Se went the Penguin-stomached man,
Him and his noisy sister,
To the ants-filled land.
No, not only the so-filled land,
They, too, went to the Ngaliba land,
Before the badling Mountains.
There, the Penguin-man's sister sleeps,
When Mother ballot cries.
Four times she has cried
As the darkness kisses bye,
To the coming light.
So did the light
Bye the in coming dark.
Up came the foet,
It was a double might.
Neding another flight.
Hence went the Penguin man,
And his wife.
Sorry, its vice,
As together
They seek against their ants no mighty vice.
They have booted bye to kick backs,
So did they to vendor stalls
Lidding town of human vices
He and his vice.
In the ants land they made more noise,
Thinking it was all fine,
So did they
In Ngalibaland
Before the people said 'we want the lonely men,
A man and a woman
The party mount now so quiet
All the noise no prize
For the Penguin man and his wife.
So the ant-landers spiked,
The big man's quacking,
Their Penguin sister they spiked.
That, is that what you call our new life?
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Monday, August 17, 2009
Sole witness as Mulanje and Kilimanjalo mate
So innocent his mission,
Innocent Bushman set for the great Mulanje Mountain peak,
Sapitwa, that is the fame,
And the name.
Brother Kilimanjalo up river,
Of Sapitwa tolerates no riddle.
After all,
They hag up yonder
When shake the mighty winds,
When El Nino walks home,
To spread dry spells on land,
In miseries in the granaries.
That July morning,
Fog so covered,
The mighty Mulanje and Kilimanjalo kisses,
As Bushman
So innocently up mountain snaked.
The porter,So local in his knowledge
To Bushman's lonely insistence obliged,
To his lonely death no companion.
Mulanje Mountain so angry infuriated,
On why Bushman stil,l treked,
As Kilimanjalo and Mount Mulanje mate,
And unto another life's waters poured.
So went Bushman,
With the sperms of Father Kilimanjalo,
Down the Mulanje tube,
Yet he turned into no foetus.
Innocent villagers,
Wearing Bushman's innocence of July,
Up, up treked,
In search of daily bread.
Bushman quetly lay,
Flies nearby,
His new porter frriends,
That his own porter down he left
As towards death he solely treked.
Like the mighty winds,
The insolent fog,
Twain sheets as the two mounts met,
The news all over spread
That Bushman no longer breathed.
Innocent Bushman set for the great Mulanje Mountain peak,
Sapitwa, that is the fame,
And the name.
Brother Kilimanjalo up river,
Of Sapitwa tolerates no riddle.
After all,
They hag up yonder
When shake the mighty winds,
When El Nino walks home,
To spread dry spells on land,
In miseries in the granaries.
That July morning,
Fog so covered,
The mighty Mulanje and Kilimanjalo kisses,
As Bushman
So innocently up mountain snaked.
The porter,So local in his knowledge
To Bushman's lonely insistence obliged,
To his lonely death no companion.
Mulanje Mountain so angry infuriated,
On why Bushman stil,l treked,
As Kilimanjalo and Mount Mulanje mate,
And unto another life's waters poured.
So went Bushman,
With the sperms of Father Kilimanjalo,
Down the Mulanje tube,
Yet he turned into no foetus.
Innocent villagers,
Wearing Bushman's innocence of July,
Up, up treked,
In search of daily bread.
Bushman quetly lay,
Flies nearby,
His new porter frriends,
That his own porter down he left
As towards death he solely treked.
Like the mighty winds,
The insolent fog,
Twain sheets as the two mounts met,
The news all over spread
That Bushman no longer breathed.
Malawian soil plus German skills equals school blocks
By Richard Chirombo
Just about everyone around Nangungu Primary School in Makanjira, Mangochi, knew the German visitors were coming. Pupils, Senior Chief Makanjira, parents and teachers; they all tuned their reasoning towards October 2007.
But nobody, even his best friends, new what was up little Ali Mwamadi’s sleeve.
He had prepared a carefully woven reed hut, shaped like a plastic bag, and stood ready to receive his ‘gift’. Never once did he forget that little hut-cum-travel bag, lest he be caught unawares by the visitors.
When the Germans, for that was the nationality of the visitors, finally came in October, six year old Ali was there to welcome them. He stepped forward, a metre behind Wallace Christopher Chombo, project officer for the Malawi/Werkschule Scholen (Traveling Workschool Scholen) initiative.. Then, he stretched his bag-like hut, extending it towards the visitors..
For a moment, silence; nobody seemed to understand. There was a sense of confusion, too. But it was just for a moment because, before long, Mwamadi aired his views:
“Where is the soil they said you would bring? Throw it inside my hut!”
Laughter. Not for little Mwamadi: he was serious.
“I say, put a sample of the soil from Germany in here. What will you build the school block with, if not soil from Germany ?”
Everyone now got it. Mwamadi had heard right; that some Germans would come to Nangungu Primary School, the first of a series of visits planned by a German Non-Governmental Organization Reisende Werkschule Scholen, to help in the construction of school blocks in the district.
The only point he got wrong was the suggestion that the visitors- Eike, Evelyn, Eric, Joschus, Kim, Kolla, Marcel, Mario, Nadine, Niklas, Sean, Sebastian, Otis- would bring with them German soil, and the misconception that German soil must have been more durable than local Katondo, in the words of Ishmael Abna, a community members from the area.
That was 2007, when Mwamadi was only 6 years-old. He will be much older now, that the Germans are coming back for another construction project, to ask for German soil.. Some community members from Makanjira have already started preparing for the Germans’ 2009 coming. This year’s construction work will start on September 1, though some of the Germans will be in by August 10.
According to Michael Von Studnitz, chairperson and co-founder of Travelling Workschool Scholen, the organization chose Malawi out of 15 other choice countries because of high illiteracy rate, especially in Mangochi district, the friendliness of its citizens as well as prevailing peace and stability.
This feeds well into the fact that the country has been named the second most peaceful in Africa, after fellow Southern African Development Community member state of Botswana .
“Since 2001, we have been happy to help in the education and infrastructural development of Malawi . In fact, our research showed that there were only 13 countries in the world that needed more help than Malawi ,” said Studnitz.
Studnitz said the German organization, through financial assistance from Bingo Lotto and Stiftung Umvertellen, also wanted to boost cultural ties with Malawi , a development he hoped would help people from the two cultures appreciate their cultural heritage and learn from each other..
Through the development of learning infrastructure, the Germans also want to contribute towards the attainment of high education standards. Studnitz cited the general lack of up-to-scratch infrastructure in the country as one of the reasons for high illiteracy rates in many districts. His organization trains German children in various skills, some of which are exposed in Makanjira when those trained visit Malawi every two years since 2001 to do construction work.
This is done in collaboration with communities surrounding primary schools whose physical appearance seems to suggest doom, or announce news of imminent collapse. Trees have become the automatic substitute for such crumbling blocks, a temporally substitute that succumbs to the yielding pressure of heavy rains and the unyielding sun.
Influential community leaders like Senior Chief Makanjira have welcomed the gesture, hoping it would dig deep into the roots of illiteracy, and help enlighten hither to education-shy communities about the positives of education.
Various studies have shown that traditional Yao areas have been the heaven for illiteracy, a trend now changing with the establishment of many learning facilities in as many traditional Yao areas. This excites Makanjira so much, as manifested in his loud hopes that, very soon, the sons and daughters of Mangochi may begin to contribute positively towards their district’s development.
Those who attain the highest levels of education will now be able to flock to urban areas for work, look positively towards retiring so they may go back to the district for some good rest, and use that time (of rest) to share their experiences with the communities that nurtured and nourished them.
“In the end, Mangochi will be a developed lot,” said Makanjira.
Such is the hope of the chief; Reisende Travelling Workschool Scholen just nourishes it.
For people like Chombo, a son of Malawi who has joined hands with the Germans towards the development of Mangochi, the contributions they are making in raising up school infrastructure where in the past only hope rested is an incentive to foreign well-wishers eager to push us where our energies fail us
It always surprises people how the efforts always begin: a willing heart, community participation, eager and skillful German citizens, traditional, leaders’ support, the sight of little children bathing for education in the October sun, approaching rains, and readily available resources (water and soil).
Soon, a foundation is dug, one stone over another, iron sheets and…(boom) …students can now learn under protective shelter. It all happens within one month, and the Germans go home.
There are tears, also- always tears- in the end.
“ Malawi is almost like our own home; not a second home,’ says Studnitz.
Just about everyone around Nangungu Primary School in Makanjira, Mangochi, knew the German visitors were coming. Pupils, Senior Chief Makanjira, parents and teachers; they all tuned their reasoning towards October 2007.
But nobody, even his best friends, new what was up little Ali Mwamadi’s sleeve.
He had prepared a carefully woven reed hut, shaped like a plastic bag, and stood ready to receive his ‘gift’. Never once did he forget that little hut-cum-travel bag, lest he be caught unawares by the visitors.
When the Germans, for that was the nationality of the visitors, finally came in October, six year old Ali was there to welcome them. He stepped forward, a metre behind Wallace Christopher Chombo, project officer for the Malawi/Werkschule Scholen (Traveling Workschool Scholen) initiative.. Then, he stretched his bag-like hut, extending it towards the visitors..
For a moment, silence; nobody seemed to understand. There was a sense of confusion, too. But it was just for a moment because, before long, Mwamadi aired his views:
“Where is the soil they said you would bring? Throw it inside my hut!”
Laughter. Not for little Mwamadi: he was serious.
“I say, put a sample of the soil from Germany in here. What will you build the school block with, if not soil from Germany ?”
