NGO foils Sheikh's marriage to 15 year-old girl

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

  Happy she's rescued: Khadija

Human rights activists are the last crop of people Sheikh Abdulrashid Denis Nawani of Mangochi would set his eyes on because they prevented him from marrying a 15 year-old girl having clinched a deal with the girl’s parents.

But National Coordinator for Islamic Information Bureau (IIB) Sheikh Dinala Chabulika has condemned Nawani’s action describing it as irresponsibility not worthy coming from a religious leader who is supposed to be exemplary.

Sheikh Nawani is said to have enticed Khadijah Hashim’s family with financial and material support if they offered him to marry their daughter and a Standard Eight pupil at St. Augustine 3 Primary School.

YouthNet and Counselling (Yoneco) Youth Development and Human Rights Officer, Matthews Malunga, said Tuesday that in December last year, Sheikh Nawani was due to marry Khadijah Hashim of Mosiya Village, Traditional Authority Chowe in the district after making arrangements with her parents.

Khadijah was, however, not aware of the deal until when marriage counsellors started planning for the big day—engagement ceremony.

Malunga stressing a point to Watipaso

According to Malunga, the man of God approached the Hashim family where he expressed his desire to marry Khadijah. Nawani confirmed this but explained that discussions were being held behind the girl’s back.

In their verbal agreements, Sheikh Nawani committed himself to look after Hashims’ social and financial needs. He also promised to keep Khadijah in school while at the same time attending to the pressing duties and responsibilities of the family.

“He lured the family by promising to render financial support to the family if they gave in,” said Malunga.

Khadijah’s sister, Habiba, confirmed that the family entered into agreements with Nawani where the Hashims were to marry off the teenager “because our father in South Africa cannot provide for us”.

“We cannot provide for her school needs hence the agreement we made with the Sheikh,” said Habiba.

Marriage counsellors from both sides were identified to facilitate and steer the engagement and eventual wedding ceremonies of Sheikh Nawani to Khadijah.

But the religious leader got a shocker of his life when counsellors rang him in the last minute informing him the cancellation.

Sheikh Nawani blames the human rights activists for foiling his marriage and blames Hashims’ u-turn on the Teacher Counsellor, Jenipher Jeremiah-Salapa, who facilitated the foiling of the marriage.

“I still believe that was not the decision from the girl’s family, but some people from an NGO who had told her parents not to marry off their daughter,” said Nawani.

The Sheikh argues and feels his rights have been violated saying as a man he had all the right to marry a woman of his choice without people interfering with his private life.

“Everything was set until this other day they rang to tell me that what I did not expect from them. I don’t know what exactly happened. I loved my girl and she loved me,” explained a seemingly disappointed Sheikh Nawani who ministers at Mosiya Madrassah and passes by the girl’s home every time he is going to serve at the mosque.

But Khadijah contradicted the Sheikh’s sentiments saying “all the arrangements were done by my sister”.

“I’ve never met him personally. He’s never proposed love to me and I never consented to be her wife,” she said. Habiba corroborated what her younger sister said.

In his remarks, Malunga said Mangochi continues to register increase in cases of child abuse and violation of child right to education as most parents encourage their children to do domestic work instead of sending them to school.

Yoneco has embarked on a project aimed at sensitizing the local people on the need to send their children to school, but the project has met some resistance from parents as well as chiefs.

“Our efforts are heavily resisted. We received resistance from Khadijah’s uncle, sisters and village headman Mosiya, as well because they wanted Khadijah to marry Nawani because he had promised financial assistance,” said Malunga.

“It is disheartening to find that parents are the masterminds of these pre-arranged marriages,” he added.

Khadijah’s father and brother are currently in South Africa, but do not send financial or material assistance back home.

Teacher counsellor: Jeniffer Salapa

The teacher counsellor, Jenipher Salapa disclosed that the idea behind the practice was the families desire to pull themselves out of excruciating poverty since most suitors come with promises some of which are unattainable.

“In this case, the idea was that the family could be benefiting from Sheikh’s benevolence if he was allowed to marry the girl,” explained Salapa.

“This practice is rampant here in Mangochi. In Mosiya alone, we had three cases. We rescued two; one got married with parental backing,” she said adding that the teen-family ran disappeared from the district because they feared human rights activists could separate them if they remained in their [activists’] sight.

But Sheikh Abdulrashid Denis Nawani does not see any reason why Yoneco had to come in to stop the mariage on the basis that Khadijah’s right to education was being violated.

According to him, the girl would still be in school and he would be providing all the required support for her succes in education.

But National Coordinator for Islamic Information Bureau (IIB) Sheikh Dinala Chabulika has described Nawani’s argument baseless and irresponsibility.

Chabulika said on Wednesday that what Nawani did was pure irresponsibility and violation of the girl’s right to education.

“Islam teaches us to be responsible. You cannot just marry a girl of that age [15]. We expect girls of such age to be in school and not in marriage,” stressed Chabulika.

END

EIB, EU bankroll water and sanitation project

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Government has commended the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union (EU) for the financial support the organizations are providing to the country in improving health and quality of life for Malawians in the country’s major cities.

Minister of Irrigation and Water Development, Richie Muheya, made the remarks Thursday in Blantyre when he inaugurated the Malawi peri-urban water and sanitation project, which EIB and EU are funding in conjunction with the Malawi government.

Muheya said the project was crucial as it was in line with government development priorities in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS).

Said the minister: “The Malawi government welcomes this landmark project and strong support from the EIB and EU. This will significantly improve both the health and quality of life for Malawians in the country’s main cities. This is in line with the Government of Malawi’s Development priorities in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy”.

EIB Vice President responsible for Africa, Plutarchos Sakellaris, said, his bank was with Lilongwe and Blantyre Water Boards to improve access to clean water and sanitation for Malawians.

“This is a key project demonstrating the EIB’s strong engagement to improving the quality of life of people across Africa,” said Sakellaris.

And in his remarks, EU Ambassador to Malawi, Alexander Baum stated that the programme represents a unique combination of loan and grant funding particularly suitable for the water sector. Baum said the project will significantly improve piped water and sanitation services for people living in low-income areas of Blantyre and Lilongwe.

The project will seen 723,000 additional people receiving safe drinking water and 468,000 people in low-income areas will have access to basic sanitation facilities, according to the EU chief.

Principal Secretary for Irrigation and Water Development, Sandram Maweru, said the Malawi peri-urban water and sanitation project will help in upgrading clean water provision and sanitation to international standards and improve services for citizens in Blantyre and Lilongwe for years to come.

The project will include upgrading key water and sanitation infrastructure and institutional capacity-development. In addition to the two water boards, financial support will be given to local NGOs advising on project implementation. The overall programme will also include an HIV/AIDS initiative.

The total project cost is €32 million and will be financed through an EU Water Facility Grant of €14.9 million, a subsidized €15.7 million loan from the European Investment Bank, technical assistance and support from the Malawi government.

END

The curse of Mlodza LEA School and its teacher

by Watipaso Mzungu Jnr


As the dawn breaks, mayi Kanyoza wakes up from her slumber to heat water for her three school-going children. All her children are pupils at Mlodza LEA School in Lilongwe’s densely populated Area 23. As a caring mother, Kanyoza is bound to make sure her kids are well taken care of before they go to school. Children have to be bathed, dressed neatly, have their hair combed and fed before going to school.

