RELEASE OF 279 PRISONERS

The Ministry of Home Affairs wishes to announce that it has pleased Her Excellency the President, Mrs Joyce Banda to direct that 279 prisoners be pardoned. The 279 prisoners who have been pardoned are those who have served at least half of their prison sentences with good behavior and were not convicted of serious offences. The release of the prisoners is part of the celebrations marking Christmas and the New Year. Ministry of Home Affairs Private Bag 331 LILONGWE

AUC Chairperson Approves the African Union Commission Long Term Observers/ Expert Mission to Kenya

Press Release Addis Ababa, 24 December, 2012: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission(AUC) has approved the deployment of a Long Term Observers (LTO)/Expert Mission to the scheduled March 4th 2013 General Elections in the Republic of Kenya. This is an initial step towards the institutionalization of African Union Long Term Observation Methodology and in response to calls by the AU Peace and Security Council for more in-depth, thorough and comprehensive Long Terms Observation Mission on the Continent that could inform early political developments in countries holding elections through which the Commission can take necessary preventive measure in order to ensure political stability in the continent. The Mission, first of its kind by the African Union, is in line with key AU democracy and elections instruments such as: • The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, • The AU/OAU Declaration on Principle Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, • The AU Guidelines for Elections Observation and Monitoring Missions, • African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, 1981and • African Union Long-Term Observation Framework The Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit of the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission, has in effect concluded plans as mandated by the Commission for the deployment of the African Union Long Term Observers (LTO)/ Expert Mission to the Republic of Kenya on 10th January until 15 March 2013. The LTOs are expected to be joined by the Short Term African Union Election Observer Mission on 20th February 2013. The LTO/Expert Mission comprises of experts from different backgrounds including: Electoral Expert Legal and Human Rights Analysts Media Analyst Political and Country Analyst LTO Coordinator (s) and Finance Officer The Mission will remain in constant interaction with the AU Commission and present weekly report to the Chairperson through the Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit prior to the 4 March 2013 Election.

Fun, Fun, More Fun!

High HIV prevalence rate worries Blantyre Synod

The Blantyre CCAP Synod has expressed worry over the rate of HIV infection in the Southern region, expressing hope, however, that the problem could be stemmed if married couples exercised faithfulness.
The Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS 2010) indicates that the Southern region has the highest HIV prevalence rate at 15 percent, followed by the Central region, 8 per cent, and the Northern region at 7 per cent.
These statistics are also reflected in the 2012 ‘AIDS Response Progress Report for Malawi’, submitted to the 2011 United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration to achieve: Zero new HIV infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS Related Deaths for the period spanning from January 2010 to December 2011.
However, the report said a study on multiple concurrent partnerships found that religiosity per se was not associated with abstinence and mutual faithfulness.
“The most important component of religion on sexual behaviour was the content of religious teachings and monitoring sexual behaviours of members. The study also found that 95 per cent of religious institutions privately advised members to refrain from promiscuous behaviour and 50 per cent conducted sexual surveillance on its members; thus religious institutions could be critical in reducing high risk sexual behaviour,” the report reads in part.
Blantyre CCAP Synod General Secretary, Rev. Alex Benson Maulana, said the issues of HIV and Aids had affected the church, and stretched its resources as it tried to cater for the spiritual and physical needs of people.
Maulana said the Synod had responded to the need for more health services in the face of HIV and Aids by establishing the synod’s Development and Health Commission (BSHDC) in 2009.
“We need to offer hope to these people. Let’s not disappoint those living with HIV and Aids. We also need to encourage pregnant women who are in the dark about Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission to go for VCT.
“At the same time, we need to protect those who are HIV negative. The church is not just there to teach people; it has to lead by example, and can raise hope by avoiding stigma and discrimination,” Maulana said.
Maulana said the synod was concerned with the rate of infection in the Southern region, and was doing all it could to compliment government efforts.
“Let me thank the government for introducing life-prolonging drugs. This has reduced the number of funerals. God used the government to put in place the ARVs scheme, and I would like to urge President Joyce Banda to continue with the programme. ARVs have given people the peace of mind.

BSHDC Gender, HIV and AIDS Manager, Ulanda Mtambo, said it was worrisome that most of the people living with HIV were from the Southern region, which is the domain of the Blantyre CCAP Synod. She, however, said the situation could be reversed.

She said the fact that only 2.1 percent of people between 15 to 24 years were infected was an indication that the problem could be stemmed.

“While it is also unfortunate that HIV prevalence is also high among married couples, we can help reduce such incidences by promoting faithfulness among married people,” Mtambo said.
BSHDC Communications Officer, Jessie Puwapuwa, said, however, that the Synod does not have specific data on HIV prevalence rate among the CCAP Blantyre Synod faithful. She said, instead, the commission utilizes National Aids Commission (Nac), BRIDGE 11, and MHDS statistics.
According to the MDHS (2010), HIV prevalence among people who have never married is at 4.2 percent, at between 11.7 percent and 11.5 percent among people who are married or living together, between 20.7per cent and 24.8 percent among divorced and separated people, while the rate among widowed people is at 50.1 percent.

National Aids Commission statistics indicate that about one million people are living with HIV in Malawi, while 350, 000 people are on ARVs.

CDC: 22% Increase in HIV Among Young Gay Men

Young gay and bisexual men account for two-thirds of new HIV infections across the U.S.

The number of new HIV infections for young gay and bisexual men has increased by 22% between 2008 and 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.