Everyone now got it. Mwamadi had heard right; that some Germans would come to Nangungu Primary School, the first of a series of visits planned by a German Non-Governmental Organization Reisende Werkschule Scholen, to help in the construction of school blocks in the district.
The only point he got wrong was the suggestion that the visitors- Eike, Evelyn, Eric, Joschus, Kim, Kolla, Marcel, Mario, Nadine, Niklas, Sean, Sebastian, Otis- would bring with them German soil, and the misconception that German soil must have been more durable than local Katondo, in the words of Ishmael Abna, a community members from the area.
That was 2007, when Mwamadi was only 6 years-old. He will be much older now, that the Germans are coming back for another construction project, to ask for German soil.. Some community members from Makanjira have already started preparing for the Germans’ 2009 coming. This year’s construction work will start on September 1, though some of the Germans will be in by August 10.
According to Michael Von Studnitz, chairperson and co-founder of Travelling Workschool Scholen, the organization chose Malawi out of 15 other choice countries because of high illiteracy rate, especially in Mangochi district, the friendliness of its citizens as well as prevailing peace and stability.
This feeds well into the fact that the country has been named the second most peaceful in Africa, after fellow Southern African Development Community member state of Botswana .
“Since 2001, we have been happy to help in the education and infrastructural development of Malawi . In fact, our research showed that there were only 13 countries in the world that needed more help than Malawi ,” said Studnitz.
Studnitz said the German organization, through financial assistance from Bingo Lotto and Stiftung Umvertellen, also wanted to boost cultural ties with Malawi , a development he hoped would help people from the two cultures appreciate their cultural heritage and learn from each other..
Through the development of learning infrastructure, the Germans also want to contribute towards the attainment of high education standards. Studnitz cited the general lack of up-to-scratch infrastructure in the country as one of the reasons for high illiteracy rates in many districts. His organization trains German children in various skills, some of which are exposed in Makanjira when those trained visit Malawi every two years since 2001 to do construction work.
This is done in collaboration with communities surrounding primary schools whose physical appearance seems to suggest doom, or announce news of imminent collapse. Trees have become the automatic substitute for such crumbling blocks, a temporally substitute that succumbs to the yielding pressure of heavy rains and the unyielding sun.
Influential community leaders like Senior Chief Makanjira have welcomed the gesture, hoping it would dig deep into the roots of illiteracy, and help enlighten hither to education-shy communities about the positives of education.
Various studies have shown that traditional Yao areas have been the heaven for illiteracy, a trend now changing with the establishment of many learning facilities in as many traditional Yao areas. This excites Makanjira so much, as manifested in his loud hopes that, very soon, the sons and daughters of Mangochi may begin to contribute positively towards their district’s development.
Those who attain the highest levels of education will now be able to flock to urban areas for work, look positively towards retiring so they may go back to the district for some good rest, and use that time (of rest) to share their experiences with the communities that nurtured and nourished them.
“In the end, Mangochi will be a developed lot,” said Makanjira.
Such is the hope of the chief; Reisende Travelling Workschool Scholen just nourishes it.
For people like Chombo, a son of Malawi who has joined hands with the Germans towards the development of Mangochi, the contributions they are making in raising up school infrastructure where in the past only hope rested is an incentive to foreign well-wishers eager to push us where our energies fail us
It always surprises people how the efforts always begin: a willing heart, community participation, eager and skillful German citizens, traditional, leaders’ support, the sight of little children bathing for education in the October sun, approaching rains, and readily available resources (water and soil).
Soon, a foundation is dug, one stone over another, iron sheets and…(boom) …students can now learn under protective shelter. It all happens within one month, and the Germans go home.
There are tears, also- always tears- in the end.
“ Malawi is almost like our own home; not a second home,’ says Studnitz.
PPM,DPP: Together, yet so far apart
By Richard Chirombo
People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), an alliance partner to President Bingu wa Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), seems set to follow the state president’s footsteps, albeit on different missions.
This came to the fore again this week, when PPM president Mark Katsonga Phiri addressed a campaign meeting at Ndirande’s Chirunga Ground on Monday, a day after Mutharika addressed a similar meeting at Ndirande Community Centre Ground. The two venues are just a kilometer apart.
Katsonga was in the populous township to win votes for PPM’s parliamentary candidate in the by-elections slated for this week, Margaret Saenda, while Mutharika was in town for the sake of Themba Mkandawire.
Mutharika has this year attracted a lot public attention, and uproar in equal measure, largely generated through the purchase of Hummers, which now form an integral part of his presidential convoy. Katsonga has not let the Hummers’ phenomenon gather around Mutharika’s personality only, but has purchased his own- an automobile he is employing to good use during campaign, including the one for Blantyre’s City Central constituency now on the table for claim.
PPM surprised Malawians in the run up to the country’s May 19 Presidential and Parliamentary elections when it announced, during the handover ceremony of papers for its presidential candidates to Malawi Electoral Commission officials, it would no longer feature candidates. The party announced, instead, it would support Mutharika’s candidature.
Observers, including Mzuzu University political analysts Noel Mbowela, described it as a marriage of convenience at the time, one that lacked clear terms of reference and guidelines on mutual benefits.
Mutharika then, during a meeting addressed in Katsonga’s Neno constituency, denounced Katsonga, accusing him, among other things, of cheating constituents that the DPP had endorsed him as its parliamentary candidate when the party already had a female candidate in the name of Reen Kachere.
The outburst put Katsonga in a catch-22 situation, as he still maintained the two parties’ relationship remained intact, and that Mutharika’s outbursts were merely part of the heat that was campaign.
Now, some three months after the May 19 elections, the relationship between the two parties remains hazy. Mutharika has done little to clear the air by his apparent disregard of PPM officials at his official meetings and public rallies.
PPM, which previously had over five Members of Parliament in the previous House, now has none, reducing the party to a side show and preparatory ground for the 2014 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Observers see the difference in metres between Ndirande Community Centre Ground (where Mutharika addressed a campaign rally on Sunday) and Chirunga Ground (the abode of Katsonga on Monday) as being representative of the ‘inside’ distance between the two political bedfellows.
Kenwilliams Mhango, one of the observers, said the two parties were now drifting apart, and attributed the development to the lack of clear terms of reference for the parties since their relationship was forged by way of an ad hoc strategy.
This could be seen from Mutharika and Katsonga’s sentiments during their Sunday and Monday meetings, respectively. Mutharika told a mammoth gathering at the Community Centre Ground that they should vote for nobody else but DPP’s Mkandawire. He described the other aspirants as mere opportunists who had nothing to offer. This includes PPM’s Saenda.
Katsonga, on his part, implored constituents to vote for Saenda only, saying the other political parties had failed to meet the aspirations of the people. He especially took at a swipe at the most immediate past Member of Parliament for the constituency, Gift Mwamondwe, and his party, saying they had failed people.
Mwamondwe was a DPP parliamentarian who will now stand as an independent. He accuses the DPP, where he still claims to belong, of ‘doctoring’ results of constituency primaries last year in favour of Mkandawire.
The PPM President also took time to visit Ndirande Market vendors. Katsonga was one of the first politicians to respond to the vendors’ dire call of distress when fire gutted down the market late last year, and donated K3 million.
Addressing the vendors, who gathered in the market premises on Monday, Katsonga asked them to vote for his candidate Saenda, saying the other political parties had little regard for their plight as evidenced by their slow response to the calamity that befell them last year.
Vendors especially accused government of employing ‘abandonment’ tactics after the fire, citing the slow response to their troubles, a development that led to an attempted gutting down of a DPP office in the area.
Katsonga seemed to play this ‘anger’ card very well this week, imploring the vendors not to put the incident fast behind the wheels of the past but show that they, too, could make responsive decision at the ballot box, decisions that reflected the realities of everyday life.
"I would accept no other form of gratitude (to the donation I gave you) other than the gift of Saenda from this constituency. That is the best way to thank me. PPM is the only party that can do wonders for you, and that you can enjoy by voting for Saenda. I leave you with these words, my beloved vendors," said Katsonga.
When asked about the present status of his party’s relationship with DPP, Katsonga maintained it was intact. He said PPM had won the May 19 presidential elections by virtue of Mutharika, their supported candidate, winning the polls.
It was the voice of an ambitious party president looking forward to 2014.
At last, the coffin finally came. In went the PPM and DPP, together. Once again, the independents had ruled again in Zomba Malosa and Blantyre Central constituencies.
People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), an alliance partner to President Bingu wa Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), seems set to follow the state president’s footsteps, albeit on different missions.
This came to the fore again this week, when PPM president Mark Katsonga Phiri addressed a campaign meeting at Ndirande’s Chirunga Ground on Monday, a day after Mutharika addressed a similar meeting at Ndirande Community Centre Ground. The two venues are just a kilometer apart.
Katsonga was in the populous township to win votes for PPM’s parliamentary candidate in the by-elections slated for this week, Margaret Saenda, while Mutharika was in town for the sake of Themba Mkandawire.
Mutharika has this year attracted a lot public attention, and uproar in equal measure, largely generated through the purchase of Hummers, which now form an integral part of his presidential convoy. Katsonga has not let the Hummers’ phenomenon gather around Mutharika’s personality only, but has purchased his own- an automobile he is employing to good use during campaign, including the one for Blantyre’s City Central constituency now on the table for claim.
PPM surprised Malawians in the run up to the country’s May 19 Presidential and Parliamentary elections when it announced, during the handover ceremony of papers for its presidential candidates to Malawi Electoral Commission officials, it would no longer feature candidates. The party announced, instead, it would support Mutharika’s candidature.
Observers, including Mzuzu University political analysts Noel Mbowela, described it as a marriage of convenience at the time, one that lacked clear terms of reference and guidelines on mutual benefits.
