a former blitz mine. Malawi has a variety of mineral resources. Some of which include bauxite and uranium.
Uranium mining has already started at Kayerekera in the Northern Malawi district of Karonga. Paladin Africa, an Australian company carrying out the works, announced last month uranium exportation would start between September and October this year.
Grain Malunga, Malawi’s Energy and Mines Minister, is thrilled with the prospects of Malawi becoming an uranium exporter.
“It is such a great thing to happen to Malawi. We will be making an average US$10 million from uranium exportation every year,” said Malunga.
President Bingu wa Mutharika has called for more investments in the country’s mining sector.
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 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.
Temporary employment under fire
Casualisation, or temporary employment, has come under a spate of criticism from Malawian labour unions but the Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) has defended the practice saying the high cost of doing business in the Southern African country could be behind development.
Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) Secretary General, Austin Kalimanjira, said in Blantyre on Wednesday that commercial and industrial workers were the most affected, most of whom, he said, cart home an average of US$4 PER fortnight.
"We have sold our rights in the name of foreign direct investment, and the government is just quite on that. Malawians should now learn to stand up for their rights, otherwise we wii be forced to marrch," said Kalimanjira.
According to the labour unions boss, the worst culprits are multi-national companies, most of which pay the workers wages far much below those accorded to people doing the same kind of job in neighbouring countries, compelling him to speculate that it may be because government policies are too lax on the issue.
But Vincent Singini, Ecam Executive Director, parried aside the accusations saying labour unions should not be blind to the fact that the cost of doing business was high in Malawi as compared to other African countries.
Singini cited a 2004 report on doing business in Malawi that revealed wide-spread discontent among business people and foreign investors when it comes to processing business certificates and permits.
" Investors are profit-ariented and will always share the costs of conducting business with their domestic workers and , unfortunately, it it the ordinary citizen who bears the brunt of upside policies," he said, adding policy makers also had a fair share of the blame as they allowed individuals and foreign companies possing as investors to venture into petty businesses thus crowding out indeginous Malawians.
Thomas Phiri,8, now retired said he has worked under temporary employment deals for over 30 years but had nothing to show off for his sweat because "I was receiving peanuts all along and all the time I kept saying, 'perhaps one day things will change,nothing changed and here I am"'.
He is one of the people who took part in thje construction of Chayamba building, one of the tallest buildings in Blantyre City Centre, but noew lives in a rumshuckle house on the outskirts of the commercial city.
Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) Secretary General, Austin Kalimanjira, said in Blantyre on Wednesday that commercial and industrial workers were the most affected, most of whom, he said, cart home an average of US$4 PER fortnight.
"We have sold our rights in the name of foreign direct investment, and the government is just quite on that. Malawians should now learn to stand up for their rights, otherwise we wii be forced to marrch," said Kalimanjira.
According to the labour unions boss, the worst culprits are multi-national companies, most of which pay the workers wages far much below those accorded to people doing the same kind of job in neighbouring countries, compelling him to speculate that it may be because government policies are too lax on the issue.
But Vincent Singini, Ecam Executive Director, parried aside the accusations saying labour unions should not be blind to the fact that the cost of doing business was high in Malawi as compared to other African countries.
Singini cited a 2004 report on doing business in Malawi that revealed wide-spread discontent among business people and foreign investors when it comes to processing business certificates and permits.
" Investors are profit-ariented and will always share the costs of conducting business with their domestic workers and , unfortunately, it it the ordinary citizen who bears the brunt of upside policies," he said, adding policy makers also had a fair share of the blame as they allowed individuals and foreign companies possing as investors to venture into petty businesses thus crowding out indeginous Malawians.
Thomas Phiri,8, now retired said he has worked under temporary employment deals for over 30 years but had nothing to show off for his sweat because "I was receiving peanuts all along and all the time I kept saying, 'perhaps one day things will change,nothing changed and here I am"'.
He is one of the people who took part in thje construction of Chayamba building, one of the tallest buildings in Blantyre City Centre, but noew lives in a rumshuckle house on the outskirts of the commercial city.
Formal couts' backload irk Malawian chiefs
Malawi's traditional court system, which was hitherto used by the one party regime of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, got dissolved at the onset of multi-party system of politics to exorcise Malawians of the bad memories the system created following the hanging of many political prisoners convicted and sent to the gullows through the system, but chiefs are now crying for the re-institution of the system.