Overall, the number of new infections across the U.S. has not changed at about 47,500 infections, according to Reuters. Gay and bisexual men account for 66% of those new infections, and African American men in this group account for more new infections than any other subgroup.

Joseph Prejean, chief of the Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch for the CDC said the rising number of infections for gay and bisexual youth may be the perception that HIV is a highly manageable disease.
"We do realize that many men who have sex with men do probably underestimate their personal risk and believe that treatment advances minimize the health threat," he said.

CDC Director Thomas Frieden added that the average cost of treating HIV over a person's lifetime costs an estimated $400,000.-ADVOCATE

IMF Executive Board Completes First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility for Malawi and Approves US$20 Million Disbursement

Press Release No.12/498
December 19, 2012
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed today the first review of Malawi’s economic performance under a program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The Board’s decision enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 13.02 million (about US$20 million), bringing total disbursements under the program to an amount equivalent to SDR 26.04 million (about US$40.1 million).
In completing the review, the Executive Board approved a request for a waiver of the nonobservance of the end-September 2012 performance criterion on the level of net domestic assets of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). The three-year ECF arrangement for Malawi in the total amount of SDR 104.1 million (about US$156.2 million) was approved on July 23, 2012 (see Press Release 12/273).
Following the Board’s discussion, Mr. Naoyuki Shinohara, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, issued the following statement:
“Drought in parts of Malawi lowered overall growth in 2012, and threatened the subsistence of nearly 2 million people. A spike in food prices and the continuing depreciation of the kwacha contributed to a surge in inflation. The external economic environment has also been more difficult than anticipated. Despite these challenges, performance under the Fund-supported program has been satisfactory.
“Tight monetary and fiscal policies are needed now to stabilize the exchange rate and curb inflation. Accordingly, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has appropriately discontinued a temporary facility for uncollateralized lending to banks and increased the policy rate in early December. Fiscal policy is also playing a role, including with the reactivation of the automatic adjustment mechanism for fuel prices which has cut untargeted subsidies that mainly benefit the better off. The bulk of the additional external financing provided by Malawi’s development partners will allow the government to increase outlays on social protection programs without increasing domestic borrowing, although the authorities are well advised to save a portion of those grants to build up international reserves from very low levels.
“The RBM has stepped up its oversight of banks with a view to addressing emerging threats to the stability of the financial system. It is paying particular attention to ensuring that banks facing persistent liquidity problems implement restructuring plans that put them back on a sound financial footing.
“The authorities are making good progress in implementing a wide range of structural reforms. On the budget side, reforms focus on strengthening tax and customs administration, as well as improving public financial management though greater expenditure control and the prevention of arrears. The authorities have also committed to removing regulatory hurdles to improve the investment climate and foster sustained and broad based growth.”

IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

Public Affairs			Media Relations
E-mail:	publicaffairs@imf.org		E-mail:	media@imf.org
Fax:	202-623-6220		Phone:	202-623-7100

The Malawi Government's Statement on The Appointment of Vice-President Khumbo Kachali as Overseer of the Electoral Commission

PRESS STATEMENT

Her Excellency the President, Mrs Joyce Banda, has listened carefully to the various voices expressing concern over the delegation by her to the Vice President, Right Honourable Khumbo Kachali, of her own role and responsibilities towards the Electoral Commision.

Her Excellency the President wishes to state very categorically that she is the first to insist upon the independence, neutrality, and non-partisanship of the Electoral Commission, in order for the Commission to deliver for our nation free, fair and credible elections.  Further, Her Excellency the President is the first to acknowledge that free, fair and credible elections are the foundation of our democracy and a very critical ingredient for peace and stability in our nation.

Therefore the undermining of the Electoral Commission’s independence, neutrality and non-partisanship by any person, is the last thing Her Excellency the President would tolerate in this nation.

As all Malawians know, the framers of our Constitution and the Electoral Commission Act were clear about the need for this nation to have an Electoral Commission that is independent, neutral and non-partisan.  Adequate safeguards are provided for in the language of the law and in practice, to achieve the intentions manifest in the Constitution and the law.  The language of the Constitution and the Electoral Commission Act are uncompromising.  In stipulating the only executive role, Section 6(1) of the Electoral Commission Act states as follows:

“Every individual member and employee of the Commission shall perform the functions and exercise the powers provided for in this Act independent of the direction or interference of

1. any public office
2. any organ of the government
3. any political party
4. any candidate
5. any person whosoever or organisation whatsoever

Provided that for the purposes only of accountability, the commission shall be answerable, and report directly, to the President on the overall fulfillment of the functions and powers of the Commission”.

Her Excellency wishes the Malawi nation to know that she and her government will fully respect this law.  Similarly, she calls upon all political parties, politicians and other stakeholders to fully respect this law.

Section 89(6) of the Constitution authorises the President, without limitation, to delegate any of her powers and functions.  The specific language of Section 89(6) of the Constitution is as follows:

“The powers and functions of the President shall be exercised by him or her personally or by a member of the Cabinet or by a government official to whom the President has delegated such power in writing”. 

In delegating to the Right Honourable Vice President the role of the President specified in Section 6 of the Electoral Commission Act, the President was not assigning to the Vice President a function different from the one specified in the law.  As must be clear to everyone, the President cannot give to anyone powers that she herself does not possess.

However, notwithstanding the clarity of the law, and although Her Excellency the President is convinced that the Right Honourable Vice President would have discharged the role delegated to him in a manner consistent with the law, she is of the opinion that the greater national good will be better served by allaying the concerns, fears and anxieties expressed by various Malawians and stakeholders.  Accordingly, the President has directed that the Presidential role provided for in Section 6 of the Electoral Commission Act shall no longer be exercised by the Right Honourable Vice President.