Mutharika then, during a meeting addressed in Katsonga’s Neno constituency, denounced Katsonga, accusing him, among other things, of cheating constituents that the DPP had endorsed him as its parliamentary candidate when the party already had a female candidate in the name of Reen Kachere.
The outburst put Katsonga in a catch-22 situation, as he still maintained the two parties’ relationship remained intact, and that Mutharika’s outbursts were merely part of the heat that was campaign.
Now, some three months after the May 19 elections, the relationship between the two parties remains hazy. Mutharika has done little to clear the air by his apparent disregard of PPM officials at his official meetings and public rallies.
PPM, which previously had over five Members of Parliament in the previous House, now has none, reducing the party to a side show and preparatory ground for the 2014 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Observers see the difference in metres between Ndirande Community Centre Ground (where Mutharika addressed a campaign rally on Sunday) and Chirunga Ground (the abode of Katsonga on Monday) as being representative of the ‘inside’ distance between the two political bedfellows.
Kenwilliams Mhango, one of the observers, said the two parties were now drifting apart, and attributed the development to the lack of clear terms of reference for the parties since their relationship was forged by way of an ad hoc strategy.
This could be seen from Mutharika and Katsonga’s sentiments during their Sunday and Monday meetings, respectively. Mutharika told a mammoth gathering at the Community Centre Ground that they should vote for nobody else but DPP’s Mkandawire. He described the other aspirants as mere opportunists who had nothing to offer. This includes PPM’s Saenda.
Katsonga, on his part, implored constituents to vote for Saenda only, saying the other political parties had failed to meet the aspirations of the people. He especially took at a swipe at the most immediate past Member of Parliament for the constituency, Gift Mwamondwe, and his party, saying they had failed people.
Mwamondwe was a DPP parliamentarian who will now stand as an independent. He accuses the DPP, where he still claims to belong, of ‘doctoring’ results of constituency primaries last year in favour of Mkandawire.
The PPM President also took time to visit Ndirande Market vendors. Katsonga was one of the first politicians to respond to the vendors’ dire call of distress when fire gutted down the market late last year, and donated K3 million.
Addressing the vendors, who gathered in the market premises on Monday, Katsonga asked them to vote for his candidate Saenda, saying the other political parties had little regard for their plight as evidenced by their slow response to the calamity that befell them last year.
Vendors especially accused government of employing ‘abandonment’ tactics after the fire, citing the slow response to their troubles, a development that led to an attempted gutting down of a DPP office in the area.
Katsonga seemed to play this ‘anger’ card very well this week, imploring the vendors not to put the incident fast behind the wheels of the past but show that they, too, could make responsive decision at the ballot box, decisions that reflected the realities of everyday life.
"I would accept no other form of gratitude (to the donation I gave you) other than the gift of Saenda from this constituency. That is the best way to thank me. PPM is the only party that can do wonders for you, and that you can enjoy by voting for Saenda. I leave you with these words, my beloved vendors," said Katsonga.
When asked about the present status of his party’s relationship with DPP, Katsonga maintained it was intact. He said PPM had won the May 19 presidential elections by virtue of Mutharika, their supported candidate, winning the polls.
It was the voice of an ambitious party president looking forward to 2014.
At last, the coffin finally came. In went the PPM and DPP, together. Once again, the independents had ruled again in Zomba Malosa and Blantyre Central constituencies.
Towards improved governance in public health care delivery system
BY RICHARD CHIROMBO
It begins with pain in one Molar or pre-Molar tooth.
Twenty-four year old Jonathan Banda invested hugely in dental care
over the years but finally, on Wednesday July 22, 2009, succumbs to
the beck and call of toothache and decides it was time he lived
without the tooth, anyway.
He underrates the medical services offered at Zingwangwa, Ndirande or
Chilomoni Health Centres in Blantyre and goes direct to the referral
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) where he is made to pay K200
for his pains in the public section.
He paid, yes, and wanted two things in return: no more pain as well as
taking the removed tooth (a Molar) home because 24 years are too long
a time to just pat like that. In addition, he hates the way people pat
with their teeth at the hospital- the patient goes home with some
cotton where once resided a tooth, and the troublesome tooth remains
in the bin at the hospital. Just like that.
“After removing the tooth, they gave me painkillers. I, then, asked if
I was free to go home, and they said ‘yes’. When I asked for my tooth,
they said no. Is that fair?” queries Banda.
Banda says some people love whatever they share a life-time with and
are not willing to easily pat ways with some of their body parts at
the hospital. He is talking about ‘unperishable’ organs such as teeth.
“We really need answers on what these people do with some of our body
parts. Some say they use them for study purposes at medical and health
science schools. Some say they throw them away. Only few people know
exactly what happens with their parts,” says Banda.
But, that is just the beginning: it ends with the pocket. Where does
the money (K200) that Banda paid go and, except for Ministry of Health
officials, how can the ordinary villager get hold of this revenue
information?
The Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) has been fighting for this,
and many more, patient rights. According to MHEN National Coordinator,
Martha Kwataine, it is in the interest of transparency and
accountability in the public health care delivery system that people
ought to now about what happens with their what.
“This will instill a sense of confidence in our health care system and
improve the relationship between patients and the system,” says
Kwataine.
The question of good governance in the health care service delivery
system has been a recurring theme, a theme that has resonated across
regional health forums and meetings.
Governance, according to one of the MHEN members- People’s Federation
for National Peace and Development Executive Director, Edward Chaka-
revolves around six key parameters.
“Broad participation, transparency, open responsiveness, consensus
based performance, equity and inclusion, and accountability, among
other notable factors,” says Chaka.
Not all members of the general public can have a say in this, he
acknowledges, hence the need for a more organized mechanism through
civil society groups such as MHEN.
Chaka indicates, in one of the papers presented at a MHEN (Southern
region) Regional Health Forum, that this can be achieved by
understanding the historical, social and cultural context of a given
society or community.
“This is especially true for hospitals. The essence of governance is
that an organization becomes accountable to those who will be affected
by its decisions or actions, and our hospitals, though trying, have
largely failed to make the mark. In deed, where do our teeth go? Don’t
we have the right to take them home? How are the finances run? Is
there no way of making them public, and timely?” he says.
Chaka acknowledges that, while good governance was ideal, it has
always been a challenge to achieve it in its totality. Very few
countries, including in the Western world, have mastered it. It is an
on going, continuous struggle.
To Kwataine, this struggle includes the need for a comprehensive
review of the health allocation formula. Her analysis of inequities in
health, service delivery and financing points to the gloomy conclusion
that our formula is not based on health needs.
This could be achieved by reshaping the formula to reflect an ‘Equal
access for equal need’ model, developing a needs based formula,
accommodating district specific cost and donor funding differences as
well as soliciting communitarian views on weightings in formula.
“(This will mean that) Population weightings include (s) age, gender,
residence, income, HIV status and performance criteria like in-patient
services,” says Kwataine.
The Malawi National Health Accounts (NHA)’s sub-accounts for HIV and
AIDS, Reproductive Health and Child Health, indicate that the Southern
region dominates in both health expenditures and facilities.
Between 2002 and 2004, for example, the South got 47 per cent of
health expenditures while the North and Centre got 17 per cent and 36
per cent, respectively. The South had a 47 per cent share of health
facilities, with the Centre and North sharing 35 per cent and 20 per
cent respectively.
Recent developments point to improved trends, however. It is also
intimated that K23 billion allocated to the Ministry of Health during
the 2009/10 fiscal year will go a long way in bringing equity in
health resources home.
Another factor includes the need to develop human resources and
capacity within the health sector. A Human Resources/Capacity
Development within the Health Sector Needs Assessment Study (Final
Report) released in April 2007 shows the need for more staff
recruitment and replacement.
The rate of attrition due to resignation, dismissal, redundancy and
death from 1990 to 2005 has been high, though it started to go down
between 1994 and 1995.
It started with a below-30 people figure in 1990, reached 320 in 1993
before going level at 200 workers between 1994 and 1995. Since then,
the number has been increasing, reaching 500 in 2005, up from 400 in
1999.
Ministry of Health officials blame it on the brain drain that
continues to hit many African countries including Malawi. Bilateral
donors, including Britain through its Department for International
Development, have tried to intervene with incentive-filled packages
and the trend seems to be slipping down into the record books.
Local Nurses and Midwives advocate, Dorothy Ngoma, says while the
biggest tide seemed far off the coast for now, conditions for health
workers remained pathetic in the country.
A paper by Prof. Cam Bowie (of the College of Medicine) indicates that
there have been staff inadequacies in both Ministry of Health and
Christian Hospitals Association of Malawi facilities between 2003 and
2007.
Except for Health Surveillance Assistants, positions for doctors,
nurses and+ technical personnel hardly filled the half-way mark. Many
more health experts continue to be lost to retirement, too.
The number of those lost to retirement now hovers above 50 annually,
raising the black flag even higher.
There is hope, however. Recent studies, including assessments
conducted by MHEN, seem to suggest that Public Private Partnerships in
health could be the answer. This will see private players deliver
health services on behalf of the public sector/government.
This recognizes the fact that, while the core business of the Ministry
of Health is to deliver the Essential Health Package (EHP), this is
hampered by poor coverage and access to the EHP services.
More hope lies in the fact, also, that health facilities such as QECH
have begun to open up to public scrutiny.
QECH, according to Felicia Chilipaine- Principal Nursing Officer,
Medical Unit, and a member of the hospital’s Suggestion Box Committee-
was now waking up to the notion of public responsiveness through such
strategies as suggestion boxes.
Chilipaine, who was speaking with the permission of Acting QECH
Administrator, said suggestions from the public were helping in
shaping the face of services delivery.