As a result of the development, most citizens shun the system only seeking redress over petty community issues.
Noel Msiska, Mwanza Primary Justice System Coordinator, revealed that, even with the abolition of the system, 90 per cent of Malawians still has access to it.He attributed the development to the high cost of legal services which has meant that only the previleged few enjoy access to the formal court system.
" Over 60 per cent of Malawians live well below the poverty line and cannot afford to pay legal costs but problems still abound in terms of chiefs capacity in conflict and dispute resolution management as most of them do not keep records.
"The other issue is bias; communities have accused chiefs of being biased towards relations and this has helped shift the attention from the traditional system to formal courts," said Msiska.
According to Msiska, research conducted by the British Department for International Development (DFID) and Malawi Access to Safety ,Security and Justice (MaSSA J) -a community justice programme- revealed glaring discrepancies in record keeping and conflict resolution management among traditional leaders thus affecting patronage.
Mwanza District Commissioner, Frank Kalilombe, under which the initiative falls being part of the Malawi Local Government component, blamed the silmutaneous decline of cases handled at chiefs level ,and the insurgence of serious criminal activities in the district to lack of coordination by players as every one wanted to work in isolation in a bid to enjoy unilateral donor funding.
As a result, he said, violence against women and children has sky-rocketed, piling pressure on the country's security system.
But a High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal Spokesman said there was nothing courts could do to prevent people wishing to seek justice from accessing the formal court system, pointing out that is a constitutional right every citizen was entitled to.
Currently, the country's courts are overwhelmed with cases some of which, like murder, the country cannot dispose off on its own as it depends on donor support notably from DFID.
As a result of the development, most citizens shun the system only seeking redress over petty community issues.
Noel Msiska, Mwanza Primary Justice System Coordinator, revealed that, even with the abolition of the system, 90 per cent of Malawians still has access to it.He attributed the development to the high cost of legal services which has meant that only the previleged few enjoy access to the formal court system.
" Over 60 per cent of Malawians live well below the poverty line and cannot afford to pay legal costs but problems still abound in terms of chiefs capacity in conflict and dispute resolution management as most of them do not keep records.
"The other issue is bias; communities have accused chiefs of being biased towards relations and this has helped shift the attention from the traditional system to formal courts," said Msiska.
According to Msiska, research conducted by the British Department for International Development (DFID) and Malawi Access to Safety ,Security and Justice (MaSSA J) -a community justice programme- revealed glaring discrepancies in record keeping and conflict resolution management among traditional leaders thus affecting patronage.
Mwanza District Commissioner, Frank Kalilombe, under which the initiative falls being part of the Malawi Local Government component, blamed the silmutaneous decline of cases handled at chiefs level ,and the insurgence of serious criminal activities in the district to lack of coordination by players as every one wanted to work in isolation in a bid to enjoy unilateral donor funding.
As a result, he said, violence against women and children has sky-rocketed, piling pressure on the country's security system.
But a High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal Spokesman said there was nothing courts could do to prevent people wishing to seek justice from accessing the formal court system, pointing out that is a constitutional right every citizen was entitled to.
Currently, the country's courts are overwhelmed with cases some of which, like murder, the country cannot dispose off on its own as it depends on donor support notably from DFID.
Gender activists accuse govt. of paying lip service
Gender activists have accused government of paying lip service towards the empowenment of women, saying the development was to blame for Malawi's poor rating in gender achievement.
The activists, through women-rights NGO, Gender Coordination Network, said on Wednesday though Malawi appended her signature to the 1997 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Gender Declaration, in Blantyre, women still lived nder the backwaters of male domination in all spheres of life, citing politics, business and religion, among other areas.
Reen Kachere, NGO-Gender Coordination Network Chairperson for Women Empowernment in Politics, told africanews that, as a result, the best Malawi could do in terms of women empowernment in the region was position seven. She described the rating as 'shameful', "since the SADC Declaration was signed right here, and yet we are failing to export any notable achievements. The chief culprit is the government; look how many women are there?" queried Kachere.
She was, however, optimistic that the SADC region would help Malawi attain positive strides in this area. The region is ranked second in the world in terms of women representation in politics and decision making positions, just behind the NORDIC countries who lead the global chart on the same.