Moses Kunkuyu Kalongashawa, MP

MINISTER OF INFORMATION

18 December, 2012

The Malawi Government has followed with keen interest the healthy debate on the oversight role that Right Honourable Khumbo Kachali, Vice president of the Republic of Malawi assumed at the Electoral Commission in the recent cabinet that Her Excellency the President appointed on 6 December 2012.  The Government wishes to inform the public that Her Excellency the President will address the nation on the matter within the next few days.  The Minister of Information will keep the nation informed of further developments on this matter.

Hon. Moses Kunkuyu Kalongashawa, MP

Minister of Information

13^th December, 2012

Joyce Banda: Malawi's Leader in Plundering National Resources!

Her endless trips speak volumes.
Her thirst for allowances.
Her half truths about her care for the Malawian people.
Her policy meanderings on the public podium.
Her inner clique of recycled policitians.
Her tendency to run the Malawi nation as if it were another version of Joyce Banda Foundation.
Her stubbornness on requests to cut down on the, almost, never ending trips.
Her stiff necked-ness in zeroing in on Malawi's run away economy.
Her shaking voice, even before a group of primary school kids.
Her uncontrollable, almost irritable, voice when telling off perceived critics.
Her naivety in putting forward her policy goals.
Her failure to spend even four hours in office at Kamuzu Palace, Sanjika Palace, Mzuzu State House, and other State residences are all apparent reasons to point to that undesirable fact: She is not here to rule, but plunder, plunder, plunder, and make hay while the suns shines over her accidental presidency.
Yes, it (the presidency) is like her call is to plunder national resources and get out of power filthily rich!
Who said Joyce Banda was a billionnaire before April 5?
It's even doubtful that she had more than K200 million in her bank account when she became Malawi's president on April 5.
Tha explains- oh, yes!- her failure to declare her assets.
She didn't have much. That's what it means.
Start ruling and not plundering State resources, Joyce Banda!!!
Eish!!!      

Chief Law Reform Officer Urges Government To Act On Law Commission’s Report On 2004-6 Constitutional Review – Solicitor General Agrees To Revisit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Chief Law Reform Officer Urges Government To Act On Law Commission’s Report On 2004-6 Constitutional Review – Solicitor General Agrees To Revisit

At the Lilongwe launch of her publication Duty of Care: Constitutional and law reform, in Malawi, Dr Janet Chikaya-Banda urged the government to “fish out” the Law Commission’s report on the 2004-6 constitutional review and “move forward the recommendations”.

As chief law reform officer, Dr Chikaya-Banda was responsible for compiling the Law Commission’s report which was submitted to the Ministry of Justice in 2007. The draft bills accompanying the report have never been put before parliament. “They have been buried”, said Dr Chikaya-Banda. “We are still waiting for government to heed the views and express wishes of the people of Malawi who participated in the nationwide constitutional consultation”. She added that the inaction contravenes the duty of care imposed on the executive by the constitution and “cripples the effective functioning of parliament and the systematic development of the law”.

Solicitor General Anthony Kamanga SC responded that – as Law Commissioner in 2006-7 and a fellow member of the Constitutional Review Commission – he took Dr Chikaya-Banda’s plea seriously.

Mr Kamanga emphasised that the government “remains committed to supporting and taking forward the work of the Law Commission”. He also reminded the audience that there were “quite a few contentious recommendations” in the report on the review of the constitution, in particular those relating to Section 65, the recall provision, the clarification of presidential terms and the president’s right to appoint the vice-president.  According to the Solicitor General, these issues largely explained “why things did not proceed” under the previous administration. “The challenge we’ve had should be obvious to most of you”, he told the audience. Although there will always be “instances where government holds a different view on individual law reform programmes and may refer recommendations back to the Law Commission”, the Solicitor General confirmed that the new government was “revisiting the report of the Law Commission on the revision of the constitution”.

A presentation from Justice Edward Twea SC focused on the role of the judiciary in law reform. He stressed the importance of systematic, continuous law reform and described the Law Commission as “an important independent voice”, especially given “the influence of the executive over the legislature” in Malawi. The inclusion of judicial officers in the Commission’s law reform programmes was described by Justice Twea as “invaluable to the process”. He also drew attention to complications that can arise when law reform flies in the face of traditions and traditional values which have popular support, and when there are contradictions between the constitution and other laws.

The event was organised by Africa Research Institute, the independent think-tank based in London which published Duty of Care: Constitutional and law reform, in Malawi. It was held at the Sunbird Capital Lilongwe on 22nd November, and was attended by more than 100 guests including MPs, diplomats, representatives of international donors, and senior members of government departments, the judiciary and civil society organisations. The event was covered by a number of television and radio stations.

Summing up the presentations, Edward Paice, director of Africa Research Institute, agreed with Dr Chikaya-Banda’s statement that constitutional reform is “a very emotive topic in Malawi”. He pointed out that during the past 18 months the constitution and law reform have been to the fore in public debate, in the press and in pronouncements of the Public Affairs Committee. In this context, he hoped that the evening had been constructive and informative, and that the dialogue about constitutional reform would continue.

Duty of Care: Constitutional and law reform, in Malawi can be downloaded from the Africa Research Institute website: http://bit.ly/T6kcLb

Joyce Banda's Administration: A Bunch of Hypocrites!

 

...Joyce Banda  has started falling over her own words

Malawi's accidental president, Joyce Ntila Banda, is, today, an epitome of everything that goes wrong in Malawian society.