This is important because children going to school minus the said considerations are likely to lose attention in class. It used to be a practice during our primary school time (though not long ago) that every pupil coming to school with unkempt hair and dirty clothes would be sent back upon arrival at school.

The idea was to instil a spirit of hygiene and responsibility in toddlers so that they should grow with the spirit for their own good health. I am not sure if the practice still exists in our schools with this thing called democracy. All I have heard from children in primary schools is: “Atibweza ati chifukwa sitinalipire K20 yokonzetsera kalasi yopanda dengalo.” No translation for that.

My point is that it is the responsibility of every caring parent to make sure that his/her children bathe before they go to school. Good parents will sometimes take responsibility to comb their children’s hair, tuck in their shirts/blouses, etc.

And that is exactly what mayi Kanyoza is doing. But if she only knew the state in which her children will come, she would not have bothered to lose her sleep to prepare for the kids. She would not bathe them. Mlodza LEA School, whether by God’s design or man-made curse, is not an institution a parent has to worry bathing his/her kids before going to school. At least my observation and that of some parents and guardians of pupils at this school, children would be better off going dirty than wasting soap and water whose prices and tariffs respectively would be equivalent to a primary school teacher.

What I am trying to say is that Kanyoza’s sons and other pupils at Mlodza would be mistaken for a Nyau dancer—Gulewamkulu, soon after arriving at school courtesy of the dusty open air learning spaces. Forget about classrooms at Mlodza. If it were not for the brick fence surrounding this school, one would wonder how pupils would be learning at this school.

Just to fill you in. Mlodza LEA School was opened in 1983 with sixteen classrooms and one teacher’s house. At that time, the institution was meant to accommodate only 960 pupils—60 pupils in each room. No more than that. But as the population grew (and still continues to grow) courtesy of early marriages and uncontrolled births (lack of family planning), the enrolment also swelled to 5308 as of July 2007.

If you make your mental arithmetic, you will find that 4078 of our sons and daughters at this institution have no classrooms. So how do they learn?

“All the 4078 pupils are learning from outside rooms. They use this fence as chalk boards,” explained Dyson Lovemore Faifi, deputy head teacher at the school in an interview in his office.

Faifi lamented that since the school opened some 24 years ago it had never seen maintenance work. The deputy head teacher expressed concern over the filthy conditions the institution is currently going through. Even if someone does not tell you about the filth, the infuriating stench from the flooding toilets at the school can tell you a longer and more detailed story than the head teacher.

Faifi said the problem of teachers’ houses has farfetched consequences. Many teachers don’t report for duties in time let alone on time.

“I receive a lot of excuse from teachers on why they had come late. I have to understand them because they live far away. Some live as far as Gaga and Chilinde (some 15km away). And they need money to travel each day of work. In times of lack of transport money, it is absence without official leave,” said the second in command teacher.

School Management Committee Chairman Emmanuel Chinyama wondered whether the name Mlodza the school was given was a prophecy of misfortunes for the institution. Chinyama doesn’t understand why his school is not receiving any donor support from well-wishers as is the case with Chiwoko and Chilinde Primary schools close to Mlodza.

“Mwina sukuluyi ndi yolodzedwa monga mwa dzina lake, (Maybe the school is under a curse as the name suggests.),” Chinyama starts.

“We have been to different people, organisations and the ministry of education to convince them to consider constructing more school blocks at the school. But nobody seems interested to come,” he adds.

Chinyama thinks the school is indeed under a curse of some type as evidenced by people’s and organisation’s refusal to assist them.

“Imagine! Small school like Chilinde and Chiwoko have received two projects each. Yet there is none for Mlodza, which is bigger if we consider in terms of enrolment,” he says. Currently, the school does not have running toilets. Pupils have to run elsewhere to relieve themselves.

Since its inception, the school has never had water facilities until late last year when the communities around the institution made contributions so that the facility could be installed. But that was not the end of the water problems. Few months ago, Lilongwe Water Board threatened to disconnect the facility for non-payment of bills because parents and guardians cannot manage to meet the skyrocketing bills.

Acting District Education Manager for Lilongwe city, Sezerine Misomali admitted that she was approached by the school’s woes by the School Management Committee. She also admitted that some schools are going through renovation of some kind while Mlodza has never tasted such service since it was born 24 years past.

She, however, disagreed with Chinyama that the school was under a curse. Misomali said the problems Mlodza was facing were also the same problems some schools in her jurisdiction are going through. But the acting DEM acknowledged that problems at Mlodza were extreme.

“It is true that Mlodza has the highest enrolment in Lilongwe urban. That is why we decided to open a new school called Area 44 School. The school is four weeks old now. It is close to Mlodza to ease the problem. But this also seems not to solve the problem at all. So we want to try other means. As for the water bills, I am yet to meet the School Management Committee on the way forward,” said Misomali.

Maybe to confirm that the school was under curse, although DEM is disputing, the same DEM revealed that there are no plans to construct new school blocks and teachers’ houses as one way of solving the problems.

“We don’t think constructing new blocks would help, but to open new schools would,” she said.

One wonders whether opening new schools without maintaining them would be the best solution to the current problems in our schools. On layman’s point of view, this could just be another way of creating more problems. If a father is unable to care for one child, can he manage two or more?

Deputy Minister responsible for Basic and Secondary Education Olive Masanza said she did not have any information about the problems Mlodza is facing.

She, however, promised to do something about the school in due course.

“I will take up the challenge to see the school sometime. As a ministry we will do something to ease the problems. But as you know, we cannot do that at once,” she observed.

“I am asking the general public, donors and partners in development in education to assist us in building extra learning rooms at the institution,” she pleaded.

Masanza noted that the problem at Mlodza and other schools have a negative impact on the country’s education sector hence the need to solve them now.

Unless something is done indeed, your children at this school are to come back from school as nyau dancers. Teachers will also report for duties either at 10:00 am or later.

END

Nurturing danger within our midst

by Watipaso Mzungu Jnr


Malawi has Lilongwe as its capital city. It is a capital city in the sense that it is where all government operations take place. This is a city where all government ministries and departments are headquartered.

Blantyre is another major city in our landlocked country. Knowledgeable people have described and defined it as a commercial city. I don’t really know the definition of Mzuzu, but other people have called it the capital city of the northern region. Whatever that means I am yet to know.

My interest, though, is in Lilongwe; our capital city. It seems besides being the government’s administrative centre; the city is also the headquarters of all sorts of criminals. Stunning revelations made recently by chiefs and residents of the city have shown that all administrative operations of the criminals take place here side by side with government’s.

Senior Chief Jubeki of Area 24 in the city told the reporter in an interview that his area is just one of the areas that harbour notorious criminals, especially armed robbers. The chief, who was speaking on behalf of all Chiefs in the city, said it was no secret that Areas 23, 24, 36, 47 and 49 among others are keeping hordes of criminals. But the question could be: Why doesn’t he, having all knowledge that he is living with danger in their midst, report to police?

“We have reported this issue to police several times, but each time we do that all we get are disappointments.”

Why disappointments? The chief did not mince words. He told the gathering police do not help them. Jubeki said he suspected some policemen are friends to armed robbers.

“We are tired of reporting to police because we don’t get the assistance we need. There is no reason to report to police anymore about these heartless men. Police have no power on them (armed robbers). They can make arrests today, tomorrow you find them (criminals) on the streets again terrorising the lives of the same people who reported them to police,” revealed the chief.

