DPP chairpersons, chiefs tussle over leadership

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

               Makombe: We've lost our authority to DPP chairpersons

A bitter wrangle has erupted in Thyolo Central Constituency involving Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) constituency and area chairpersons and chiefs with the latter accusing the politicians of wielding unnecessary power and assuming the roles of traditional authorities.

Recently, some traditional leaders [group village headpersons and village heads] lodged a complaint with Member of Parliament for the area, Kingsley Namakhwa, to the effect that their roles as adjudicators of civil matters had been usurped by the DPP chairpersons.

According to the chiefs, party leaders had become ‘untouchable’ and were wielding powers more than those of a traditional leader. They said even at funerals, the politicians where receiving more respect than chiefs, a development that did not please the traditional leaders.

Namakhwa confirmed being approached by the chiefs. The chiefs requested him to help in solving the wrangle and ease the tension that had been created between politicians and custodians of our traditions, customs and culture.

“I was told party leaders were setting up parallel court structures where they [chairpersons] were trying and passing judgment on matters that are outside their jurisdiction,” said the MP.

At an inter-parte that took place at Khonjeni on Monday, GVH Makombe asked Namakhwa to discipline his people and civic educate them on their roles and responsibilities.

“This practice has been happening for a long time. Our role as chiefs is being overlooked because party chairpersons are now handling all the civil cases happening here,” said Makombe rather hopelessly.

“We’ve been exchanging bitter words at funerals...every party wants to look greater than the other. This behaviour has always ended into exchange of insults. We want this to stop. Tell your chairmen to know their boundaries,” he urged.

But his appeal was not received with the chairpersons who accused the chief of playing “Judas Iscariot”.

“No! That’s not true,” snapped constituency governor, Samson Magwaya.

The visibly angered Magwaya added, “Let us not betray one another here. It’s you the chiefs that have been causing trouble all this time and today you want to pose innocents. That’s very unfair...we’ll reveal your misdeeds.”

In his remarks, Namakhwa faulted the party leaders for failing to understand, define and implement their roles and responsibilities.

“Some of these issues are too small to settle. Politicians have no authority handling civil cases. Leave them to the chiefs,” he advised.

He further called upon the two parties to resolve their disagreements “for the good of development in the area”.

END

Forex shortage delays Muluzi’s return

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Retired President Bakili Muluzi yesterday indicated he would not fly back home where he is also expected to attend court on the 3rd of September 2010.

His son, Atupele, said his father’s continued stay has been necessitated by shortage of foreign exchange (forex) in South Africa, which has forced the former president not to pay for his medical bills.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) yesterday said they had no problem with Muluzi extending his stay in South Africa as long as he makes himself available to take plea on the scheduled date.

The former president was initially expected to take plea in a corruption case on August 3 this year, but failed because doctors recommended him not fit to stand trial.

This resulted into his lawyers praying with the courts to extend Muluzi’s stay in South African for him to continue receiving his medical treatment.

And in his July 23 ruling, Justice MacLean Kamwambe of the High Court allowed Muluzi to continue staying in South Africa until yesterday.

But in a telephone interview from South Africa, the former leader confirmed he was not coming home.

“Yes! I’m not coming back today,” said Muluzi jovially, but refused to disclose when he would jet in. The retired politician could also not explain if his continued stay had something to do with his ill-health.

ACB director Alex Nampota stated that Muluzi’s failure to return yesterday would not have any implications on their case against the former leader.

“The court ordered all parties including Dr. Bakili Muluzi to attend court on the 3rd of September 2010. It did not make an order requiring Dr. Muluzi to come to Malawi this weekend. We expect that Dr. Muluzi will attend court as ordered,” Nampota said.

He also explained that the graft-busting institution has received communication from Muluzi’s lawyers that they will be raising objections to the plea on that day.

The lawyers are contending that they have applied to the Chief Justice for leave to institute constitutional review proceedings in the constitutional court. On account of this, they intend to move the court to adjourn the plea hearing to pave way for the constitutional review, according to Nampota.

Muluzi’s lawyer Jai Banda could not be reached, Atupele said his father would not make it yesterday because there is a bill at the hospital, which the former leader has to settle before being discharged.

“There was a shortage of forex… and eventually he failed to pay for the medical bill. Once that is done, my father is coming back any day,” said the younger Muluzi.

END

Business Feature : Village loan scheme changes illiterate’s life

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

              Waile outside the grocery:  Today, she can afford a smile

Bertha Waile, 25, does not remember its name, but this money-lending institution has its offices at Luchenza Trading Centre in Thyolo.

Waile cannot remember either when exactly it was, but this unknown organization visited and offered trainings in business management to women from Mikate Village in the area of Traditional Kapichi in the district.

It also provided loans to the trainees. She was among them and it is for this reason that  Maranatha Mzungu is writing about her today.

Waile is illiterate. She was expelled from school because of early pregnancy. She does not remember the year, but the reporter’s calculations show that she was 15 when Christopher Waile, 28, belaboured her thereby forcing her out of education.

“I fell in deep love with my boyfriend, Christopher, who ended up impregnating me. I was very young then,” she said.

Continued Waile, “But the goodness is that he accepted responsibility [for the pregnancy]. And we immediately married. This is how I dropped out of school.”

Waile confessed it was tough for the then teenagers to provide for themselves. This is typical of most teens found in unplanned marriages.

Most of the adolescents who decide to have an early marriage do so because they are faced with an unplanned pregnancy and they feel that they need to bear the responsibility of the child, even though they are not settled in their own lives.

In most cases, teen parents are not educated and immature to carry financial responsibilities let alone shoulder a family or parenthood.

Some of the challenges that teenage couples may have to face include inability to provide for themselves and coping with public shame as some people turn to look at them as irresponsible and ill-mannered.

The Wailes were not immune from this situation. The two did not receive support from parents when they married. Not that their parents abandoned them, but because they both come from poor families.

“I had no choice, but scramble for any job available at that time. I had to work to sustain my family,” said Christopher.

“That’s how I ended up into guarding profession although I was too young for the job. I worked as a guard for five years at a tea estate,” he added.

But the coming of this unknown money-lending institution opened a new chapter for the teen family. After graduating in business management, the micro financial organization loaned Bertha an amount of K10,000 for her to venture into any business of her choice.

She chose to open a grocery shop because there was none in the village at the time. Mikate is situated more than 30 km away from Luchenza.

But people from this village had to cycle to the trading centre if they wanted to buy their basic necessities such as soap and salt. Hence the opening of Waile Grocery in the village eased the problem among the residents.

“We’re told to repay the loan within six months with a profit of K2,400. But because I was the only one trading in groceries in the village, I managed to realize big profits within a short period of time. This helped me pay back the loans without difficulties,” explained Waile charmingly.

After repaying, the beneficiaries were given another chance to borrow more than the initial figure, but not more than K15,000. Waile settled for K15,000.

