GOVERNMENT OFFERS STRIKING CIVIL SERVANTS NEW REMUNERATION PACKAGE

PRESS RELEASE




Government wishes to inform all civil servants and the entire nation that it has decided on a remuneration package which it is ready to offer to civil servants who have been picketing for enhanced salaries.



The remuneration package that Government is ready to offer civil servants is reasonable within the prevailing economic conditions and is intended to ensure that the progress towards economic recovery remains on course while addressing the legitimate expectations of civil servants.



While this is a delicate balancing act matching the demands of civil servants with available resources, it is the intention of Government that the dispute over salaries is resolved amicably and expeditiously so that Government institutions restore full services to the general public.



It is with this good intention in mind that Government regrets the non-availability of the Civil Service Trade Union (CSTU) Negotiating Team in the last few days to conclude the negotiations, despite Government providing full logistical support to facilitate the presence of the CSTU Negotiating Team in Lilongwe.



Government wishes to call upon CSTU to approach the negotiations with the seriousness that they deserve by availing the negotiating team as soon as possible.



It is the view of Government that failure to conclude the negotiations with continued unavailability of the CSTU Negotiating Team, will lead to public suffering, loss of business and potentially needless loss of life through non delivery of medical services, among others.



Government expects that CSTU will take immediate action, as a measure of goodwill, to call off the Civil Servants Strike if their negotiating team continues to be unavailable for final negotiations with Government.







GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATING TEAM

19th FEBRUARY, 2013

LILONGWE

Malawi's 2012/13 Mid-Year Budget Statement

2012/13 MID YEAR BUDGET STATEMENT

Delivered in the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI
By
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE
HONOURABLE DR. KEN LIPENGA, MP





Contents



MOTION
........................................................................................................................................... 3




INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 3




GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK…………………………………………………4




THE MALAWI ECONOMY.................................................................................................................. 6




MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ............................................................................................. 10




Real Sector ...........................................................................................................................................10




External Sector......................................................................................................................................11




Monetary Sector....................................................................................................................... 12



FISCAL PERFORMANCE................................................................................................................ 13




Revenues................................................................................................................................. 13




Grants..............................................................................................................................................15





Expenditure and Net
Lending..................................................................................................................17



SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF FISCAL 2112/13 ........................................... 18




The Farm Input Subsidy Programme........................................................................................................18




Promotion of Legume Production............................................................................................... 19


Green Belt Initiative................................................................................................................................20


Responding the Humanitarian Needs.......................................................................................... 20


Education, Science and Technology........................................................................................... 21



Public Health ........................................................................................................................................ 23



CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................. 27



MOTION


1. Mr. Speaker, Sir, and Honourable Members, I beg to move that this House debate
the Supplementary Estimates of Recurrent and Development Accounts for the 2012/13
Fiscal Year and that the estimates be referred to the Committee of the Whole House, to
consider them Vote by Vote, and that thereafter, they be adopted.



INTRODUCTION


2. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me begin by wishing you and the Honourable Colleagues a
Happy and Prosperous New Year. My humble duty this afternoon is to appraise this August House and the Nation about the budget performance for the first half of the 2012/13 financial year and present prospects to the end of the financial year.


3.Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me thank Her Excellency the President, Dr. Joyce Banda for
entrusting me with the enormous task of leading the country’s economic management team
at such a crucial time. My pledge to the President and the people of Malawi is that I will work in their best interest and to the best of my ability.



4.Let me also use this opportunity to thank all members of this House, and in
particular, the Budget and Finance Committee, for their invaluable support and
contributions to the budgeting process. Comments and constructive criticisms made by
members of this House in the course of debating the Budget Statement or at any other
time, are never and will never be taken lightly. And even if some members occasionally felt the need to be particularly vicious in the expression of their views, that too, is an important part of democratic discourse. As government, we do have a duty to listen to especially those who disagree with us and where possible take on board their views in the formulation of policy.



5. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our economy remains fragile due to the failure to make the tough
economic decisions in the past. We are still grappling with these challenges and
implementing austerity measures to stabilize the economy. We now anticipate that the
annual growth rate in 2012 is 1.9 percent instead of the initial projection of 4.3 percent.


Our import cover, though improving, remains precarious; and the general price level
continues to trend upwards. It is, however, pleasing to note that there is confidence and optimism in the private sector, the engine for economic growth. We expect growth to rebound to around 5 percent in 2013.


6.Mr. Speaker, Sir, in order to correct the past mistakes and put the economy on a
sustainable path to recovery, tough policy decisions - many of them painful and unpopular - had to be made.


7. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will be the first to admit that the challenges we face are real.
Addressing these challenges and generating sustainable economic growth will require
sustained commitment to the reform process. This Government has put the right policies
in place. To echo the words of our President, “the foundation for recovery has been laid and if we work together, then together we will succeed.”


GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK


8.Mr. Speaker, Sir, "ensuring that inflation returns to target in the medium term is our
primary responsibility and objective. If we saw evidence that inflation expectations were not consistent with the target in the medium term and the rate increases were picking up to levels that we thought were inconsistent with achieving the target in the medium term, then we would have to tighten the policy.” Those, Mr. Speaker, Sir, are not my words, but rather the verbatim words of Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, speaking only a few days ago. I quote him in order to highlight the fact that major economies in the world are grappling with lower than forecast economic growth. Indeed the theme of the October 2012 World Economic Outlook by the IMF focused very much on the issue of sluggish growth.


9.Global recovery is continuing but at a much slower pace than earlier projected in July
2012. In addition to homegrown weaknesses, low growth and uncertainty in advanced
economies are affecting emerging markets and developing economies, through both trade
and financial channels. Currently, the IMF has revised downwards growth forecasts for
2013 from 2 percent to 1.5 percent for Advanced Economies (AEs) and from 6 percent to
5.6 percent for Emerging Markets (EMs) and Developing Economies (DEs).

This is depressing the global growth forecast to 3.6 percent for 2013, a downward revision of 0.3 percent from July 2012 estimates.


10. Mr. Speaker, Sir, these forecasts are underpinned by new setbacks. Generally,
policies are not rebuilding confidence in the medium term because of such risks as the
euro area crisis and uncertainty around the US fiscal cliff. The debt overhang is amplifying that uncertainty and financial conditions remain weak and fragile. As a result, growth will be depressed while unemployment is likely to remain elevated in many parts of the world.


11. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one major lesson we have learnt from the recent global financial
crisis is that fiscal policy should always be consistent with monetary policy. This implies that we must contain expenditure within the approved budget in order to prevent the build-up of debt. Government borrowing crowds out private sector investment and leads to a growth in money supply which results in inflation and exchange rate depreciation.


12. Mr. Speaker, Sir, despite lower forecasts for advanced , emerging market and
developing economies, the outlook for most of Sub-Saharan Africa is positive at a
projected 5.7 percent for 2013.


THE MALAWI ECONOMY


13. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in order to put my report on our economic performance into
perspective, allow me to quote the French political thinker and historian, Alexis de
Tocqueville, “When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in
darkness.”


14.This quote Mr. Speaker, Sir, is very important in our context. In order to understand where we are, we must first appreciate where we are coming from.
15. Mr. Speaker, Sir, at the turn of the 2012/13 fiscal year, the economy was in severe internal and external disequilibria. This resulted from an overvalued exchange rate and administrative controls which caused the worst Balance of Payments crisis in our country’s recent history. As a nation, we were struggling to import basic necessities including fuel and drugs.


16. Fiscal policy was loose while monetary policy merely accommodated the fiscal
excesses. As a result, the budget deficit sharply widened and domestic debt spiked.
Furthermore, subsidies on fuel and artificially low utility tariffs put pressure on the Budget and diverted scarce resources from priority investments in growth and poverty alleviation.


17. Mr. Speaker, Sir, under this difficult economic situation, we were faced with two
policy options, one easy and the other difficult: the easy one was to continue with the status quo, and the difficult one was to implement economic reforms to address the
underlying crisis.


18. Mr. Speaker Sir, this Government chose the difficult path of implementing tough
economic reforms. The Budget I presented to Parliament in June was aimed at restoring
macro-economic balance and a market based economy to provide the foundation for
sustainable economic growth. Key economic reforms implemented by this Government
included the liberalization of the foreign exchange regime and the removal of price controls on fuel and utilities. The removal of price controls was necessary to reduce the burden of subsidies on fuel and utilities in the Budget.


19. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the decision to remove subsidies on fuel and utilities was correct as it freed resources within the Budget for priority investments for growth and social protection. Let us be clear. When we refer to the automatic fuel pricing what we are really talking about is putting an end to a very expensive subsidy that benefits a few at the expense of the many. It is a rejection of the idea that the rural Malawian in her/his village must pay for an expensive fuel subsidy for a minority. We ended the subsidy so that 85%of rural Malawians could benefit from policies that are targeted to the poorest of the poor.


20. It would be most undemocratic if policies were to be made in favour of only those who complain the loudest. Every policy change produces winners and losers. The policy
changes that this government has embarked on are also for the benefit of those who are
not heard – the voiceless, those who work hard every day just to feed their children and send them to school.


21. Subsidies on fuel, Mr. Speaker, are very costly. In 2011, the cost was K10.5 billion.

If this Honourable House had not adopted the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM) in May
2012, the cost of fuel subsidies by the end of the year would have been K36 billion. This would have had to be paid for by the government through cuts elsewhere in the Budget or through increased borrowing, with disastrous results.


22. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Government has limited resources and has to prioritize where to
invest. As I have already said, untargeted subsidies, including those on fuel and utilities mainly benefit the rich. In this Budget, we have targeted resources towards scaling up programmes in Social Protection for the poor.


23. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government is grappling with the difficult challenge of financing
universal services from a limited revenue base. Some services should be provided
universally and free of charge, other services require some contribution from beneficiaries while others including fuel and utilities should reflect the full market prices.


24. For those of you who listened to the broadcast of the meeting Her Excellency the
President Dr. Joyce Banda had with the medical profession, you will recall what one
hospital administrator said about subsidies in Health services. He pointed out that it is really the rich that reap the benefits of subsidies to the Health sector, with the poor getting very little. I was heartened to hear one brave opposition member of this August House echoing this observation. This suggests a willingness to acknowledge the reality that those who are better off in society should contribute some user fee for public services in order to help the poor. If we all put politics aside it would be easy to implement this idea with the overwhelming support of our people.


25. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other key reforms included allowing the Kwacha to be more
market determined through an initial significant devaluation and subsequent floatation; maintaining a tight fiscal policy regime through commitment to a fiscal anchor of No Net Domestic Financing (NNDF); implementing a complimentary tight monetary policy regime by keeping broad money growth in line with growth in nominal GDP to contain inflation; and an interest rate policy that is responsive to monetary developments.


26. I must state here that in implementing the tough and painful economic reforms, we
drew on lessons from East Asia, Latin America and Africa, about how Balance of Payments (BOP) and currency crisis episodes unfold and unwind. We know that without exception, all currency pegs in history have broken as reserves get close to zero. Ultimately, the market will determine the cost of any nation’s currency.


27. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in implementing our reforms, I must also mention that we were
equally aware that a large devaluation coupled with a more flexible exchange rate regime in the context of low reserves might cause the exchange rate to overshoot and inflation to spike because of a high pass-through.


28. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our analysis affirmed that even with low reserves, a large
devaluation and moving to a market determined exchange rate was the right policy. If we had persisted with an overvalued exchange rate, we would have precipitated a Balance of Payments and possible currency crisis of seismic proportions.


29. Almost ten months down the line, we are beginning to see hopeful signs. Although
inflation is currently high, the projections are showing a downward trend buoyed by
significant fiscal consolidation and a tight monetary policy stance. The outlook for growth is equally showing an upward trend. Reserves too, though not still at desired levels, have also improved allowing the country to import most of the necessities.


30. Mr. Speaker, Sir, although monetary policy is very tight for the time being, we remain confident that we will be able to create the fiscal space to allow for some easing in monetary policy to stimulate growth and rebuild a more robust reserve position.


31. Mr. Speaker, Sir, government is committed to the economic reform programme. The
reforms are based on economic fundamentals and realism, and they are also necessary to
stimulate growth and investment. Indeed these reforms have led to increased confidence
by the local private sector and our development partners leading to a significant increase in aid.


32. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for the implementation of the Budget and I know that the Honourable Members of the House are eagerly awaiting an update on the performance of the economy and the Budget during the first half of the fiscal year.


MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE


Real Sector


33. With regard to the real sector, we are all aware that owing to sharp contraction in agriculture output and manufacturing, growth for 2012 was revised downwards to 1.9
percent from an initial forecast of 4.3 percent. This was due to a combination of exogenous factors and economic policies prior to April 2012.


34. Lower than expected rainfall affected the output of many crops while the overvalued exchange rate also induced a policy shock which led to the smuggling of major cash crops especially tobacco to neighboring countries like Mozambique and Zambia. These events caused a scarcity of foreign exchange in the formal market, which in turn affected the ability of industry to import raw materials for production. Though Malawi remains vulnerable to exogenous shocks, we are optimistic that growth should rebound to 5.5 percent in 2013.


External Sector


35. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are beginning to see some hopeful signs on our external
position. As at end-December 2012, gross official reserves stood at US$215.4 million, which compares with the US$82.9 million recorded at the end of the previous fiscal year. This increase of US$142 Million is, from any point of view, an impressive achievement.


36. This improvement in the reserves’ position, Mr. Speaker, Sir, is not accidental, rather a direct outcome of the reforms that we are implementing. Out of US$463.6 million sourced by the Reserve Bank during the period July-December 2012, foreign exchange purchases from the market amounted to US$92.0 million, despite it being a lean period. This implies that the private sector was able to generate foreign exchange. Most of the resources (around US$350.0 million) were from our development partners. Of this amount, almost US$130.0 million was in the form of project funds, whilst the remainder of US$220 million was in the form of Budget and Balance of Payments (BOP) support.


37. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the intention of the reforms is to enable the country to progressively generate more of its foreign exchange through the private sector from export promotion and diversification, and to gradually reduce donor dependence.


38. In terms of import cover, the US$215.4 million gross official reserves as at end-
December 2012 represented 1.1 months of prospective imports. Gross official reserves as at end-June 2012 corresponded to 0.7 months of import cover. The modest improvement in the import cover reflects an increase in the monthly import requirement from US$129.0 million in June 2012 to US$188.1 million from July 2012.


39. Mr. Speaker, Sir, going forward, prospects for foreign exchange reserves are
encouraging as the favorable tobacco prices fetched in 2012 have led to increased
production in 2013. Although increased production may depress prices somewhat, the
reforms implemented in tobacco production should lead to improvements in quality which
should result in higher prices in the auction floors.
40. Moreover, the successful implementation of the ECF program should help galvanize
additional support from our cooperating partners and further improve our reserve position for 2013.


Monetary Sector


41. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I now turn to the monetary sector developments and prospects to
year end. During the first half of the 2012/13 fiscal year, the primary focus of monetary policy was to restore macroeconomic and financial system stability in order to preserve investors’ confidence.


42. In a bid to restrain inflationary pressures, the thrust of monetary policy was
consistently tight throughout the period. The RBM raised the Bank rate to 21 percent in July 2012. This was not sufficient to contain inflationary pressures so it was followed by another upward adjustment to 25 percent in December 2012.


43. Mr. Speaker, Sir, because of this tight monetary policy stance, money supply growth receded sharply from an average year-on-year growth rate of 32.4 percent during the first six months of 2012 to 22.9 percent by December 2012. This compared favorably with the projected nominal GDP growth of 22.0 percent for 2012.
44. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to the nominal exchange rate, the kwacha closed the
mid-year of the 2012/13 fiscal year at K335.1267 per US$, compared to K272.3771 per
US$ recorded at the end of the previous fiscal year, representing a 23 percent
depreciation. With good prospects for tobacco foreign exchange earnings in 2013,
pressures on the kwacha and, therefore, the rate of inflation, are likely to ease and may
allow monetary policy accommodation in the near term, as I indicated earlier.


FISCAL PERFORMANCE


45. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I announced in the budget statement delivered in this House on 8th June, 2012, our main fiscal anchor for the 2012/13 fiscal year was No Net Domestic Financing (NNDF) meaning that by the end of June 2013, net domestic borrowing should be zero.


46. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as a result of pressures resulting from an exchange rate that has depreciated more than expected and translated into increasing inflation because of a significant pass-through, we have further tightened our fiscal anchor. We are now
targeting a minimum net repayment of domestic debt of K5billion equivalent to 0.5 percent of GDP.


Revenues


47. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me now turn to the revenue performance of the first half of the 2012/13 fiscal year. You may recall that in the last Budget Session of Parliament, the House approved the 2012/13 National Budget comprising Total Revenues and Grants amounting to MK394.9 billion.


48. Mr. Speaker, Sir, domestic revenues were projected at K270.4 billion comprising
K236.5 billion tax revenues and K33.9 billion non tax revenues. The Mid-Year revenue
target was K130.0 billion consisting of K113.5 billion tax revenues and K16.5 billion non-tax revenues.


49. I wish to report to the Honourable House that we have surpassed this target. At the end of the first half of the fiscal year, actual outturn for domestic revenues was K133.8 billion of which K120.9 billion and K12.9 billion were tax and non-tax revenues, respectively, representing an over-performance of K3.9 billion.


50. Tax revenues over-performed by K7.5 billion while Non tax revenues
underperformed by K3.6 billion. Mr. Speaker, Sir, tax revenues over-performed largely on account of the macro-economic factors such as the exchange rate adjustment and price increases coupled with efficiencies in the tax administration system by the Malawi Revenue Authority. Non-tax revenues underperformed largely on account of shortfalls in fuel levies.


51. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in terms of prospects to year end, Total Domestic Revenues and
Grants are now projected at MK461.4 billion representing an upward revision from the MK 394.9 billion Approved Budget.


52. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Domestic revenues have been revised upwards to K278.9 billion
from MK 270.4 billion approved in the Budget. The revised targets comprise K243.8 billion tax revenues and MK35.1 billion non tax revenues. This revision is due to revisions in the growth projections, exchange rate and inflation and efficiency gains in tax administration system.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, Sir, if the seamless fuel supply will be maintained, we anticipate a significant improvement in fuel levy collections. In addition, Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Finance intends to intensify its oversight role in monitoring the different Ministries and Government Departments to ensure that revenues are properly accounted for and managed in line with the Public Finance Management Act of 2003.


53. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also wish to report that Government has fully implemented all the tax and non-tax policy measures that were announced in the 2012/13 National Budget.
Through my continued dialogue with different stakeholders, I am pleased to report that the private sector supports the tax reforms because the measures are helping in reviving businesses. This, Mr. Speaker, Sir, reflects the importance of the inputs from the Pre-Budget Consultations processes.


GRANTS


54. With regards to grants, Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the first half of the 2012/13FY, they were projected at K109.6 billion comprising K50.6 billion Program Grants, K37.4 billion Dedicated Grants and K21.6 billion Project Grants.


55. Grants under-performed by K5.6 billion largely on account of lower receipts from
dedicated grants to NAC and Education sector Support as well as Project Grants. Against the projection of K109.6 billion, a total of K104.0 billion was received, of which K56.6 billion were Program Grants, K29.4 billion were Dedicated Grants and K18 billion were Project Grants.


56. Under Program Grants, the Development Partners who disbursed their Budget
Support Resources were as follows: the World Bank (K13.7 billion); the African
Development Bank (K10.7 billion); the United Kingdom (K10.3 billion as emergency budget support); the European Union (K17.5 billion); and Germany (K2.1 billion, also as emergency budget support). The Norwegian Government re-allocated the programmed budget support for the replenishment of the Strategic Grain Reserves.


57. Programme grants in the first half of the Financial Year were further buoyed by
receipts from proceeds of fuel donations from Zambia and South Africa. Major partners who disbursed resources under Dedicated Grants included DFID which disbursed K15.4 billion of which K5.2 billion was for the Health sector SWAP, K6.8 billion Education sector SWAP and K3.4 billion Agriculture sector support. World Bank also disbursed K1.4 billion for the National Aids Commission (NAC). Norway and Germany also disbursed K2.4 billion and K1.4 billion respectively for the Health sector SWAP. In the second quarter however, K7.9 billion was disbursed towards food security accounting for 63 percent of all the dedicated grants in the quarter.


58. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I acknowledge that we continue to experience absorption problems
mainly because some line Ministries delayed in meeting the preconditions for the release of donor resources. An additional MK5.6 billion would have been released to the budget had line Ministries fulfilled all the conditions agreed at the inception of the projects and programs.


59. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I can assure this august House that the Ministry of Finance is
working with the line ministries to improve their capacities to absorb donor resources.


60. Mr. Speaker, Sir, prospects for grants for the rest of the year are projected to amount to K183.5 billion of which K80.1 billion is for Budget Support, K67.1 billion is for Dedicated grants while K35.3 billion is for Project grants.

Expenditure and Net Lending


61. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me now turn to the performance of expenditures in the first half of the financial year.


62. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as you may recall, in June last Year, the august House approved a Budget for the 2012/13 Fiscal Year with Total Expenditures and Net Lending of K408.4
billion, comprising K332.2 billion Recurrent Expenditures and K76.2 billion Development Expenditures.

In the first half of the financial year, the plan was to spend K249.8 billion of which K195.1 billion and K54.7billion would be Recurrent and Development Expenditures,respectively.


63. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am delighted to report that actual expenditures were within target and amounted to K242.6 billion, comprising recurrent expenditures of K191.3 billion and development expenditures of K51.3 billion.


Recurrent Expenditures were below the targeted expenditure by K3.8 billion largely on account of reduced interest payments on Domestic Debt as a result of reduced Government borrowing in the period under review.


Development Expenditures also fell short of the target mainly on account of low Donor
disbursements for Donor Funded Projects.


64. In terms of selected expenditures of the Budget Mr., Speaker, Sir, I wish to report to the Honourable House that some expenditure lines experienced pressures in the First Half of the Financial Year on account of the depreciation of the exchange rate which was passed through into higher prices. These included procurement of Drugs and Medical Supplies, purchases of Teaching and Learning Materials, payment for Subscriptions to International Organizations, operations of Foreign Missions Abroad and resources for implementing the Farm Input Subsidy Programme.


65. There was also pressure on the subventions to Statutory Corporations Vote as a
result of more than planned increases in salaries and wages in the Public Universities and
the Judiciary.


66. I have accordingly made proposals to adjust specific budget lines to ensure that
there is smooth delivery of programs to the end of the Financial Year.


67. As such, Mr. Speaker, Sir, Total Expenditure and Net Lending is now projected to
rise from the Approved Budget estimate of K408.4billion to K475.8billion. Recurrent
Expenditures are expected to increase from the original estimate of K332.2billion to
K381.3billion. Development Budget Expenditures are expected to increase from
K76.2billion to K94.5billion. Domestic Debt repayment is projected at K18.8billion which will reduce domestic debt stock to K170.0 billion from K188.8 billion representing domestic debt repayment of 1.7percent of GDP and hence surpassing the set minimum target of 0.5 percent of GDP.


68. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is the best that we can do if we are to remain within the
budgetary ceiling and achieve what we have planned in the Economic Recovery
Programme. Any further upward adjustment must be followed by a corresponding cut
elsewhere to ensure that we meet our fiscal objective of net repayment of domestic debt.


SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF FISCAL 2112/13


The Farm Input Subsidy Programme


69. I wish to report to the Honourable House Mr. Speaker, Sir, that the implementation of the Farm Inputs Subsidy Program (FISP) for the 2012/13 agricultural season progressed very well in the period under review. In total, the programme has distributed 154,400 metric tons of Fertilizers comprising 77,200 metric tons of Urea and 77,200 metric tons of NPK to 1,544,400 farm families across the country at a subsidized price of K500 per bag.

By the end of December, 2012, 99.9% of the fertilizers had already been distributed to all the depots across the country for distribution to the intended beneficiaries. Mr. Speaker, Sir,this year, every village established market committees and they were notified of when to redeem their coupons at the market. This proved a successful innovation that reduced delays and malpractices at the market place.


70. As the honourable Members of the House may note, the programme distributed an
additional 4,400 metric tons of fertilizers to 44,400 additional beneficiaries identified by the Ministry of Agriculture.


Promotion of Legume Production


71. On the Presidential Initiative on Promoting of Legume Production, I wish to report to Honourable House, that a total of 1,570 metric tons of Legume Seed was procured from Seed Traders Association of Malawi (STAM) and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Topics (ICRISAT) for distribution to over 100,000 famers across the country.


The programme, Mr. Speaker, Sir, is aimed at boosting production and export of legumes
so that the resultant foreign exchange from the sale of these legumes can assist in reducing our Balance of Payment deficit.



Maize Purchases by the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC)


72. Let me report, Mr. Speaker, Sir, that out of the allocation of K1.3 billion this House approved to be used to purchase maize from smallholder farmers for purposes of the Strategic Grain Reserve. ADMARC procured a total of 18,442 metric tons of maize at an average cost of K66,000 per metric tonne including handling and logistical costs for a total cost of K1.217 billion resulting in a saving of K82.3 million which will be retained for purchases next season. I must also report Mr. Speaker, Sir that rather than delivering the maize to the Strategic Grain Reserves, the maize was sold by ADMARC during the lean period in order to fulfill Government’s price stabilization role and dampen the increase in maize prices.


Green Belt Initiative


73. On the Green Belt Initiative, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to report that a total of 950 hectares have been put under irrigation in the period under review. This is through three Government and Donor Supported Projects of Smallholder Crop Production and Marketing Project, the Medium Scale Irrigation project and Malawi Irrigation Development Support Programme. In addition, progress is at advanced stage on the Chikwawa Irrigation Scheme in Salima where 530 hectares of land will be irrigated.


Responding the Humanitarian Needs


74. Mr. Speaker Sir, as you are aware, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee
has highlighted the fact that 1.9 million Malawians will require food assistance in the lean season.

Government moved quickly to secure funds from Development Partners to provide logistical support and complementary foods, while the Government has approved the drawdown of 75,000 metric tones of grain from the Strategic Reserves for the Humanitarian Relief Programme. It is being implemented as planned and will help the poorest and most vulnerable members of our community from having to rely on destructive coping mechanisms. Government has also secured funds from Norway and Ireland to replenish the Strategic Grain Reserve.


Education, Science and Technology

75. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the area of Education, Science and Technology, there is good
progress on provision of Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs). So far, 1,537 schools
have received 60,000 double seater desks. In addition, Government has distributed 9.7
million text books, 32 million exercise books; 300,000 slates, 75,000 flip charts, 127,000 schemes and records, 236,000 boxes of white and colored chalks, 3,000 portable chalk boards, 15,000 attendance registers and 390,000 teachers guides across the country.


76. Under Complementary Basic Education (CBE), 840 centers are now operational
country wide and preparations are underway to open a further 840 centers at the start of the 2013/14 financial year. In addition, 8,000 adult literacy centers are operational. In the area of Special Needs Education (SNE), 300 learners that benefitted from the program have been selected to Secondary Schools and 370 Hearing Aids and Audiometers have been distributed.


77. Under Secondary Education, Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is also progress in the provision of Teaching and Learning Materials. Government has so far distributed 20,000 single seater desks and chairs, 9,967 mattresses and 313,210 text books. On the Secondary Bursary Scheme, Government continues to assist needy students. In the past six months, 9,000 bursaries have been extended to form 2 and 4 students and the selection process for form 1 bursary beneficiaries was concluded in December, 2012. In addition, Government has supported 120 students enrolled to study at Kamuzu Academy.


78. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government is committed to girls’ education and to retaining girls in school. Eight Girls Hostels have been completed at Chamakala in Kasungu, Kasiya in Lilongwe, Wenya in Chitipa, Lukalazi in Nkhata Bay, Gawani and Chikhwaza in Mulanje,Nachitheme in Ntcheu, and Mbenjere in Machinga. Under the African Development Fund (ADF) V Education Project, 15 classroom blocks have been constructed in 15 Districts, representing 83.3 percent progress. The beneficiary districts include Zomba, Chitipa, Mzimba, Rumphi, Dowa, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Ntcheu, Salima, Balaka, Blantyre,Chiradzulu, Mulanje, Mwanza and Thyolo. Under the ADF IV, construction of 2 Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) in Chikhwawa and Mulanje has been completed.


79. Mr. Speaker Sir, 8,391 Conventional Primary School Teacher Trainees have enrolled
at various Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) in the country and 11,587 Open Distance
Learning (ODL) students have also been enrolled at TTCs. It is expected that once these Trainee Teachers qualify, the Teacher to Pupil Ratio will be reduced which will result in increased quality education.


Transport Infrastructure


80. Mr. Speaker Sir, Honourable Members, on the road sub-sector; I would like to report to the Honourable House that a number of road projects have been completed and officially opened. These include Karonga – Chitipa Road, Chikwawa-Ngabu Road, and Ekwendeni – Ezondweni Road. Roads completed and awaiting official opening include the Bunda-
Mitundu Road, and Mchinji – Kawere Road. In addition, the rehabilitation and maintenance of the Lilongwe – Dedza - Nsipe stretch has been substantially completed.


Public Health


81. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me now turn to the area of Public Health. First and foremost, allow me to comment on the drug and Medical Supplies shortages which have affected our Referral and Districts Hospitals.


82. I wish to report that following the recent revelations on the matter, Government
moved swiftly to review the mechanisms and systems for procuring and supplying drugs in our Hospitals. We have begun to implement reforms to address the outstanding issues.


83. The solutions are not easy ones. The calls for simply increasing budget line items
are overly simplistic to the underlying causes of some of our more fundamental problems.

Sadly, doubling the budget for drugs would not necessarily correspond to a doubling of
drugs available to sick patients. Therefore, we need to do better to use the resources that we currently have than just simply thinking that increasing the budget is the answer to all the country’s problems. We need to find tangible solutions to the problems of bureaucratic inefficiency. Recently, the President met with the doctors immediately upon her arrival from abroad – the first time a president has ever met with the doctors – and she listened. These doctors understood that although more money is always desirable – and they didn’t hesitate to ask for more – they indicated that the major reforms needed are institutional reforms. I suspect that the same is true throughout many of the line items of this budget. This is why the mid-term review focuses not only on increases but also on measures to increase efficiency.


84. The review of the systems and mechanisms for procuring and delivering drugs
revealed a number of systemic weaknesses and challenges. Notably, the review has
established that there are major accountability and management challenges across the
supply chain. As a result, there is a lot of drug pilferage, misuse and thefts.


85. This is compounded by the fact that there is weak legislation and mechanism for
dealing with the culprits caught in these malpractices. There are weaknesses in Police
investigation and in prosecution processes. As a result, few cases result in convictions.


Furthermore, when a suspect has been found guilty, the penalties are too lenient to act as a deterrent to other would be offenders.


86. Against this backdrop, Mr., Speaker, Sir, I wish to report to the Honourable House
that Government now intends to tighten legislation surrounding this matter as well as to improve police investigation and prosecution in order to increase the probability that
offenders will be convicted and that their sentences will be appropriate to the gravity of the offense and provide adequate deterrence to others.


87. One of the initiatives will be to ensure that all drugs and medical supplies dispersed through our Hospitals are properly labeled as Malawi Government Property. This should deter those who sell or exchange them outside our formal health system. Mr. Speaker, Sir, at the appropriate time, these proposals will be brought to this House for debate and passing into Law.


88. The review also highlighted the challenge that some health facilities are buying drugs from private suppliers. Some of these are vendors who sell at exorbitant prices which in some cases are two to three times higher than those supplied by the Central Medical
Stores. The problem of excessive profits for vendors and middlemen results in drug
budgets to be exhausted quicker than anticipated. Vendors do not handle drugs properly – and indeed some of the drugs may be counterfeit. Furthermore, drugs require careful
storage conditions in order to be effective.


89. Moreover, district hospitals had accumulated arrears of K230 million while Central
and Referral Hospitals had arrears of MK750 Million. I am pleased to inform the House that


Government has cleared these arrears. In January 2013, the Ministry of Finance provided K876 million to clear arrears for the Central Hospitals, while the National Local Government Finance Committee was given K300 million to clear the arrears of the District Hospitals.


90. Other problems include the fact that some Hospitals were using resources meant for
drugs for paying locums or other allowances.


91. The review also revealed that some hospitals managed their drug budgets optimally
and there were no problems in the drug supply chain. These successes were due to strong management and integrity. It is important to reward star performers and to punish poor performance.


92. Mr. Speaker Sir, Government is implementing comprehensive reforms to the Drug
Supply Chain to prevent such abuses recurring in the future. Government will recapitalize the Central Medical Stores so that they are a sole supplier of drugs and medical supplies for all public sector Hospitals across the country.


93. At present, the Central Medical Stores has K3.6 billion (US$ 10 million). These
resources will be used to complement the Essential Drugs Programme which is funded by
Development Partners and provides Primary Health Drugs directly to the District Hospitals.


94. In addition, the Department for International Development (DfID) will purchase
directly and airlift drugs valued at US$27 million or K9.5 billion for the Central Hospitals. In the 2013/14 Financial Year, we plan to allocate an additional K3.2 Billion (US$9 million) for re-capitalizing Central Medical Stores. The programmed resources for the Central Medical Stores will be used to procure sufficient Drugs and Medical supplies for all the Referral,District Hospitals and Health Centers over the next eighteen months. The Honourable Members of the House will be pleased to note that the Central Medical Stores is now an autonomous Trust and that there is consultancy support to strengthen capacity in drugs supply chain management.


95. Mr. Speaker, Sir, under the planned reforms to the Central Medical Stores, hospitals will submit their requirements to the Central Medical Stores, and once delivered, payments to Central Medical Stores will be done centrally either by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Finance within the allocations of the hospitals. In this way, we will ensure the integrity of the supply chain; prevent purchases from vendors and the accumulation of arrears and improve the quality of health care in the country.


96. As regards to the other areas of the Health Sector, Government has embarked on
the rehabilitation of major Hospitals in the country to create a conducive environment for patients and Medical Personnel. The rehabilitation works at Zomba and Kamuzu Central Hospitals are well advanced. Other rehabilitation works include Nsanje District and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospitals. With regard to the construction of new Hospitals, there is good progress at Nkhata-Bay Hospital where over 70% of the works has been completed.


97. Mr. Speaker Sir, Honourable Members will recall that in the last sitting of Parliament, Honourable Members approved a loan of US$7 million from the Arab Economic
Development (BADEA) for the construction of the proposed Phalombe District Hospital.
However, construction could not start until additional financing amounting to US$15 Million from the Saudi Fund for Development was secured. I am now pleased to report Mr. Speaker Sir, that the Board of Directors of the Saudi Fund for Development approved the proposed loan to supplement funding from BADEA for the construction of the hospital. Very shortly the Malawi Government will meet the Saudi Fund for Development to negotiate the terms of this loan and I shall be submitting to this August House a loan authorization bill for approval before signing the agreement.



98. On the Umoyo Housing Project, Government is continuing with construction of
houses for its Health personnel throughout the country. During the period under review, Mr.
Speaker Sir, Government handed over 95 of the remaining 135 new houses constructed
while 90 of the targeted 117 houses have also been rehabilitated.


CONCLUSION


99. In conclusion Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am proud to state that the Budget is on track – we have contained expenditures within the budgetary ceiling, while our targets for revenue and debt repayment are on track. We remain on track with the IMF Programme and continue to enjoy strong support from our Development Partners. Mr. Speaker Sir, allow me, on behalf of Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda and the Government and people of Malawi to thank all our cooperating partners for supporting us in our Economic Reform Programme. We can never overemphasize our appreciation for the support we continue to receive from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations system, the UK through DFID, the EU, Germany, the United States, the Peoples Republic of China, Norway, Ireland, Flanders, Iceland and Japan.


100. The successful implementation of the first half of the Budget is an important
achievement against the difficulties we continue to experience. On behalf of President
Banda, I thank the dedicated men and women working for the public sector throughout
Malawi for these successes. I can assure all Members of this Honourable House that we
remain committed to the economic reforms outlined in the Budget Statement and to further strengthening Public Financial Management in order to ensure that there is accountability for scarce public funds.


101. While I am pleased with the Mid-Year Budget Performance, I acknowledge that there
is no room for complacency. We must reaffirm our commitment to the economic reform
programme in order for it to bear fruit and for us to achieve our vision of a peaceful and
democratic nation where all can realize their full human potential.


102. Mr. Speaker Sir, we have made some progress, but there is still a lot more to do. In this very House, I have heard an MP saying, in an echo of late US President John F.Kennedy that we should ask ourselves what we can do for our country and not what our country can do for us. That's heartening. I have heard other fellow MPs say we should all rededicate ourselves to the service of the nation. That is reassuring. President Banda herself has spoken of the need to forge ahead with sense of unity and purpose and break through the stormy weather of an economy that was almost shattered. That is uplifting.


103.With the Almighty God’s grace, let posterity declare that we, as a people, were tested but refused to give up on our future.