From a woman who rose from nowhere- if baking traditional cakes (Zigumu), mandasi, and zitumbuwa is to be considered as nothing less than the ashes- to become Malawi's president at the stroke of death (which death saw former president, Malawi's fallen visionary leader, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, die on April 5, this year (oh, how long it seems now), Malawians can hardly believe what they are hearing from this woman.

Mrs. Banda has, from nowhere, become the vindictive, vengeful, I-Care-for-Myself woman people always heard she was. This time, though, the people do not need to be told how vindictive, how pompous  how vengeful, how self-serving this woman is. They will get it from her, a woman who cannot even hold the level of hewr voice when speaking in public.

A woman whose sense of speech is that of a head teacher who disciplines pupils by scolding them with hot water!

Need examples of Mrs. Banda's hypocrisy, in the first place? Here we go.

Last year, Malawians were an angry lot. Angry at the rate Mutharika's administration was going. Among other things, the Mutharika administration attempted, and in real time managed, to subvent the press. This muzzling of press freedom was clear in the way the government introduced bills in Parliament, one of which went to the extent of giving the Information Minister- that gullible human being, male or female, who yaps untruths to the nation before their own children and dependents- powers to ban a publication, or publications, whose printings were deemed anathema by the big-berried non-human being called The Government.

Along with this shameless carding of shame came more shames. One of these shames, shamefully, pertains to the adverts (read, government adverts) ban imposed on Nation Publications Limited, one of Malawi's independent newspapers.

The economy was another shame, looking at the way fuel disappeared from pump stations. Basic commodities, including sugar, became so scarce it was threatening. What a shame that was, having no sugar in retail outlets that had never run out of sugar before (that is, after Malawi gained independence from Britain in 1964).

Never, in the history of the country, did public furry run as high as the sky- Mulanje Mountain's peak of Sapitwa (unreachable point) being part of the physical features that sank so low during that time of record lows.

All these miseries were worsened by the misery of a woman who, by chance and Mutharika's zeal to sell himself as an old man who was, at least, gender-sensitive, was ostracised by the Powers-that-Be because of something as petty as differences in opinion on political matters. We may add that it is also because of her ambitions then.

Mutharika has hand-picked Mrs. Banda to be his running mate during the 2009 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. The both stood on a Democratic Progressive Party ticket.

But, before long, that old syndrome of an unknown political disease suffered by Malawi's democratic presidents (  Malawi's first president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda excluded because he had no Vice-President. But Bakili Muluzi, who became Malawi's first democratic president after the Referendum of 1993, and the multiparty elections of 1994, and Bingu wa Mutharika, who took over in 2004, after Muluzi had run his mile of two, five-year terms, ostracised the very Vice-Presidents they, themselves, had chosen under no duress in the later part of their reign. During Muluzi's era, the unwitting victim was Vice-President Justin Chimera Malewezi, who was mocked by Muluzi simply because he had problems with his kidney. Muluzi also called Malewezi 'Madeya' - maize or rice husks- when he handpicked Mutharika to be the United Democratic torch-bearer during the 2004 elections. In turn, when his dream of becoming Malawi's president materialised, Mutharika ostracised his Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha, to the extent of framing up treason charges against him, thanks to the 'wise and dynamic' Attorney Generalship of one Ralph Kasambara, the man behind the 'Constructive Referendum' speak ).

While Chilumpha was ostracised during Mutharika's first five-year term, Mutharika (as expected) hand-picked Mrs. Banda to be his running mate in 2009, only to start ostracising her barely two years into his second five-year term. The bone of contention was the DPP Presidency in 2014, the year Malawians will line up again, to elect the Head of State and Government.

Mutharika wanted his brother, Prof. Peter Mutharika, while Mrs. Banda had her sights set on the same position.

So, along with Vice-President Khumbo Kachali, Banda and Kachali started feeling the hit in the DPP, and were subsequently booted from the party at a kangaroo meeting held at one of the party's zealots in Lilongwe.

The charge: Mrs. Banda and Kachali were busy putting in place parallel party structures in their bid to 'beat' Peter to the 'throne'.

That is how the two ended up forming the People's Party, a party which, by the stroke of death on April 5, became the ruling party through the back door. Suffice it to say Malawi's electoral system is that of 'First-Past-The-Post. The country's system is not representative. It is not Parliamentary. It is presidential.

So, the party the president belongs to becomes the ruling party. It becomes the party of the people despite the people not voting for it.

Just like that.

And, so, the DPP became the ruling party in 2005, after Mutharika dumped it during the Anti-Corruption Day held on 5 February 2005 in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe. This was the first time an individual entered into government (in this case, Mutharika being elected on the UDF ticket in 2004) in order to form a political (as he later formed the DPP, which became the ruling party instead of the UDF). 

Normally, the tendency is for people to form political parties in order to get into government.

But Mutharika cannot be faulted for doing what he did. Fault the electoral system.

The same with Mrs. Banda. She cannot be faulted for hauling her People's Party into government. Unless the laws are reviewed and ammended, there will never be any form of insurance that will shield Malawians from this practice of In-Government-Unelected political parties deciding the destiny of Malawians.

However, we are interested in the days of Mrs. Banda as Vice-President; those days when the nation was sympathising with her due to the purported mis-treatment. During those days, Mrs. Banda supported any cause that seemed to relay what people had in mind.

She supported the July 20 demonstrations that saw 20 lives disappear- like vapour after the marriage of sun's rays and the sea. She also supported many other public causes.