Jubeki also cited a number of cases of murder in his area but police did not do anything to help them.

“A certain woman was killed by a businessman near Ngwenya market. That businessman was arrested, but within a short period of time we found he was back in our midst. Is it money that is saving these criminals from facing the law?” he asked.

A certain resident of Gaga in Area 24, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that some policemen are culprits of armed robberies. She said some law-breakers stage the robberies alongside law-enforcers.

“I have seen some policemen drinking Kachasu here in our location (24’s Gaga location). After their drinking, they go about breaking people’s houses,” she alleged.

But how did she know they breakers were in company of police?

“Many robbers use police uniform and riffles. Where can you find these weapons apart from police?” questioned the lady who revealed she was once a victim of the same.

The lady echoed the fears of the chief that some criminals are working with the blessing of some policemen because of how their cases are handled once arrested and detained.

“Such robbers do not know the doors of the courts despite the fact that they have been arrested several times,” she said.

Deputy Executive Director of CARDDENU Francis Antonio concurred with the chief in an exclusive interview with the reporter that Lilongwe is keeping a lot of hardcore criminals compared to other cities and districts of the country. Antonio said that this the reason his organization decided to launch of Gun Free Zone Campaign to stop proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the city to sensitise residents on the need to report all criminals to police.

He said the major objective of CARDDENU was to enhance and add value to consolidation of democracy and ensure that citizens participate in the development of the country so that the economic growth is meaningful and benefit people themselves.

“CARDDENU is a rights organisation and it belongs to Human Rights Defenders Forum—Malawi Chapter. As such right to life is one such important right if the country would want very able people to meaningfully and productively participate in socio-economic development. Life must be protected,” he emphasised.

Antonio said since Malawians cherish freedom existence of small arms and firearms become an impediment.

“As such CARDDENU in partnership CHRR took an initiative to advocate for Free Zone on Small Arms/ Firearms in this country, Lilongwe in particular because it is the most affected district at the moment,” explained deputy CARDDENU director.

Antonio said the two organisations decided to involve chiefs in the campaign because criminals live in the jurisdiction of these traditional leaders.

Executive Director for CHRR Undule Mwakasungula said the fight against Small Arms and Dangerous Weapons would be rendered useless if courts hand down lenient penalties on culprits. Mwakasungula noted that stiffer penalties would help reduce criminal acts as the sentences would scare potential criminals. He also noted that minimal police workforce in the country has caused undesired tension among Malawians.

“We are mindful of lack of enough police workforce, hence the need to involve chiefs and lay people in the fight. Everybody should take responsibility because we cannot have police at all times,” he said.

The rights activist also asked the government to consider conducting a research to determine the impact of firearms in the country besides revisiting Firearms Act, which he said is outdated.

Senior Superintendent Lovemore Mwabumba from National Police Headquarters admitted in an interview that sometimes suspects have been released before cases are finished. He, however, defended that police only give bail to suspects depending on the nature of the crime.

Mwabumba encouraged the people to report again and again to police even if sometimes they get (people) disappointments.

“People should not lose hope. They should report again and again. If they see that we are not helping them, they can go to one of these rights organisations. Certainly, they will receive the needed assistance,” he said.

The law-enforcer could not clear the mist surrounding the relationship between hardcore law-breakers and some policemen. He could not deny nor confirm the existence of such friendships.

“If that happens, then it is shameful an unfortunate. Police are not supposed to be friends to criminals. And if you know one policeman/woman who is a friend to a criminal, please report them,” he asked.

Some prison guards need reformation

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Guards and inmates at Maula Prison

Mrs. Dorothy Dyton was arrested August 25 this year at Bunda roadblock in Lilongwe for being found in possession of 14kg of Indian hemp, locally known as chamba. She made her maiden [court] appearance at Lilongwe First Grade Magistrate on August 29 where she admitted the drug was hers. She told magistrate Esther Elia Phiri that she had no choice but to indulge in the illegal business of selling the hemp because of the pressing family responsibilities she had.

Dyton said she was looking after six orphans and a blind mother. Besides that, she was a widow. She did not mince words when worship Phiri wanted to know what she intended to do with the drug. Humbly and honestly she answered: “ndimafuna ndikagulitse kuti ndithandizikire. Panyumba pali umphawi waukulu zedi! (I wanted to sell to earn money with which I could provide for my dependants. My family is going through excruciating poverty).”

On her own plea of guilty, the learned magistrate found her guilty and subsequently convicted her on the same [being found in possession of chamba]. Magistrate Esther Elia Phiri set the following day (August 30), as the day court would give its sentence. I went as early as two hours earlier than the stated time in the court. I wanted to hear for myself the sentence the widow would receive for committing a serious crime so that I would blow a whistle to warn others with similar intentions.

As a layman, I thought the widow had bargained enough in her well-presented mitigation. In her mitigation, Dyton asked the court for mercy stressing it was her daunting responsibility of caring for more than she could manage herself a loafer. The woman does not do any formal work (employed work). All she does is farming without fotereza (as they call it in rural areas). You do not expect her to meet her obligations under such living conditions.

I was wrong to suggest or think that court would be lenient on her on the fact that she was a widow with seven empty stomachs waiting for her to fill including that of herself. Her Worship Phiri said it clear that poverty is no reason enough for one to indulge in illegal business. The magistrate argued that if the courts could exercise lenience basing on such facts, there be no sanity in our societies, as many people would be justified to commit similar offences out of poverty. In such situations, the magistrate noted, courts would find it difficult to discharge its duties because almost everybody claims to be poor in one way or the other.

“Being found in possession of chamba let alone trading therein is a serious offence as provided for in the penal code. The maximum penalty for the offence is death or life imprisonment depending on the amount of the hemp recovered and the circumstances,” read the magistrate as people sat quietly looking at the widow who was about to hang.

“However, considering the fact that this is your fist offence as submitted by the state, the court will exercise some leniency on you,” she said before she pronounced her sentence.

“I, therefore, order you to pay a fine of K20, 000 or in default serve 24 months imprisonment with hard labor. The sentence is with effect from the day of arrest [August 25],”the sentence was proclaimed attracting murmurs from the people attending the proceedings. The murmurs were not a sign of protest against the penalty, but rather, fear for the widow’s dependants. “Who will provide for her kids now that she is jailed?” some people asked each other outside court. If the woman had money, she would have paid and go back home to continue struggling for her larger-than-she-can-manage family. Unfortunately, the lady had no coin on her that could disentangle her from the hook. So like a lamb she was laid to her new home—Maula Prison—where she will be for well two years. As for the children and the blind granny, only God knows who will provide for them.

According to A Handbook For Courts on the Treatment of Offenders (The Sentence of the Court) Chapter3, page7, says and I quote: “criminal courts play a key role in the criminal justice system. The objectives of the system, writes the author, are to prevent, detect and punish crimes, and other agencies --- such as police, the prison service and the probation service (Community Service)—are involved in seeking to achieve them. There are three ways, generally, in which they might be expected to do so: by deterring potential offenders through fear of punishment; by influencing offenders who have been appropriately sentenced not to offend again; and by putting out of circulation, through custody, those who are a particular nuisance or a particular danger.”