Mr. Speaker, Sir, I Beg to Move.

And Inkosi ya Makosi M’mbelwa IV Rests

Nobody saw dark wings,
Advancing to reach him there!

A day, this
When the track to Mwaiwathu Private Hospital was green and fair!

Before, against the tide of healthy will, death advanced,
And the M'mbelwa tree, one upon which Ngoni hopes bloomed, felled!

No, death is not the stranger he met once,
He had never heard his hollow voice!

No, that man death he never knew and named,
For him, mad death, to throw us in this hot furnace, his sad wings overspread!



It happened.

On a soaked, dreary February 14th day without wings,
In a room of small corners and imaginnings without wings.
There, the place of no known wings;
Yes, at the wingless Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Malawi's Commercial city, Blantyre- A great man with great beginnings humbly from life resigned:
Satisfied,
Quiet,
Unmoved.

Unlike someone who had been on the throne since February 1984!
In the hospitable room at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital,
A room devoid of the chief's throne-
Though, in his heart, he was the throne-
The king and the throne,
He lied there as the one he had always been: The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV, Zwangendaba's great grandson, the warrior king of the Ngoni people of Mzimba, proud father, custodian of culture, great supporter of the government-of-the-day, the only chief to have a whole District Council named after his chieftaincy- even the M'mbelwa District Assembly.

He was a man, The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV, who was more than a man.
He was a 'man'.
He was 'things'.
So many things to so many men!

The great grandson of Zwangendaba who, himself, lies silent and still
Somewhere on the fertile land where The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV rests.

His day ended on Tuesday, February 14th. Oh, who can forget 2013?

All his life. All his great travels. All the development initiatives he introduced for his people. All the children and subjects he loved. Everything he stood for- especially culture- he was only waiting for the early hours of February 14, 2013.

He died. Stolen by the events of that single day which, with its darksome wings,
Flapped the spirit of a man who stood by what he beleived in.

A man who told leaders of the Livingstonia Church of Central Africa Presbyterian to leave his Ngoni people alone; yes, he told the church leaders to let Ngoni culture prevail over Western ideals of Christianity.

Said the man who speaks no more: "Do not renegade on the agreement the (C.C.AP.) church made with my ancestors. That is, let my people continue to drink their beer. Let my Ngoni people marry as many wives as they like. But still recognise them as 'full time' Christians."

About this, the great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV stood up and spoke.After the statement, The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV sat down.

Satisfied that his voice was audible enough. To be heard.

His voice was heard.

Nobody challenged him on culture. He loved his roots. The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV.

His departure is a blow to Egalaweni and its mowing cattle. It muffles the voices at Edingeni. And silences the children at Embangweni. There is no happiness at Ekwendeni.

Why? The trip The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV took to Lilongwe Central Hospital- which trip saw him proceed to Mwaiwathu Private Hospital for further treatment- has ended in sorrow.

Zwangendaba Jere- that's his real name; the name his parents gave him- laughs no more. Smiles no more. But forgets not his roots, still!

And his legacy has rebuffed death. It lives on.

The legacy. Unblown by death's everyday winds.

What's the legacy, that refuses to be blown by the winds of death? He stood firm against the demarcation of Mzimba, the only home he ever knew. He told the church, in broad day light, not to interfere with Ngoni culture. The people, the Great Ngoni People, should continue guzzling their beer. And continue taking as many wives as hey wanted. That is pure Ngoni culture. The great culture.

Of course, one thing, in relation to beer, he always said: "No alcohol abuse. I will not tolerate alcohol abuse. Don't drink excessively during the rainy season. Go to your gardens and cultivate as many crops as possible. Don't forget to rear cattle and other domestic animals. In them lies the great Ngoni culture. Let men feed their families. Let everyone fend for themselves. Don't allow your families to starve. That is real Ngoni culture."

He was a sensible king. A king who was hated by Vice-President Khumbo Kachali.

Hated? Yes.

By Khumbo Kachali?

Yes.

How?

Here is how.
In September last year, The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV was traveling from Salima when, some three kilometres before Dowa Boma, there came Khumbo Kachali in his motorcade. Silens blowing the ears of the ordinary people.

The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV, so obedient to authority, parked his vehicle along the road, paving the way for Khumbo Kachali who, by coincidence, happened to be his subject as one of the Ngonis from Mzimba.

What did Khumbo Kachali, ever pompous, do?
He passed the The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV without even waving bye. Then,after traveling for some 500 metres, he phoned The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV. He said, and I quote, because Richard Chirombo was in the company of The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV, and was in The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV's vehicle at that particular point in time:

"Have you seen me passing by with my small convoy?" Khumbo Kachali asked, rather impolitely. "Yes," answered The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV. "I hope that," said the big-headed Khumbo Kachali, "shows you who is bigger (between you and me)".

Khumbo Kachali cut his phone and went on his own way. Disrupting traffic as he went. Silens brazing! This is true. It, really, happened. And Khumbo Kachali knows it is true. He knows it in his heart.

However, and this is the most surprising part, Khumbo Kachali- the Vice President who discrespected The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV during his life time, and despised him without second thoughts- has been one of the people who have followed M'mbelwa's body everywhere.

He was there at the College of Medicine Mortuary.

He was there at Mtunthama. He was there in Mzimba.
As if nothing wrong never happened.
As if he respected the The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV.
It must be the highest form of hypocrisy.
Worse still, insurbonination.

A Vice-President who never honoured The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV in his life time. Only to show plastic sadness when The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV lives no more.

It is the tragedy of power. The accident with accidental politicians!

Anyway, people like Khumbo Kachali are found far between. The majority, people like The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV's maternal uncle, the Very Reverend Professor David Sibande, will always remember The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV for what he was: a great man! Because he was great, Malawis first president, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Kankhwala Banda entrusted The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV to manage his Lower-Shire ranch. That happened after The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV completed his Malawi School Certificate of Education at Mzuzu Government Secondary School.

These are, hopefully, the traits The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV has left in his children, namely: Mswati, Mkosi Jere, Emtusani Jere, and the only female,Hluka Jere. As Mkosi takes over the reigns, he is likely to maintain his father's legacy.

Of course, he is a new king. A new man. With the same Ngoni blood, of course. The same Ngoni roots.His roots are no different from those of Inkosi Mpherembe, one of the chiefs of the Zwangendaba Jere clan, the rulers of Mzimba.

His blood is like that of Inkosi Kampingo Sibande of Eswazini. When everything is over- which started with burial of The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV today -millions of people will no longer mourn Inkosi ya Makosi M’mbelwa IV but celebrate his life when they visit Edingeni, the headquarters.

People, especially women, will no longer visit Edingeni clad in black -the colours of mourning- and choke under uncontrollable wailing, as they did during the viewing of the The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV's body.

In deed, as some people said, they will never have time to, again, see The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV ‘squatting-in-state’ (in tandem with the Ngoni tradition of setting the dead figure in a squatting position in the belief that, because Ngoni people are warriors, even the dead do not rest from the labours of war.

In those days- and those days are now-, his corpse, The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV's body, will no longer be seen in a casket draped in Malawi’s national colours of black, red, and green.

The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV will be a his final resting place, observing and fighting wars on our behalf.

Wars against culture he will win.
Wars against beer drinking he will win.
Wars against excessive drinking he will win.
Wars against the demarcation of Mzimba he will fight.

In his squatting state!!! And it will be said, that that, that Chewa Chief Kalonga Gawa Undi from Zambia- who brought Gule wa Mkulu from Zambia- did not attend the funeral in vain.

It will be said, then, that Inkosi ya Makosi Gomani from Ntcheu was not there in vain. They will remember, then, that Vice President Khumbo Kachali returned from the funeral repentant. Just like that.

That time, people will only remember that there once was The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV.

That he died at Mwaiwathu private hospital in Blantyre, and was buried on Saturday, 16th February, and that he was buried with full military honours- a state funeral mingled with Ngoni traditional rites.These rites, for starters, involve such things as putting the body in a sitting position, wrapping it with nguwo (cow hide) and placing a cattle gallbladder on the body to symbolise the power of the dead chief.

People, the Ngoni in particular, will remember that, after the body was lowered into the grave on February 16, Mkosi Jere- the first born son of late M’mbelwa IV- stood beside his father’s grave and inherited the arrow his father was using as a symbol of his ascendancy to power. Of course, they will remember that President Joyce Banda, Malawi's first female president, attended the burial of M’mbelwa.

But what they will remember more is that, unlike her predecessors Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Dr. Bakili Erickson Muluzi, and Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, Dr. Joyce Banda spoke at the funeral. Yes, she did not play the usual presidential song that she was so shocked by the dead of the said chief, and could not speak. No, Dr. Joyce Banda did not delegate. She spoke herself.

It is a first, this.
A president speaking, in person, at the funeral of an individual the president said was loved beyond measure.

But 'firsts' have become so familiar in Malawi.

Dr. Joyce Banda is Malawi's first female president- though she is not the first president to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree- and she is the first sitting president to speak at the funeral of someone she claims sho so loved!

Firsts, it seems, keep reapearing in Malawi's political scene.

There, before our own lies, ends the story of a chief whose reign started in jubilation in February 1984- sparked, in part, by his installation by Paramount Chief Mpezeni- and ended by celebrating his life on February 14, 2013. His real journey, though- the journey of life- started on 15 August 1954. That year, Zongendawa Jere was born.