"Let our government do something because Malawian women have been victimised for so long, but the situation will not remain like this forever. African governments must remember that women took part in the struggle against colonialism and one party systems of government and will, therefore, rise again to take their rightful role in democracy," said Kachere, adding that government should take a lion's share of the blame.
But Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati, who is also government spokesperson and influential figure in the political wwho-is-who of Malawi, quashed the allegations saying the current Bingu wa Mutharika administration was doing all it could to uplift the status of women.
"Look at the Foreign Affairs Minister, Joyce Banda; she is a woman. And we have a lot of women principal (permanent) secretaries. Isn't it opposition women members of parliament who rejected Mary Nangwale (former Acting Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service), that would have been a first in the history of the SADC region. So the point is that Malawian women frustrate fellow women and this will take us nowhere," said Kaliati.
Mozambique and Mauritious are some of the SADC states currently riding high in the areas of women empowerment in politics and decicion making, with Mozambique being ranked amongs the world's top ten.
But in Malawi, women are yet to make the mark, as poverty, social marginalisation, cultural beliefs and stereo-types militate against them.
The activists, through women-rights NGO, Gender Coordination Network, said on Wednesday though Malawi appended her signature to the 1997 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Gender Declaration, in Blantyre, women still lived nder the backwaters of male domination in all spheres of life, citing politics, business and religion, among other areas.
Reen Kachere, NGO-Gender Coordination Network Chairperson for Women Empowernment in Politics, told africanews that, as a result, the best Malawi could do in terms of women empowernment in the region was position seven. She described the rating as 'shameful', "since the SADC Declaration was signed right here, and yet we are failing to export any notable achievements. The chief culprit is the government; look how many women are there?" queried Kachere.
She was, however, optimistic that the SADC region would help Malawi attain positive strides in this area. The region is ranked second in the world in terms of women representation in politics and decision making positions, just behind the NORDIC countries who lead the global chart on the same.
"Let our government do something because Malawian women have been victimised for so long, but the situation will not remain like this forever. African governments must remember that women took part in the struggle against colonialism and one party systems of government and will, therefore, rise again to take their rightful role in democracy," said Kachere, adding that government should take a lion's share of the blame.
But Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati, who is also government spokesperson and influential figure in the political wwho-is-who of Malawi, quashed the allegations saying the current Bingu wa Mutharika administration was doing all it could to uplift the status of women.
"Look at the Foreign Affairs Minister, Joyce Banda; she is a woman. And we have a lot of women principal (permanent) secretaries. Isn't it opposition women members of parliament who rejected Mary Nangwale (former Acting Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service), that would have been a first in the history of the SADC region. So the point is that Malawian women frustrate fellow women and this will take us nowhere," said Kaliati.
Mozambique and Mauritious are some of the SADC states currently riding high in the areas of women empowerment in politics and decicion making, with Mozambique being ranked amongs the world's top ten.
But in Malawi, women are yet to make the mark, as poverty, social marginalisation, cultural beliefs and stereo-types militate against them.
Malawi: from trade to industry
A down-ward spiral in industrial out-put over the past ten years has compelled the Malawi government to shift emphasis from trade to industry.
The administration of Bingu wa Mutharika has put industry development as a key policy goal towards propelling the economy, from one of pre-dominant imports, to an exporting nation, and renewed emphasis on industry as opposed to trade could be one of the trump cards, according to Industry and Trade Minister Henry Mussa. Previously, the ministry used to be known as trade and industry.
"We feel that there has been little emphasis on industry during the past ten years, and this has led to the almost collapse of the industry. But this government wants to change that and has initiated dialogue with the private sector on this," said Mussa in an interview.
He said the development had worsened the employment situation in the country as many people got laid off whenever key players in the manufacturing industry close shop, thus impacting negatively on Malawi's social-economic development.
Chancellor Kaferapanjira, Chief Executive Officer for the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI), an representative organisation of private sector players, uphailed the move. He said the development should, however, be followed by necessary incentives for the manufacturing industry to develop.
Malawi has a pre-colonial Incentives Act busines and economic commentators agitate needs to be ammended, as it has mainly worked as a disincentive to Foreign Direct Investors.
According to Kaferapanjira, most FDIs have instead resolted to setting shop in neighbouring countries, such as Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Botswana.