I am interested in the two objectives, i.e., influencing offenders who have been appropriately sentenced not to offend again; and by putting out of circulation, through custody, those who are a particular nuisance or a particular danger.” I would like to believe that Mrs. Dorothy Dyton was a nuisance/ danger to our society, which is already, infested with moral decay hence the court giving her a custodial sentence having failed to pay the fine. Otherwise, suspended sentence or community service would have done.

The idea, I suppose, was to put her out of society to prevent further moral decay through [circulation of] chamba. You will all agree with me that the herb does not help a smoker/ user in anyway apart from degrading his/her mental capabilities. That is why the court chose to hand down two-year jail term (and not two-day jail term) imprisonment with hard labor. According to the court, Dyton was appropriately sentenced so that she should not to offend again after the service. Mrs. Dyton will, for two years, be far from her illegal business. As she comes back she will have forgotten it. That is what an innocent man out there would think.

But this will not be the case for her. It will be up to her to continue trading in the drug or not while serving her jail-term at Maula. At this institution, the herb is selling like hot cakes. Your questions would be: “Who smuggles chamba into those protected areas?”

Kondwani Mbunge told the reporter in an exclusive interview that the drug is brought into the wires courtesy of prison guards. He explained in detail that the guards usually come at night with opaque plastic bags containing the herbs for sale to anyone interested in the business. (Name) who has just been released from the institution, said the drug is brought in prison in large quantities more than that which had made Mrs. Dyton a prisoner at the institution.

“They come at night carrying black plastic bags containing chamba. Anyone is free to order for resale to fellow inmates,” said the just-released slave.

Two officials at the institution (Mr. Chima—09297008 and Mr. Moyo) confirmed the presence of the illicit drug in an interview on condition of strict anonymity. The duo said it was true some warders are trading in the herb, which is described as painkiller for inmates on hard labor.

“Most prisoners smoke to lessen their pain of staying in the wires for years without their loved ones. Actually, some call it mthetsa-nkhawa,” he said.

But is it healthy for people employed to inculcate good character into our wayward sons and daughters in prison to supply the illegal drug to the very people the society/court found nuisance? I am told chamba is illegal in our country because it influences the smoker/user to behave like a wild animal (to lose senses). Should we expect our children to come back with good manners from the jail under conditions where intoxicants are supplied to lessen pain or worries?

If Mrs. Dorothy Dyton is in prison today, she is there simply because she wanted to make a living out of this illegal herb. Is it justified that prison guards should be making bucks out of the same illegal business and get away with it? I feel these warders trading in chamba, too, need reformation. If Dyton is in prison for being found in possession of Indian hemp, can’t these, too, join her for doing the same? Or should we assume they are immune from court proceedings?

Home Affairs Minister Honorable Earnest Malenga said like anybody else out there, warders are not immune from court proceedings. In a telephone interview from his office Malenga said if such practice is happening among prison guards, four steps have to be applied. The culprits have to be arrested, charged, tried before the court of law and get sentenced.

“Chamba is not allowed everywhere in the country and prison in not an exception. It is criminal to possess or sell the drug. That is why every new inmate, under normal procedure, has to be thoroughly searched so that nothing illegal should find its way in,” Malenga said.

“If they are caught, they have to be treated like any other citizen of this country. He should be arrested, charged, tried and sentenced like any citizen,” he added.

He asked responsible citizens to report warders trading in chamba to police so that they should be prosecuted like any citizen.

Prison’s spokesperson Tobias Noah concurred with the minister that chamba is illegal in prisons as it is outside. He, however, defended that it was unlikely for his charges to indulge in the trade.

Noah also asked anyone with information about certain warders selling chamba to inmates to let him know so that an appropriate action should be taken.

“Report such kind of people to us so that an appropriate action should be taken. Such people are denting the good image of Prisons’ Department,” he said.

But the minister said he doubted the thinking capacity of such people (warders) because “as people entrusted with responsibility to teach others good behavior, they were not supposed to be in the forefront making blunders.”

“A prison warder with sound mind cannot do that. Such kind of people are a disgrace,” he noted.

END

Domestic child labour worsens in Mulanje

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Domestic child labour, poverty and early marriages are contributing to the rising number for girls dropping out of school in Mulanje, a local non-governmental organization operating in the district said Saturday.

Project officer of Link Community Development (LCD) Ogah Nanthambwe said in an interview that despite government intervention to end child labour in all tea estates, which were deemed the most culpable, the problem seems to be far from being over.

Nanthambwe explained that parents with girl-children have now replaced child labour in estates with baby sitting, which has seen over 90 percent of girls dropping out of school before reaching Standard 6.

“Mulanje is a child labour-free zone, thanks to government intervention. But there is a new form of child labour being perpetrated by children’s own parents, which is babysitting,” Nanthambwe explained.

“We have some schools where you would find only three girls in a class because some have dropped out. This is very worrying, especially at a time when government is trying to promote girls education,” he said.

He disclosed that almost all parents working in tea estates entrust the responsibility of tending to babies to a girl child, which result into perpetual absence leading to actual dropping out.

“Even on market day, parents leave their small babies with their daughters. Many girls have left school because of this problem,” he said.

On poverty and early marriages, Nanthambwe disclosed that some parents tend to force their under-aged daughters into marriage as one way of solving their [families’] financial problems.

In his remarks at the prize presentation of Zonal Sanitation and Hygiene trophy at Chambe TDC, District Education Manager (DEM) Gossam Mafuta appealed to teachers and parents to encourage their children to go to school.

“Education is key to any meaningful development. Please, give your sons and daughters ample time to attend classes; don’t all children to work while their friends are in school,” said Mafuta.

END

DEM warns teachers against laziness

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Mulanje District Education Manager (DEM) Gossam Mafuta said Saturday that dedicated teachers are instrumental in achieving quality education in the country.

Mafuta was speaking at Chambe Teacher Development Centre (TDC) in the area of Traditional Authority Mkanda in the district during the prize presentation of Zonal Sanitation and Hygiene trophy.

“Dedicated and well-prepared teachers are an inspiration to pupils,” said Mafuta.

He explained that a research in the teaching profession has shown teachers who don’t prepare don’t impress learners leading to pupils losing interest in the subject.

“A teacher who did not prepare does not impress and, in most cases, digresses in his lessons as a way of creating joyful mood among learners. Such teachers cannot contribute effectively to the development of education in Malawi ,” he underscored.

On the sanitation and hygiene trophy, Mafuta explained that the initiative was in line with government policies for improving education in the country saying education remains key to any meaningful development of any society.

Among others, the competition was introduced to encourage teacher/learner punctuality, teacher preparations besides improving sanitation and hygiene in schools and was supported by Link Community Development (LCD), one of the local organizations in Mulanje.

All the 14 schools in Chambe Zone participated in the competition in which Sukayakwe Junior Primary School emerged a winner.

END

Govt fails to pay teachers

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Thousands of teachers from Central West Education Division (CWED) have complained that government throught the Ministry of Education is ill-treating them by failing to pay their leave grants for two years now.

But public relations officer at the ministry Lindiwe Chide disowned the teachers' problem in an interview on Friday saying “issues of leave grants are handled by divisional offices”.

Our sources claimed they have not been receiving their leave grants since 2009 and that there is no indication that the ministry was willing to pay them. According to the source, each teacher is owed not less than K8,500.

The situation has been aggrevated by government's latest ban on part-time lessons where teachers could make some monies for supplementing their monthly salaries.

