FOR ZOMBA

There comes a time when, as Richard Washburn Child— former United States of America Ambassador to Italy; yes, he who wrote the foreword in Benito Mussolini’s ‘My Autobiography’— puts it, one reaches fourth to touch reality in himself, and finds that he himself has gone a little forward, isolated, determined, illusive, untouchable, just out of reach— onward!

Well, it must be that time.

One day, three years ago, I made Zomba my second home under the pinch of necessity.

But, then, the movement itself was just soup; the main dish was hope that, once I would stumble in the trenches of tertiary education, I would leave ignorance— ignorance and my own uncertainty— behind.

Well, it has happened. But it has not happened.

Why? Because where I went [Zomba]— which I thought was the future; more less like a forward movement— has only brought me back to what I left behind [in Blantyre]. That is, experience. Life’s experience.

So much so that, as I go back to Blantyre, turning my back on Zomba, I realise that the forward move I made has, through its lessons, only taken me back to ‘The behind’— the world that was supposed to remain behind. That world is not Blantyre; that world is life.

Now, I will let Benito Mussolini speak for me:

"I do not believe in the supposed influence of books. I do not believe in the influence which comes from perusing the books about the lives and characters of men.

For myself, I have had only one great teacher.

The book is life— lived.

The teacher is day-by-day experience.

The reality of experience is far more eloquent than all the theories and philosophies on all the tongues and on all the shelves.

I have never, with closed eyes, accepted the thoughts of others when they were estimating events and realities either in the normal course of things or when the situation appeared exceptional."

Now, I do not know what I am saying.

And, so, let me leave Zomba behind. To Blantyre; where I will know what to think, believe and say.

I do not know what I am saying!

FOR ZOMBA

There comes a time when, as Richard Washburn Child— former United States of America Ambassador to Italy; yes, he who wrote the foreword in Benito Mussolini’s ‘My Autobiography’— puts it, one reaches fourth to touch reality in himself, and finds that he himself has gone a little forward, isolated, determined, illusive, untouchable, just out of reach— onward!

Well, it must be that time.

One day, three years ago, I made Zomba my second home under the pinch of necessity.

But, then, the movement itself was just soup; the main dish was hope that, once I would stumble in the trenches of tertiary education, I would leave ignorance— ignorance and my own uncertainty— behind.

Well, it has happened. But it has not happened.

Why? Because where I went [Zomba]— which I thought was the future; more less like a forward movement— has only brought me back to what I left behind [in Blantyre]. That is, experience. Life’s experience.

So much so that, as I go back to Blantyre, turning my back on Zomba, I realise that the forward move I made has, through its lessons, only taken me back to ‘The behind’— the world that was supposed to remain behind. That world is not Blantyre; that world is life.

Now, I will let Benito Mussolini speak for me:

"I do not believe in the supposed influence of books. I do not believe in the influence which comes from perusing the books about the lives and characters of men.

For myself, I have had only one great teacher.

The book is life— lived.

The teacher is day-by-day experience.

The reality of experience is far more eloquent than all the theories and philosophies on all the tongues and on all the shelves.

I have never, with closed eyes, accepted the thoughts of others when they were estimating events and realities either in the normal course of things or when the situation appeared exceptional."

Now, I do not know what I am saying.

And, so, let me leave Zomba behind. To Blantyre; where I will know what to think, believe and say.

I do not know what I am saying!

FOR ZOMBA

There comes a time when, as Richard Washburn Child— former United States of America Ambassador to Italy; yes, he who wrote the foreword in Benito Mussolini’s ‘My Autobiography’— puts it, one reaches fourth to touch reality in himself, and finds that he himself has gone a little forward, isolated, determined, illusive, untouchable, just out of reach— onward!

Well, it must be that time.

One day, three years ago, I made Zomba my second home under the pinch of necessity.

But, then, the movement itself was just soup; the main dish was hope that, once I would stumble in the trenches of tertiary education, I would leave ignorance— ignorance and my own uncertainty— behind.