“It is also one way of achieving good governance and promoting
transparency and accountability,” said Chilipaine.
The public, through the ambitious initiative, now have the right to
demand quality services. Not only quality services but a timely
service, too, says Chilipaine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It begins with pain in one Molar or pre-Molar tooth.
Twenty-four year old Jonathan Banda invested hugely in dental care
over the years but finally, on Wednesday July 22, 2009, succumbs to
the beck and call of toothache and decides it was time he lived
without the tooth, anyway.
He underrates the medical services offered at Zingwangwa, Ndirande or
Chilomoni Health Centres in Blantyre and goes direct to the referral
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) where he is made to pay K200
for his pains in the public section.
He paid, yes, and wanted two things in return: no more pain as well as
taking the removed tooth (a Molar) home because 24 years are too long
a time to just pat like that. In addition, he hates the way people pat
with their teeth at the hospital- the patient goes home with some
cotton where once resided a tooth, and the troublesome tooth remains
in the bin at the hospital. Just like that.
“After removing the tooth, they gave me painkillers. I, then, asked if
I was free to go home, and they said ‘yes’. When I asked for my tooth,
they said no. Is that fair?” queries Banda.
Banda says some people love whatever they share a life-time with and
are not willing to easily pat ways with some of their body parts at
the hospital. He is talking about ‘unperishable’ organs such as teeth.
“We really need answers on what these people do with some of our body
parts. Some say they use them for study purposes at medical and health
science schools. Some say they throw them away. Only few people know
exactly what happens with their parts,” says Banda.
But, that is just the beginning: it ends with the pocket. Where does
the money (K200) that Banda paid go and, except for Ministry of Health
officials, how can the ordinary villager get hold of this revenue
information?
The Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) has been fighting for this,
and many more, patient rights. According to MHEN National Coordinator,
Martha Kwataine, it is in the interest of transparency and
accountability in the public health care delivery system that people
ought to now about what happens with their what.
“This will instill a sense of confidence in our health care system and
improve the relationship between patients and the system,” says
Kwataine.
The question of good governance in the health care service delivery
system has been a recurring theme, a theme that has resonated across
regional health forums and meetings.
Governance, according to one of the MHEN members- People’s Federation
for National Peace and Development Executive Director, Edward Chaka-
revolves around six key parameters.
“Broad participation, transparency, open responsiveness, consensus
based performance, equity and inclusion, and accountability, among
other notable factors,” says Chaka.
Not all members of the general public can have a say in this, he
acknowledges, hence the need for a more organized mechanism through
civil society groups such as MHEN.
Chaka indicates, in one of the papers presented at a MHEN (Southern
region) Regional Health Forum, that this can be achieved by
understanding the historical, social and cultural context of a given
society or community.
“This is especially true for hospitals. The essence of governance is
that an organization becomes accountable to those who will be affected
by its decisions or actions, and our hospitals, though trying, have
largely failed to make the mark. In deed, where do our teeth go? Don’t
we have the right to take them home? How are the finances run? Is
there no way of making them public, and timely?” he says.
Chaka acknowledges that, while good governance was ideal, it has
always been a challenge to achieve it in its totality. Very few
countries, including in the Western world, have mastered it. It is an
on going, continuous struggle.
To Kwataine, this struggle includes the need for a comprehensive
review of the health allocation formula. Her analysis of inequities in
health, service delivery and financing points to the gloomy conclusion
that our formula is not based on health needs.
This could be achieved by reshaping the formula to reflect an ‘Equal
access for equal need’ model, developing a needs based formula,
accommodating district specific cost and donor funding differences as
well as soliciting communitarian views on weightings in formula.
“(This will mean that) Population weightings include (s) age, gender,
residence, income, HIV status and performance criteria like in-patient
services,” says Kwataine.
The Malawi National Health Accounts (NHA)’s sub-accounts for HIV and
AIDS, Reproductive Health and Child Health, indicate that the Southern
region dominates in both health expenditures and facilities.
Between 2002 and 2004, for example, the South got 47 per cent of
health expenditures while the North and Centre got 17 per cent and 36
per cent, respectively. The South had a 47 per cent share of health
facilities, with the Centre and North sharing 35 per cent and 20 per
cent respectively.
Recent developments point to improved trends, however. It is also
intimated that K23 billion allocated to the Ministry of Health during
the 2009/10 fiscal year will go a long way in bringing equity in
health resources home.
Another factor includes the need to develop human resources and
capacity within the health sector. A Human Resources/Capacity
Development within the Health Sector Needs Assessment Study (Final
Report) released in April 2007 shows the need for more staff
recruitment and replacement.
The rate of attrition due to resignation, dismissal, redundancy and
death from 1990 to 2005 has been high, though it started to go down
between 1994 and 1995.
It started with a below-30 people figure in 1990, reached 320 in 1993
before going level at 200 workers between 1994 and 1995. Since then,
the number has been increasing, reaching 500 in 2005, up from 400 in
1999.
Ministry of Health officials blame it on the brain drain that
continues to hit many African countries including Malawi. Bilateral
donors, including Britain through its Department for International
Development, have tried to intervene with incentive-filled packages
and the trend seems to be slipping down into the record books.
Local Nurses and Midwives advocate, Dorothy Ngoma, says while the
biggest tide seemed far off the coast for now, conditions for health
workers remained pathetic in the country.
A paper by Prof. Cam Bowie (of the College of Medicine) indicates that
there have been staff inadequacies in both Ministry of Health and
Christian Hospitals Association of Malawi facilities between 2003 and
2007.
Except for Health Surveillance Assistants, positions for doctors,
nurses and+ technical personnel hardly filled the half-way mark. Many
more health experts continue to be lost to retirement, too.
The number of those lost to retirement now hovers above 50 annually,
raising the black flag even higher.
There is hope, however. Recent studies, including assessments
conducted by MHEN, seem to suggest that Public Private Partnerships in
health could be the answer. This will see private players deliver
health services on behalf of the public sector/government.
This recognizes the fact that, while the core business of the Ministry
of Health is to deliver the Essential Health Package (EHP), this is
hampered by poor coverage and access to the EHP services.
More hope lies in the fact, also, that health facilities such as QECH
have begun to open up to public scrutiny.
QECH, according to Felicia Chilipaine- Principal Nursing Officer,
Medical Unit, and a member of the hospital’s Suggestion Box Committee-
was now waking up to the notion of public responsiveness through such
strategies as suggestion boxes.
Chilipaine, who was speaking with the permission of Acting QECH
Administrator, said suggestions from the public were helping in
shaping the face of services delivery.
“It is also one way of achieving good governance and promoting
transparency and accountability,” said Chilipaine.
The public, through the ambitious initiative, now have the right to
demand quality services. Not only quality services but a timely
service, too, says Chilipaine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Uncertainty over 2009 cotton prices
By Richard Chirombo
There is uncertainty over this year’s cotton prices, a development that threatens to kill the euphoria created over reports of improving production figures after decades of a downward spiral.
President Bingu wa Mutharika two weeks ago announbced new cotton prices, but ginners claim he did not consult them and would, therefore, not take heed of the new prices since their side was not heard in the price fixing process.
Cotton production and area coverage has been peaking up over the past two decades, though not fast enough to beat records set in the late 1070’s when good policies and prices combined to motivate Malawian farmers.
Industry and Trade Minister Henry Mussa announced last week that the country had touched the 77, 000 metric tones ceiling in cotton production in 2008, up from 62, 233 in 2008. In actual fact, the figure for 2008 was 76, 761 metric tones, pointing to improving prospects still.
This has created excitement among cotton farmers who think the changing fortunes could be replicated with attractive prices on the market. Last year’s prices averaged between K40 per kilogram to K60, while most farmers speculate that this year’s prices could start from the K60 per kilogram mark.
This was indicated in interviews with members of Malimidwe Aphindu Cotton Farmers Club from the area of Traditional Authority Karonga in Salima, who said last Saturday they were up beat that things would to pick up from last year’s ground prices.
Chairperson for the group, Fineas Chilipa Phiri said, however, they wanted government to come out in the open on this year’s prices so that they could have to strategise over marketing opportunities.
“We would expect the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to come out in the open over what they have planned for us (cotton farmers) this season, in terms of prices. If government can not fix prices for cotton, as is the case with tobacco, at least they should give us some indication on what we should expect on the market. This helps us to plan properly on issues like transport, so that we do not incur more costs than we can realize at the market,” said Chilipa Phiri.
However, he will have to wait a little longer for any such move following delays by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to meet the country’s major cotton buyers or ginners. The two parties have often met before the opening of the cotton market to strategise on prices as well as review such issues as that year’s production, though the long-awaited for meeting is long coming this year.
Through the cotton ginners representative body, Cotton Development Association of Malawi- which has such members as Iponga Cotton, Great Lakes Company, Nadhi Cotton, Toleza, Malawi Cotton Company and Cargill- the cotton buyers are able to liaise with the ministry on various crucial issues pertaining to the crop many tout as the possible replacement to tobacco.
The ginners, have, however been kept in suspense over the actual dates for the meeting, a development that threatens market prospects for the crop, apart from frustrating hopeful farmers.
Principal Secretary for Agriculture and Food Security, Andrew Daudi, kept a tight lid on the specific date for the much-awaited meeting, only saying “it will be organized very soon”.
Daudi could not be drawn to mention the specific date, as time was fast running out for most farmers to plan, maintaining it would be held very soon.
“We will meet them (the ginners) very soon; there is no need to worry over that. Tell them the meeting is on very soon,” said Daudi.