This development has forced other members of the teaching profession to go into ursury (katapila) in order to buy some their basic requirements, sources said last week.

“When we forward our grievances to the ministry, we don't get any answer,” they said.

They further complained that there are some officials in the ministry who are suppressing the freedom of teachers by intimidating them with dismissalls if they dare continue pressing for their dues.

“This is abuse and ill-treatment. Why should we be subjected to such life when we're professionals? Please, let the nation know the kind of suffering we're going through, please!” said a female who equally refused to be named.

She said at one time the ministry said it could not manage to pay them at once because the teachers were “too many”. As such, a decision was reached that they would get their money in phases.

“But this didn't materialize as well. And we don't know whether we're going to ever get our money,” she said.

But Education PRO Lindiwe Chide while denying responsibility said she does not remember the ministry owing any teacher leave grants for such a long period of time.

“I don't think that is true. Have you ever heard of government ill-treating its people? They're just exaggerating the issue,” she said.

Asked if it was true that the ministry had suggested to pay them in phases, Chide said she would have to consult divisional officers on the issue.

“But I sometimes wonder why it is always teachers who complain of all the public servants. And why do they rush to the media when there are some problems?” she inquired further saying “rushing to the media is one of the major causes of their suffering”.

“We've an open door policy. Everyone is free to come even to see the PS (principal secretary), yet they don't want to come. Instead they rush to the media,” Chide said.

But five of the CWED teachers said they have never heard of the open door policy the PRO was talking about. They claimed that no one can express their grievances on such kind of issues like leave grants without risking your job.

“Why are they asking for names of ringleaders when they've an open door policy?” they asked.
END

Govt fails to hire 428 teachers

...More vacancies exist in Education--Chide
BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR


Over 428 teachers have claimed that government “government shows no interest in hiring them” six months after they graduated from Domasi College of Education.

This is despite the fact that our education system suffers a serious shortage of teachers in almost all the public schools and that trained were meant to fill the vacancies.

Our sources told Maranatha Mzungu on condition of anonymity that since they graduated from the college last year, government does not seem ready to employ them and that they are now tired of waiting.

“We're tired of waiting; government should tell us the truth. If they're not interested in us, they should come out in the open so that we can find other means of survival instead of keeping us jobless all this time,” said the disappointed teachers in telephone interviews.

“What's more interesting is that it is the same government that complains that teachers are not enough in its public schools. Are they really serious?” they wondered.

The disgruntled teachers further alleged that the Ministry of Education in inviting applications from suitably qualified teachers to fill the vacancies that exist in the ministry “when they are failing to release the results of the interviews they conducted last year”.

“Some of us did interviews for PT2 last year, but nobody has heard the results. So where is the essence of advertising for PT3 vacancies when they can't release PT2 results?” they asked.

Ministry of Education publicist Lindiwe Chide confirmed having trained the 428 teachers for deployment in national secondary schools, but dismissed teachers' claims that the ministry has dumped them.

Chide stated that her ministry had already issued posting instructions, but that she was not aware of the actual date when the postings will be effected.

“It is wrong to say we're not giving them jobs. Actually, posting instructions are already out and have already been posted to the divisions. They've to check there for posting instructions,” she said.

But the teachers countered Chide's explanations saying what she was saying was not what was on the ground.

“Which division is she talking about. She is a liar. Please sir, voice this out for us. Tatopa ndikukhomereredwa (We're tired of being downtrodden!),” they complained.

Chide explained on Friday that the ministry's desire to train and recruit more teachers to counter the teacher-deficit currently being experienced in the public schools.

She could, however, not say the number of teachers the ministry was in need of to meet the demand.

“Obviously, we need more teachers since our target is that by 2013 the ratio should decrease from 90:1 to 60:1 in primary schools and 55:1 to 40:1 in secondary schools,”Chide explained.

Currently, the Ministry of Education has 40,034 teachers for primary schools and 4,259 qualified teachers for secondary schools.

This is by far too little if Malawi is really serious to reach the 2013 goals on pupil-teacher ratios.

END

Villagers, too, need ICT services

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Godfrey Zamaheya, 26, is running a community-based organization (CBO) in his village in Mwanza. His donors demand that he should be sending them reports on how the CBO is progressing.

But this is not easy for Zamaheya who lives in the rural area where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services are but a mere dream.

As such, he will need to travel to urban areas where he can access internet services. Or worse still, Zamaheya has to migrate to town where he can easily correspond with his benefactors.

Why ICT services?

In the present century, the advancements in information and communication technologies (ICTs) are changing the various components of human life.

The changes in the ICTs have brought a positive impact in the process of public service delivery and socio-economic structure of communities.

ICT applications in the recent past have demonstrated their positive impact in minimizing the processing costs, increase transparency and support economic development by income generating ventures, increase in agricultural production, and improvements in health and education sectors, all of which promote the overall quality of life of rural people.

ICT for development (ICT4D) is another emerging area of development agenda in Malawi, and its relevance to economic and social development is well-acknowledged although adoption of ICT-based development initiatives is slow in compared to some other developing countries.

ICT4D has become a common phrase in the development world, and till now telecentre is the only focus initiative of ICT4D in the country and many developing countries.

ICT in rural areas

The role of ICT in development can not be disputed and rural areas need to be at par with urban areas if development is to spread at the same pace.

Yahya Ibrahim Harande of the Department of Library and Information Science at Bayero University in Nigeria says access to information and advice is a key resource for local people in maintaining active and independent lives.

Harande believes that access to information is also critical to letting people know their entitlements to welfare benefits and sources of support to overcome social exclusion.

“Information is the lifeblood of any society and vital to the activities of both the government and private sectors,” he says.

The development of countries globally cannot be achieved without the development of the rural community.

This is because 75 to 80 percent of the people in developing countries live in the rural areas need positive, relevant and prompts attention in their daily activities.

No serious, active, conscious, sensitive, and organized government would want to neglect rural communities.

Lack of development has a positive correlation with the neglect of rural areas. Rural neglects brings negative consequences such as exodus of rural dwellers to urban areas, with resulting problems of unemployment, crimes, prostitution, child labour, insecurity, money laundering, bribery, poverty, proliferation of shanty living areas, spread of diseases, and over-stretching of the facilities and infrastructures in the urban areas.

Any nation that neglects the development and empowerment of the rural communities should not expect meaningful development, argues Harande.

Therefore, extension of ICTs to rural areas will promote development and stem rural-urban migration in search of job opportunities, concurs Deputy Minister of Information and Civic Education Kingsley Namakhwa.

Namakhwa believes that even the tendency to migrate to urban areas may be a thing of the past if people are able to access information right in their rural settings.

“In case of marketing, traders will be able to access information about buyers so it is of paramount importance that services like internet are extended to the rural communities,” he thinks.

The deputy minister is very optimistic that extending internet services to rural areas would create employment opportunities for many young people and address some of the development needs of the area.

He notes: “Besides accessing information, when you establish Internet Cafes, jobs are created in servicing, repair and maintenance of the technology.”

Eliza Mkomwa, Chairperson for Mikolongwe CBO at Goliati in Thyolo said all his siblings had moved to the commercial capital, Blantyre, because they couldn’t find competitive schools for their children, and their businesses were collapsing.

“People were spreading rumours here that things have changed. If your child studies in a school without a computer, it is a waste of time because they won’t get jobs when they finish. The young ones always board trucks and go to town to look for jobs but I am too old to do that,” he said.