The administration of Bingu wa Mutharika has put industry development as a key policy goal towards propelling the economy, from one of pre-dominant imports, to an exporting nation, and renewed emphasis on industry as opposed to trade could be one of the trump cards, according to Industry and Trade Minister Henry Mussa. Previously, the ministry used to be known as trade and industry.
"We feel that there has been little emphasis on industry during the past ten years, and this has led to the almost collapse of the industry. But this government wants to change that and has initiated dialogue with the private sector on this," said Mussa in an interview.
He said the development had worsened the employment situation in the country as many people got laid off whenever key players in the manufacturing industry close shop, thus impacting negatively on Malawi's social-economic development.
Chancellor Kaferapanjira, Chief Executive Officer for the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI), an representative organisation of private sector players, uphailed the move. He said the development should, however, be followed by necessary incentives for the manufacturing industry to develop.
Malawi has a pre-colonial Incentives Act busines and economic commentators agitate needs to be ammended, as it has mainly worked as a disincentive to Foreign Direct Investors.
According to Kaferapanjira, most FDIs have instead resolted to setting shop in neighbouring countries, such as Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Botswana.
Malawi worried by armed robbery
Malawian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have expressed worry over an increased spate of armed robberies, at least three of them being carried out with toy guns.
Malawi is mainly a peaceful country that, just in the recent past, people would be seen flocking to wherever they heard gun sounds -forcing reknowed national creatitive artists into joking that Malawians would one day run to their own death as they seemed to be addicted to guns. But that has since changed since the advent of multiparty politics, as the country has unprecedendently witnessed an increase in gun vilence and armed robberies.
Residents of Manja -a township in Malawi's commercial city, Blantrye, in Southern Malawi, last week had a rude awakening when some of their community members went shopping at one of the townships popular supermarkets, belonging to the wife of former Sports Minister Jaffarie Mussa. Suspected armed robbers took seige of the shop and, for almost two hours, robbed -apparently using a phoney AK47 and pistol- all those who patronised the shop before rocking them in a toilet.
In another incident in the same district, an armed robbery was foiled when, after being forced to sleep on their stomachs at a popular night club, one of the intoxicated patrons just stood up and asked the 'robber' to kill him or it was he who would kill the suspected robber. The robber took to his heels, because incidentally the gun was also a toy.
According to Blantyre Police Public Relations Officer, Elizabeth Divala, police are still investigating the incidents, but CSOs have called for more action.
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) Executive Director, Undule Mwakasungula, said yesterday the current spate of armed violence was an indication that things were going out of hand.
He said it was high time for government to support the Armed Trade Treaty Agreement (ATT) if the problem was to be solved, noting that threatened citizens could not contribute significantly towards national development.
"Let the Malawi Police Service intensify security, especially as we nearer the 2009 elections so that we do not experience a scenario like that of Kenya, when the opposition refused to accept the results of the elections and thus spurred the country into unnecessary chaos and deaths.
"It is also important to join international efforts in this area by supporting the ATT," said Mwakasungula.
An ATT is a proposed agreement aimed at monitoring the flow of arms from the manufacturer to the buyer, to avoid arms from being used to violate human rights, especially in war zones. It follows a United Nations General Assembly meeting in December 2006 when 153 member states agreed on the need to form an ammicable arms trade treaty as part of international efforts to reduce cases of arms falling in wrong hands.
People's Federation for National Peace and Development (Pefenap) Executive Director, Edward Chaka expressed disappointment over increased cases of armed robberies, especially with toy guns, saying the trend showed that robbers were beginning to take the law into their own hands, thus threatening national security.
"Just recently, some armed robbers came to my home. Luckly a Police patrol vehicle was passing by and there was a mouse-cut chase, which shows that these people are losing fear, the police are somehow doing something. Instead of just condemning, we must join hands with them but, otherwise, I am also disappointed with these incidents," said Chaka, whose organisation is a member of the National Focal on Arms, a police and CSOs network aimed at curbing arms proliferatio.
Malawi is mainly a peaceful country that, just in the recent past, people would be seen flocking to wherever they heard gun sounds -forcing reknowed national creatitive artists into joking that Malawians would one day run to their own death as they seemed to be addicted to guns. But that has since changed since the advent of multiparty politics, as the country has unprecedendently witnessed an increase in gun vilence and armed robberies.