Well, it has happened. But it has not happened.

Why? Because where I went [Zomba]— which I thought was the future; more less like a forward movement— has only brought me back to what I left behind [in Blantyre]. That is, experience. Life’s experience.

So much so that, as I go back to Blantyre, turning my back on Zomba, I realise that the forward move I made has, through its lessons, only taken me back to ‘The behind’— the world that was supposed to remain behind. That world is not Blantyre; that world is life.

Now, I will let Benito Mussolini speak for me:

"I do not believe in the supposed influence of books. I do not believe in the influence which comes from perusing the books about the lives and characters of men.

For myself, I have had only one great teacher.

The book is life— lived.

The teacher is day-by-day experience.

The reality of experience is far more eloquent than all the theories and philosophies on all the tongues and on all the shelves.

I have never, with closed eyes, accepted the thoughts of others when they were estimating events and realities either in the normal course of things or when the situation appeared exceptional."

Now, I do not know what I am saying.

And, so, let me leave Zomba behind. To Blantyre; where I will know what to think, believe and say.

I do not know what I am saying!

Same Regional Business

In less than 12 hours, the Malawi Electoral Commission will announce the winner of the Parliamentary Election in Mchinji District, the Central Region stronghold of the opposition Malawi Congress Party.
As usual, the opposition Malawi Congress Party's candidate will emerge victor.
As usual, this will be taken as usual.
Because regionalism runs deeper than policies in Malawi's narrow-minded politics.
Maybe the next generations may change this!

Same Regional Business

In less than 12 hours, the Malawi Electoral Commission will announce the winner of the Parliamentary Election in Mchinji District, the Central Region stronghold of the opposition Malawi Congress Party.
As usual, the opposition Malawi Congress Party's candidate will emerge victor.
As usual, this will be taken as usual.
Because regionalism runs deeper than policies in Malawi's narrow-minded politics.
Maybe the next generations may change this!

LATE GWANDA CHAKUAMBA'S FUNERAL PROGRAMME

Gwanda Chakuamba: So Near, Yet So Far Away

At 81, the heart of the once mighty Gwanda Chakuamba,  a veteran politician from the Lower Shire, has been stilled at last.
In that instance Monday morning, an instant at Blantyre Adventist Hospital when Gwanda's body could not pull any more-- a morning when his will could not out-muscle his heart-- Malawi lost a giant of gigantic proportions.
Never, in recent memory; never in recent history; never, in the foreseeable future shall a Gwanda stand still.
He braced prison life during the one party regime. At one point, he was one of those pushing others that way, the jail way-- when, for example, he served as one of the leaders for the defunct Malawi Young Pioneers.
And, then, others turned the knife on him-- facilitating his path to jail.
And, at 81, he forgets all that.
Because a dark cloud has stood in the way of the light of happiness, if not the light-of-Gwanda's presence.
Now, Gwanda will be remembered as a fearless leader. A leader who took the Malawi Congress Party on his shoulders and represented it as presidential candidate. When, that is, all was well with John Zenus Ungapake Tembo.
He also stood as Mgwirizano Coalition presidential candidate when a presidential candidate with clout was needed in 2004 to  beat United Democratic Front's hand-picked Bingu wa Mutharika.
People, voters that is, were hopeful that here was someone-- a Gwanda Chakuamba-- who could upset the political order and push the United Democratic Front, whose president Bakili Muluzi had reached the junction of his constitutional road as Republican president.
On that hope, the hope for change from yellow to something non-yellow, voters went to vote enmasse in the 2004 presidential elections.
When Bingu wa Mutharika still carried the day, those days when Justice James Kalaile was Malawi Electoral Commission president, voters went on riot, burning tyres in such Blantyre townships as Zingwangwa, Bangwe, Ndirande.
A United Democratic Front office in Ndirande (Goliyo) was torched down. The ruins of that deplorable action can be seen today, stripped of the yellow ( United Democratic Front's party colour) colour that adorned it.
A United Democratic Front office in Chitawira was torched down.
Malawi was in a violent crisis.
In the heat of that moment-- the heat, in this case, representing the love for Gwanda Chakuamba -- a 13-year-old Epiphania Bonjesi--  an innocent, soft-spoken Catholic girl who loved her rosary and faith-- was gunned down by one towering figure called a Malawi Police Service officer.
People know where Bonjesi is buried.  But none can identify that police officer. He, surely it must have been a he, was shielded by the system that claims to defend justice when it promotes injustice.
Gwanda then did a number of things in between. He formed his Republican Party.
He joined the Democratic Progressive Party of Bingu wa Mutharika, in which he served as Agriculture Minister-- becoming famous for demanding a BMW  (his favourite car) when hunger was biting the stomach linings of millions in Malawi.
Along the way, he joined the People's Party of Joyce Banda in the run up to the 2014 Tripartite Elections.
Just recently, he became more blue than the Democratic Progressive Party.
And, on Monday, he became history, the main ingredient of Malawi's post-1994 political history.
To say the truth, justice delt Gwanda a great injustice and, from today onwards, he shall be remembered as someone who came so close to the presidency and, yet, remained so far away-- coming close to power only when he was hoping.
Now he hopes no more for earthly positions. As a self-proclaimed pastor, he hopes for better history.
As he lives no more, in body, but remains forever present in our memories.
Oh, Gwanda, oh! 