Though storms have raged,
Our walls of faith shaking,
At our feet The great Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV lies
A skeleton he is not,
Slow effacement he rebuffs.

A legacy he carries,
A legacy he hides,
Where none may scan or shun,
As they trod over his his resting cage,
A recent grave.

The legacy: He keeps not in his resting place,
Or his aged recent grave.
Or those limbs,
Bent on a culture-stratagem,
Or rusty bones as they lie low,
Supporting the weight of the modern world.

His legacy is Mkosi,
The man who has revealed himself to us!

Malawi's Current Road Projects, According to the Roads Authority

Visit: http://www.ra.org.mw/rp-ongoing.html

On the Roads Authority Website, you will find information like this (Source: The Roads Authority):

Ongoing Road Projects
The Roads Authority
Mzimba – Eswazini – Kafukule - Ekwendeni Road and Ezondweni -
Njakwa Spur (S107/T309)
Ekwendeni – Ezondweni - Mtwalo Section
The project is for upgrading of 25 km Ekwendeni – Ezondweni - Mtwalo section from earth to Bitumen Standard Class II road. The civil works contract was awarded to FARGO Limited. The start date is 17th March 2008 and the initial completion date of 17th April 2010 which was revised to 30th October 2011 is being further revised to 30th June 2012 because of shortage of diesel and increased quantities of work items.
The initial contract amount was MWK1, 889,853,908.07 but was revised to MK3, 112,210976. 52 due to additional works in terms of quantities and time related costs arising from the extension of the project duration. The contract amount was further revised to MK4, 577,209,423.56 and this has now been processed to enable completion of the works. The overall progress is 93%. Surfacing of the road is at km18+000. The contractor has most of the materials on site to complete the works if payments are made on the outstanding invoices. There maybe another addendum estimated at MWK1, 042,902,781.24, because the interest charges on the outstanding payments are eroding the funds meant for the works.
Mzimba - Mzalangwe Road Section
The project is for upgrading of 62 km of the road from Mzimba boma to Mzalangwe from earth to Bitumen Standard Classes I and II. This is because the first part of the road is a main road that goes up to Mtangatanga, while the second part is a secondary road from Mtangatanga Turn-off up to Mzalangwe.
The civil works contract was awarded to Fargo Limited for an amount of MK7,126,974,102.35 for an initial duration of 36 months starting from 1st May 2009 to 31st April 2012. This has been revised to 16th November 2012. The overall progress is at 12.1 %. The progress status is at this level because of the challenges being experienced which include shortage of forex and unsteady fuel supplies and delayed payments. The works are still within the contract amount.
Lumbadzi – Dowa - Chezi Road (M7/M16)
The project is for upgrading of 34 km Lumbadzi-Dowa-Chezi road from earth to Bitumen Standard Class I. The civil works contract was awarded to Cilcon Limited on 17th March 2008 for a contract amount of MK3, 131,443,588.90 and a contract period of 36 months.
The works later included works on construction of St. Gabriel Hospital road at Namitete.
The Contractor has been instructed to concentrate on the Lumbadzi-Dowa section. He has only done some bridges and bush clearing beyond the boma. An additional funding of MWK1, 1536,409,628.67will be needed to complete the section up to Dowa Boma. This figure has increased from the previous amount of MWK950, 787,536.00 because of interest charges, revision of prices and time related costs. Another MWK2.0 billion will be required to complete the works up to Chezi.
This is one of the priority projects which was agreed to be completed up to Dowa boma, but the additional funding has not been confirmed by government yet. Overall progress is 61.%.
The supervision consultant is Royal Associates at an amount of MWK144, 326,952.00, and has been revised to MK290,130,888.00 to cover the additional assignments such as those on the Namitete road. The contract amount is further being revised to accommodate the 21 months Extension of Time which was granted to the Works Contract. Certification to date is at MWK225,369,939.00.
Chiringa - Miseu Folo - Chiradzulu Road (S145)
The project is for upgrading of 80 km Chiringa - Miseu Folo - Chiradzulu road (S145) as well as a 10 km section between Migowi and Phalombe (S147) to Bitumen Standard Class I and also an 11 km Nguludi – PIM - Chiradzulu road to Bitumen Standard Class II road. The civil works contract was awarded to Mota-Engil on 17th March 2008 for a contract amount of MWK6, 448,493,888.66 including the works on the Migowi - Phalombe section which was not in the original contract.
The contract period has been extended by 19.8 months and has been revised from 1st August 2011 to 25th March 2013. The funds in the contract have been exhausted and the government has directed that the works be done up to Chiradzulu Boma. The project requires additional MWK 8,189,222,946.34 The overall progress is at 48%.
The contract for the design review and supervision of the construction works was awarded to EMC Jatula Associates in association with Connex Consultants at a contract amount of MWK188, 733,187.50, which was revised to MWK385, 587,467.56 to cover the extended civil works duration, rate adjustment, and additional personnel.

An addendum for supervision during the 19.8 months amounting to MK293, 310,281.03 has been prepared and is awaiting ODPP’s no objection.
Msulira – Nkhotakota Road Game Reserve Section
The project is for the rehabilitation of the 33 km failed road section in Nkhotakota Game Reserve. The Civil Works contract amounting to MWK2, 417,137,339.00 was awarded to Shire Construction Company Ltd. This was revised to MWK4, 085,292,483.62 due to additional works, long material haulage distance than planned, and price escalation. The completion of the works was re-scheduled to 1st December 2011, due to continued diesel and forex shortage in addition to delayed payments to the contractor. A further request for extension of time of performance to 21st June 2012 has been submitted by the contractor, because of the same challenges which are not improving. An interim approval of the extension of time has been granted while waiting for finalization of fuel shortage claims which have been discussed with the contractor. The evaluation indicates that the contractor is entitled to Extension of Time due to diesel shortages only up to 8th December 2011, and an extra Extension of Time due to adverse rainfall takes the completion to 2nd January 2012. This is still being discussed.
Certification is MWK3, 699,968,422.00. There is MWK413, 337,902.00 outstanding payment to the contractor. The physical progress is 52.6%. The contract amount has been exhausted. There is need for further additional amount of MWK1.36 billion to complete the works because the funds including first addendum has been exhausted. This project could easily be completed if additional funds are available. If left uncompleted, the road will be rendered inaccessible because whatever earthworks has been done will be destroyed by weather and traffic.
The supervision contract was awarded to Bua Consultants at the sum of MWK61, 210,325.00 and was revised to MWK153,623,568.47 through Addendum No. 2 to cover extension of time as the site cannot be left without a supervisor. Certification is at MWK163, 874,971.00 and there is an outstanding payment of MWK28, 946,789.00 to the consultant.
Jenda - Edingeni Road Project
The project is for upgrading of 69 km road from earth to bitumen standard Class I as first phase of the project which is expected to continue to Euthini and Rumphi. The estimated cost of the works is MWK9, 949,832,411.5, while the supervision consultancy is estimated at MWK313,707,775.00. The phase 1 works was not started waiting for identification of additional funding. Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has made available MWK1, 600,000,000.00 for the project while government has provided MWK2,350,000,000.00 in the 2011/2012 financial year. The Abu Dhabi Fund has requested government to confirm other sources of funds before starting procurement of contractor and consultant as per the condition in the Financing Agreement.
Rehabilitation of Selected Lilongwe Urban Roads - MABARM
This project was for the resealing and rehabilitation of about 43.26km of selected roads in the city of Lilongwe at a contract amount of 3,048,669.60 Euros. The project was planned to be completed by end of February 2008, but due to change in scope of work it was extended to end of March 2008. The project is 100% completed. Malawi Government funded some of the additional works amounting to MWK101.2 million. A Final Statement of Account (FSA) has been prepared, and discussed with the Contracting Authority (CA). The CA has reviewed RA’s determination reducing the amount of money due to the contractor, and communicated to the contractor and EU.
Rehabilitation and Resealing of Lilongwe - Nsipe Road (M1) Section
This project is for the sectional rehabilitation and resealing of the Lilongwe – Nsipe road and the contractor is Mota-Engil. The contract amount is 7,623,059.01 Euros, and the commencement date is 11th November 2008. The original completion date was 11th November 2010. To date, certification is 7,160,772.38 Euros without including revision of price which is paid for outside the Contract Amount. The EDF part is 99% complete and soon we shall have a joint inspection to prepare a snag list for contractor to rectify before provisional acceptance is done.
The GoM contract progress of the permanent works is 27.5%. The completion date was discussed with the contractor and agreed be to 31st October 2011 because of the additional works and diesel shortage effects. The initial review for the scope of works showed further signs of additional pavement deterioration and a Falling Weight Deflectometer survey confirmed that the pavement on 75% of the road section was distressed and needed to be reworked, a revision which is beyond the scope of works contained in the existing 9th EDF Financing Agreement. Malawi Government has confirmed counterpart funding for the additional works which has increased the section to be rehabilitated from 6 km to 33 km, resealing from 60 km to 127 km and shoulder resealing of entire 160 km on both sides. The additional funds required for increased the scope of works is 11.12 million Euros which is being covered under government funded contract that was signed already. The contractor applied for a further Extension of Time of 164 days due to diesel shortage. This has been reviewed, and a Claims Resolution Meeting was held to finalise determination of the claims.The Claims have been resolved and Financial Claim was reduced from €2,269,454.47 to €779,081.00. Out of this, €254,812.00 is payable by EU, and this has been communicated to EU. The GoM will pay €524,269.00. The Contract period was extended to 30th November 2012. The GOM financial contribution to the project is being certified separately commencing with works done in January 2011. Time related costs from 1st September 2010 the date EU contract duration expired, have been transferred from previous EU IPCs to the GOM IPCs. Certification up to 31st March 2012 was €6,136,151.85 including VAT.
The Supervising consultant is Gauff Ingenieure GmbH & Company at a contract price of 640,565.00 Euros, which was revised to 951,690.00 Euro to cater for his input during the extended time. EU only financed the supervision contract up to end of August 2011. From 1st September 2011 to project completion it is being funded from the GOM component. The consultant has been asked to draft a contract with GoM for the period up to completion of the Works Contract, but he will use the same rates as in the EU funded contract. This will be paid in Malawi kwacha.
Rehabilitation and Resealing of the Chikhwawa - Nchalo - Bangula Road (M1)
The project is for the sectional resealing, rehabilitation and re-construction of the Chikwawa – Nchalo – Bangula road and the contractor is Mota-Engil. The initial contract amount is 16,092,115.13 Euros. The commencement date is 24th November 2008 and initial completion date was 23rd November 2010. After undertaking a resurvey and redesign, the consultant produced detailed pavement design and drainage system respectively. The Roads Authority recommended the most economical option considering the limitations on the funding which government has to provide in addition to the EU funding in order to cover the costs for additional works which has been estimated at about 27.432.00 million Euro with tax. This would reduce to 23,99 million Euro if GOM accepted the use of duty free facility which is on the EU Funded component. The final documents consisting design drawings and bill of quantities were prepared and the RA is the process of submitting the documents to Ministry of Finance for confirmation of the funds and Ministry of Justice for review of legal issues. It is important that government urgently makes a decision to confirm availability of funds so that a locally funded contract can be signed with the contractor. The contractor has partially completed rehabilitation and resealing of a total of 39.44 km, from Chikwawa to Nchalo. It is expected that EDF funding will cover all works from km 35 + 000 to the end at km 81 + 740 while GOM funded component will cover the section between km 0+00 to km 35 + 000
The overall progress of permanent works for the EU portion, i.e. up to Ngabu is 72%. The claims that were submitted on fuel shortage have been assessed and resolved. However, further claim for diesel shortage and another claim for accommodating works up to km 35 at Ngabu have been submitted by the contractor and are being assessed internally.