Interventions to address the disparity

Although Malawi government has been very instrumental in setting up telecentres in rural areas such as Goliyati in Thyolo and Nsanje, many parts of the country are yet to benefit from this movement.

There are no internet or call centres in most parts of the country because of lack of electricity or persistent blackouts, among other reasons.

“I have a computer in my office but it is useless because of lack of electricity. Other NGOs have computer services in their office run on a generator but they are not open to the public,” says a businessman at Nsanje, but refuses to be identified.

ICT services are needed in schools for students to get computer knowledge and dissemination of information.

Group Village Headman Mangazi from T/A Chimaliro is a such a happy man having been the first to benefit from the government's initiative to open ICT service centres in the rural areas.

In an interview on Monday, Mangazi explained that Goliati is a busy growth centre and ICT services are vital for entrepreneurs to find markets for their products.

“We have a busy growth centre and ICT services are vital. In the past, people used to travel to Blantyre, Luchenza or Thyolo to have their certificates and other documentsphotocopied. It was costly,” he observed.

“But we've been very lucky that in its pilot programme, government decided to put up a telecentre here and people can access all ICT services with ease,” says Mangazi who is also chairing the committee that is running the affairs of Goliati Telecentre.

The centre offers services such as photocopy, telephone, internet, email, secretarial services, fax, scanning, computer training, laminating, binding and library.

Impact on the rural masses

Since Goliati telecentre was opened, seven young people from the surrounding areas have been recruited to work in different positions. Namakhwa says these are some of the people who could otherwise be jobless.

And what is interesting is that some of the workers at the centre fall in the category of vulnerable groups.

Febe Kambirima, 30, of Chirombo Village is a widow who had no hope after her husband's death. She is not all that educated either.

“I couldn't imagine raising my twin-children all by myself jobless as I was. But since I got employment at this place, I'm no longer worried,” Kambirima said.

“My financial problems have been reduced drastically and I can now provide for my kids without relying on someone else,” she added.

A female entrepreneur, Mary Banda, proposes the establishment of satellite towns where services can be extended and leave the rest of the area for agricultural activities.

“People are living in scattered villages, so it might be hard to reach every one but we can have demarcated areas where we can put infrastructure in an organized manner,” Banda notes.

Namakhwa assures that Malawi will have a booming information and communication technology services after successfully piloting ICT telecentres in some districts of the country. Women are running these telecentres as a way of involving them in ICT activities while Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is providing regulation.

"We would like to involve more rural women and the youth in the ICT services so that they too should have knowledge in the services," he says.

The telecentres fall under a government initiative called Universal Access Policy, which aims at addressing access to telecommunication issues in rural and under-served communities. MACRA Communications Manager, Zadziko Alex Mankhambo said on Friday that the establishment of multipurpose telecentres in rural areas will go a long way in assisting the rural mass to have access to the services.

The services that the telecentres provide include, internet services, photo studio, video services, ID processing, computer lessons, fax, phone services, lamination, photocopying and others.

"Government through MACRA established these telecentres which started operating in January last year to address problems of telecommunication services to the rural people which has proven to be a huge success," Mankhambo said.

The districts identified for the location of the main telecentres with material assistance from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) were Karonga in the north, Kasungu in the central and Mwanza in southern Malawi.

END

Creating financial independence for PLWHA

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Poverty is such a major and growing threat for HIV-positive breadwinners who are unable to work due to ill-health or fear that their status will become known in their workplace.

The situation is worsened when wives are compelled to stay at home to look after sick family members. As household incomes drop, the family's ability to satisfy basic needs such as food and nutrition as well as schooling for their children is diminished.

In addition, the pursuit of health care and treatment is often sacrificed in such situations. To mitigate the effects of the diseases, people living with HIV/AIDS need to engage in income generating activities (IGA) that would enable or enhance their families’ earnings.

With funding from Intessa San Paolo through Project Malawi a pilot project has been launched whose aim is to train people infected or affected with the virus in business and financial management in Balaka.

Intessa San Paolo is an Italian bank and has granted 15m Euros (over K3billion) CISP, Drug Resource Enhancement against Aids and Malnutrition (Dream) Programme, Save the Children and Malawi Girl Guide Association (MAGGA) and Department of HIV/Aids and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), with which the NGOs are expected to use in implementing the project in partnership.

The focus of the project is to help individuals interested in entrepreneurship to acquire skills on how they can run and manage their businesses and finances so that they become financially independent within settings that they are comfortable in, taking into consideration their family commitments.

Beneficiaries are often encouraged to do their small-scale businesses within home settings where they can easily attend to their family needs.

McRay Mtambitsa of Traditional Authority Nsamala in Balaka attended the training and he is one of the PLHWA that have successfully managed his business and finances.

Mtambitsa has not only improved his household incomes; he has also created jobs for three people who are currently working in his carpentry shop at Balaka market.

As the HIV/AIDS epidemic is having a debilitating impact on rural households and their livelihoods in many sub-Saharan Africa , it is only prudent to empower PLWHA with skills to manage their monies so that the impact of the disease is lessened, said Dream Programme Project Manager Francisco Zuze.

Recent data on HIV/AIDS prevalence in southern Africa show HIV rates that surpass 20% in six countries in the sub-region. While HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas, as the epidemic matures it also penetrates rural areas, rendering large proportions of the most productive age groups either ill or dead.

“HIV/AIDS is therefore having a damaging impact on smallholder agriculture, which is the mainstay of economy in Southern Africa . Problems are evident in areas such as food security; depletion of labour; loss of inter-generational knowledge and skills; and loss of income, and land inheritance rights for women and youth,” said Zuze.

“We, therefore, need to empower PLWHA with business and financial management skills so that they should not be at the most disadvantage and enable them become financially independent,” he added.

The fight against HIV/AIDS needs to be multi-sectoral, involving a combination of prevention, treatment and care and mitigation.

Mitigation – reducing or offsetting the impact of the disease-is increasingly important, as illness and mortality take a greater toll.

Households, communities, government and development partners are implementing a variety of interventions to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on smallholder agricultural production.

CISP findings indicate that HIV/AIDS impacts negatively on smallholder agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods through labour and capital shortages, loss of knowledge and skills, loss of farm implements, loss of access to production assets such as land, and loss of formal and informal institutional support.

The overall effects of HIV/AIDS impacts are reduced smallholder agricultural production, reduced income, and reduction in household assets, causing reduced access of households to food, health and education.

CISP HIV/Aids expert Yusuf Kadwala said in Balaka that in rural poor and semi-urban households, AIDS causes severe labour and economic constraints that disrupt agricultural activities, aggravate food insecurity, and undermine the prospects of rural development.

Kadwala explained that under the partnership, Dream Programme provides medical and nutritional support to PLWHA while CISP provides training in financial and business management.

“Dream Programme refers anyone interested in entrepreneurship to us for training. And we do refer all the children in need of psychosocial support to Save the Children and MAGGA and the initiative has really reduced the impact of the disease and suffering on families infected and/or affected,” he said.

When visited on December 20, 2009, Mtambitsa said he had greatly benefited from the training.

“I started with a very small capital, but today my business has expanded. I have three workers who I pay without any hurdles,” he explained.

However, Mtambitsa complained that lack of mechanized equipment is the major challenge facing his business enterprise.