President Peter Mutharika's Education Legacy

More than anything else, President Peter Mutharika, who is live and ticking, will be remembered for announcing in the 2014/2015 academic year that Junior Certificate of Education (JCE ) examinations had been abolished.
But, like all abrupt decisions, the decision did not take effect there and then. Instead, candidates will just be having continuous assessment from the 2016/17 academic year.
Why? JCE was costly, in terms of examinations' processing. The certificate, meaning the paper, cost a leg.
Of course, arguing that the processing of learning is more valuable than the certification makes sense.
Again, JCE certification lost ground a long time ago, so that employers no longer fancy JCE holders as academically sound.
That said, nothing beats the image of a shining certificate, JCE or not.
Again, JCE helped students study their Form One and Form 2 work before proceeding to senior level. In other words, it helped them get accustomed to examinations' fever.
Additionally,  JCE served as a sieving mechanisms, screening those who might, otherwise, have not been ready for Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations.
The abolition of the same has, therefore, brought unnecessary panic, and reduced the expectation that Malawians had on their education system.

Why Malawian Presidents Take Traditional Leaders to UN General Assembly

... some history
Never, in the past two years and four months since President Peter Mutharika won the May 2014 Tripartite Elections, has the President's absence from, and presence in, Malawi raised equal attention.
Not until he left Malawi for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York, United States of America (U.S.), on September 16, 2016 and returned on October 16, 2016.
In fact, his going was a routine issue. Malawi's presidents have never missed out on the opportunity to jump on the next plane to New York whenever United Nations member states flock to the U.S.. Such a trip is a, kind of, ritual.
The only debate that rages in the media-- and this, too, has caught the imagination of Malawians in the past two years and four months-- hovers over the topic of how many people have made the trip.
For your information, no trip to the  UN General Assembly is worth it if traditional leaders-- hordes of them for comfort sometimes-- do not accompany the President. So, the media have been spending time on such trivia as how many people accompany the president-- which is a none-issue any way, since people, both those who deserve it and those who do not, have always accompanied Malawi's presidents. And, always, traditional leaders are part of the fray.
The genesis of this is former president Bakili Muluzi's regime.
Muluzi, who was elected in 1994, presided over a regime that ensured that The Senate-- a public body that would have seen traditional leaders mouthing out their views-- did not exist in the statutes.
And there had to be a way of placating the traditional leaders, one of which being the selection of a lucky few to accompany the president to New York for the useless-as-usual U.N. indaba.
It was a way of saying, 'Thank you'. Just that the 'Thank you' costs the Malawian tax payer a leg.
Other presidents, starting with Bingu wa Mutharika after Muluzi had finished his second, five-year term in 2004, continued the tradition, if not perfected it.
After Bingu left office on April 5, 2012-- after collapsing in his office at the New State House in Lilongwe-- Joyce Banda perfected that tradition.
In fact, Joyce Banda will go down in history as the only president who believed that his influence would be perpetuated by traditional leaders. Come to think of it, between April 7, 2012-- when she took over the stick of power from Bingu-- and March 2014, as Malawians prepared for the first Tripartite Elections slated for May 2014, Joyce Banda had promoted 40, 000 traditional leaders!
Well, the incumbent Peter Mutharika was next on the train of appeasement.
Last year, he came under a barrage of criticism for going to the UN indaba with a bloated entourage of 100-plus people. Of course, the government machinery said some of those who made it to New York had been sponsored by other organisations.
Whatever the case, one unofficial duty of the president of Malawi-- any president-- seems to be the appeasement of as many traditional leaders as possible.
And the UN General Assembly has always been a perfect, justifiable excuse.