All this time, the husband was still working for the tea estate. But after borrowing for the second and third times, it became apparent to her that she needed a hand in running her business.

“I requested my husband to resign his job and help me. When he resigned, we charted the way forward on how to boost our business.

“We made new investments like piggery, construction of a family house and expansion of our grocery business,” she stated.

The third chance to borrow arose in 2008. She got K20.000 and both businesses [piggery and grocery] continued to grow.

Christopher said he found it necessary to partner with his wife because what he used to receive from his employer was far below the profits they are realizing in a week.

“I was getting K135 per day. This is very little compared to what we’re making with my wife,” he said.

International Committee for the Development of People (CISP) HIV/Aids and Income Generating Activity (IGA) expert Yusuf Kadwala believes a woman’s entry into businesses and labour market cannot only create the conditions necessary for women to achieve economic independence, but also help in strengthening their families’ economic standing.

Kadwala says there is need for more women to form Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) which he thinks would play a crucial role in empowering women in micro-financing activities and thereby reduce vulnerabilities and expand economic viable ventures in rural areas through improved financial services.

“In some places, VSLAs have been the best vehicles for transforming the socioeconomic development of people, especially women in the rural settings. Thus if such initiatives are localized everywhere, more and more women will attain economic independence and break the cycle of dependence and vulnerabilities,” said Kadwala in an interview.

Group Village Headman Mikate expressed happiness with the progress women have made since they started borrowing from the financial institution.

“This initiative is very good as it empowers rural people, especially women to actively take part in socioeconomic activities. It’s more empowering to teen marriages, divorced women and widows,” said Mikate.

Although during the last decades microfinance institutions have increased access to financial services for many, provision of access in rural areas remains a major challenge.

Traditional community methods of saving such as rotating savings and credit associations (ROCAs or Chipereganyo as they are popularly known in local cricles] and Village Savings and Loan Associations [VSLA], therefore, provide an opportunity to save or provide a means for borrowing.

The disadvantage, however, is that the means do not allow savers to earn interest on their deposits as a formal account would.

Waile is wary, though, that she does not have enough for expansion of her businesses.

But Member of Parliament for the area, Kingsley Namakhwa, assures the entrepreneur that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) will solve the problem.

“The mini market we are constructing in Mikate Village will act as a window for rural entrepreneurs. We want as many women entrepreneurs as possible to benefit from these structures,” said Namakhwa.

On Monday last week, the legislator handed over 48 iron sheets for roofing the mini market.

END

Three more operations on girl with fistula

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Surgeons at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital last week successfully operated on the 11 year-old girl who had been grappling with fistula for over seven years in Lilongwe, but recommended that she requires three more ‘separate’ operations.

Mr. Price, one of the chain stores in the country, had initially offered to pay an estimated K200,000 towards meeting the costs of the operation on the child. But after the operation, the bill rose to K300,000.

In an interview Thursday, Mr. Price Stores Manager Robtcher Mughogho confirmed the development adding that the shop will also settle the costs of the next operations.

“In total, the girl will undergo four operations. The next operation is scheduled for September 13, 2010,” said Mughogho.

Asked if the top class shop will also pay for the remaining surgeries, the manager said: “Mr. Price is committed to meet all the costs on the girl”.

He said the remaining operations will cost K600,000 bringing the total cost for the exercise to K900,000.

END

FAO donates computers to BLADD

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has donated two desktop computers to Blantyre ADD worth about K500,000 to ease challenges of data management the ADD is facing in its operations.

Speaking during the donation, FAO Country Resident Representative, Pinit Korsieporn, said proper data management was crucial in ensuring efficiency in agricultural issues.

“We’re glad to make a contribution in easing the problems that BLADD is facing in as far as data management is concerned,” said Korsieporn.

In his remarks, BLADD Programme Manager, Nelson Mataka, thanked the organization for the donation. Mataka said the computers will help them in improving management of information systems and increase efficiency.

“We’ve a lot of challenges in providing services because we do everything manually because of lack of computers. As ADD, we are very grateful and we would like to ask other well-wishers to emulate the good example set by FAO,” he said.

Blantyre and Phalombe district agricultural offices will share the two computers, according to Mataka.

END

Don’t rush chieftaincy wrangles to court—Kachikho

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

These issues are not for the courts: Kachikho

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Anna Kachikho Friday installed a 32-year old, Helmes Moliyo Kanduku, as the new Traditional Authority Kanduku sounding a strong displeasure against royal families rushing to seek court injunctions blocking installation of appointed heirs.

Just like many other traditional authorities, Kanduku chieftaincy was riddled with injunctions and counter-injunctions because the royal families could not agree on who should ascend to the throne after the death of T/A Kanduku on September 13, 2010.

“If you, as royal families, can’t solve the disagreements on your own, engage other chiefs to intervene. Don’t rush these matters to the courts when you can amicably solve the chieftaincy wrangles among yourselves,” said Kachikho further revealing that her office is full of injunctions blocking the installation of many other chiefs countrywide.

“This is very counter-productive. This is retarding the development of this country,” the minister explained.

Kachikho also reminded the traditional leaders to desist from corrupt practices saying the law will not spare them. A recent report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) named chiefs as the second most corrupt after the police.

“I wish to appeal to our chiefs to desist from corruption and soliciting of bribes because the practice retards development,” said Kachikho adding that government will not back any traditional leader involved in the malpractice.

She further asked the newly installed chief to respect his subjects, especially by ensuring that vulnerable groups such as women enjoy their constitutional rights without hindrance.

Member of Parliament for Mwanza Central Nicholas Dausi expressed happiness with the installation saying his area needed the chief to help in facilitating and mobilizing people in development activities taking place in his area.

“No development can take place in the absence of a chief. I’m happy, therefore, that after a long battle over who is the legitimate heir to the chieftaincy, we finally have him. As a chief, you’ve a bigger role in mobilizing and initiating development activities in this area,” said Dausi.

People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) president Mark Katsonga, MP for Blantyre Kabula and T/A Bvumbwe were some of the dignitaries that attended the installation where they also spoiled him with monetary gifts.

END

Honorarium fuelling chieftaincy disputes

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

                                            Chieftaincy has become lucrative job: Kachikho installing TA Kanduku

The mouth-watering honorarium traditional leaders draw from government coffers every month is the main driving force behind wrangles over succession, government has said.

Malawi has of late witnessed an increase in the number of royal families fighting over chieftainship. And most of these families handed up dragging each other to the courts.

In an interview Friday, Director of Chiefs Administration in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Lawrence Makonokaya said the “very good lump sum allowances” that government gives to the chiefs has been the major contributor to the wrangles in royal families as everyone wants to benefit from the facility.

The chiefs payroll indicates that a paramount chief gets K55,000 every month while a senior chief goes away with K38,000.

A traditional authority (T/A) draws a monthly honorarium amounting to K25,000 while his deputy (Sub T/A) gets K18,000. Group Village Headpersons and Village Headpersons pocket K5,000 and K2,500, respectively.