Residents of Manja -a township in Malawi's commercial city, Blantrye, in Southern Malawi, last week had a rude awakening when some of their community members went shopping at one of the townships popular supermarkets, belonging to the wife of former Sports Minister Jaffarie Mussa. Suspected armed robbers took seige of the shop and, for almost two hours, robbed -apparently using a phoney AK47 and pistol- all those who patronised the shop before rocking them in a toilet.
In another incident in the same district, an armed robbery was foiled when, after being forced to sleep on their stomachs at a popular night club, one of the intoxicated patrons just stood up and asked the 'robber' to kill him or it was he who would kill the suspected robber. The robber took to his heels, because incidentally the gun was also a toy.
According to Blantyre Police Public Relations Officer, Elizabeth Divala, police are still investigating the incidents, but CSOs have called for more action.
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) Executive Director, Undule Mwakasungula, said yesterday the current spate of armed violence was an indication that things were going out of hand.
He said it was high time for government to support the Armed Trade Treaty Agreement (ATT) if the problem was to be solved, noting that threatened citizens could not contribute significantly towards national development.
"Let the Malawi Police Service intensify security, especially as we nearer the 2009 elections so that we do not experience a scenario like that of Kenya, when the opposition refused to accept the results of the elections and thus spurred the country into unnecessary chaos and deaths.
"It is also important to join international efforts in this area by supporting the ATT," said Mwakasungula.
An ATT is a proposed agreement aimed at monitoring the flow of arms from the manufacturer to the buyer, to avoid arms from being used to violate human rights, especially in war zones. It follows a United Nations General Assembly meeting in December 2006 when 153 member states agreed on the need to form an ammicable arms trade treaty as part of international efforts to reduce cases of arms falling in wrong hands.
People's Federation for National Peace and Development (Pefenap) Executive Director, Edward Chaka expressed disappointment over increased cases of armed robberies, especially with toy guns, saying the trend showed that robbers were beginning to take the law into their own hands, thus threatening national security.
"Just recently, some armed robbers came to my home. Luckly a Police patrol vehicle was passing by and there was a mouse-cut chase, which shows that these people are losing fear, the police are somehow doing something. Instead of just condemning, we must join hands with them but, otherwise, I am also disappointed with these incidents," said Chaka, whose organisation is a member of the National Focal on Arms, a police and CSOs network aimed at curbing arms proliferatio.
Witchcraft comes under spotlight
There has been an unprecedented outcry from Civil Society Organisations in Malawi for government to enact an Anti-Witchcraft Act to help curb increased incidences of witchcraft and magic practices that have currently plagued the Southern African country.
The development follows increased incidences of suspected witches, some self-confessing, falling over people's houses and others confessing to have taught children the practice.
Malawi has also witnessed an increased number of people being convicted for confessing to the practice, with the latest case last year where a Magistrates' court in the Northern Malawi district of Mzuzu sentenced a man to five years imprisonment with hard labour, though the country's constitution does not recognise witchcraft, and only punishes those who confess for "pretending to practice witchcraft".
Civil Liberties Committee Executive Director, Emmie Chanika faulted government for the practice saying though CSOs fought for the inclusion of regislation tackling the practice, they were given a cold shoulder.
"We have tried our best but government keeps on frustrating us hence an increased number of the practice. People are dying, being victimised, especially children," said Chanika.
Owings Chawanda, Projects Officer for Journaliosts for Human Rights also agreed with the CSOs saying the practice had reached worrying levels.
Even Blantyre Police Public Relations Officer, Elizabeth Divala acknowledged that the police station has received over 20 cases of witchcraft but added that complainers are aften sent back to consult church leades because the issue is more less like a spiritual matter that could as well be tackled spiritually.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Henry Phoya said the best way for CSOs to tackle the issue was to go through the Malawi Law Commission on the Review of the Constitution.
Malwi has just finished reviewing her constitution almost a decade since the advent of democracy.
The development follows increased incidences of suspected witches, some self-confessing, falling over people's houses and others confessing to have taught children the practice.
Malawi has also witnessed an increased number of people being convicted for confessing to the practice, with the latest case last year where a Magistrates' court in the Northern Malawi district of Mzuzu sentenced a man to five years imprisonment with hard labour, though the country's constitution does not recognise witchcraft, and only punishes those who confess for "pretending to practice witchcraft".