Girls held by Boko Haram need support to rebuild shattered lives

...Chibok girls’ family reunions highlight plight of thousands of girls held by Boko Haram

ABUJA, Nigeria, October 18 --

The emotional reunification with their families on Sunday of 21 of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram more than two years ago in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, highlights the need for intensive support for women and girls who have been held by the group.

“The release is great news and we are delighted to see the girls back with their families, but we must keep pressing for all the women and children held by Boko Haram to be freed,” said Gianfranco Rotigliano, Representative of UNICEF Nigeria a.i. “And we must bear in mind that all of those who have been held by Boko Haram will face a long and difficult process to rebuild their lives after the indescribable trauma they have suffered.”

The more than 200 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014 are among thousands of women and girls that UNICEF estimates have been held and subjected to violence by the group.

UNICEF has supported hundreds of women and girls who have already been released or escaped from Boko Haram.

The girls report they have been subjected to rape – frequently in the form of forced “marriages” –   beatings, intimidation and starvation during their captivity. Many returned pregnant or with babies as a result of rape.

When they do reach safety, girls who have been held by Boko Haram are often ill, malnourished, traumatized and exhausted; they are in need of medical attention and psychosocial support so they can begin to come to terms with their experiences and reintegrate with their families and communities.

Frequently, returning to their families and communities is the beginning of a new ordeal for the girls, as the sexual violence they have suffered often results in stigmatization. People are also often afraid the girls have been indoctrinated by Boko Haram and that they pose a threat to their communities. The use by Boko Haram of children – mostly girls – as so called ‘suicide’ bombers has fuelled such fears. Children born as a result of the sexual violence are at even greater risk of rejection, abandonment and violence.

Since January, UNICEF and its partner International Alert have been providing psychosocial support for women and girls who have experienced sexual violence at the hands of Boko Haram. UNICEF and International Alert are also working with affected communities through a network of trained religious and community leaders to promote acceptance and to address negative perceptions that hamper the reintegration of women and girls who have suffered such violence.

Funding from the Swedish International Development Agency and the UK Department for International Development has so far this year enabled UNICEF to provide a comprehensive programme of reintegration assistance to more than 750 women and girls subjected to Boko Haram-related sexual violence.

With such large numbers of women and girls having been held by the group, however, the long-term provision of much-needed support remains heavily underfunded.

SOURCE: United Nations Children’s Fund

The United States and WFP welcome a Second Ship Carrying Critical Food Commodities for Sudan

...The food commodities will be used to assist more than 2 million vulnerable people across the countryPORT SUDAN, Sudan, October 18 --

In support of its operations in Sudan, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), today welcomed the arrival of over 50,000 metric tons of assorted food commodities including sorghum, lentils and vegetable oil from the American people.

The food commodities will be used to assist more than 2 million vulnerable people across the country. These include 200,000 South Sudanese refugees for three months, over 725,000 internally displaced people in all of Darfur’s five states for four months, 900,000 school children for six months, and more than half a million people who have been affected by the lean season which lasts from April to October each year.