Said Makonokaya, “Unlike in the past when traditional leaders were working purely on voluntary basis, nowadays everybody that comes from a royal family wants to benefit from this arrangement.”

But the director said the trend will soon be history because government is working on measures to deal with the problem.

According to Makonokaya, every royal family will now be required to submit what he described a “chieftaincy tree” and line of succession to the Ministry of Local Government to avoid the protests when one is anointed to succeed their late ancestors.

“This will be done in the presence of the reigning chief,” he said adding that the exercise has already started in some parts of the country, but on a small scale.

A few days ago, Paramount Chief Chikowi of Zomba confessed before Minister of Local Government Anna Kachikho that the monthly stipend they get was driving many people [from royal clans] to want to assume the position of a chief.

END

Entrepreneurship offering hope to jobless youth

Unemployment is rising at an alarming rate. Many young people are graduating from colleges, but no prospect for securing a job. Could entrepreneurship offer alternatives to the loafing graduates? Watipaso Mzungu Jnr explores in this feature.

Small scale businesses are improving people's lives

Atamandike Shop, situated at Misesa in Blantyre, started just like any other simple grocery trading in basic items such as bread, salt, sugar, matches and candle, among others.

Its owner, a 25-year old Emmanuel Zamadika Jamu, had just finished his secondary education in 2002, but had no steady source of living. Prospects of securing his most cherished job, accountant, were next to nothing considering the rise in the unemployment figures among the youth.

Executive Director for National Youth Council of Malawi Aubrey Chibwana explains that more than half of the population in Malawi are youth under the age of 25years whose literacy rate is estimated at 78 percent with slightly more males (81%) than females (74%).

Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) also states that unemployment among the youth has worsened over the last 20 years.

Increasingly, the youth are completing their education with very little prospect of securing a job, or engaging in entrepreneurial activities.

One of the growing concerns among employers is that most graduates lack experience for them to get a formal employment. This means that if no one employs young people after they finish their education due to lack of hands-on experience, it follows then that they will forever be unemployed as they will have nowhere to develop the expertise necessary for a job.

For long, the role of entrepreneurship has been underrated in the society, but today it is fast becoming an alternative employment not for young people alone, but middle-aged loafing citizens as well.

Jamu graduated with Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) in 2002, but realizing the stiff competition on the labour market due to the countless graduates graduating yearly from universities, he opted for small scale business as a means for survival. His paper was too ‘inferior’ to move the employer, so he thought.

“I started my business on small scale just to sustain myself. I had no hope of securing a job and, therefore, I had to devise other means of making ends meet,” he said in an interview.

“That was the basis for opening a grass-thatched grocery at Misesa. I opened with simple grocery items such as sugar, soap, bread and other perishable goods. But since then, I have never looked,” Jamu added.

True to his words, he has never looked back to the extent that he is now an employer of four people who would otherwise be jobless.

“I was single when I ventured into the grocery business. But as time went and my business registering a significant growth, I married so that the woman could be helping me in serving customers.

“But that was not enough! Hence I employed three shopkeepers and one guard whom I am paying handsomely right here,” Jamu stressed.

“I now have two cars of my own, two shops and houses which I am renting out. I’m happy that I have managed to reach this far,” he prided.

But Jamu stated that this is just the beginning because his plans now are that he should open a big wholesale shop in Limbe in the next two years where more people will get employment opportunities.

When closing a four-week “project management and business plan writing” course in Blantyre recently, Minister of Youth Development and Sports Lucius Kanyumba said formation of new business leads to job creation and has a multiplying effect on the economy.

Kanyumba observed that entrepreneurship empowers citizens, generates innovation and changes mindsets of the people.

“Entrepreneurship is important for economic growth, productivity, innovation and employment creation. It also reduces the burden that people looking after the unemployed youths,” he said.

Jamu, however says instability of prices for commodities in wholesale shops is greatly affecting small entrepreneurs in the country. He appealed to government to consider checking and regulating market prices saying some foreign investors fleece the locals because they don’t keep their prices steady.

END

Maranatha Mzungu: Three more operations on girl with fistula

Maranatha Mzungu: Three more operations on girl with fistula

Three more operations on girl with fistula

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

          Blue color: Ray of hope for the needy.

Surgeons at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital last week successfully operated on the 11 year-old girl who had been grappling with fistula for over seven years in Lilongwe, but recommended that she requires three more ‘separate’ operations.

Mr. Price, one of the chain stores in the country, had initially offered to pay an estimated K200,000 towards meeting the costs of the operation on the child. But after the operation, the bill rose to K300,000.

In an interview Thursday, Mr. Price Stores Manager Robtcher Mughogho confirmed the development adding that the shop will also settle the costs of the next operations.

“In total, the girl will undergo four operations. The next operation is scheduled for September 13, 2010,” said Mughogho.

Asked if the top class shop will also pay for the remaining surgeries, the manager said: “Mr. Price is committed to meet all the costs on the girl”.

He said the remaining operations will cost K600,000 bringing the total cost for the exercise to K900,000.

END

Business Feature : Entrepreneurship offering hope to jobless youth

        The writer of the article: Watipaso

Unemployment is rising at an alarming rate. Many young people are graduating from colleges, but no prospect for securing a job. Could entrepreneurship offer alternatives to the loafing graduates? Watipaso Mzungu Jnr explores in this feature.
Atamandike Shop, situated at Misesa in Blantyre, started just like any other simple grocery trading in basic items such as bread, salt, sugar, matches and candle, among others.

Its owner, a 25-year old Emmanuel Zamadika Jamu, had just finished his secondary education in 2002, but had no steady source of living. Prospects of securing his most cherished job, accountant, were next to nothing considering the rise in the unemployment figures among the youth.

Executive Director for National Youth Council of Malawi Aubrey Chibwana explains that more than half of the population in Malawi are youth under the age of 25years whose literacy rate is estimated at 78 percent with slightly more males (81%) than females (74%).

Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) also states that unemployment among the youth has worsened over the last 20 years.

Increasingly, the youth are completing their education with very little prospect of securing a job, or engaging in entrepreneurial activities.

One of the growing concerns among employers is that most graduates lack experience for them to get a formal employment. This means that if no one employs young people after they finish their education due to lack of hands-on experience, it follows then that they will forever be unemployed as they will have nowhere to develop the expertise necessary for a job.

For long, the role of entrepreneurship has been underrated in the society, but today it is fast becoming an alternative employment not for young people alone, but middle-aged loafing citizens as well.

Jamu graduated with Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) in 2002, but realizing the stiff competition on the labour market due to the countless graduates graduating yearly from universities, he opted for small scale business as a means for survival. His paper was too ‘inferior’ to move the employer, so he thought.

“I started my business on small scale just to sustain myself. I had no hope of securing a job and, therefore, I had to devise other means of making ends meet,” he said in an interview.