Today, however, Mrs. Banda is against the demonstrations slated for January next year, calling them useless, unwaranted, and uncalled for. 

Her administration has, shamelessly, warned activist John Kapito- the executive director for the Consumers Association of Malawi, and former chairperson of the Malawi Human Rights Commissionj- against going ahead with plans to hold anti-government protests over poor economic policies and a deteriorating economic situation that has left consumers' pockets more tattered than they would if they were attacked by vicious rats.”

Riled by this, and President Mrs. Banda and her Vice, Khumbo Kachali's extravance, through their intensive local and foreign trips, the consumers’ body has vowed to press ahead with plans to mobilise people to stage a mass consumer protest that has, since, received the backing of UDF 2014 Presidential candidate, Atupele Muluzi, the Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi, the Public Affairs Committee, among other bodies.

Cama executive director John Kapito announced that the mass strike is likely to take place in January 2013.

But Banda, through government spokesperson and Minister of Information and Civic Education Moses Kunkuyu has said, "while the Banda administration will “forever respect freedom of expression in all its forms, the protests are signs of patriotism and irresponsibility”

Banda's government has, instead, asked Malawians to "fully reflect on the journey that the Nation has gone through between May 2009 to date and do a comparative analysis of the period between 2009 elections to April 5, 2012 and the period from April 7, 2012 to date.”

In their lop-sided sense of things taking  turn for the better, Kunkuyu says “Any Malawian with some sense of responsibility and honesty will realize that things have taken a turn for the better since the current administration took over the affairs of our country.”

This, to say the truth, is a modern form of nonsense called hypocrisy.

Let Malawians match against greedy politicians led by Mrs. Banda, people who are plundering national resources in the name of charity (for example, Mrs. Banda's distribution of flower to people when the World Food Organisation is doing the same, having received 20, 000 metric tonnes from the Strategic Grain Reserves, and other resources being mobilised. These efforts have, however, been hampered by a shortfall of US$26 million.

Why can't Mrs. Banda channel her resources to these people of good will, instead of distributing 600 50 Kg bags of maize worth K1.2 million at the cost of (including fuel and allowances for her government officials) K5 million?

Where is the common sense here?

Was charity this expensive?

The truth is that Mrs. Banda and her Orange political zealots are hypocrites bent at milking scarce national resources.

Shame!

The shame of our time. 

President Joyce Banda to launch the National Forestry Season in Kasungu

TATE HOUSE

PRESS RELEASE

14^TH DECEMBER 2012

President Mrs Joyce Banda will tomorrow the 15^th of December 2012 launch this year’s National Forestation week in Kasungu.

The president will take Place in Kasinjeni Village Traditional Authority Kaomba in the district.

President Banda is committed to fight deforestation in the country hence her involvement in this important endeavour. The President is aware that the unsustainable use of the forest goods and services, according to a 2010 comprehensive economic study, has regrettably cost our economy US $93 million.

Speaking ahead of the event, Presidential Press Secretary Steven Nhlane said “Climate change is real and its impacts are felt by all irrespective of gender, socio-economic status, and race. In Malawi this has translated in incidents of flooding, droughts, erratic rains and general environmental damage, emergence of new diseases. Taken together it is clear that climate change threatens our socio-economic development. We know that forest conservation is one of the most important ways of mitigating climate change so we must all commit to this national crusade to plant more trees and protect the forests that we have”

The Joyce Banda Administration: A Bunch of Hypocrites

 

...Joyce Banda  has started falling over her own words

Malawi's accidental president, Joyce Ntila Banda, is, today, an epitome of everything that goes wrong in Malawian society.

From a woman who rose from nowhere- if baking traditional cakes (Zigumu), mandasi, and zitumbuwa is to be considered as nothing less than the ashes- to become Malawi's president at the stroke of death (which death saw former president, Malawi's fallen visionary leader, Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, die on April 5, this year (oh, how long it seems now), Malawians can hardly believe what they are hearing from this woman.

Mrs. Banda has, from nowhere, become the vindictive, vengeful, I-Care-for-Myself woman people always heard she was. This time, though, the people do not need to be told how vindictive, how pompous  how vengeful, how self-serving this woman is. They will get it from her, a woman who cannot even hold the level of hewr voice when speaking in public.

A woman whose sense of speech is that of a head teacher who disciplines pupils by scolding them with hot water!

Need examples of Mrs. Banda's hypocrisy, in the first place? Here we go.

Last year, Malawians were an angry lot. Angry at the rate Mutharika's administration was going. Among other things, the Mutharika administration attempted, and in real time managed, to subvent the press. This muzzling of press freedom was clear in the way the government introduced bills in Parliament, one of which went to the extent of giving the Information Minister- that gullible human being, male or female, who yaps untruths to the nation before their own children and dependents- powers to ban a publication, or publications, whose printings were deemed anathema by the big-berried non-human being called The Government.

Along with this shameless carding of shame came more shames. One of these shames, shamefully, pertains to the adverts (read, government adverts) ban imposed on Nation Publications Limited, one of Malawi's independent newspapers.

The economy was another shame, looking at the way fuel disappeared from pump stations. Basic commodities, including sugar, became so scarce it was threatening. What a shame that was, having no sugar in retail outlets that had never run out of sugar before (that is, after Malawi gained independence from Britain in 1964).

Never, in the history of the country, did public furry run as high as the sky- Mulanje Mountain's peak of Sapitwa (unreachable point) being part of the physical features that sank so low during that time of record lows.