Malawi seems to be reeling up from a myriad of threats that include very low productivity, declining quality, low ginnery capacity utilization and uncoordinated synthetic fabrics, according to Mussa and Daudi, who saw good prospects for improvements in production and area- now that government had put in place a specific project aimed at resuscitating the sector.
Adverse state interventions in the market and unattractive market prices are said to have brought the industry tumbling down.
“We will rise up from this situation and become a star performer again,” said Mussa.
There is uncertainty over this year’s cotton prices, a development that threatens to kill the euphoria created over reports of improving production figures after decades of a downward spiral.
President Bingu wa Mutharika two weeks ago announbced new cotton prices, but ginners claim he did not consult them and would, therefore, not take heed of the new prices since their side was not heard in the price fixing process.
Cotton production and area coverage has been peaking up over the past two decades, though not fast enough to beat records set in the late 1070’s when good policies and prices combined to motivate Malawian farmers.
Industry and Trade Minister Henry Mussa announced last week that the country had touched the 77, 000 metric tones ceiling in cotton production in 2008, up from 62, 233 in 2008. In actual fact, the figure for 2008 was 76, 761 metric tones, pointing to improving prospects still.
This has created excitement among cotton farmers who think the changing fortunes could be replicated with attractive prices on the market. Last year’s prices averaged between K40 per kilogram to K60, while most farmers speculate that this year’s prices could start from the K60 per kilogram mark.
This was indicated in interviews with members of Malimidwe Aphindu Cotton Farmers Club from the area of Traditional Authority Karonga in Salima, who said last Saturday they were up beat that things would to pick up from last year’s ground prices.
Chairperson for the group, Fineas Chilipa Phiri said, however, they wanted government to come out in the open on this year’s prices so that they could have to strategise over marketing opportunities.
“We would expect the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to come out in the open over what they have planned for us (cotton farmers) this season, in terms of prices. If government can not fix prices for cotton, as is the case with tobacco, at least they should give us some indication on what we should expect on the market. This helps us to plan properly on issues like transport, so that we do not incur more costs than we can realize at the market,” said Chilipa Phiri.
However, he will have to wait a little longer for any such move following delays by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to meet the country’s major cotton buyers or ginners. The two parties have often met before the opening of the cotton market to strategise on prices as well as review such issues as that year’s production, though the long-awaited for meeting is long coming this year.
Through the cotton ginners representative body, Cotton Development Association of Malawi- which has such members as Iponga Cotton, Great Lakes Company, Nadhi Cotton, Toleza, Malawi Cotton Company and Cargill- the cotton buyers are able to liaise with the ministry on various crucial issues pertaining to the crop many tout as the possible replacement to tobacco.
The ginners, have, however been kept in suspense over the actual dates for the meeting, a development that threatens market prospects for the crop, apart from frustrating hopeful farmers.
Principal Secretary for Agriculture and Food Security, Andrew Daudi, kept a tight lid on the specific date for the much-awaited meeting, only saying “it will be organized very soon”.
Daudi could not be drawn to mention the specific date, as time was fast running out for most farmers to plan, maintaining it would be held very soon.
“We will meet them (the ginners) very soon; there is no need to worry over that. Tell them the meeting is on very soon,” said Daudi.
Malawi seems to be reeling up from a myriad of threats that include very low productivity, declining quality, low ginnery capacity utilization and uncoordinated synthetic fabrics, according to Mussa and Daudi, who saw good prospects for improvements in production and area- now that government had put in place a specific project aimed at resuscitating the sector.
Adverse state interventions in the market and unattractive market prices are said to have brought the industry tumbling down.
“We will rise up from this situation and become a star performer again,” said Mussa.
Seasonality, inadequate raw materials affect prospects for tinned fruit exports
By Richard Chirombo
Malawi is missing out on existing foreign market opportunities for fruit exports due to glaring inadequacies in raw materials supply, high costs of production and lack of rebates to encourage exports and improve competitiveness among Malawian suppliers, challenges Dairibord Malawi Limited, one of the country’s leading fresh and dairy products manufacturers, says have forced it to refuse large export orders.
Seasonality of most Malawian fresh products, such as tomatoes, jam, and pineapples is one the biggest challenges facing the tinned products industry, and is said to be one the driving factors behind government’s adoption of the One Village One Product (Ovop) concept from Japan as it strives to empower farmers in advanced fruit preservation technologies.
Dairibord Malawi Managing Director, Theodora Nyamandi, said through a written response to a questionnaire the country had the potential to turn fruit products into one of leading export products to supplement other established foreign exchange earners such as tobacco, tea, cashew nuts (where Malawi has established herself to be one of the leading exporters.
Nyamandi said the supply side inadequacies, lack of rebates and long term concessions for farmers wishing to venture into long term fruit tree cultivation had translated into a relatively small domestic market thus increasing costs of production due to low economies of scale.
“ (However) some products such as jams and tomato products have done very well (that) Mulanje Peak Foods – a subsidiary of Dairibord- Mixed Fruit Jam and Tomato Puree have attained leadership status in their domestic market segments although their market share is still below 50 per cent,” said Nyamandi.
According to Nyamandi, efforts aimed at drumming up the support of local consumers were hampered by high unit costs of production leading to uncompetitive pricing of products, a development that meant most products being perched beyond the buying power of most consumers.
Drastic improvements in the raw material supply chain were needed to enable production of large consignments of canned products, she said, adding this was be the prerequisite towards meeting the huge foreign orders of local products. Currently, Dairibord was eying the regional export market in a bid to widen its market base.
Despite all this, we have managed to “improve livelihoods for more than 300 farmers who supply fruit and vegetables, implying that employment for at least 1000 people was created at farm level with prospects for growth. We have also created down stream employment for sellers and marketers of finished goods, while creating markets for package manufacturers. Advertisers, telecommunications”.
The company currently exports tinned foods to Mozambique and Zimbabwe earning the country the much needed foreign exchange, but Nyamandi said the country could exploit more opportunities for exports if there were more deliberate policies on part of policy makers to create long term financing to suppliers at concessionary rates for agricultural projects with more gestation periods.
She said, for instance, that growing some fruit trees could take as long as 3 to 5 years before harvesting of the first fruits, processes that act as disincentives to farmers wishing to invest in cultivating long maturing fruit trees like mangoes and oranges, let alone produce the adequate volumes required to satisfy market demand.
To come around this problem, the company was working hand in hand with government in offering technical and financial assistance to enable farmers increase productivity.
“We have the potential to do better at the international market and help raise employment prospects and the economic status of our people,” she said.
Industry and Trade Minister, Henry Mussa, said government was committed to help local industries come over supply side challenges in a bid to raise the country’s export profile.
Mussa said his ministry would continue to engage industry players on how to improve the playing ground and attract increased supply side investment, saying that was the only way the country could diversify its range of export products.
Malawi is missing out on existing foreign market opportunities for fruit exports due to glaring inadequacies in raw materials supply, high costs of production and lack of rebates to encourage exports and improve competitiveness among Malawian suppliers, challenges Dairibord Malawi Limited, one of the country’s leading fresh and dairy products manufacturers, says have forced it to refuse large export orders.
Seasonality of most Malawian fresh products, such as tomatoes, jam, and pineapples is one the biggest challenges facing the tinned products industry, and is said to be one the driving factors behind government’s adoption of the One Village One Product (Ovop) concept from Japan as it strives to empower farmers in advanced fruit preservation technologies.
Dairibord Malawi Managing Director, Theodora Nyamandi, said through a written response to a questionnaire the country had the potential to turn fruit products into one of leading export products to supplement other established foreign exchange earners such as tobacco, tea, cashew nuts (where Malawi has established herself to be one of the leading exporters.
Nyamandi said the supply side inadequacies, lack of rebates and long term concessions for farmers wishing to venture into long term fruit tree cultivation had translated into a relatively small domestic market thus increasing costs of production due to low economies of scale.
“ (However) some products such as jams and tomato products have done very well (that) Mulanje Peak Foods – a subsidiary of Dairibord- Mixed Fruit Jam and Tomato Puree have attained leadership status in their domestic market segments although their market share is still below 50 per cent,” said Nyamandi.
According to Nyamandi, efforts aimed at drumming up the support of local consumers were hampered by high unit costs of production leading to uncompetitive pricing of products, a development that meant most products being perched beyond the buying power of most consumers.
Drastic improvements in the raw material supply chain were needed to enable production of large consignments of canned products, she said, adding this was be the prerequisite towards meeting the huge foreign orders of local products. Currently, Dairibord was eying the regional export market in a bid to widen its market base.
Despite all this, we have managed to “improve livelihoods for more than 300 farmers who supply fruit and vegetables, implying that employment for at least 1000 people was created at farm level with prospects for growth. We have also created down stream employment for sellers and marketers of finished goods, while creating markets for package manufacturers. Advertisers, telecommunications”.
The company currently exports tinned foods to Mozambique and Zimbabwe earning the country the much needed foreign exchange, but Nyamandi said the country could exploit more opportunities for exports if there were more deliberate policies on part of policy makers to create long term financing to suppliers at concessionary rates for agricultural projects with more gestation periods.
She said, for instance, that growing some fruit trees could take as long as 3 to 5 years before harvesting of the first fruits, processes that act as disincentives to farmers wishing to invest in cultivating long maturing fruit trees like mangoes and oranges, let alone produce the adequate volumes required to satisfy market demand.
To come around this problem, the company was working hand in hand with government in offering technical and financial assistance to enable farmers increase productivity.
“We have the potential to do better at the international market and help raise employment prospects and the economic status of our people,” she said.
Industry and Trade Minister, Henry Mussa, said government was committed to help local industries come over supply side challenges in a bid to raise the country’s export profile.
Mussa said his ministry would continue to engage industry players on how to improve the playing ground and attract increased supply side investment, saying that was the only way the country could diversify its range of export products.