“That was the basis for opening a grass-thatched grocery at Misesa. I opened with simple grocery items such as sugar, soap, bread and other perishable goods. But since then, I have never looked,” Jamu added.

True to his words, he has never looked back to the extent that he is now an employer of four people who would otherwise be jobless.

“I was single when I ventured into the grocery business. But as time went and my business registering a significant growth, I married so that the woman could be helping me in serving customers.

“But that was not enough! Hence I employed three shopkeepers and one guard whom I am paying handsomely right here,” Jamu stressed.

“I now have two cars of my own, two shops and houses which I am renting out. I’m happy that I have managed to reach this far,” he prided.

But Jamu stated that this is just the beginning because his plans now are that he should open a big wholesale shop in Limbe in the next two years where more people will get employment opportunities.

When closing a four-week “project management and business plan writing” course in Blantyre recently, Minister of Youth Development and Sports Lucius Kanyumba said formation of new business leads to job creation and has a multiplying effect on the economy.

Kanyumba observed that entrepreneurship empowers citizens, generates innovation and changes mindsets of the people.

“Entrepreneurship is important for economic growth, productivity, innovation and employment creation. It also reduces the burden that people looking after the unemployed youths,” he said.

Jamu, however says instability of prices for commodities in wholesale shops is greatly affecting small entrepreneurs in the country. He appealed to government to consider checking and regulating market prices saying some foreign investors fleece the locals because they don’t keep their prices steady.

END

Solving the Mbayani water jargons

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Tiyanjane Mathubu: Carrying a bowl of water

Imagine your wife waking up as early as 2am leaving you in bed to queue on a long line to draw water from a communal kiosk just because there was no water during the day.

It may sound allegoric, but that’s what people in Mbayani Township and many others living in urban areas are going through.

Water is life, so they, but when regular, safe, affordable supplies of water and sanitation services are such an expensive commodity, people have no hope of living.

A 2008 research by a local consulting company, Alma Consultancy, shows that over 60 percent of the population lives in informal settlements where access to clean water and sanitation services remains poor.

This is despite the fact that diarrheal disease, which is caused by consuming unsafe water, accounts for an estimated 4.1 percent of the total global burden of diseases and is responsible for the deaths of 1.8 million people every year, according to World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO estimates that 88 percent of that burden is attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and is mostly concentrated in children in developing countries.

A typical way most Malawians get water is that women and children walk a couple of miles away to shallow wells and rivers carrying big buckets on their heads.

Although the water drawn from rivers is usually untreated, many people do not think about treating their water with water guard or chlorine before consumption. There are several reasons to this.

The initiative by Malawi government to sink boreholes as a low-cost technology option for domestic water supply in Malawi brought joy among many. When properly constructed and maintained, they provide consistent supplies of safe and wholesome water with low microbial load and little need for treatment of the drinking water.

Human rights activists say clean water is a basic human right, but statistics show that there are billions and billions of people in the world that don’t have access to clean water.

Among others, the objective of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to reduce persistent poverty and promote sustainable development worldwide, especially in developing countries.

Improvement of drinking water supply and sanitation is a core element of poverty reduction. The MDG target for water is to ‘halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation’.

In its quest to meet this goal, government through the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development is implementing the National Water Development Programme II and one of the programme components is to improve water supply and sanitation services to low income communities in the urban areas.

As a pilot programme, Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has embarked on an Urban Water Supply and Sanitation component of the programme in Mbayani, Blantyre and in November 2009 last awarded a contract to Water for People-Malawi (WfP) to provide technical and facilitation services for water and sanitation to low income areas. The project is being piloted with funding from the World Bank.

“It is expected that in this pilot project, 18 new kiosks will be constructed in Mbayani to increase access to water by the community in the area. Water for People will also rehabilitate broken kiosks to reduce non-accounted for water,” BWB chief executive officer, Andrew Thawe said in an email interview.

Mbayani is one of the highly populated areas in the commercial capital where sanitation is poor and access to potable water is just a dream among most of the residents.

But the situation may soon change as (WfP) plans to construct and repair a total number of 363 water kiosks in almost all low income areas of the commercial city to give residents affordable water systems. The project is targeting 543,253 people in the low income areas.

(WfP) Project Manager Elias Chimulambe said at the launch of the project at Mbayani Primary School early July that with a budget of K84million, his organization plans to construct 18 new water kiosks while a good number of broken taps will face rehabilitation in Mbayani alone.

Chimulambe explained that the project aims at supplying low income earners with affordable water sources as one of the means of fighting dysentery and other diseases resulting from use of contaminated water, reduce the long distances women walk to fetch water and improving sanitation among the residents.

“Water is a catalyst for good health and good sanitation. We believe these kiosks will play a crucial role in the improvement of sanitation among residents of this area,” he said.

“It’s sad that sometimes women rise as early as 3 am to fetch water, especially when there have been water shortages or interruptions during the day. And what’s more sad is that it’s during this type of errands that criminals rape them and snatch their bowls,” said Chimulambe.

Alice Phiri, one of the Mbayani residents likely to benefit from the project, applauded the board for the initiative saying it will greatly improve the status of women who have to take about more 30 minutes to have their turn to draw water from public kiosks, especially when the flow is low.

“Water problems are one of the main reason women have been long confined to kitchen work. We believe that if BWB constructs more kiosks, we’ll no longer be spending much of our time waiting on the queue to have our turn,” said Phiri, a semi-literate woman.

BWB can construct the kiosks, but the challenge remains. Malawian water users are best known for defaulting paying for utility services. What measures has the board put in place to curb this vice?

“Yes, defaulting payment of water bills really affects our operations. But this time, we will facilitate the formation of water users’ associations to run the kiosks as business entities to reduce cases of default among water users,” said Thawe.

“People have to pay their bills so that the board can be able to construct new more kiosks,” he added.

END

Celebrating Malawi’s independence with questions

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
The day, 6th July every year is a great day for Malawians. On this day in 1964 Malawi attained its independence from Britain. The Macmillan English Dictionary defines independence as freedom from control by another country or organization. Independence could also mean the ability to make decisions and live your life free from the control or influence of other people.

If we go by these definitions, however, one would be tempted to doubt Malawi’s independence, especially considering that Malawi, just like many countries in Africa, cannot run her economic affairs without relying on benevolence of the same people or countries we claim to have been freed from.

Malawi, landlocked as it is, heavily depends on agriculture, with tobacco, tea, and sugar as our most important export crops. Agriculture represents 34.7% of the GDP and represents about 80% of all exports.

Nearly 90% of the population engages in subsistence farming. Smallholder farmers produce a variety of crops, including maize, beans, rice, cassava, tobacco, and groundnuts (peanuts). The agricultural sector contributes about 63.7% of total income for the rural population, 65% of manufacturing sector's raw materials, and approximately 87% of total employment.

Financial wealth continues to be concentrated in the hands of a small elite.