U.S. Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Ervin Massinga and USAID Sudan Mission Director Dr. Jeffrey Ashley joined WFP Sudan Country Director and Representative Matthew Hollingworth in Port Sudan to welcome the arrival of the U.S. ship. In May this year, WFP welcomed the arrival of a shipment of 47,000 metric tons of sorghum ‒ also donated by USAID ‒ that was used to cover the needs of South Sudanese refugees and internally displaced people in Darfur.

In 2016, WFP plans to assist 4.6 million vulnerable people in Sudan through a number of different activities

“The United States through our strong implementing partner, WFP, continues to provide critical food assistance in a timely manner to areas that face severe food insecurity and malnutrition due to conflict and drought. The United States remains committed to fighting hunger and malnutrition and urges all parties to allow unfettered humanitarian access so as to end unnecessary suffering,” said Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Massinga.

Since 2011, the United States has been a long-standing partner and the largest single donor to WFP in Sudan contributing over USD 900 million to WFP’s operations in the country. Its generous contributions have enabled WFP to provide assistance to all those in need across a range of activities implemented through general food distribution, school feeding, nutrition and food-for-assets programmes.

“I am very pleased to be here in Port Sudan and to welcome this ship carrying food for the people we serve across Sudan,” said Hollingworth. “WFP is grateful for the continued support from the U.S. Government and people which helps us provide much-needed assistance to vulnerable families in the country.”

In 2016, WFP plans to assist 4.6 million vulnerable people in Sudan through a number of different activities, including emergency food and cash-based transfers, nutritional support and resilience-building activities to help communities become self-reliant.

SOURCE: World Food Programme

UK partners with Kenyan police to combat child abuse

... a new unit, established in April by the National Police Service of Kenya (NPS) in collaboration with the UK’s National Crime Agency Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (NCA-CEOP), represents a powerful new weapon in the fight to protect Kenya’s children

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 18 --

Tuesday saw the official launch of Kenya’s first police unit dedicated to the fight against child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA).

The new unit, established in April by the National Police Service of Kenya (NPS) in collaboration with the UK’s National Crime Agency Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (NCA-CEOP), represents a powerful new weapon in the fight to protect Kenya’s children. It has already been instrumental in safeguarding more than 150 children, and is currently pursuing 15 cases against child sex offenders.                

The UK’s NCA-CEOP has worked with the NPS over the last three years to build capacity to protect children in Kenya. The pioneering CSEA unit is currently staffed by 12 specially selected NPS officers; working with children’s officers, specialist doctors and civil society experts like the International Justice Mission (IJM). The UK has provided training, equipment and financial support to the unit as the NPS works to build its investigative and safeguarding capabilities.

The CSEA Unit was officially launched at an event held by British High Commissioner to Kenya, Nic Hailey, and attended by Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Ndegwa Muhoro, Chair of the Anti-FGM Board, Hon. Jebii Kilimo, Chairperson of the Taskforce on Children’s Matters, Lady Justice Martha Koome, and officials from the Office of the Inspector-General of Police.

Speaking at the launch, Nic Hailey said: “We believe that our responsibility to protect children from abuse does not stop at the borders of the United Kingdom. International cooperation is vital if we are to best protect vulnerable children and reduce opportunities for offenders.

“I applaud the pivotal role of the NCA in working with Kenyan and other law enforcement agencies to safeguard children and prosecute offenders, wherever they are located.”
Detective Chief Superintendent of the NCA’s CEOP Command, Simon Mason, said: “We’re proud to support the National Police Service of Kenya in establishing this truly innovative unit, and will continue to work closely with its officers.
“International cooperation is vital if we are to best protect vulnerable children and reduce opportunities for offenders.”
Superintendent of Police Grace Ndirangu, Head of the Kenyan Child Protection Unit, said: "This unit changes the way we protect children from sex offenders in Kenya. We're working across agencies to detect abuse, then investigate and prosecute offenders successfully while ensuring the child's welfare is at the centre of everything we do."
The launch of the CSEA unit is the latest step in a partnership between the UK, Kenyan authorities and NGOs to protect vulnerable children in Kenya. It follows the January 2015 Kenyan launch of the International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC).