Unfair procurement requirements leave SMEs behind
BY RICHARD CHIROMBO
MALAWI’S attainment of foreign debt cancellation three years ago may take long to yield the desired trickle-down effect, in the long run, in the absence of clear pro-Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) Procurement policies, business analysts and captains warned this week.
Also at the mercy of foreign devices, is the country’s overall economic – policy agenda to turn Malawi into a pre-dominantly producing and exporting economy, from a background of predominant imports and consumption, as foreign investors would easily squeeze weak domestic enterprises out of the market due to glaring inefficiencies and lack of competitive capacity.
They argue that since SMEs are widely touted for being key turbines behind the economic turn – around of great economies, the country cannot embrace meaningful development without initiating favourable strategies aimed at developing the sector.
“(External) debt relief remains one of the best milestones accomplished by Malawi, and Malawians stand to benefit a lot because instead of paying loans, the funds will be channeled towards development initiatives, especially in rural areas. But you may appreciate that our culture values the concept of extended families where people – most of whom (some 86 percent according to the National Statistical Office) live in rural areas – send money of farm inputs such as fertilizer to the village.
“It is also a fact that many of these bread – winners engage in business of some sort, be it small or medium scale, and if these people do not earn enough profits because of procurement policies that subject small and large firms to similar conditions, it means there will be no trickle – down effect, in the end those who depend on them will end up vandalizing development infrastructure to earn quick money, and it is national development that suffers” said Mike Mlombwa Indigenous Business people Association of Malawi(Ibam) interim president.
Malawi had a land-mark year in 2006 when, in August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank boards agreed that the country had reached the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point, resulting in the write-off of US$3 billion of the country’s debt. This translates into annual savings of US$100 million in debt service costs.
The gesture was replicated immediately by the Parish Club, a grouping of creditors – agreeing to reduce the amount of debt owned to them from US$363 million to US$9 million mainly as a result of purported government commitment to fiscal discipline and good macro-economic policies.
What remains, however, is for the benefits of such cancellation to start trickling down and possibly, change the economic fortunes of the country, especially for the 65 percent who live below the poverty line (one dollar thresh-hold a day).
Mlombwa, whose organization aims to economically empower Malawian entrepreneurs, most of whom fall within the small and medium scale sector, says there is need to modify requirements for the bid – bonds and procurement documents so that small scale entrepreneurs pay half or quarter the requirements expected of larger firms and companies which, he hopes, will help level the playing field and leave SMEs as competitive.
According to the local business magnet “it is unfair to pit small traders against big entities under the same monetary requirements” as it works against ideals of local empowerment, adding that it is also goes against Ibam objectives as such policies frustrate the participation of indigenous Malawians in social economic development of the country; discourages them from owning viable business that would equally complete with those of foreign investors’ marginalize indigenous people in accessing business opportunities; as well as depriving most people of the opportunity to earn honest income.
In addition this state of affairs has thus far hindered Malawians from forming joint venture partnerships with foreign investors wishing to invest within the country as they nurse a hung over of capacity deficiencies and nurture deflated entrepreneurship egos.
The case of Thomas Munthali, who runs KGA Enterprises in Blantyre-Malawi’s commercial city – may be a good point. When Munthali, 42, set out to start his business in February 1993, leaving behind more than 50 relatives still living below the dollar-a day thresh-hold, he hoped he was sharing in the first steps to bail his kinsmen out of the poverty trap.
But fourteen years down the line, quantity of the contents in the small room that is his business hall have almost always remained unchanged, albeit for the room becoming dingy and drab. Of course he sells and replaces replenished products, but the stationery and paper work business simply doesn’t grow.
“That is where the problem is. The cost of living has gone up and there are people I look after, all from this same business. Of course there are tenders flighted in the newspapers but small traders like me do not apply because most procurement charges are far too expensive for us.K5000 to my business is quite a lamp sum of money almost a whole lot of profit. How if I buy six bidding document at K3000? That is K18000. I cant risk it in a process I am not sure to win,” Said Munthali, who plies his trade behind Blantyre Post Office.
He pleads for an end to the chilly attitude portrayed by policy makers towards small scale entrepreneurs, arguing that if the playing field separated small firms from the large, he would willingly take part without any quarms, as was the case last year.
“When the Malawi Polytechnic ( a constituent college of the University of Malawi) requested tenders for the supply of stationery materials last year and the bidding documents were pegged at a reasonable cost of K1000, I expressed interest and was picked among the ten, or so, successful bidders. Other than that, many others are expensive and would force my business to go bust.
“After all, why should one government department peg such documents at K5000 another at K3000 and yet another (department) at K1000? What criteria do they use to come up with such charges?” queries Munthali who is at pains to understand why small and medium scale entrepreneurs are made to pay K1000 for them to be gazetted as qualified suppliers of various products and materials to government in the first place, only to be bombarded with restrictive procurement charges later.
He added; “I don’t understand how they arrive at their decisions. If your products are a bit on the higher side they do not pick you saying its too expensive. When you decrease the price, they don’t pick you, they say you do not qualify, you cannot meet supply. They charge K5000 for the documents yet photocopying process (of binding documents) does not even surpass K300. In what government account does the money realized go?”
So, unless the myriad of challenges faced by SMEs in Malawi, mainly attributable to fundamentally misplaced policy and strategy emphasis are rounded up, the country’s economy may lose out on high employment-generation created by the sectors labour-intensive nature and a meaningful push on Gross Domestic Product(GDP) - major advantages associated with SMEs the world over, according to analysts.
Despite there being no comprehensive study on the number of SMEs in Malawi, observers estimate them to be between the ranges of 97 to 99 percent calculated around the percentage number of SMEs within the European economy (99 percent).
The challenges of prohibitive procurement charges and bid-bonds aside, the SMEs sector is also plagued by lack of money – borrowing opportunities by lending institutions as they are considered high-risk borrowers. This comes against the background of most business climate and enterprise papers and surveys supporting the need for deliberate policies in favour of the sector due to their employment generation trickle-down effect, key in the reduction of poverty – a top agenda within the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).
For instance, a policy discussion paper, “Small Scale Enterprise and Sustainable Development – key issues and policy opportunities to improve impact,” published with support from the Swiss Development Corporation, International Institute of Environment and Development (LIED), and the UK Government is Department for International Development (DFID) calls for policy interventions in favour of SMEs if long-term sustainable development is to be attained.
It argues that the sector often has a numerical significance and reaches into the poorest communities that large scale enterprises lack; irrespective of any other advantages that they might have, market failures disproportionately (inequitably) affect SMEs; and that , lastly, the economic, social and environmental advantages intristic to some types of SME in certain particular contexts warrant deliberate and appropriate support.
The paper further points to three pragmatic areas that are billed to produce significant impact, top of which is the setting-up and implementation of SME- tailored procurement policies, added on to good incentive and competition practices. The other two areas are the adoption of ownership and association partnerships that secure greatest economic, social and environmental benefits, and processes of standard – setting and labeling and constructive consumer engagement that enhance the benefits of the sector.
The concerns about restrictive procurement policies come quick in the wake of a Euro 30 million (about MK5.7 billion) line of credit approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the benefit of SMEs in Malawi, and will be administered through three yet-to-be-named commercial banks.
Reacting to the concerns in a separate interview Office of Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) Public Relations Officer, Mac Pherson Mdalla, acknowledged having received complaints on the same, but insists the charges are meant to cover the administrative costs incurred in the course of production. The charges, according to Mdalla, fall within the context of the Public Procurement Act and should be followed to the letter, so long as they are not profit – oriented, reasonable and understandable.
“Yes, we have received complaints in the recent past, and we explain clearly that the charges are not for profit, but to be used towards production of bidding documents,” said Mdala.
He said technical documents especially attracted a fairly higher cost – attachment as a lot more goes into the course of their preparation and production. Such documents call for through preparation and vigorous arrangements, sometimes resulting into the production of a whole booklet, according to the ODPP Spokesperson.
However, to make sure that the positive effects of debt relief still trickled down to the poor through SMEs, Mlombwa disclosed that Ibam is in the process of organizing a meeting between Malawian business people and ODPP to iron out issues that mill small entrepreneurs out of competitive business.
This, according to the Ibam president, is because his lobby group has, too, been inundated with complaints from small scale traders. Mlombwa however dispelled out the notion that only small entrepreneurs and “not most of the big people in Ibam” bear the brunt of the unfair procurement charges, as they too had problems hence need for consolidated efforts.
MALAWI’S attainment of foreign debt cancellation three years ago may take long to yield the desired trickle-down effect, in the long run, in the absence of clear pro-Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) Procurement policies, business analysts and captains warned this week.
Also at the mercy of foreign devices, is the country’s overall economic – policy agenda to turn Malawi into a pre-dominantly producing and exporting economy, from a background of predominant imports and consumption, as foreign investors would easily squeeze weak domestic enterprises out of the market due to glaring inefficiencies and lack of competitive capacity.
They argue that since SMEs are widely touted for being key turbines behind the economic turn – around of great economies, the country cannot embrace meaningful development without initiating favourable strategies aimed at developing the sector.
“(External) debt relief remains one of the best milestones accomplished by Malawi, and Malawians stand to benefit a lot because instead of paying loans, the funds will be channeled towards development initiatives, especially in rural areas. But you may appreciate that our culture values the concept of extended families where people – most of whom (some 86 percent according to the National Statistical Office) live in rural areas – send money of farm inputs such as fertilizer to the village.