Malawi's manufacturing industries are situated around the city of Blantyre. Recent years have seen increased activity in Malawi’s historically undeveloped minerals sector. In 2009, a major uranium mine opened in the north of the country that is expected to contribute significantly to export earnings and overall growth domestic products (GDP).

A full bankable feasibility study began in late 2009 on what is projected to be a similarly significant niobium deposit in Mzimba.

Malawi's economic reliance on the export of agricultural commodities leaves it vulnerable to external shocks such as declining terms of trade and drought. Labour costs are low, but high transport costs, which can amount to 50% of the price of imports and exports, constitute an impediment to economic development and trade.

A shortage of skilled labour; corruption; and inadequate and deteriorating transportation, electricity, water, and telecommunications infrastructure further hinder economic development in Malawi.

Although Maupo Chisambi, 24, is semi-literate and does not fully understand economic issues, he confessed on Wednesday that he cannot subscribe to the idea that Malawi is an independent nation amid its economic dependence on the west.

Chisambi thinks we can only pride ourselves as independent if we achieve total freedom from the west.

“What does independence mean if not doing what pleases you without someone interfering? Can we do that today?” he asked. Chisambi cited the recent incident where Malawi government was forced to free the gay couple or face economic sanctions.

President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned the gay couple who were jailed for 14 years soon after holding talks with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Lilongwe. Although Mutharika initially said the pardon on Steve Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga was out humanitarian grounds and not because of pressure from the donors, his speech on return from France on June 2, 2010 revealed it all.

“The story ends there… I don’t want to hear anyone commenting on them. Nobody is authorized to comment on the gays. You will spoil things,” Mutharika told reporters on arrival from the France-Africa summit.

“I am looking at donors now… what will they say about the pardon? Is it possible to stop aid to Malawi because of two people who are insane?” Mutharika asked.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director Undule Mwakasungula says dependence on donor aid is not enough reason for Malawians to lose their sense of independence and freedom.

Mwakasungula believes that we’re very much independent because we have our own elected democratic government. He states that since we are politically independent, that should give us a sense of being a free state.

“Yes, we can’t talk of independence when our national budget is 40 to 50 % supplemented by donors. We have to boost our economic base and increase our revenue collection to support our economy to some way or the other. But being economic dependent will not stop us from enjoying our political freedom,” he argues.

Recent government initiatives targeting improvements in the road infrastructure, together with private sector participation in telecommunications, have begun to render the investment environment more attractive. Negotiations underway with the World Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation for major projects in the electricity sector promise to significantly improve access to power.



The 2010 Index of Economic Freedom says Malawi’s economic freedom score is currently at 54.1, making its economy the 122nd freest. Its score has increased 0.4 point from last year, primarily reflecting improved fiscal freedom. Malawi is ranked 22nd out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score is below the world average.

Malawi has achieved average economic growth of 7 percent over the past five years, but sustaining this growth will be challenging without institutional reform. Malawi ranks just below the world average in most areas of economic freedom. However, despite some lingering barriers, foreign investment is generally welcome.

The small financial sector is relatively stable compared to others in the region. Malawi has taken steps to improve its regulatory framework in order to enhance its business environment and encourage a vibrant private sector, but progress has been slow.

United States of America, United Kingdom and other donors continue to assist Malawi in addressing daunting challenges that face the country in areas of health, education, economic development and poverty reduction, among others.

In his speech at the 2008 Independence Day Celebration, U.S. Ambassador Alan Eastham said his government is working diligently to empower Malawians to take hold of their own economic destinies.

“We are encouraging entrepreneurial Malawians through programmes such as those that assist small fish, dairy and coffee farmers, and others that target vulnerable households to increase their food security and incomes,” said Eastham.

Eastham observed that Malawi has taken substantial steps in achieving macroeconomic stability, and I commend the Government for this progress. Inflation and interest rates are down and economic growth has been strong, he said.

“Much work remains undone however. Is the effort to improve the business environment continuing, or has momentum been lost in the face of bureaucratic inertia? Are Malawian markets attractive to investors – be they foreign or domestic? Or are short-term considerations leading government back to the days of continual, short-sighted interference in the markets, as opposed to wise efforts to develop Malawi’s people and thereby its economy?

“I pose these questions, Madam Minister, not in accusation, but out of genuine concern. It has been said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Continued vigilance is equally needed to protect the conditions necessary for economic vitality. The threats posed to Malawi’s economic sovereignty are real and they must be addressed with a view to securing the foundation that the country requires to achieve sustained growth, and break loose of its reliance on donor assistance,” said Eastham.

So maybe as we celebrate this year’s Independence Day, every Malawian’s question should be: what role shall I, as an individual, play to contribute to my country’s total emancipation from donor dependence?

It is possible that you, as an individual, are holding the key to Malawi’s economic independence. As Mwakasungula concludes, stop asking questions about what government is doing to attain economic freedom. It is time to lead the way in liberating our country from relying on donors.

END

ESCOM suspends new connections

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has temporarily suspended connections to its new customers because the country’s sole power generator does not have materials, The Sunday Times can reveal.

The revelation comes after South West Education Division (Swed) manageress, Sr. Eunice Dambo, had earlier complained to the Deputy Minister of Education Wictor Songazaudzu Sajeni that despite Escom pocketing full payments over six months ago, the corporation is failing to connect Chifunga and Ligowe CDSSes in Neno.

Dambo asked Sajeni to intervene saying an extended delay to connect the schools would have a negative impact on the learners’ studies.

“We paid everything, but because of the reasons best know to Escom, they are not installing electricity at these schools. We would like to ask you to intervene; we want learners to be studying in electricity,” she implored.

Escom public relations officer, Kitty Chingota, confirmed to have received payment for connecting Chifunga and Ligowe and that they have failed to provide the service on time.

Chingota further revealed that the two schools are just a dot in a pool of clients on the waiting list. She further hinted that the applicants will have to wait a little longer because the corporation does not know when the materials will arrive from wherever they are ordering the materials.

“We don’t have materials in stock at the moment. As soon as we get the materials, we’ll certainly connect them,” she explained.

“The two schools are just some of the clients who have paid in full, but we can’t connect them because of the same reason. There are several others on the waiting list,” said Chingota.

Asked when the materials would be in, the ESCOM publicist could not commit herself to providing a date saying she also does not know the exact date when they [materials] will arrive.

END

Ape conservation could reduce poverty in Africa

Submitted by Mike on Wed, 18/08/2010 - 16:07, edited by Watipaso Mzungu Jnr 
African countries with populations of endangered apes could do more to ensure that conservation activities bring benefits in the fight against poverty, according to two reports published today by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and partners.

The reports reveal important lessons from across the continent that policymakers and conservation groups can use to boost both biodiversity and the livelihoods of poor communities.

"Wherever you find apes in Africa you also find people living in poverty," says Dilys Roe, a senior researcher at IIED. "Efforts to conserve apes have great potential to also reduce poverty but the actual, or perceived, negative impacts of conservation may result in local antipathy — or even outright hostility — to conservation efforts."