The supervising consultant is Grontmij/Carlo Bro for an amount of 1,142,700.00 Euros, which was later revised to 1,187,920.00 Euro. This was revised to take into account the redesign costs and costs for supervision of the additional scope of works under EU funding. EU is considering to extend the funding of the consultancy to include supervision of part of the GOM contract. The draft contract for the section from Bangula to Ngabu at km 35 + 000 has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance for vetting.
Mchinji - Kawere Road Project
The project is for upgrading of the 26 km road from earth to Bitumen Low Volume Sealed Road. The civil works contractor is Raubex of Zambia at an amount of €7,259,687.17. This is estimated to be exceeded because of the increased quantities in earthworks which were being assessed by the consultant, and the estimated amount now is 8,142,000.00 Euro for billed works. However, the effects of diesel shortage resulting in idle time claims and extension of time are that the estimated cost to completion is €10,789,000. The EU has provided extra €2.0 million to cover both Works and Supervision contracts. This is not adequate to complete the works hence the need for additional MK200.00 million to come from GOM. This has been included in the 2012/13 budget. Certification was at €5,892,933.35 with outstanding payment of about €400,00.00 without including Revision of Price.
The initial performance period was 18 months commencing on 24th May 2010 and scheduled for completion on 24th November 2011. The contractor submitted a claim for extension of the performance period of 12 months based on the additional works. This has been evaluated and together with claimed diesel shortage days, it has been recommended that an extension of time be granted to the contractor bringing the completion date to end July 2012. Progress is 65% while time lapse as per revised completion date is 76%. When surfacing begins the progress will increase, and the completion date may be achieved. The diesel shortage claimhas been discussed and settled amicably. The dispute for measurement of earthworks was also discussed and settled amicably by introducing a new bill item on fill material at an agreed rate. Diesel shortage claims will not be expected because the contractor now has an importation license for fuel.