All these miseries were worsened by the misery of a woman who, by chance and Mutharika's zeal to sell himself as an old man who was, at least, gender-sensitive, was ostracised by the Powers-that-Be because of something as petty as differences in opinion on political matters. We may add that it is also because of her ambitions then.

Mutharika has hand-picked Mrs. Banda to be his running mate during the 2009 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. The both stood on a Democratic Progressive Party ticket.

But, before long, that old syndrome of an unknown political disease suffered by Malawi's democratic presidents (  Malawi's first president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda excluded because he had no Vice-President. But Bakili Muluzi, who became Malawi's first democratic president after the Referendum of 1993, and the multiparty elections of 1994, and Bingu wa Mutharika, who took over in 2004, after Muluzi had run his mile of two, five-year terms, ostracised the very Vice-Presidents they, themselves, had chosen under no duress in the later part of their reign. During Muluzi's era, the unwitting victim was Vice-President Justin Chimera Malewezi, who was mocked by Muluzi simply because he had problems with his kidney. Muluzi also called Malewezi 'Madeya' - maize or rice husks- when he handpicked Mutharika to be the United Democratic torch-bearer during the 2004 elections. In turn, when his dream of becoming Malawi's president materialised, Mutharika ostracised his Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha, to the extent of framing up treason charges against him, thanks to the 'wise and dynamic' Attorney Generalship of one Ralph Kasambara, the man behind the 'Constructive Referendum' speak ).

While Chilumpha was ostracised during Mutharika's first five-year term, Mutharika (as expected) hand-picked Mrs. Banda to be his running mate in 2009, only to start ostracising her barely two years into his second five-year term. The bone of contention was the DPP Presidency in 2014, the year Malawians will line up again, to elect the Head of State and Government.

Mutharika wanted his brother, Prof. Peter Mutharika, while Mrs. Banda had her sights set on the same position.

So, along with Vice-President Khumbo Kachali, Banda and Kachali started feeling the hit in the DPP, and were subsequently booted from the party at a kangaroo meeting held at one of the party's zealots in Lilongwe.

The charge: Mrs. Banda and Kachali were busy putting in place parallel party structures in their bid to 'beat' Peter to the 'throne'.

That is how the two ended up forming the People's Party, a party which, by the stroke of death on April 5, became the ruling party through the back door. Suffice it to say Malawi's electoral system is that of 'First-Past-The-Post. The country's system is not representative. It is not Parliamentary. It is presidential.

So, the party the president belongs to becomes the ruling party. It becomes the party of the people despite the people not voting for it.

Just like that.

And, so, the DPP became the ruling party in 2005, after Mutharika dumped it during the Anti-Corruption Day held on 5 February 2005 in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe. This was the first time an individual entered into government (in this case, Mutharika being elected on the UDF ticket in 2004) in order to form a political (as he later formed the DPP, which became the ruling party instead of the UDF). 

Normally, the tendency is for people to form political parties in order to get into government.

But Mutharika cannot be faulted for doing what he did. Fault the electoral system.

The same with Mrs. Banda. She cannot be faulted for hauling her People's Party into government. Unless the laws are reviewed and ammended, there will never be any form of insurance that will shield Malawians from this practice of In-Government-Unelected political parties deciding the destiny of Malawians.

However, we are interested in the days of Mrs. Banda as Vice-President; those days when the nation was sympathising with her due to the purported mis-treatment. During those days, Mrs. Banda supported any cause that seemed to relay what people had in mind.

She supported the July 20 demonstrations that saw 20 lives disappear- like vapour after the marriage of sun's rays and the sea. She also supported many other public causes.

Today, however, Mrs. Banda is against the demonstrations slated for January next year, calling them useless, unwaranted, and uncalled for. 

Her administration has, shamelessly, warned activist John Kapito- the executive director for the Consumers Association of Malawi, and former chairperson of the Malawi Human Rights Commissionj- against going ahead with plans to hold anti-government protests over poor economic policies and a deteriorating economic situation that has left consumers' pockets more tattered than they would if they were attacked by vicious rats.”

Riled by this, and President Mrs. Banda and her Vice, Khumbo Kachali's extravance, through their intensive local and foreign trips, the consumers’ body has vowed to press ahead with plans to mobilise people to stage a mass consumer protest that has, since, received the backing of UDF 2014 Presidential candidate, Atupele Muluzi, the Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi, the Public Affairs Committee, among other bodies.

Cama executive director John Kapito announced that the mass strike is likely to take place in January 2013.

But Banda, through government spokesperson and Minister of Information and Civic Education Moses Kunkuyu has said, "while the Banda administration will “forever respect freedom of expression in all its forms, the protests are signs of patriotism and irresponsibility”

Banda's government has, instead, asked Malawians to "fully reflect on the journey that the Nation has gone through between May 2009 to date and do a comparative analysis of the period between 2009 elections to April 5, 2012 and the period from April 7, 2012 to date.”

In their lop-sided sense of things taking  turn for the better, Kunkuyu says “Any Malawian with some sense of responsibility and honesty will realize that things have taken a turn for the better since the current administration took over the affairs of our country.”

This, to say the truth, is a modern form of nonsense called hypocrisy.

Let Malawians match against greedy politicians led by Mrs. Banda, people who are plundering national resources in the name of charity (for example, Mrs. Banda's distribution of flower to people when the World Food Organisation is doing the same, having received 20, 000 metric tonnes from the Strategic Grain Reserves, and other resources being mobilised. These efforts have, however, been hampered by a shortfall of US$26 million.