SOURCE: The British High Commission Nairobi.

Ajay Gupta and Oakbay Investments Delighted with Affidavit from Pravin Gordhan

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 18 -- Gupta Family lawyer, Van Der Merwe Associates, releases a statement on behalf of Mr. Ajay Gupta and Oakbay Investments (www.OakbayInvestments.co.za) in response to the affidavit from Pravin Gordhan.

Highlights include:

• The Gupta Family (as majority shareholders) and Oakbay Investments are delighted to have been cited as respondents to the application from the Finance Minister. At last, the Gupta Family and Oakbay can begin to formally clear their names. They thank him for this opportunity

• The Finance Minister’s application is being considered by lawyers for the Gupta Family and Oakbay and will be dealt with in full – each and every entry

None of the transactions related to Oakbay or the Family, which are over a five year period, were flagged to the FIC as suspicious

• The application’s detail is fundamentally flawed as of the 72 transactions flagged, our initial analysis shows:

• Six transactions (totalling R4,096 billion) refer to the Optimum mine before it was under Oakbay’s control and so were not transacted by Oakbay or the Family

• 24 transactions (totalling R325 million) are perfectly legitimate, are in the normal course of business and are not suspicious in any way

• Five transactions (totalling R1,698 billion) relate to Oakbay Resources and Energy, the listed entity. These are perfectly legitimate and all information is being supplied to its auditor, SizweNtsalubaGobodo, for review

• Another 20 vaguely refer to ‘multiple transactions’ that makes any further analysis impossible without further detail from the Finance Minister

• The remaining 17 transactions (totalling R719 million) were also all for legitimate purposes and are absolutely not suspicious. We will disclose these transactions in full, once the full analysis has been completed

• All of the 72 transactions were approved and cleared by the respective banks processing the transactions

• The fact that all transactions were approved is acknowledged in the attachment to Minister Gordhan's application‎, in the form of a signed letter from the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank

• None of the transactions related to Oakbay or the Family, which are over a five year period,  were flagged to the FIC as suspicious. To put this in context, the FIC’s own 2015-16 Annual Report showed that 98,054 transactions in that year alone were flagged as suspicious by the banks (i.e. STRs)

• One of the largest transactions flagged in Minister Gordhan’s application was the transfer of the Optimum Rehabilitation Trust’s Account (over R1.3 billion) from Standard Bank to the Bank of Baroda. Yesterday, we proved this was bona fide and approved by all relevant authorities (pdf attached). The transfer occurred because all of Oakbay’s accounts were being closed

• Whilst we thoroughly welcome this application, it is undiluted nonsense and appears to be little more than the usual political games

To reiterate, we are delighted to have received this application. The truth always comes out in the end and we look forward to clearing our name in court.
SOURCE:Oakbay Investments Ltd.

ITC Submission Deadline Extended

The deadline for Infecting the City Public Art Sessions 2017 has been extended to 31st October 2016.

Artists interested in showcasing their work at this series of public arts events can submit a proposal via the Infecting the City website www.infectingthecity.com

Please watch our Facebook page and website for more announcements.

The increased cost of air pollution in Africa calls for urgent mitigation action, says new OECD Development Centre study

...Without bold policy changes in Africa’s urbanisation policies, these costs might explode
The human and economic costs of air pollution in Africa are growing fast, according to a new OECD Development Centre study on the Cost of Air Pollution in Africa. Already, they are surpassing the costs associated with unsafe sanitation or underweight children. Without bold policy changes in Africa’s urbanisation policies, these costs might explode.

Building on the OECD’s methodology to assess the Economic Consequences of Outdoor Air Pollution for OECD countries, China and India, the paper provides new, critical evidence on the economic cost of the impact of air pollution on human lives for African countries.