“It is also a fact that many of these bread – winners engage in business of some sort, be it small or medium scale, and if these people do not earn enough profits because of procurement policies that subject small and large firms to similar conditions, it means there will be no trickle – down effect, in the end those who depend on them will end up vandalizing development infrastructure to earn quick money, and it is national development that suffers” said Mike Mlombwa Indigenous Business people Association of Malawi(Ibam) interim president.
Malawi had a land-mark year in 2006 when, in August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank boards agreed that the country had reached the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point, resulting in the write-off of US$3 billion of the country’s debt. This translates into annual savings of US$100 million in debt service costs.
The gesture was replicated immediately by the Parish Club, a grouping of creditors – agreeing to reduce the amount of debt owned to them from US$363 million to US$9 million mainly as a result of purported government commitment to fiscal discipline and good macro-economic policies.
What remains, however, is for the benefits of such cancellation to start trickling down and possibly, change the economic fortunes of the country, especially for the 65 percent who live below the poverty line (one dollar thresh-hold a day).
Mlombwa, whose organization aims to economically empower Malawian entrepreneurs, most of whom fall within the small and medium scale sector, says there is need to modify requirements for the bid – bonds and procurement documents so that small scale entrepreneurs pay half or quarter the requirements expected of larger firms and companies which, he hopes, will help level the playing field and leave SMEs as competitive.
According to the local business magnet “it is unfair to pit small traders against big entities under the same monetary requirements” as it works against ideals of local empowerment, adding that it is also goes against Ibam objectives as such policies frustrate the participation of indigenous Malawians in social economic development of the country; discourages them from owning viable business that would equally complete with those of foreign investors’ marginalize indigenous people in accessing business opportunities; as well as depriving most people of the opportunity to earn honest income.
In addition this state of affairs has thus far hindered Malawians from forming joint venture partnerships with foreign investors wishing to invest within the country as they nurse a hung over of capacity deficiencies and nurture deflated entrepreneurship egos.
The case of Thomas Munthali, who runs KGA Enterprises in Blantyre-Malawi’s commercial city – may be a good point. When Munthali, 42, set out to start his business in February 1993, leaving behind more than 50 relatives still living below the dollar-a day thresh-hold, he hoped he was sharing in the first steps to bail his kinsmen out of the poverty trap.
But fourteen years down the line, quantity of the contents in the small room that is his business hall have almost always remained unchanged, albeit for the room becoming dingy and drab. Of course he sells and replaces replenished products, but the stationery and paper work business simply doesn’t grow.
“That is where the problem is. The cost of living has gone up and there are people I look after, all from this same business. Of course there are tenders flighted in the newspapers but small traders like me do not apply because most procurement charges are far too expensive for us.K5000 to my business is quite a lamp sum of money almost a whole lot of profit. How if I buy six bidding document at K3000? That is K18000. I cant risk it in a process I am not sure to win,” Said Munthali, who plies his trade behind Blantyre Post Office.
He pleads for an end to the chilly attitude portrayed by policy makers towards small scale entrepreneurs, arguing that if the playing field separated small firms from the large, he would willingly take part without any quarms, as was the case last year.
“When the Malawi Polytechnic ( a constituent college of the University of Malawi) requested tenders for the supply of stationery materials last year and the bidding documents were pegged at a reasonable cost of K1000, I expressed interest and was picked among the ten, or so, successful bidders. Other than that, many others are expensive and would force my business to go bust.
“After all, why should one government department peg such documents at K5000 another at K3000 and yet another (department) at K1000? What criteria do they use to come up with such charges?” queries Munthali who is at pains to understand why small and medium scale entrepreneurs are made to pay K1000 for them to be gazetted as qualified suppliers of various products and materials to government in the first place, only to be bombarded with restrictive procurement charges later.
He added; “I don’t understand how they arrive at their decisions. If your products are a bit on the higher side they do not pick you saying its too expensive. When you decrease the price, they don’t pick you, they say you do not qualify, you cannot meet supply. They charge K5000 for the documents yet photocopying process (of binding documents) does not even surpass K300. In what government account does the money realized go?”
So, unless the myriad of challenges faced by SMEs in Malawi, mainly attributable to fundamentally misplaced policy and strategy emphasis are rounded up, the country’s economy may lose out on high employment-generation created by the sectors labour-intensive nature and a meaningful push on Gross Domestic Product(GDP) - major advantages associated with SMEs the world over, according to analysts.
Despite there being no comprehensive study on the number of SMEs in Malawi, observers estimate them to be between the ranges of 97 to 99 percent calculated around the percentage number of SMEs within the European economy (99 percent).
The challenges of prohibitive procurement charges and bid-bonds aside, the SMEs sector is also plagued by lack of money – borrowing opportunities by lending institutions as they are considered high-risk borrowers. This comes against the background of most business climate and enterprise papers and surveys supporting the need for deliberate policies in favour of the sector due to their employment generation trickle-down effect, key in the reduction of poverty – a top agenda within the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).
For instance, a policy discussion paper, “Small Scale Enterprise and Sustainable Development – key issues and policy opportunities to improve impact,” published with support from the Swiss Development Corporation, International Institute of Environment and Development (LIED), and the UK Government is Department for International Development (DFID) calls for policy interventions in favour of SMEs if long-term sustainable development is to be attained.
It argues that the sector often has a numerical significance and reaches into the poorest communities that large scale enterprises lack; irrespective of any other advantages that they might have, market failures disproportionately (inequitably) affect SMEs; and that , lastly, the economic, social and environmental advantages intristic to some types of SME in certain particular contexts warrant deliberate and appropriate support.
The paper further points to three pragmatic areas that are billed to produce significant impact, top of which is the setting-up and implementation of SME- tailored procurement policies, added on to good incentive and competition practices. The other two areas are the adoption of ownership and association partnerships that secure greatest economic, social and environmental benefits, and processes of standard – setting and labeling and constructive consumer engagement that enhance the benefits of the sector.
The concerns about restrictive procurement policies come quick in the wake of a Euro 30 million (about MK5.7 billion) line of credit approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the benefit of SMEs in Malawi, and will be administered through three yet-to-be-named commercial banks.
Reacting to the concerns in a separate interview Office of Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) Public Relations Officer, Mac Pherson Mdalla, acknowledged having received complaints on the same, but insists the charges are meant to cover the administrative costs incurred in the course of production. The charges, according to Mdalla, fall within the context of the Public Procurement Act and should be followed to the letter, so long as they are not profit – oriented, reasonable and understandable.
“Yes, we have received complaints in the recent past, and we explain clearly that the charges are not for profit, but to be used towards production of bidding documents,” said Mdala.
He said technical documents especially attracted a fairly higher cost – attachment as a lot more goes into the course of their preparation and production. Such documents call for through preparation and vigorous arrangements, sometimes resulting into the production of a whole booklet, according to the ODPP Spokesperson.
However, to make sure that the positive effects of debt relief still trickled down to the poor through SMEs, Mlombwa disclosed that Ibam is in the process of organizing a meeting between Malawian business people and ODPP to iron out issues that mill small entrepreneurs out of competitive business.
This, according to the Ibam president, is because his lobby group has, too, been inundated with complaints from small scale traders. Mlombwa however dispelled out the notion that only small entrepreneurs and “not most of the big people in Ibam” bear the brunt of the unfair procurement charges, as they too had problems hence need for consolidated efforts.
50-50 gender campaign monitoring, evaluation starts in two weeks’ time
By Richard Chirombo
The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations that were taking part in a project aimed at ensuring that, at least, half of parliamentary sits after the May 19, 2009 elections are amassed by women (50-50 campaign), have announced that monitoring and evaluation (M and e) of the campaign process commences in two weeks’ time.
The campaign was initiated following perceived continued suppression on Malawian women, especially leadership positions that could influence over-all national development programmes. The Malawian woman is said to be disadvantaged by traditional, cultural stereotyping, poverty and high levels of illiteracy, challenges that have cast women to the far end of most national processes despite their constituting over half of the country’s population (52 per cent).
Linley Kamtengeni, the Ministry’s expert on Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS, said in an exclusive interview in Blantyre M and E was crucial to successful implementation of future women empowerment projects- a requisite process if Malawi was to meet Southern African Development Community and other international protocols on gender and female empowerment.
She defended the idea to sponsor only women when gender encompassed both the sexes (male and female), saying while both men and women faced a fair share of challenges, it were the women who were more disadvantaged hence the campaign to help them attain positions of influence in society.
“We can say so far, so good. We have seen most women coming out of their cocoons to challenge men for political positions, but we can not fairly say how deep we have gone in up-rooting misconceptions about women without monitoring and evaluation. That is why we are starting the process in two weeks’ time,” said Kamtengeni.
The Non-Governmental Organizations Gender Support Network (NGO-GCN), a network of Malawian civil society organizations that was coordinating the campaign, confirmed the development. NGO-GCN’s Coordinator, Eunice Chamgomo, said the process, to start in two weeks time, would help implementers of the 50-50 campaign to plan forward because campaigning for women empowerment was an on-going process.
Chamgomo said, while the process could not be of immediate benefits to women contesting in the May 19, 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections (due to the time factor to the polls), it could help Malawians gauge where they could have done better and where they did better.
“This is a very importance process for us. We are committed to women empowerment, especially in electoral processes, that we are leaving no stone unturned. We want to help our women to stand up for their rights and be counted,” said Chamgomo.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations that were taking part in a project aimed at ensuring that, at least, half of parliamentary sits after the May 19, 2009 elections are amassed by women (50-50 campaign), have announced that monitoring and evaluation (M and e) of the campaign process commences in two weeks’ time.
The campaign was initiated following perceived continued suppression on Malawian women, especially leadership positions that could influence over-all national development programmes. The Malawian woman is said to be disadvantaged by traditional, cultural stereotyping, poverty and high levels of illiteracy, challenges that have cast women to the far end of most national processes despite their constituting over half of the country’s population (52 per cent).