Why can't Mrs. Banda channel her resources to these people of good will, instead of distributing 600 50 Kg bags of maize worth K1.2 million at the cost of (including fuel and allowances for her government officials) K5 million?

Where is the common sense here?

Was charity this expensive?

The truth is that Mrs. Banda and her Orange political zealots are hypocrites bent at milking scarce national resources.

Shame!

The shame of our time. 

MZUZU ARTISTS IN AN ARTISTIC AFRICAN NATIVITY PROJECT

The Mzuzu project is about "Telling the birth of Jesus Christ our SAVIOUR in our own AFRICAN VOICE: After all, when He was born He himself experienced our AFRO culture!

@ St Johns of God Hall
on 23 December, 2012

Written and directed by Manaseh Chisiza
Music Trained by Tionge Hango
Dances Trained by Kukaya dance troupe artist and other choreographers 

Its a corrabo: Oneness, Pamodzi, Kukaya, YIMnet and so many

President Joyce Banda To Address Malawians on Malawi Electoral Commission Saga

PRESS STATEMENT

The Malawi Government has followed with keen interest the

healthy debate on the oversight role that Right Honourable

Khumbo Kachali, Vice president of the Republic of Malawi

assumed at the Electoral Commissionin the recent cabinet

that Her Excellency the President appointed on 6

December 2012. The Government wishes to inform the

public that Her Excellency the President will address the

nation on the matter within the next few days. The Minister

of Information will keep the nation informed of further

developments on this matter.

Hon. Moses Kunkuyu Kalongashawa, MP

Minister of Information

13

th

December, 2012

MALAWI TO SEND A COMPANY TO DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS STATEMENT

Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Malawi will contribute at least a military company to the 4,000 member Southern African Development Community Peace keeping mission, Vice President Right Honourable Khumbo Kachali has announced.

The Vice President, who represented Her Excellency the President Mrs. Joyce Banda to the SADC extra ordinary meeting of the Heads of State held on Saturday, 08 December, 2012 at the Serena International Hotel, in Dar es salaam, Tanzania made the disclosure at the end of his visit to the Republic of Tanzania.

A military company is comprised of at least 100 to 150 soldiers.

“Malawi has always been committed to peace keeping in the region and beyond. The Malawi Defence Force perfomance has always been excellent is such missions, as such our commitment to peace keeping in the DR Congo is to continue the good work our men and women in uniform have been doing elsewhere,” said the Right Honourable Kachali.

The Vice President said the extra-ordinary meeting of the SADC Heads of State also tackled the issues surrounding peace and transition in Madagascar and the scheduled elections in Zimbabwe, where a roadmap on constitutional reforms had been agreed upon.

The SADC extra ordinary summit was also attended by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.

Her Excellency the President Mrs. Joyce Banda is the current Vice Chairperson of the Southern Africa Development Community.

On Sunday, the Vice President was among the SADC and East African Leaders that attended the main celebrations of the Tanzanian mainland 51^st anniversary at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam. The Vice President also attended an anniversary luncheon at the State House, in Dar es Salaam.

In the evening, Right Honourable Kachali addressed Malawians resident in Dar es Salaam at the High Commissioner’s residence. The Vice President asked Malawians to live peacefully and promote the image of the country.

About ‘National Bank Best University of Malawi Student Awards’

Every year since 1982, National Bank of Malawi presents Awards to the best student of each of the 15 faculties of the University of Malawi.  This annual event emphasizes National Bank’s commitment, as a corporate citizen, to invest in initiatives promoting academic excellence.

In 2012, the bank presented these Awards on Thursday, 6^th December 2012, at the Great Hall, Chancellor College in Zomba from 2.00 pm.

Presiding over the function was the Bank’s Chief Executive Office Mr. George Partridge.

Thirty outstanding students were given prizes worth K3 million. The bank also presented two projectors to The Polytechnic and two computers to Bunda College.

PRESIDENT JOYCE BANDA'S WORDS AT THE OFFICIAL LAYING OF A FOUNDATION STONE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF KACHASO-NKAYA RAILWAY

SPEECH BY

 HER EXCELLENCY MRS JOYCE BANDA

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

ON

THE OFFICIAL LAYING OF A FOUNDATION STONE

FOR

THE CONSTRUCTION OF KACHASO-NKAYA RAILWAY

AT

NENO

ON

WEDNESDAY, 6^TH DECEMBER, 2012

• Your Excellency Chief Justice Richard Banda, SC, (Rtd)

• Honourable Sidik Mia, M.P. Minister of Transport and Public Works,

• Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers

• Representatives of Vale Logistics Limited

• Representatives of Mota-Engil

• T.A. Saimon

• Traditional Authorities 

• Members of Parliament

• All Senior Government Officials Present Here

• Members of the Press

• Ladies and Gentlemen

It is with great pleasure that I stand here at Neno to preside over the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of

Kachaso to Nkaya railway.

The development of Malawi’s infrastructure is one of the five priority pillars of my Government’s Economic Recovery Plan. Projects such as the one we are celebrating today make it easy to understand why.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

We know that for Malawi to grow and prosper we must increase our export earnings. That is why I have placed such a priority on diversifying and commercializing agriculture in Malawi. Food security is not enough, we must begin to earn income to put in the pockets of Malawians. The way we will do that is through exporting our agricultural products.