Between 1990 and 2013, total annual deaths from outdoor air pollution -- ambient particulate matter pollution (APMP), mostly caused by road transport, power generation or industry -- rose by 36% to around 250 000. Over the same period of time, deaths caused by household air pollution (HAP) --caused by polluting forms of domestic energy use -- rose by 18%, from a higher base, to well over 450 000.

For Africa as a whole, the estimated economic cost of those premature deaths is around USD 215 billion for outdoor air pollution in 2013, and around USD 232 billion for household air pollution. And this is in spite of slow industrialisation, and even de-industrialisation in many countries.

Although the study stresses the lack of precise information on the exact composition of the sources of air pollution in Africa, it does note that its deleterious impact has risen in tandem with the continent’s steady and rapid urbanisation, a megatrend set to continue to unfold throughout this century and which makes bold action to tackle and reverse the impact of air pollution even more urgent. This suggests that current means of transportation and energy generation in African cities are not sustainable. Alternative models to those imported from industrialised economies, such as dependence on the individual automobile, are necessary. The new evidence also reinforces calls for more effective regulation of the toxicity levels of imported fuels.

The study also underlines that while “early industrialisers”, such as many OECD economies, have been facing the challenges of industrialisation and environmental protection – including combatting air pollution – in a sequence, African nations are compelled to face them simultaneously. This makes the challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all the more arduous.

Finally, the trans-boundary nature of air pollution and its negative contribution to global climate change call for international, co-ordinated action to combat air pollution in Africa. The New Urban Agenda discussed this week in Quito, Ecuador during the United Nations-Habitat III Conference (17-20 October 2016) presents an opportunity to foster such collective action.

SOURCE: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Winners of the Kuwait-sponsored, Al-Sumait 2015 Health Award and 2016 Food Security Award have been announced by the prestigious Board of Trustees at a meeting in Kuwait City

Today’s Board of Trustees meeting of the Al-Sumait Prize for African Development (AlSumaitPrize.org) honored ground-breaking research on tackling childhood malaria and addressing undernourishment through Africa, which both impact the lives of ten millions of children across the continent.

The Board awarded the 2015 Al-Sumait Prize for Health to Professor Kevin Marsh, from the University of Oxford and African Academy of Sciences, Kenya, for his sustained efforts to control and eradicate malaria, which impacts the health of tens of millions of African children.

The 2016 Al-Sumait Prize for Food Security honored two organizations The Sweet Potato for Nutrition Team International Potato Centre, Peru, in advancing the contribution of sweet potato to African farmers and households to address Vitamin A deficiency, one of the most pernicious forms of undernourishment, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria, for its work in improving the yields and nutritional quality of major staple food crops, such as cassava, banana and maize.

Al-Sumait’s Board is chaired by H.E. Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Other board members include Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, Former President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Kwaku Aning, Former Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Abdulatif Alhamad, Director General and Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Mr Tareq Al-Mutawa, Executive Member of the Board of Public Gathering Charity Committee and others.

Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin, Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), which administers the awards, said the Board of Trustees is ‘proud to award the prizes to all three recipients who have made major contributions to improving the lives of millions of people throughout Africa.

Each of the winners represent innovative, exciting initiatives being done to address the challenges facing Africa

“We are deeply humbled by the efforts demonstrated by Al-Sumait prize laureates in the pursuit of scientific discoveries to meet the challenges of disease, nutrition, food production and climate change,” he said. He added all the laureates were in the frontline of Africa’s challenges, yet have succeeded despite limited resources.

Al-Sumait Prizes honor individuals or institutions who help advance economic and social development, human resources development and infrastructure in Africa through their sustained research and or innovative projects that result in major impact on the lives and welfare of the people of Africa especially the poor and underprivileged. The awards were instigated on the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah, the Amir of the State of Kuwait.

With each award worth one million dollars and a gold medal, Al-Sumait awards are administered by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and a Board of Trustees who oversee the selection of the recipients. The awards acknowledge the work of the late Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sumait, a Kuwaiti doctor who dedicated his life to addressing the development challenges confronting Africa and established the Direct Aid humanitarian organization.