“Many organizations are coming with their orders, but the manual equipment that I am currently using cannot help me finish the work in scheduled time,” he explained.

END

Chief bemoans own community's poverty

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Group Village Headman Pasani of Blantyre complained last weekend that his area is the least developed in the district.

Pasani has since made an appeal to government and its development partners to consider bringing development projects to his area.

Speaking when officials from the Italian charity organization, International Committee for the Development of People (CISP), visited Tayamba Candle Making and Thandizo One Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) in his area, the chief wondered why his area lacks development when it is close to Blantyre City.

“Of all the communities in Blantyre, it is my area that lags behind in terms of development. We don't have piped water, no access to electricity and other basic necessities,” Pasani complained.

“It is as if we're not living in town,” he added.

Apparently, CISP is facilitating the introduction of income generating activities (IGAs) and VSLAs in the districts of Balaka, Blantyre and Lilongwe with an aim of promoting the saving culture and encouraging rural masses to do small scale businesses so that they can remain economically active.

Pasani commended CISP for facilitating the introduction of IGAs and VSLAs saying they have partially addressed the socio-economic challenges among women and the vulnerable groups.

CISP IGA/VSLA expert Maclean Mtokota said his organisation is implementing various development 29 VSLAs in Blantyre alone and that Pasani is one of the villages that have benefited.

“We aim at instilling saving culture amongst the community members and encourage people to do small scale businesses so that they can remain economically active,” said Mtokota.

CISP acts as a guarantor for well-organized associations which want to access loans from money-lending institutions. So far 10 groups have been linked to Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM) for loan processes, according to the IGA/VSLA expert.

Pasani Village is in the area of Traditional Authority Kapeni in Blantyre.

END

Village Headman, people differ on looming hunger

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
People in the area of Group Village Headman Namasalima in Mulanje said last week they are likely to face a serious shortage of food this year because of the dry spell their area experienced.

They have since appealed to government and other well-wishers for relief food.

But GVH Namasalima has disputed the claim saying his villagers were lazy people who “are used to handouts”.

Speaking on the sidelines of the awareness campaign on the operations of the courts at Namasalima's headquarters last week, Focus Thomas reported that some families from the area have already started going without food as their crops wilted away due to the drought.

“As I'm talking to you now, I've no food in my house. I've to do some pieceworks for me to buy; otherwise there is nothing in my field that I'll yield,” complained Thomas.

Another villager, Jessie Francis, said although she had good crops this year, the effects of the dry spell were too devastating for the crops to stand.

Francis explained that she was expecting to have a bumber harvest this year after benefiting from the farm input subsidy programme.

“All my maize has wilted away. Currently, I'm surviving on the flour I buy from the market on daily basis (popularly known as walk-man),” she complained.

But in a separate interview, GVH Namasalima said it was not true that his area will experience food deficit resulting from dry spell.

He said there was no need to raise a false alarm because it would just end up tarnishing the image of the “good government that helped them with subsidized farm inputs”.

“Don't mind those lazy people. The problem is that in those years people here used to survive on handouts instead of working form themselves. Now they can't work to produce enough for themselves hence these calls for assistance,” said Namasalima.

When asked if their food crisis was a result of laziness as the Namasalima alleged, Thomas and Francis criticized their chief for being economical with truth while his subjects were suffering.

“Come to my field if you want to believe what I'm saying. It's unfortunate that he's taken pleasure in the suffering of his people,” said Francis.

END

Empowering Women with Literacy

by Limbani Eliya Nsapato
The motion of empowering women with literacy contained in this article is related to the 2010 theme of the UNESCO-coordinated International Literacy Day, which annually falls on 8 September. The chosen theme for commemorating the Day is “The Power of Women’s Literacy”. The theme calls on policy makers and implementers to give due attention to literacy for women as it is important for their and society’s empowerment.

I support this theme because I strongly believe that without educating our women, Malawi’s Vision 2020 cannot be fully realised. Nor can the vision of the African Union or the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

I share in the urgency of the call to action behind the theme because I do think our country is not doing enough to implement policies and strategies that will ensure that by 2020 all the women in my village and yours will have been empowered with literacy and development as a whole.

My recent home travel story can help illustrate this position.

In June this year, I had the privilege of travelling by road from Lilongwe to my home village in Phalira, T/A Nchilamwera in Thyolo. The picture of women and girls I saw as I passed through rural districts of Dedza, Ntcheu, Balaka, Zomba, Chiradzulu, Blantyre and Thyolo was not a good one. I saw that women especially were struggling.

The women were less empowered to improve their lives and that of their families. I could see very few women looking healthy, dressed in decent clothes and nursing well nourished babies. I could see even fewer women going to or coming from office or work stations, or wearing fashionable hair make up, possibly with money in their handbags.

The majority of women I saw were sitting on the veranda of their grass thatched houses, walking on the road aimlessly, carrying firewood or water buckets on their head, often with crying babies on their backs, or cooking food using charcoal or firewood.

Along trading centres, and markets like at Bembeke, Chimbiya, Lizulu, Tsangano, Machinga, and Balaka Turn off, I saw women carrying and selling less profitable goods like sweet potatoes, fried maize, vegetables, bananas or pineapples and avocado pears. Some sold second hand clothes, dry fish, or “kanyenya” especially at Lizulu, Balaka and Mangochi turn off.

In Thyolo I saw few women plucking tea leaves with woven baskets on their backs on tea estates at Bvumbwe, Thyolo, Conforzi, Satemwa, and Nchima. When I reached my home village I understood that very few women rarely took part in development activities or committees or had their own property like land or houses. I listened to stories of women who were shamelessly beaten up by their husbands, of women who often slept on empty stomachs, and of many single young women who struggled to fend for their siblings. A number of women were bedridden and could not access basic medication.

The majority of women I met or saw during this homeland visit did not have any joy written on their faces. Although their sad experiences could vary, the common denominator was the source of their anguish.

Most of them were either not literate or if literate their education was so low that they had inadequate skills to develop their potential and make life more meaningful to them, their children or their families.

These unprivileged women are the ones that constitute the national and global statistics of illiterate or unskilled women who stand to be condemned to poverty unless something is done for them.

Malawi education policy review reports show that up to 4.6 million of the country’s 13 million population are illiterate and out of these more than 60% are women and girls. Females make up more than half the current number of out of school children of 600,000. The school dropout rate is higher for girls than boys.

Global UNESCO statistics reveal that some 759 million adults lack minimum literacy skills and while one in every five adults is not literate two-thirds of them are women. Out of the global figure of 72.1 million children out-of-school over 60% are girls.

Indeed in almost every African country the literacy rates of women and girls are lower than those of men and boys. Gender disparities have become parts and parcel of our statistics, and in most cases disfavoring women and girls.

The significance of the theme for the international literacy day 2010 cannot go unnoticed. Illiteracy dis-empowers people especially women and girls. But literacy has the power to transform people’s life especially that of women, in many ways, socially, economically, and politically. Moreover, empowering women translates to empowering a whole society.

Our country has some living examples of empowered women. On the political scene examples include Vice President Hon Joyce Banda, or ever-green lady members of parliament like Hon Anna Kachikho and Hon Patricia Kaliati. On the development scene empowered women include Justice Anastazia Msosa, Chair of Electoral Commission, Ms Seodi White from Women and Law Society, and Mrs. Martha Kwataine from the Health Equity civil society network.