Tourism, is also a major source of export earnings around the world and contributes around 6 per cent to our GDP here in Malawi. In 2010 tourists spent 68 billion Kwacha and the sector accounts for around 163,000 jobs in Malawi;

We also know that Malawi has the potential to earn more through the export of natural resources and minerals. Mining already contributes 10% of GDP and accounts for 20% of export total export values and Malawi has a wide variety of mineral resources not yet exploited.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

As a landlocked country we will not be able to realize the benefits of all these industries if we are not well connected to our neighbors in Southern Africa, to the rest of our continent and to the world. We know that, for example, transportation costs constitute about 60 percent of the landed cost of goods in Malawi. If we are going to be competitive regionally and internationally we need to bring those costs down. We need to make it easier to import the goods Malawi needs and export those we wish to sell to global markets. And we need to make it easier for tourists, businessmen and investors to get to Malawi and travel within our great country.

That is why this project marks an important milestone in the development of Malawi’s infrastructure. It will entail the construction of a railway line through Chapananga in Chikhwawa to Nkaya in Balaka, a distance of 138 kilometers and rehabilitation of the existing railway line from Nkaya to Nayuchi at the border with Mozambique, a distance of 98 kilometers in Malawi.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

The construction of this line has come about because of the needs of Vale mining company who are mining coal in Moatize in the Tete Province of Mozambique. Their aim is to export about 18 million tonnes of coal annually. Whilst the coal is being mined in Mozambique, the most efficient way to get it to the port of Nacala is through Southern Malawi. And so we reached an agreement for the building of this railway.

While the aim of the line is to help Vale to transport coal, we have made sure that Malawi benefits from the construction. The construction itself represents a $1 billion investment in Malawi over three years. The project is expected to employ about 4,500 workers at its peak, of which 70 per cent will be Malawians, that is over 3,000 new jobs. Once the railway is up and running the Malawi Government will earn 8 million US dollars per year from concession fees.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

But it is not enough that the government earns money from the line, it is important that it benefits the communities that it runs through. As well as creating jobs, the railway line will provide the region with improved transport links.

The railway line will pass through Chapananga in Chikhwawa, Nthache and Kanduku in Mwanza, Symon and Mlauli in Neno, and Nsamala in Balaka. We all know that the districts of Chikhwawa, Mwanza and Neno where the railway is passing were neglected and for a very long time known for their poverty and many areas had no reliable access roads let alone a railway line. The roads become virtually impassable during the rainy season and people from the surrounding areas where the railway is passing through are used to be cut-off from the rest of the other parts of the districts for a number of days if not weeks during rainy season.

Once the railway has been rehabilitated there will be provision for one passenger train for Malawi per day, helping to reconnect these districts to the rest of Malawi and beyond.  Stations will be constructed at Chapananga, Neno, Nkaya junction, Liwonde and Nayuchi and there will also be a number of stops at appropriate places.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

The benefits to the area do not stop there. The new line will boost economic activity in the whole area. From increased investment in manufacturing and processing industries that will benefit from improved access to markets and reduced transport costs to enhanced potential for investment in trade and commerce activities such as retail outlets, shops, repairs and services in the railway vicinity.

Let me put some of the benefits of this new line in numbers. Two cargo trains a day will serve Malawi – adding up to a capacity of at least 5 million tons of cargo each year for exports and imports on the railway line.

It is expected that Malawi will be saving in excess 120 million US Dollars annually in transportation costs. This has the overall effect of reducing the transport costs of goods to and from Malawi by about 40 percent.

Once this project is finished, a train will only take 38 hours to travel between Nacala and Limbe at an average speed of 50 to 70 kilometres per hour compared to the present when it takes 5 to 7 days with the train travelling at 15 to 20 kilometres per hour.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I think we can all agree that these are impressive results. So let me at this stage give a vote of thanks and appreciation to Vale Logistics Limited for choosing to invest in Malawi and for the good cooperation it has with the Government of Malawi and the social responsibility it has demonstrated to the people along the project site. My Government will ensure that adequate support is given to Vale Logistics Limited and its contractors so that the people of Malawi benefit from this project.

May I also urge Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Government Supervisor to this Project and Mota-Engil, the contractor and the sub-contractors to carry out professional work as you have always done in previous projects.

And to the general public living along the railway construction sites, my appeal is that you should make sure that the railway is well taken care of at all times. Hon. Members of Parliament, Chiefs and responsible citizens of Malawi let us all work together to stop the malpractice of vandalism of our countries infrastructure.

Finally, I wish to welcome the strengthening of the ties between Malawi and Mozambique as a result of this project.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentleman

This project is only one of a number of planned improvements to Malawi’s infrastructure. As one of five pillars in my government’s Economic Recovery Plan, work is underway to improve Malawi’s transport infrastructure across the board, not just through improved rail links, but new and rehabilitated roads and better air links from Malawi.

These projects will take time to yield results, but even as they are being developed they will create much needed jobs in our country.

The same is true for Malawi’s economic recovery. The previous government left the economy in a terrible mess and it will take time to fix things. I have said before that things will get worse before they get better, but we must stay the course.

I am determined to do everything I can as President of this great Republic to support people in these tough times so that we can stay on the path to growth.

Where the devaluation has caused hardship my government will continue to fund public works programmes, cash transfers and school feeding to help those in need.

Where there are those at risk of hunger I will continue to ensure they get food.

And where there are those who previously feared to express their views or participate in democracy I will ensure that their rights are respected and their voices heard.

I am clear that in a little over one year’s time people will judge me not on what I have said but what I have done. The success or failure of important projects such as the great investment we are here to mark today will speak for themselves.

Projects such as this are not just an investment in one particular industry or one particular area, they are an investment in the future of Malawi.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for your attention.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.