The winning laureates will receive their awards from the Amir of the State of Kuwait and the President of Equatorial Guinea during a ceremony at the Fourth Arab African Summit in Equatorial Guinea on November 22, 2016.

“Each of the winners represent innovative, exciting initiatives being done to address the challenges facing Africa,” said Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin.

SOURCE: Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences

The Idea of Hell is Not African

Africa has been the dumping ground of the Eastern and Western world for ages.

And what has been dumped goes beyond material products.

In fact, one of the most notable thing dumped in Africa is ideas.

Take, for  instance, the idea of hell. 

I have gone through African literature, especially on issues to do with ancestral spirits and I have not come across any book that talks of an African who talks about hell.

I am referring to the period before Christianity and Islam washed away the fabric of Africanness and left the African bare with no standing ground.

Once Christianity and Islam took root, the African started talking about hell,  and the like.

That is a shame because the concept of hell is not African.

It is utter nonsense to believe that African ancestors will burn in hell simply because they lived when Christianity, Islam and other faiths that proclaim the existence of hell had not been introduced.

In Malawi, before Malawi came to be associated with people who live in Malawi, we had intercessors such as M'bona, Mlauli,  Chauta, Mphambe, Leza, Chisumphi. 

Before I proceed, let me shed light on the names Chauta, Mphambe, Leza, and Chisumphi. These were not names of God, no.

Instead, these were names of real people-- people who were acting as intermediaries between the living and the dead.

In Africa, most African societies that is, it was believed that a dead person was more powerful than a living one. The dead were believed to have attained a higher status, a status of immortality. They would, therefore, live with the living, intercede for the living, and negotiate, on behalf of the living, with the Creator to bring goodies such as rain.

The people who were playing the role of intercessors included M'bona, Mlauli, Chauta, Mphambe, Leza, and Chisumphi.

Unfortunately, due to the mixing of people of different ethnic groups and language backgrounds, others started associating the terms Chauta. Mphambe, Leza,  and Chisumphi with God. In fact, these names became synonymous with God.

Well, the truth is that Leza is not God. Leza was the name of a human being. The same applies to Mphambe, Chauta, Chisumphi. These were names of human beings who used to till the ground, drink water, tire out, whip their children, throw up, attend funerals and wedding ceremonies, suffer from constipation,  and, of course, intercede for the living.

When these individuals died, they became part of the unbroken chain of life on the other side of the veil, pleading with God, after being asked by the living, to bring rain and water the thirsty ground.

So, when people translate the term God to Chisumphi, Leza.  Mphambe, the best they can expect is for Chauta, Mphambe, Leza, Chisumphi to shake in their gravesend. 

But God, the one they believe they are referring to when they address Him as Mphambe, Chisumphi, Leza, Chauta, does not listen. He knows these are names of individuals. The names M'bona and Mlauli have not been mistaken with that of God because these were intercessors who came later, and are easily remembered by the ancestors who passed on stories about M'bona and Mlauli through the word of mouth.

It is not true that stories about the existence of M'bona and Mlauli are myths. These individuals, like Chauta, Leza, Mphambe, and Chisumphi, really existed in Malawi. Before selfishness washed away the communal spirit of the African.

The real translation for God is Namalenga (or Creator in English).

Now, back of the issue of the concept of hell. 

Leza, Chauta, Chisumphi, Mphambe have never been quoted, orally, as it were, or in folktales, talking of hell.

Hell is a foreign concept, popularised by people who never knew Africa.

There is no hell in original Africa. 

Those who lived a good life continue to be sources of good in society, and one of the benefits they get is to have their names given out to children.

Those who lived an unexmplary life get their names buried with them. And that is the extent to which Africans came to giving someone a 'hellish' experience!  

Believing in hell is being like a tree without roots, for the roots, the African ancestors, never toyed around with the concept of hell, which is a figment of the non-African's imagination, any way.