Civil Liberties Committee Executive Director, Emmie Chanika faulted government for the practice saying though CSOs fought for the inclusion of regislation tackling the practice, they were given a cold shoulder.
"We have tried our best but government keeps on frustrating us hence an increased number of the practice. People are dying, being victimised, especially children," said Chanika.
Owings Chawanda, Projects Officer for Journaliosts for Human Rights also agreed with the CSOs saying the practice had reached worrying levels.
Even Blantyre Police Public Relations Officer, Elizabeth Divala acknowledged that the police station has received over 20 cases of witchcraft but added that complainers are aften sent back to consult church leades because the issue is more less like a spiritual matter that could as well be tackled spiritually.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Henry Phoya said the best way for CSOs to tackle the issue was to go through the Malawi Law Commission on the Review of the Constitution.
Malwi has just finished reviewing her constitution almost a decade since the advent of democracy.
Malawi social budget pushed up
Malawi's local government budget has been growing by the day, and local authorities say the trend is a direct trickle-down effect of women marginalisation, according to District Commissioners (DCs) interviewed by Africa News. .
Traditionally, Malawian women are deemed as 'goalkeepers" for the home, often doing nothing to prop up their own income as they have long been used to the dependant tag. Analysts say this is mainly to blame for the lack of a saving culture, even among the country's males, as the little they earn is fast swallowed up by domestic demands.
DC for the Southern Malawi district of Balaka, Cliffton Thyangathyanga, said in Balaka in an interview marginalisation of women in the district has has deep-surface repurcasions on the social development budget.
"Imagine, during the 2007/08 local government budget for our district we have spend over MK2.8 million paying school fees for children who are pursuing studies at secondary school level. This is because most women in Balaka are illiterate due to prevalent cultural misconceptions that women are for the home. If they were educated, they would have been empowered and we would not have the scenario where people depend on government to pay school fees for their children," said Thyangathyanga.
Thyangathyanga said Malawian society was beggining to reap the fruits of disefranchisement and warned that without deliberate policies to reverse the trend, the country would soon begin to spend hugely only the already over-crowded social budget instead of shifting focus towards the development budget.
The country's budget is already overstretched by a fertiliser subsidy programme targeting 2 million people. Finance Minister Goodal Gongwe has already indicated that the 2008/09 budget could include about K16 million for the programme.
This is despite the fact that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund initiated the phase-out of subsidy programmes in the early 1980s. Malawi's has, however, been a success story as- from almost perenial hunger and poor harvests-the country has rose above the tide, importing 400 000 metric tones to Zimbabwe (though delivery is yet to be finalised) and Soth Africa eying Malawian beans, according to officials at the National Food Reserve Agency.
Nsanje DC Tobby Solomon said the best way to begin empowering women was through government projects' recruitment. He cited the multi-billion Kwacha Shire/Zambezi Waterway one one of the projects that will help improve the economic status of women in the district and, thus, help them move out of poverty.
"They will be able to pay school fees for their children, even widows. But more importantly, women will be able to invest part of the money in entrepreneurship training and thus empower themselves and their families. We are beggining to see a change of mindset but, otherwise, social spending bacause of women disefranchisement is really there," said Solomon.
Jean Mkwanda, Family Development Services Executive Director, said most women venture into prostitutiton due to lack of alternative means of income. She said increased social spending budgets on women will continue to increase if entrepreneurship trainings were not initiated.
"That is why FDS empowers women through training. We have been training Balaka women in business management and pig realing, for example, and the result is that most women are now able to fend for their families and even pay school fees for their children, unlike in the past where they depended on their male counterparts for everything.
"The other problem we have found was that most women were doing crossborder trade and were being abused. The best thing for them to do is to start animal rearing because there are good returns. A piglet goes at K8 000, which is far too much for some civil servants who receive less than that a month to carter for their families, house rent, and other basic necessities," lamented Mkwanda, herself one of Malawi's most successful farmers.
Traditionally, Malawian women are deemed as 'goalkeepers" for the home, often doing nothing to prop up their own income as they have long been used to the dependant tag. Analysts say this is mainly to blame for the lack of a saving culture, even among the country's males, as the little they earn is fast swallowed up by domestic demands.