The supervision contract was awarded to Nicholas O’dwyer at a contract value of 625,825.00 Euro, which has been revised to €961,275.00 to cater for supervision during the extended period. Certification is at €567,378.00.
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA / REPUBLIC OF CHINA FUNDED PROJECTS
Karonga - Chitipa Road (M26) Republic of China (Taiwan)
This project is for the construction of the 101 km Karonga - Chitipa Road (M26) to Bitumen Standard Class I road. The Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) offered USD45 million for the project in 2006, of which USD 15 million was a grant, while the rest was a loan.
When Government closed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2008, the contract was terminated. A local consultant was engaged to finalize assessment of costs required to compensate the contractor. A Final Report of the assessment was discussed and an agreement reached that the contractor be paid USD3.2 million. The payment to Chaser Construction Company is still outstanding and accruing interest due to the delays
Completion of the Karonga - Chitipa Road (M26) with funds from People’s Republic of China.
This project is for the completion of the construction of 101 km Karonga - Chitipa Road (M26) to Bitumen Standard Class I road. Following the termination of the first contract between Chaser and Malawi Government, the People’s Republic of China took over the project soon after establishing diplomatic relations with Malawi in 2008. The works contract was awarded to China Road and Bridge Corporation (CR&BC) to complete the first 13 km section between Karonga and Mwesya bridge. The contractor has completed the first phase and is currently working on the second phase where all major structures and earthworks are completed. Pavement layers are in progress with stone crushing for pavement layers and surfacing chippings in advanced stage. The project completion date is going to extend to October 2012 due to intermittent fuel supply. The Contractor is arranging direct importation of diesel through PIL, hence the diesel and fuel supply to the project may improve. The total contract value is USD70 million.
The overall progress is 80.3%. The completion date has been changed from 28th September 2011 to 31st December, 2012 because of diesel shortage and change in pavement design from natural gravel to crushed stone.
The design consultant is China Highway Planning and Design Institute (HPDI), but they operate under the contractor since the project is basically for design and build.
Theft of materials including diesel which has been a problem for some time has reduced substantially. Roads Authority with support of the Police and the District Commissioners has assisted the contractor through awareness campaigns to minimize the incident. The relocation of electricity poles, water mains, and MTL lines has also been completed.
MALAWI GOVERNMENT / KUWAIT FUND FOR ARAB ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT / OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT / ARAB BANK FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA FUNDED PROJECTS
Zomba - Jali - Phalombe - Chitakale Road (S143/S147)
The project is for the Construction of the Zomba-Jali-Phalombe-Chitakale Road, about 102 km in length to Bitumen Standard Class I, for a contract amount of USD 57,093,385.05. The main contractor is M.A. Kharafi and Sons. The project was scheduled for completion by end May 2008 but was extended because the works were affected by shortage of basic materials such as cement, steel, bitumen and fuel and cash-flow problems due to delayed payments. The progress remains at 75%, but there is need to do more work when the project resumes because some sections will have to be reprocessed as their condition has been affected by the rains.
Government has been looking for funds amounting to USD33.83 for the outstanding works as assessed by the RA. Two development partners have already come forward with some funding whereby BADEA has pledged USD4.0 million and Kuwait Fund USD10 million . The process of procuring a supervising consultant has been completed whereby Saoud Al Muhana Dar Consulting Engineers has been approved by BADEA but the contract is yet to be finalised.
Since there are claims that were raised by the contractor, but supervising consultant did not assess, a Claims Expert is assessing the claims. The claims are on contractual damages arising from client’s failure to effect some payments in time, and delays in sourcing funds for continuation of the project which made it impossible for the contractor to perform.
The contractor and government agreed that USD22.00 million be paid immediately for the contractor to resume the works. Government has allocated MWK550.0 million in the 2011/12 budget from which payments can be started. The RFA has been reminded to start making the payments so that the contractor can resume the works since the consultant has been procured.
MALAWI GOVERNMENT / OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT / KUWAIT FUND FOR ARAB ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/SAUDI FUND FUNDED PROJECTS
Thyolo - Thekerani - Muona - Bangula Road (S151)
The project is for the Construction of the 92 km Thyolo - Thekerani - Muona - Bangula Road to Bitumen Standard Class 1 including several bridges, box and Armco culverts at a contract amount of USD 64,145,514.57. The contractor is M.A Kharafi and Sons. The project officially started on 29th February 2008 and was planned to run up to 28th February 2011. The contractor mobilized some resources to site and had started works on bush clearing and grubbing from Makwasa towards Thekerani. About 7 km of the road section had been cleared. However, the works could not continue because there were no funds for the project.
The government ratified the loan agreements with BADEA, OFID, Kuwait Fund and Saudi Fund following the approval of the loans by Parliament. A consultant to review the designs and supervise the works has been procured and he is reviewing the designs. Government has paid the Part II of the Advance Working Capital and the Part I component is being processed whereby GOM has submitted a disbursement application to the development partners. It is expected that the contractor will remobilise as soon as the Part I is paid. Camp sites have been identified, one at Masambanjati and the other at the Thyolo boma. A third site is still being explored.
There is an existing agreement that government should pay USD2,419,801.40 to the contractor for the works that he carried out, and idle time arising from the suspension of the works. The works will be assessed and certified by the new supervising consultant. The contractor is revising the figure on suspension costs every month and also charging interest. Since government has engaged a Claims Expert, he is assessing all the claims arising from suspension and idle time.
The original contract amount of the project is USD64,145,514.57 which was meant to cover 92km. The revised contract amount factoring in the rate adjustment of 43.75 % is USD 92,209,177.19 for the original scope of the works. This would need USD28,063,662.62 additional funds to the original contract amount. However, government has decided that the project should end at Makhanga because from there to Bangula there is another project. The revised length of the project from Thyolo to Makhanga is 82km. This stretch of the road will require USD82,186,440.53 using the revised rates. This implies that to complete the revised scope of works there is need for USD18,040,925.96 additional funds to the original contract amount. The length of the road that can be completed with the original contract amount using the revised rates would be 64km as opposed to the 82km.
MALAWI GOVERNMENT / OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDED PROJECTS
Liwonde - Naminga Road
The project is for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 25 km Liwonde - Naminga Road at a contract sum of USD22,675,250.00 awarded to Kharafi and Sons. The start date was 29th February 2008 and the completion date was 28th February 2009. The contractor mobilized his resources to site and set out centre line of the road from Liwonde. Bush clearing and some earthworks were carried out in the escarpment where the road has been realigned to improve the horizontal curves. The road widening had also been carried out near Malawi Railways station. Forestry Department allowed the contractor to work within the road corridor. The contract duration will have to be revised because there is a lot more earthworks in the escarpment to be done, and also because the project has been on suspension for some time.
The contractor mobilized adequate plant including aggregate crushing plant. Since the contractor suspended the works because he was not being paid, it was agreed with government that payment of USD7,635,287.60 be made to the contractor for idle time and the work that was done prior to suspension of activities on site. The RFA has indicated outstanding certificate of MWK87,764,00.00. Government has allocated MWK14,662,500 in the 2011/12 financial year and there is also development partners contribution of MWK1.0 billion from the 2010/11 financial. The RFA has been reminded to start paying the outstanding certificate. Claims are to be assessed by the Claims Expert. The RA is in the process of procuring another consultant in readiness of the restart of the project when contractor resumes activities as soon as government settles the outstanding payments.
JAPAN/JICA FUNDED PROJECTS
South Rukuru Bridge
The project is for construction of a 74 m long new bridge across South Rukuru River on M1 road in Rumphi District, estimated to cost ¥776,000,000.00 awarded to Dai Nippon Construction under supervision of Central Consultant Inc.. The consultancy contract is ¥105,200,000.00. The site was handed over to the contractor on 4th October 2010 and the project was initially to run up to 1st May 2012 but is being revised to September 2012 due to substructure design modification, fuel and cement shortage. The works are in progress whereby earthworks on the approaches are completed up to formation level. All precast beams, both abutments and piers are complete. The progress is at 60 % but behind schedule by 12 weeks because of shortage of cement and diesel. On the issue of diesel supply rate, the contractor is making arrangements with MERA to directly import the diesel.
Upgrading and Dualisation of Masauko Chipembere Highway in the City
of Blantyre.
The project is for rehabilitation of the existing dual carriageway between Chichiri roundabout and Yannekis, and the dualisation of the remaining section up to the start of the Robert Mugabe Highway. The total project length is 4.3 km. The works are in progress at a contract sum of Japan ¥ 830.00 million being carried out by Nippo Corporation. The consultancy contract is Japan ¥ 67.545 million awarded to Katahira & Engineers International. The project start was 5th December 2010 and was initially scheduled for completion on 15th December 2011. This date is being revised to 15th October 2012. The progress is about 12.40%. The project is under suspension understandably because JICA, the contractor and Japanese government are discussing the possibility of reducing the scope of works.
The contractor terminated his agreement with sub-contractor, and is reported to be in a process of engaging another sub-contractor. The RA and Blantyre City Council are maintaining the road and diversion while waiting for the contractor to resume his activities. The agreement is that the main contractor will reimburse the City Council and RA for the maintenance works being carried out. Government is funding the section between Ilovo roundabout and Thyolo road roundabout. The section is being designed by Romana Consultants
MALAWI GOVERNMENT / AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUNDED PROJECTS
Lilongwe City West Bypass
The project is for construction of a 13 km new road west of the city of Lilongwe starting from around the six (6) miles road block at Bunda Turn Off and joining the Mchinji road directly opposite the Kaunda road as part of the Nacala Corridor. The project is estimated at MWK3, 175,594,450.00. The design review and supervision contract amounting to €729,803.07 was awarded to JBG Gauff of German in Association with David Consultants of Malawi. Works contract tender was launched and tenders are expected in end of May 2012. All compensation has been paid already, except for the end section where the road has been realigned.
Blantyre – Zomba Road
Contractor : Mota Engil of Protugal
Contract Sum : MK5, 444,901,295.90 (Works)
Consultant : David Consulting Engineers (Malawi)
Consultant’s Contract Price : MK177, 870,000.00Project
Length : 64 km
Commencement Date : March 2012
Performance Period : Months
Date for Completion : March 2014
Funding Agencies : African Development Bank and Malawi Government
Implementing Ministry : Ministry of Transport and Public Infrastructure
Implementing Agency : Roads Authority
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Description of the Project
The road project is targeting the 64 km section of M3, from Maselema Roundabout in Blantyre to Air Wing Turn Off in Zomba. This road section is the major connection between cities of Blantyre and Zomba. The road was first constructed to bitumen standard during the colonial era, and it has gone beyond its 20 years design life. The routine and periodic maintenance done on the road are expensive but with little returns as the road condition has continued deteriorating. The road is also too narrow to safely accommodate the increasing two way traffic.
The edge breaking of the paved carriageway has continued to narrow the road width further to the extent that vehicles are now forced to run on the unsurfaced shoulders when passing each other in both directions. The project starts at the intersection of M3 and Masauko Chipembere Highway in Blantyre at Maselema Roundabout, and runs north-eastwards passing through Njuli, Mbulumbuzi, and Namadzi to Zomba. It runs through a rolling terrain with mountains scattered along the road sides.
From the start point of the project in Blantyre City up to Kachere, there are a lot of obstacles for widening as the section is in a developed area. The road corridor is restricted to 24 m for the first 6 km, narrowing further to 13 m passing through Kachere settlement.
Beyond Kachere there are not many obstacles although developers have encroached into the road reserve area, but a corridor of 30m is achievable. The road corridor narrows again in Zomba City starting from Three Miles because of uncontrolled settlement. After crossing ( insert name of the river ) River the road corridor is restricted to 22 m up to Ndege Turn Off.
Project Objectives
The sector goal is to promote economic growth and poverty reduction through a coordinated transport environment that fosters a safe and competitive operation of commercially viable, financially sustainable and environmentally friendly transport services.
The specific objective of the project is to improve the quality of transport services on the Blantyre –Zomba road section and improve accessibility of the local communities to markets and social servies thereby contributing to reduction of poverty. This objective will be achieved through improvement of the road condition and safety by carrying out reconstruction works, including improvement of horizontal and vertical alignment where necessary. The objective will also be achieved through reduction of traffic congestion on the first 3.3 km in Blantyre City from Maselema Roundabout to Maone Park Turn Off) by widening it from two to four lanes. Similary, the last 9.3 km in Zomba City from three Miles to Air Wing Turn Off will also be widened to four lanes. The whole stretch of the road project will have sealed shoulders to accommodate the non-motorised traffic such as bicycles and pedestrians aimed at improving safety.
Project Components
The road works will comprise in-situ recycling of the existing surface, pavement layers and widening of the road. The widened road will then be overlaid with crushed stone base and a finishing of double surface dressing.
The drainage works will comprise the extension of existing culverts, construction of five (5) box culverts and construction of Namadzi bridge. Other ancillary road works comprising the separation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic at Kachere, road signs and guard rails also form part of the project.
Funding Source
The project is being funded jointly by the African Development Bank (MK5.97 billion) and Government of Malawi (MK3.35 billion) at an estimated total cost of MK9.32 billion. This comprises MK5,444,901,295.90 for civil works, MK177,870,000 for design review and supervision services, MK89,460,000.00 for feasibility studies of the Ntcheu -Tsangano-Neno-Mwanza road, and MK3,607,768,704.1 for audit services, road safety , capacity building, compensation/ resettlement, environmental and social management activities.
Project Status
The Feasibility and Detailed Engineering Studies for the road were done by a local consulting engineer - Henderson and Partners in 2009. The design review and pre-contract services were done by another local consultant, David Consulting Engineers, who will also supervise the works. The contractor has mobilised to the site and started the execution of the works.
The project is for rehabilitation and periodic maintenance of 60 km road from Zomba to Limbe. It is estimated to cost MWK5, 444,901,295.90. The consultant is David Consulting Engineers at a contract sum of USD1, 078,000.00. The African Development Bank has approved that Mota-Engil should carry out the works as per his bid of MWK5, 444,901,295.90. The contract has been signed and guarantees and bonds are being processed. The contractor has started mobilization to site. Government plans to fund dualisation of the end sections of the project.
On the Blantyre side, the dualisation will be from Maselema up to Chiradzulu turn off and on the Zomba side it is from 3 miles up to Ndege turn off. A request to single source Mota-Engil and David Consulting Engineers for dualisation works and consultancy services respectively is being forwarded to the ODPP for approval.- THE ROADS AUTHORITY