Africa's apes — the bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas — are our closest living relatives. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature classes them all as endangered or critically endangered because of hunting and deforestation.

Early efforts to conserve these species in strictly controlled protected areas often led to conflict with local communities who were restricted from accessing forest resources they had used for generations.

One report, focussing on Uganda, highlights how resistance from the surrounding communities seriously threatened the ability of the authorities to manage two national parks after they were set up in 1991 to protect mountain gorillas.

In response, the government and nongovernmental organizations adopted a range of "integrated conservation and development" strategies, which aimed to both create benefits for local communities and reduce their reliance on resources within the parks – and hence their negative impact on the gorillas' habitat.

Based on 15 years of experience, the report reveals that many have achieved successes but often in different ways to what was planned. The study also found, however, that to maximize both conservation and development outcomes such initiatives will need to have a greater positive impact on the poorest households.

"Integrated conservation and development has come under some criticism in recent years," says the report’s lead author Tom Blomley. "We found that the long term engagement of a range of development and conservation organisations working in a joint manner appears to have addressed both objectives."

The second report expands the focus beyond Uganda and highlights initiatives that seek to link ape conservation with poverty reduction in 18 nations — Angola; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Cote d'Ivoire; The Democratic Republic of Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea Bissau; Liberia; Nigeria; Congo; Rwanda; Sierra Leone; Tanzania; and Uganda.

Activities range from simple outreach initiatives that aim to improve local attitudes to conservation, to initiatives that give communities decision making power over natural resource management and ways to benefit from them.

"These conservation initiatives are making a concerted effort to address poverty issues, but surprisingly few of them seem to explore whether or not they have been successful by measuring or reporting on the results of their efforts," says Chris Sandbrook, who headed the review.

Much of the best poverty impact data comes from studies of great ape tourism, which is a popular way of converting the presence of apes into money for local development – although even here the revenue from tourism is rarely shared with local people at a significant enough scale to give them real incentives to support conservation.

Many alternative initiatives exist, such as those that promote agriculture as an alternative to living off forest resources and, conversely, those that promote sustainable use of forest resources and so create incentives for conservation. But there are many missed opportunities and factors that can limit efforts to link great ape conservation and poverty reduction.

"These studies highlight the wealth of existing experience and provide key lessons for initiatives that seek to link conservation and poverty reduction," says Dilys Roe, coordinator of the 'Poverty and Conservation Learning Group', an international network of conservation and development organisations that IIED hosts. "We hope that they learn from these experiences in order to build on the success stories – and avoid some of the pitfalls and significantly increase the impact of conservation on poverty.”"

The studies were done with funding support from the Arcus Foundation, a leading global grantmaking foundation advancing pressing social justice and conservation issues. Specifically, Arcus works to advance LGBT equality, as well as to conserve and protect the great apes.

END

Lilongwe to have Maximum Security Prison

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

  Sorry state inside Zomba Prison: Picture courtesy of amnesty.org

Malawi Prison Service (PS) has finally acquired land in Lilongwe where it is planning to construct a state-of-the-art maximum prison facility in place of Zomba Central Prison.

Zomba Central Prison, built in 1935, is the only maximum security prison in the country, holding prisoners with long sentences or serious offences, but human rights activists have condemned it for its poor conditions describing it “a death trap”.

PS spokesperson Evance Phiri said in an interview Thursday that the new prison facility will ease congestion problems that Malawian reformatory centres are best known for.

Phiri disclosed the new prison was a response to human rights’ call to have another facility in place of Zomba.

“Yes, it’s true that we are constructing a new maximum security prison in Lilongwe near Chitedze area. You know that human rights campaigners have long condemned Zomba Prison as unfit for human accommodation,” said Phiri.

The prison PRO further disclosed that work on the new prison has already started, but could not say when the project will be through.

“It’s in phases; so I can’t say actual dates of its completion. But suffice to say that after this project, we’ll carry out a mass rehabilitation project on Zomba Prison to give it a new face make it more habitable,” he explained.

Asked how much the project will cost, Phiri said it was difficult to quantify “because it run in phases”. So far, the prison department has already spent K80 million on and blue-print design) and compensating people surrounding the location of the new prison.

This is how prisoners sleep: Pic courtesy of amnesty.org

Earlier in the week, reports were rife to the effect that prison authorities intend to relocate Chichiri Prison to Chigumula where there is enough space for expansion and development.

But Phiri said his office does not have information relating to the movement of the Blantyre-based reformatory facility.

Our sources had confided that Chichiri Prison will be moving to Chigumula because the current structure is standing on a private property. The confidants further explained that the land is “too small for expansion”.

END

DFID dangles K300m for new schools

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

               Chivawa Primary School in Mchinji: Classrooms in a developed Malawi

British bilateral donor, Development Fund for International Development (DFID), has made availalbe funds for the construction of four new schools in Blantyre Urban Education District to decongest some primary schools, Maranatha Mzungu has learnt.

District Education Manageress (DEM) Ruth Samati-Kambali confirmed the development on Thursday and said new schools, which cost not less than K300 million, will greatly contribute towards the achievement of quality education saying congestion was one of the factors compromising the standards of education in the country.

Kambali explained that enrolments in most of the schools in Blantyre Urban have exceeded the recommended pupil-class of 100 pupils per class.

Current overall enrolment of Blantyre Urban schools stands at 144,000 while the average pupil-class ratio is at 157.

“One school will be constructed at Angelogoveya to decongest Kapeni Demonstration School; BCA will have a new school to decongest Naizi; then Chapima Heights to decongest Mbayani,” explained Kambali.

Malabada will also have a new school, which will cater for congested pupils from Makata, Chitsime and Nyambadwe Primary Schools.

The DEM stated that a proposal has already been submitted for the new schools, but it will be up to ministry to source funds elsewhere although DFID has already offered to support.

But Kambali could not commit herself on the actual date when the projects are expected to start because there are other logistics, which have to be sorted out before the projects could take off.

“At Angelogoveya, for example, we are facing a challenge to identify land where the school can stand. We are waiting for the Blantyre City Council to allocate us land for the projects,” she said.

“These projects should have started by July this year,” she added.

But Blantyre City Council (BCC) director of Town Planning and Estate Services Costly Chanza expressed ignorance about the development and stated they could not allocate land to the education authorities without being approached.

Chanza, however, expressed willingness to assist albeit “that would need thorough consultations”.

“The only readily available place we can allocate them now is inside Chichiri Prison…We’ve a space where a school can be constructed, but the challenge is that the school will cater for inmates only,” he said.

END

Education managers violating teachers’ rights

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Watipaso and granny in Lilongwe in February, 2010

Deputy Minister of Education responsible for Basic and Secondary School, Wictor Songazaudzu Sajeni, on Wednesday could not hide his displeasure with some education managers who he accused of violating the rights of fellow workers and turning lives of teachers miserable.