DC for the Southern Malawi district of Balaka, Cliffton Thyangathyanga, said in Balaka in an interview marginalisation of women in the district has has deep-surface repurcasions on the social development budget.
"Imagine, during the 2007/08 local government budget for our district we have spend over MK2.8 million paying school fees for children who are pursuing studies at secondary school level. This is because most women in Balaka are illiterate due to prevalent cultural misconceptions that women are for the home. If they were educated, they would have been empowered and we would not have the scenario where people depend on government to pay school fees for their children," said Thyangathyanga.
Thyangathyanga said Malawian society was beggining to reap the fruits of disefranchisement and warned that without deliberate policies to reverse the trend, the country would soon begin to spend hugely only the already over-crowded social budget instead of shifting focus towards the development budget.
The country's budget is already overstretched by a fertiliser subsidy programme targeting 2 million people. Finance Minister Goodal Gongwe has already indicated that the 2008/09 budget could include about K16 million for the programme.
This is despite the fact that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund initiated the phase-out of subsidy programmes in the early 1980s. Malawi's has, however, been a success story as- from almost perenial hunger and poor harvests-the country has rose above the tide, importing 400 000 metric tones to Zimbabwe (though delivery is yet to be finalised) and Soth Africa eying Malawian beans, according to officials at the National Food Reserve Agency.
Nsanje DC Tobby Solomon said the best way to begin empowering women was through government projects' recruitment. He cited the multi-billion Kwacha Shire/Zambezi Waterway one one of the projects that will help improve the economic status of women in the district and, thus, help them move out of poverty.
"They will be able to pay school fees for their children, even widows. But more importantly, women will be able to invest part of the money in entrepreneurship training and thus empower themselves and their families. We are beggining to see a change of mindset but, otherwise, social spending bacause of women disefranchisement is really there," said Solomon.
Jean Mkwanda, Family Development Services Executive Director, said most women venture into prostitutiton due to lack of alternative means of income. She said increased social spending budgets on women will continue to increase if entrepreneurship trainings were not initiated.
"That is why FDS empowers women through training. We have been training Balaka women in business management and pig realing, for example, and the result is that most women are now able to fend for their families and even pay school fees for their children, unlike in the past where they depended on their male counterparts for everything.
"The other problem we have found was that most women were doing crossborder trade and were being abused. The best thing for them to do is to start animal rearing because there are good returns. A piglet goes at K8 000, which is far too much for some civil servants who receive less than that a month to carter for their families, house rent, and other basic necessities," lamented Mkwanda, herself one of Malawi's most successful farmers.
MCTU to decide on severance pay
The Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) says it will come up with its long-awaited for stand on the outstanding issues of pension and severance pay today, following exhaustive consultations with affiliate members that started in Blantyre yesterday.
MCTU Secretary General, Austin Mkwezalamba said in an interview the mother trade union recently received funding from the International Labour Organisation (ILO)to tackle the issue once and for all, and that labour unions were now ready to come up with a final stand on the issue he said has brought untold misery and suffering among Malawian workers.
"We are now ready to come up with a final decision, and what sort of action we intend to carry out inorder for government and the private sector to take heed of workers concerns," said Mkwezalamba, who added that the workforce in the country has for a long time been taken for a ride.
He said, among other issues, representatives of trade unions discussed at length ILO Article 87 and 98, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Social Charter signed in Tanzania by SADC Heads of State and Government. These address the issues of conditions of service such as pension, severance pay and employment contracts, among other issues.
"The reason we delayed to come up with a tentative resoluton as MCTU was because we wanted the entire affiliates' leadership to go through Article 87 and 98 of the ILO and the SADC Social Charter as we never wanted people to accuse us of making unilateral decisions," said Mkwezalamba, adding that the whole process was facilitated by the Geneva-based ILO.
The MCTU General Secretary ruled out the possibility of their final position being thrown out of the window by government. He said by involving ILO they wanted their final position to be in tandern with international standards as espoused by the world labour organisation, and that any disregard by government and the private sector would be tantamount to snubbing international agreements already ratified by Malawi and would paint a bad picture of the country.
MCTU Secretary General, Austin Mkwezalamba said in an interview the mother trade union recently received funding from the International Labour Organisation (ILO)to tackle the issue once and for all, and that labour unions were now ready to come up with a final stand on the issue he said has brought untold misery and suffering among Malawian workers.