Linley Kamtengeni, the Ministry’s expert on Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS, said in an exclusive interview in Blantyre M and E was crucial to successful implementation of future women empowerment projects- a requisite process if Malawi was to meet Southern African Development Community and other international protocols on gender and female empowerment.
She defended the idea to sponsor only women when gender encompassed both the sexes (male and female), saying while both men and women faced a fair share of challenges, it were the women who were more disadvantaged hence the campaign to help them attain positions of influence in society.
“We can say so far, so good. We have seen most women coming out of their cocoons to challenge men for political positions, but we can not fairly say how deep we have gone in up-rooting misconceptions about women without monitoring and evaluation. That is why we are starting the process in two weeks’ time,” said Kamtengeni.
The Non-Governmental Organizations Gender Support Network (NGO-GCN), a network of Malawian civil society organizations that was coordinating the campaign, confirmed the development. NGO-GCN’s Coordinator, Eunice Chamgomo, said the process, to start in two weeks time, would help implementers of the 50-50 campaign to plan forward because campaigning for women empowerment was an on-going process.
Chamgomo said, while the process could not be of immediate benefits to women contesting in the May 19, 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections (due to the time factor to the polls), it could help Malawians gauge where they could have done better and where they did better.
“This is a very importance process for us. We are committed to women empowerment, especially in electoral processes, that we are leaving no stone unturned. We want to help our women to stand up for their rights and be counted,” said Chamgomo.
Electoral body urges no panic over electoral calendar
By Richard Chirombo
The Electoral Commission (EC) has dispelled fears Malawi could miss out on the May 19, 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential elections date in the wake of delays to finish the Voters’ Roll verification process in good time.
The Voters’ Roll verification process is yet to be finalized, a development that has prompted the EC to cast its net wide in search of personnel, culminating into advertisement messages for prospective workers to come forth. It is intimated that the process could take five days, with prospects for extension.
EC Spokesperson, Fegus Lipenga, said the development should not scare voters, as everything was still under control.
“Nothing has changed, in terms of the dates for the elections. In fact, that is what we are working towards in all our efforts and preparation. We strongly believe that we will finish the verification process in good time,” said Lipenga.
Lipenga said everything was going according to plan, though developments enveloping the issue of voters’ verification could not have been foreseen. All the same, there was no need to press the panic baton, he said.
Some political parties have expressed concern over delays to finish off with the verification process, saying that could affect timing of the elections.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has dispelled fears Malawi could miss out on the May 19, 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential elections date in the wake of delays to finish the Voters’ Roll verification process in good time.
The Voters’ Roll verification process is yet to be finalized, a development that has prompted the EC to cast its net wide in search of personnel, culminating into advertisement messages for prospective workers to come forth. It is intimated that the process could take five days, with prospects for extension.
EC Spokesperson, Fegus Lipenga, said the development should not scare voters, as everything was still under control.
“Nothing has changed, in terms of the dates for the elections. In fact, that is what we are working towards in all our efforts and preparation. We strongly believe that we will finish the verification process in good time,” said Lipenga.
Lipenga said everything was going according to plan, though developments enveloping the issue of voters’ verification could not have been foreseen. All the same, there was no need to press the panic baton, he said.
Some political parties have expressed concern over delays to finish off with the verification process, saying that could affect timing of the elections.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The future in a box: May 19, 2009
Come shake the future's back,
Lying idly in a poorly ventilated box,
Your stroke,
The vote is a stroke,
Awakening the powers through the ballot,
On May 19, 2009 as you go to vote.
There,
In the little speechless box,
What? They call it ballot box
You may, again, stroke the future awake
So that again,
The future for five years may again be born.
The next light,
Let's put it two dark nights,
Another future is born
The Third Republic,
Stroked alive by Malawians,
Eager, strong- to shake the living ballot box.
See you again my friend,
When again the ballot we stroke.
A soft paper that is,
The voters' certificate,
To stroke the future again awake.
Five whole years; the future that couldn't be awake.
Lying idly in a poorly ventilated box,
Your stroke,
The vote is a stroke,
Awakening the powers through the ballot,
On May 19, 2009 as you go to vote.
There,
In the little speechless box,
What? They call it ballot box
You may, again, stroke the future awake
So that again,
The future for five years may again be born.
The next light,
Let's put it two dark nights,
Another future is born
The Third Republic,
Stroked alive by Malawians,
Eager, strong- to shake the living ballot box.
See you again my friend,
When again the ballot we stroke.
A soft paper that is,
The voters' certificate,
To stroke the future again awake.
Five whole years; the future that couldn't be awake.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pamtondo
Women jiggle
In song and folkrole
A role,
They cannot ignore,
Behind the Nsima shore.
Then, the birds
In unisom fly
The giant steps of a beardsome being, as they bing bong
Bing, bong,
Over the clay Katongo clay
Over the mouse head,
Down,
Silently chopping the remnants,
Of the once mighty sand clay,
Gone,
All gone,
Together with the wind
The Southerly winds,
Went with father
His soul to vacate,
There is darkness in the room
Darksome all faces look,
A giant is gone
His wife; the gone man
Pamtondo will speak,
Bounding
And pounding,
The sound of sorrow.
No, there is happiness in pounding too
The marriage of the last born-memories,
Also freely flow
Pamtondo,
Home of all,
Sad, be it glad all,
Mother pounds in thoughts away
Last time, her finger into ashes went,
Pounded in thought,
At the huge Kachere tree,
As she pounded memories away,
Good thoughts and bad alike
Away
Pamtoindo: the Malawian way
Where all memories have a way,
And in thought mothers mire,
So free,
And far away,
Just at the pamtondo tree,
The Goriath Kachere tree
In song and folkrole
A role,
They cannot ignore,
Behind the Nsima shore.
Then, the birds
In unisom fly
The giant steps of a beardsome being, as they bing bong
Bing, bong,
Over the clay Katongo clay
Over the mouse head,
Down,
Silently chopping the remnants,
Of the once mighty sand clay,
Gone,
All gone,
Together with the wind
The Southerly winds,
Went with father
His soul to vacate,
There is darkness in the room
Darksome all faces look,
A giant is gone
His wife; the gone man
Pamtondo will speak,
Bounding
And pounding,
The sound of sorrow.
No, there is happiness in pounding too
The marriage of the last born-memories,
Also freely flow
Pamtondo,
Home of all,
Sad, be it glad all,
Mother pounds in thoughts away
Last time, her finger into ashes went,
Pounded in thought,
At the huge Kachere tree,
As she pounded memories away,
Good thoughts and bad alike
Away
Pamtoindo: the Malawian way
Where all memories have a way,
And in thought mothers mire,
So free,
And far away,
Just at the pamtondo tree,
The Goriath Kachere tree
Love: the Malawian way
A mother of two has been divorced in Salima- a Lakeshore district in Central Malawi- for holding her mouth while his Tuberculosis-infected husband coughed, without holding the mouth, and the germs!
Why? That's unMalawian.
In Malawi, love means:
When your husband, wife, friend, relative, guardian, and anyone acquainted with you, coughs don't hold your mouth or dodge. That is not love. Because, you may miss the germs. That's not being a true Malawian. Leave the germs of TB, whatever, flow into your system, freely. And get infected. That is love.
Getting infected for the love of someone you know. Even if they die, and you die. You will meet them in heaven, without TB, or HIV and AIDS, or what.
That is love. The Malawian way.
Why? That's unMalawian.
In Malawi, love means:
When your husband, wife, friend, relative, guardian, and anyone acquainted with you, coughs don't hold your mouth or dodge. That is not love. Because, you may miss the germs. That's not being a true Malawian. Leave the germs of TB, whatever, flow into your system, freely. And get infected. That is love.
Getting infected for the love of someone you know. Even if they die, and you die. You will meet them in heaven, without TB, or HIV and AIDS, or what.
That is love. The Malawian way.
About Zachimalawi
Zachimalawi, simply put, means everything Malawian.
Here is an opportunity to discuss any aspect of the Malawian, and how it impacts on social-economic development. This is a forum where I, Richard Chirombo, son of a humbleNgoni man from Dedza- a Central region district of Malawi with one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament John Jenus Ungapake Tembo, will be sharing with you some of the most interesting things about Malawi and being Malawian. No, this has always been a misrepresentation of facts by opponents of the strong Dedza man, WHO also leader of the powerful opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP). If the truth were to be told, Tembo has only been MP for a few years, but spent most of his time serving in various government portfolios unlike MP. Talk of Reserve Bank Governor, chairperson to various parastatl organisations, etc. Next time, I will bring forth the history of the man; both political and personal, and how other people try to mislead others. Call it others misleading others.
Here, we will be talking about so many things. Malawian.
For now, this is M'malawi, Richard Chirombo.
Here is an opportunity to discuss any aspect of the Malawian, and how it impacts on social-economic development. This is a forum where I, Richard Chirombo, son of a humbleNgoni man from Dedza- a Central region district of Malawi with one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament John Jenus Ungapake Tembo, will be sharing with you some of the most interesting things about Malawi and being Malawian. No, this has always been a misrepresentation of facts by opponents of the strong Dedza man, WHO also leader of the powerful opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP). If the truth were to be told, Tembo has only been MP for a few years, but spent most of his time serving in various government portfolios unlike MP. Talk of Reserve Bank Governor, chairperson to various parastatl organisations, etc. Next time, I will bring forth the history of the man; both political and personal, and how other people try to mislead others. Call it others misleading others.
Here, we will be talking about so many things. Malawian.
For now, this is M'malawi, Richard Chirombo.
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