Speaking after visiting offices of South West Education Division (Swed) offices in Blantyre, Sajeni stated that the ministry was aware that some bosses in the education sector that deliberately close doors to teachers who want to raise concerns thereby demotivating the staff.

“Some education managers and manageresses literary shout at a teacher who comes into their office to raise a concern [of some sort]. What picture are you giving to your juniors?” he asked.

“Let us be humble and respectful to those we’ve been employed to serve. We are where we are because there are people we’ve been employed to serve; so let us give them the respect they deserve,” said Sajeni.

Earlier, the deputy minister appealed to the teachers and education managers to stop living in what he described as “perpetual misery and complaints” and, instead, dedicate themselves to work saying education is the engine for future development of the country.

In her speech, Swed Education Division Manageress (EDM) Sr. Eunice Dambo highlighted a number of challenges impeding the growth of education in her area of jurisdiction.
Among others, Dambo said the current budgetary allocation her division gets from the Ministry of Education was not enough to cater for all its activities in a year besides the usual problems of shortage of teaching staff, classrooms and lack of teachers’ houses in schools.

“Our budget ceiling falls far short of our activity plans. We would like to appeal to the ministry to consider increasing the allocation to meet our [educational] needs,” prayed Dambo.

At the same meeting, Member of Parliament for Blantyre City East John Bande asked the Ministry of Education to consider extending the newly introduced hardship allowance to urban areas saying “teaching profession is one whether you’re in rural or urban school”.

END

No electoral calendar, no civic education—Pacenet

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Despite the Electoral Commission (EC) accrediting 65 non-governmental organizations to undertake the task of civic educating the masses on local polls, the civil society says civic education can only roll out after the electoral body releases the calendar of events.

In the press statement made available to The Daily Times, Pan African Civic Education Network (Pacenet) says since EC has not released the electoral calendar, it could be counterproductive for the NGOs to start educating voters on the polls.

Pacenet executive director Steve Duwa argues that in the absence of such information, it could difficult for the accredited NGOs to design messages and that donors would not easily fund them without a clear calendar of events.

“There is no electoral calendar at the moment and nobody knows…apart from MEC itself, when the local polls will take place. For which election are people to be prepared?” asks Duwa.

He also states that the NGOs would find it hard to source funding for the voter and civic education because an electoral calendar acts as a backing to their project proposals [to their donors].

“Our experience in elections and donors in Malawi is that no donor can release funds for electoral activities in the absence of an electoral calendar including the actual polling date.

“Currently, there are no structured messages from EC on these elections, which should also form part of the messages accredited NGOs are to give out to the public,” Duwa explains.

In an interview yesterday, EC spokesperson Richard Mveriwa could neither fault the civil society for their decision on voter and civic education nor provide the date when the calendar will be made available to the accredited NGOs.

But Mveriwa explained that EC will have to consult the president on when to release the calendar.

“We are currently busy working on the calendar and soon our stakeholders [donors and political parties] will have a chance to see it before release,” he said.

Earlier, EC had set November 23 this year as a date when local polls would be held. But the polls were postponed to an indefinite date without explanations.

END

OG Plastics penetrates int’l market

            Jagot: We're very excited with development

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

OG Plastic Industries, one of the local manufacturers of plastic products, has finally realized its dream of exporting its products to other countries after finding markets in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia, Managing Director Abdul Wahab Jagot confirmed on Wednesday.

Jagot described the development as a big achievement for Malawi, which has long been considered a predominantly importing country. He also stated that Malawi’s economy will greatly benefit a lot from its foreign markets.

OG Plastic Industries was established in 2008 with a vision to be the market leader in manufacturing and exportation of polypropylene and polythene bags in Malawi, according to the company’s boss.

“We’re quite excited with this...This is a big achievement for Malawi as we strive to move from predominantly importing to exporting nation,” said Jagot.

He attributed the success to the company’s emphasis on quality.

“On our part, this is a plus since we've been in the industry for a short period of time, as compared to others who have been in the industry for over two decades. Our success and achievement has greatly encouraged us and it is our hope that we should attain our vision in the short term,” he added.

Jagot explained that the exports were crucial as they help in generating foreign exchange for the country and thus contribute to the growth of the economy.

Asked about future plans, the OG Plastic Industries boss said from August this year, the company will diversify its range of products to include the production of many household products such as basins, buckets, plates, mugs and jugs.

“The idea is to provide durable and newly designed plastic ware products for the comfort of our customers in their homes,” disclosed Jagot.

He thanked local customers and staff members for their support, saying this could not be achieved without their input.

END

Teen marriages are fuelling poverty--Kanyumba

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

     Signing visitors' book: Kanyumba

Minister of Youth Development and Sports Lucius Kanyumba on Friday appealed to parents in Balaka to stop marrying off their daughters at tender ages and, instead, let the adolescents concentrate on education.

Speaking after paying a visit to a Balaka-based Nkhadze Alive Youth Organization (Nayorg) on Friday, Kanyumba lectured the parents that marry off their daughters in exchange for fortunes that teen marriages cannot solve the socioeconomic challenges, but increase the poverty levels.

“Give children a chance to learn…they have a right to education. Don’t force them into marriages because that won’t solve your socioeconomic problems. Early marriages will just exacerbate the poverty situation of the families,” said the minister.

Kanyumba stated that studies have shown that a majority of teen marriages suffer from complications and often the relationships to not last long.

“It’s teenage mothers that are at greater risk of socioeconomic disadvantage throughout their lives than those who delay childbearing. As parents, you need to know that adolescent pregnancies are associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality for both the mother and infant,” he said.

  Presenting Likuni Phala to the needy child: Kanyumba

But the minister hailed Nayorg for its youth programmes saying they are inspiring young people to concentrate on education.

Nayorg executive director Charles Sinetre said his organization was committed towards empowering the youths with skills for HIV and early marriage prevention.

“We’ll remain committed towards empowering young people to achieve their dreams,” Sinetre assured.

END

Drug abuse, youth and crime

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

“On your own plea of guilty, this court finds you guilty and duly convicts you. Before I pass sentence, do you have anything in mitigation?” says First Grade Magistrate Esther Elia Phiri of Lilongwe registry as she straightens her head up to see the reaction of the convict, Anusa.


“Yes worship! I pray to this court to exercise lenience on me because this is my first time to commit a crime. I would also like to confess here that it was not my intention to commit this crime, but I was cheated by my friend who told me chamba gives academic ingenuity,” pleads an 18-year old Anusa while looking down in depression and regret.

“It was my friend, Zonizo, who handed me a cigarette of cannabis sativa to smoke while we were partying…and I did not know it was such a dangerous drug that could put me in such a difficult problem,” he adds

Anusa raises his head up to look at his parents who are sitting in the public gallery. He sees them shedding a tear or two as they try to shy away from his gaze. Though he is pleading for lenience, Anusa knows quite well that the crime he committed just last night, rape with violence, will still earn him separation from his parents and relatives through death penalty.