"We are now ready to come up with a final decision, and what sort of action we intend to carry out inorder for government and the private sector to take heed of workers concerns," said Mkwezalamba, who added that the workforce in the country has for a long time been taken for a ride.
He said, among other issues, representatives of trade unions discussed at length ILO Article 87 and 98, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Social Charter signed in Tanzania by SADC Heads of State and Government. These address the issues of conditions of service such as pension, severance pay and employment contracts, among other issues.
"The reason we delayed to come up with a tentative resoluton as MCTU was because we wanted the entire affiliates' leadership to go through Article 87 and 98 of the ILO and the SADC Social Charter as we never wanted people to accuse us of making unilateral decisions," said Mkwezalamba, adding that the whole process was facilitated by the Geneva-based ILO.
The MCTU General Secretary ruled out the possibility of their final position being thrown out of the window by government. He said by involving ILO they wanted their final position to be in tandern with international standards as espoused by the world labour organisation, and that any disregard by government and the private sector would be tantamount to snubbing international agreements already ratified by Malawi and would paint a bad picture of the country.
Condom rumpus affects donor funding
Some international donors have withdrawn and withheld their financial support to Malawi following some churches reluctance to allow wholesale use of condoms in certain communities. But church leaders said they remain unfazed about their stance against universal use of the contraceptive.
Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association (MIAA) Executive Director, Robert Ngaiyaye, confirmed the development in Blantyre last Friday at a Mutual Faithfulness National Action Plan Dissemination meeting for faith leaders.
This followed a complaint from Word Alive Commission for Relief and Development (Wacrad) Director, Phoebe Nyasulu, who said a Netherlands-based development organization, Cordaid, had made it clear that it would not continue with a programme on behaviour change it had been supporting for four years, unless Wacrad accepts to include the distribution of Female Condoms.
“As a church organization, we cannot be promoting wholesale use of condoms because that will be promoting promiscuity. That is why we have not gone back to them (the donor) on the issue; we feel we can not sell our values,” said Nyirenda.
Ngaiyaye said even MIAA itself had lost funding from Novib/Oxfam International over the same issue of refusing to distribute condoms, as budging would be compromising on values. He said the only tool that worked was abstinence and being faithful to one’s partner, and not condom use.
“If people abstain and are faithful, you will find that condoms will not be needed at all. Those against this principle just want to promote condoms, which, as an interfaith organization, we do not promote. Our main focus will always be these two and we will not compromise on our stand for the sake of donors,” said Ngaiyaye.
He added that only in exceptional circumstances such as cases where one partner was HIV-positive could the stand be compromised. Muslim Association of Malawi executive director, Saiti Jumbe, said the issue of condom use was against principles of religion, and that promoting condom use would be tantamount to encouraging promiscuity. He said his organization would not compromise on the issue even in the face of donor pressure.
Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association (MIAA) Executive Director, Robert Ngaiyaye, confirmed the development in Blantyre last Friday at a Mutual Faithfulness National Action Plan Dissemination meeting for faith leaders.
This followed a complaint from Word Alive Commission for Relief and Development (Wacrad) Director, Phoebe Nyasulu, who said a Netherlands-based development organization, Cordaid, had made it clear that it would not continue with a programme on behaviour change it had been supporting for four years, unless Wacrad accepts to include the distribution of Female Condoms.
“As a church organization, we cannot be promoting wholesale use of condoms because that will be promoting promiscuity. That is why we have not gone back to them (the donor) on the issue; we feel we can not sell our values,” said Nyirenda.
Ngaiyaye said even MIAA itself had lost funding from Novib/Oxfam International over the same issue of refusing to distribute condoms, as budging would be compromising on values. He said the only tool that worked was abstinence and being faithful to one’s partner, and not condom use.
“If people abstain and are faithful, you will find that condoms will not be needed at all. Those against this principle just want to promote condoms, which, as an interfaith organization, we do not promote. Our main focus will always be these two and we will not compromise on our stand for the sake of donors,” said Ngaiyaye.
He added that only in exceptional circumstances such as cases where one partner was HIV-positive could the stand be compromised. Muslim Association of Malawi executive director, Saiti Jumbe, said the issue of condom use was against principles of religion, and that promoting condom use would be tantamount to encouraging promiscuity. He said his organization would not compromise on the issue even in the face of donor pressure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)