Examples could also be told of women bankers, business women, lawyers, doctors, educators, pastors, and those in other professionals. All these have a denominator called education in their DNA.

At this point a couple of questions cross my mind. Why is it that we have so many women who are illiterate and do not fall in the category of the empowered women above? How can the women I saw on the road from Lilongwe to Thyolo be rescued from the bondage of ignorance and poverty?

Going through diverse literature on the matter, I think of at least three key issues that need addressing.

The first issue is that there needs to be a change of attitude on education for women and girls. Deep-rooted into the hearts of many of our communities and cultures is the belief that education of girls and women is not a necessity.

There are still many people who think, after all, women and girls will always be married, so why bother educate them? Others also think that women are not important to the development of society. I believe all these are misconceptions that need to be corrected.

There needs to be an increased awareness on the rights and potentiality of women in society especially on their primary rights to education and development. Awareness campaigns organised by civil society organisations, traditional leaders and government agencies or departments can help transform the negative attitude of society towards female education.

The second issue is that our nation needs to move from rhetoric to coherent action especially with regard to implementing policies on education for girls and women. The country has adopted international and local policies and strategies that aim at empowering women but little is done.

Little is done because there is often inadequate money to finance those literacy programmes and projects that have direct impact on women.

The government departments that address literacy programmes in Ministry of Women and Children annually receive less than 1 percent of total expenditures in education against the recommended minimum of 3 percent. The ministry of education which implements formal programmes for girls and boys receives less than 6 percent of the GDP or less than 20 percent of the national budget. The ministry of youth that tackles vocational and reproductive programmes for young people is always underfunded.

Moreover, there is inadequate accountability of funds for such programmes. As a result there are inadequate facilities, teaching and learning resources, infrastructure and personnel to fully implement programmes that address the needs of women and girls.

Little is done also because the challenges above are augmented by an imperfect monitoring and evaluation framework leading to failure to systematically review progress and efficiently act on shortfalls on the literacy programmes.

The third issue is that the country’s literacy programmes do lack supportive programmes in order for women and girls to develop themselves after acquiring basic literacy skills of reading and writing.

For instance, programmes that facilitate women’s entrepreneurial activities or use of science and technology are very limited.

Above all, participatory and gender sensitive approaches and methodologies are not always applied during routine planning, budgeting or implementation and review of local or rural development projects. As a result women and girls often remain on the peripheral due to the patriarchal nature of our societies.

There is therefore need to integrate entrepreneurial, participatory and pro-gender equity methods in literacy and development projects, and ensures that more women have access to ICT, science and technology.

Women should also have increased access to entrepreneurial or investment opportunities so that they can develop their businesses from small scale to large scale levels. Decision making policies and processes should also lean towards allowing more women to participate at highest levels of our society.

In concluding, it should be re-iterated that literacy is a basic right that women should access on their road to empowerment. In addition, there should be a conductive environment in our communities to ensure that women are able to exercise and maximise their literacy skills for development of themselves, their families and society at large. This could be a very important way to planting smiles on the faces of millions of illiterate and poor women in our communities.

END

Waiting for the presidential promise

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR,
With the passing of the 2009/10 national budget, George Malema, 27, of Malema village, Traditional Authority Kyungu in Karonga is upbeat; looking forward to a day when government will start disbursing loans in the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.

Prior to the May 19 general elections, President Bingu wa Mutharika promised that, if given another mandate to govern for the next five, his government would provide loans to the youth so that they can set up their own small and medium scale enterprises.

Among other things, Mutharika conceived this fund to address the challenges of youth unemployment by providing the youth with knowledge, essential skills, and opportunity to engage in entrepreneurships as a self-employment mechanism.

This came against a background that youth participation in economic development initiatives continues to be impeded by a number of challenges which include limited access to post-primary and secondary vocational training, limited access to credit and inadequate employment opportunities, among others.

According to Mutharika, the focus of the fund is on building capacity, especially in artisan skills and entrepreneurship to ensure sustainability of the business ventures that would be set up by the youth through the fund.

The fund is also expected to provide youth with information on the existence of potential markets both locally and internationally and assist in accessing those markets.

“By investing in our youth, we will afford them an opportunity to focus their energies into productive activities and thereby improving their living standards,” said Ken Kandodo Banda when he presented the then proposed K3 billion Youth Enterprise Development Fund to the National Assembly.

It is against this background that since the passing of the 2009/10 national budget Malema, a school leaver currently doing nothing at home, has never missed daily newspapers and news bulletins on radios to have information on when the relevant department will call for applications for eligible beneficiaries of the Fund.
He is among many other young people across the country who solely depend on their frail and old parents for almost everything in life from a bath clothes to bath soap.

“Since I finished my secondary education, I have never been employed. I, therefore, look at this loan facility as a vehicle to take me to a promised land,” said Malema.

“I am growing up and very soon I will be getting married. I cannot keep on relying parents. Once I access this loan, I intend to venture into commercial farming though on small scale,” he added.

High unemployment rates and HIV/AIDS epidemic, young people, especially girls, are increasingly heading households. As a result, they miss out on gaining proper skills that qualify them to get a job or engage in businesses that would enable them meet basic requirements.
The two challenges have made many girls vulnerable. In some instances, girls have become victims of sexual abuse in their pursuit to provide for the families they are heading after the death of their parents.

Lucia Phiri, 23, comes from Mchinji but now resident in Lilongwe earning a living through an illegal business. Phiri is a mother to two whose fathers she cannot trace was forced into commercial sex work and bargirl at Area 36 after the death of her father.

A man who played a ‘Good Samaritan’ offered to support her with basic needs. Unfortunately, besides providing her with needs he also provided her with pregnancy, which he denied responsibility.

Phiri could not meet the needs of her twins. The only readily available solution to her predicament was commercial sex work, so she thought.

“This in not an easy job [sex work]. You need to entertain every man who comes your way even if you are tired. But you have to do it if you need money,” explained Lucia in an interview. But she revealed that some men do not honour their bills after the act.

In Karonga, however, life is different. Unlike in Lilongwe, commercial sex workers have started transacting on credit; men can now pay at the end of the month.

No wonder chiefs from the district fear there will be an increased number of orphans and vulnerable children.

Possibly, Mutharika had in his colour dream such vulnerable groups when he conceived Youth Enterprise Development Fund.

But Phiri does not believe authorities entrusted with responsibility to disburse the fund will consider her application. She is not ‘connected’.

“Ma loan a m’Malawi amayendera ma connection. Amapeza mwai ndi okhawo odziwika,” said Phiri.

“There have been loan facilities before whose target was poor people. But beneficiaries to such facilities seem to be only those with connections to the authorities or relations to the same,” she emphasized.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director, Undule Mwakasungula, supported Phiri’s arguments, saying loan facilities in Malawi have proved to be campaign tools for the ruling parties.

Mwakasungula said unless government leaves the Fund to independent people, overzealous politicians are likely to abuse it for them to win the hearts of 2014 voters.

“I would suggest that government should come up with an independent committee comprising faith leaders, civil society organizations and development partners to administer the loan disbursement of the fund.

Otherwise it will be the same song where deserving beneficiaries are made to believe they will access the loan only to be told the programme had come to an end,” he said.

“This is a very important initiative for economically empowering the jobless youth. But there is need for government to exercise high level of transparency and accountability if the fund is to yield the desired results,” Mwakasungula added.
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