He is fully aware that if he is lucky enough he will be spared death, but still earn a considerable custodial sentences of not less than ten years for rape attracts a maximum of 14 years imprisonment with hard labour.

“Considering that you are young and that you have had no criminal record before as you and the state have submitted, this court will take these as your mitigating factors.

“This court is also mindful of your tender age and that you still have a future to make, and considering that maximum sentences are reserved for serious criminals, this court is compelled to exercise its lenience on you. I will also consider the factor that you showed remorse by pleading guilty to the charge and that you did not waste court’s time as your mitigating factors,” says magistrate Phiri.

She pauses a bit, takes a bottle of water, drinks and puts the container down again.

“But this court feels obliged to pass a meaningful custodial sentence on the convict because cases of rape and women abuse are becoming rampant. This court does not find it necessary to exercise on the convict because he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” she states. She looks the public gallery to see the people’s reaction.

Phiri sees some faces expressing approval of what she is putting forward to Anusa, especially ladies who are most of the times victims of alcohol and drug abuse in families, schools and any other places of entertainment. The convicts’ parents are still tucked in shame while silently shedding tears of deep sorrow. They have to because they also know this is the beginning of a new life in their family.

They will no longer see him. They will not be able to send him to buy something at the grocery. He will be temporarily unavailable for some years. In short, this is the end of their son’s future, or do they just fear?

The magistrate takes a few minutes scribbling some notes on her file, which no one can access with naked eyes from afar. And the court remains quiet with Anusa still standing in the dock with his hands akimbo.

He is visualizing life in prison; life far from parental care at his age when he desperately needs them to pay his school fees. Anusa has heard stories before of people dying in prison due to lack of food resulting from congestion, a problem our country’s reformatories are best known for.

“I am doomed. My future is doomed. God forget the day I was born,” he curses within himself as he awaits his final destination from the magistrate.

After Phiri finishes writing whatever she was writing, she adjusts her sitting posture, drawing the chair closer to the desk. She clears her throat while facing the convict, parents sitting about five metres away the court clerk’s desk.

“This is your verdict,” she announces. “But before I do that, let me stress here that peer pressure is not an excuse for committing crimes and can never be a mitigating factor. Whether you committed a crime with or without help or influence, the court will pass the same sentence on you. It is up to you to choose who your good friend is.”

“I am, therefore, sentencing you to 12 years imprisonment with hard labour with effect from day of your arrest. This sentence shall serve as a warning to young people who think life is about abusing women after drinking or smoking unnecessarily,” concludes magistrate Phiri attracting the convicts’ loud cry.

“Nditengeni ine chonde mwana wanga msiyeni. Ndikagwire ukaidiwo ndineyo (Set him free. Take me instead, I will serve the sentence on his behalf),” says the mother in her grief-stricken tone. But on what crime can the court pass that sentence on her? Well, she can play Jesus, but courts do not believe in human saviours who can die for other people’s crimes.

Anusa was celebrating his selection to secondary school the previous day when his peers cheated him that beer offers maximum entertainment and celebration. So they went to a certain Mtonjane brewer where they guzzled more than enough that they even forgot their names and where they had come from.

“Takagwireni man kuti mtseguke m’maso. Izi zimachotsa manyazi mwene,” said his friend, Jungayunga, as he handed Anusa a locally-made cigarette of chamba.

The celebrant had no time to ask what the stuff was until the following day when he found himself standing before the magistrate answering questions from law-enforcers for forcing himself on a woman.

It was said that after taking one too much, Anusa decided to bed one or two girls as a way of bidding farewell to village girls as he was now going to secondary school that was far from his home. One has to spend not less than K1000 to reach the destination. Unfortunately, his new destination was now Maula Prison where he would be for the coming 12 years.

This is but one example of how alcohol and drug abuse can destroy somebody’s future in a short period of time. Abuse of alcohol and drugs have put many young men the world over in serious problems they would never imagine happening to them. Some have found themselves in mental hospitals after taking in too much of pills or smoking chamba wholesale.

Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Earnest Malenga recently told journalist in Lilongwe that Malawi was one of the countries faced with serious drug production and, abuse and trafficking in the SADC region.

Malenga explained that about 75 to 80 percent of mental cases in Malawi were a result of alcohol and drug abuse, especially among young people.

“The Rapid Situation Assessment report on Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS in Malawi conducted by the Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi undertaken in 2004 revealed that there is massive abuse of drugs in the country,” said the minister when he was signing memorandum of understanding on behalf of government of Malawi with FORUT, an international development organization that is trying to fight alcohol and drug abuse in different countries across the globe.

“There are three main drugs of abuse in Malawi , namely alcohol, cannabis sativa (locally known as chamba) and tobacco,” said Malenga. He added that excessive use of drugs and alcohol has led to many families breaking up, pupils getting expelled from schools and drivers causing unnecessary accidents and high infection rate for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS.

“The other problem with alcohol is that besides being dangerous to the individual drinker, it is also harmful to those around us such as women, children who bear the brunt of the aggression and violence caused by alcohol and drugs,” explained Malenga.

He blamed the problem on lack of active legislation on the use of alcohol and drugs citing drinking joints which remain open 24 hours because there was no law that guides bar owners on times of opening and closing. Malenga, however, reported that Malawi has now put in place a framework for combating the problem through the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug Control chaired by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security.

He warned that Malawi may risk degenerating into a society of drug addicts if use of alcohol and drugs is not properly managed.

On the MOU he signed on behalf of the government of Malawi, the minister said FORUT was committed to provide the country with technical assistance in the field of alcohol, specifically in areas of research and documentation, competence building, policy development, mobilization and awareness-raising, strengthening of law enforcement institutions and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug Control and Eradication of Cannabis Sativa (chamba).

In his remarks, FORUT Secretary General Morten Lonstad said the programme to combat the abuse of alcohol and drugs in Malawi came after Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation had advised the organization to involve countries in Southern Africa .

“Our aim is to build networks of national and international NGOs where ideas, experiences and knowledge on prevention strategies and policy advocacy can be exposed and further developed,” said Lonstad.
He added: “The programme in Malawi aims at linking the ADD issue to other development issues, as the spreading of HIV and AIDS, gender-based violence and children at risk.”

Lonstad promised that his organization will continuously help Malawi with the required assistance in her fight against alcohol and drug abuse.

“There are vested interests such as the alcohol industry, but if we work together, civil society, faith-based organizations, government ministries, politicians, traditional leaders and all stakeholders, I am sure we should be able to map the way forward to prevent and control alcohol and drug abuse in Malawi so that at the end of the day we should reduce cases of violence and other delinquencies resulting from too much consumption of beer or drugs,” said Home Affairs and Internal Security Principal Secretary Martin Mononga echoing the FORUT Secretary General.

“And we expect to have reduced cases of misbehaviours resulting from alcohol and drug abuse thereby reducing criminal acts also,” said Mononga.
END