Chief Machinjiri beaten up over coupons

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Traditional Authority (T/A) Machinjiri of Blantyre was on Thursday severely beaten up and undressed by his own people from Chiswe Village following disagreements over the ‘new’ procedure for distributing of subsidy coupons, The Sunday Times has learnt.

Southern Police publicist Dave Chingwalu said he is yet to receive the report, but District Commissioner (DC) Charles Makanga yesterday confirmed the incident happened.

Makanga explained that the villagers were protesting the ‘name verification exercise’ [of beneficiaries of subsidized farm inputs], which the DC had commissioned following complaints that some names were omitted from the list of genuine beneficiaries.

“My office received complaints that some deserving people were removed. In trying to address the problem, I instructed officials from my office and the chief to run a door-to-door verification process to confirm if the complaints were genuine,” Makanga said.

“But some villagers were against this arrangement. They blocked the team from doing the verification exercise and when the chief was trying to reason with them they surrounded him and started beating him up. Actually, they even stripped him naked. It’s a very unfortunate incident,” he added.

The chief was rushed to South Lunzu Health Centre where medical personnel treated him for broken tissues, the DC disclosed.

Since introduction, farm input subsidy programme has registered a litany of complaints and grievances from the supposed beneficiaries over registration process and distribution of coupons, among others. Chiefs are mostly blamed for their alleged favoritism when identifying beneficiaries of the programme, which aims at improving poor farmers’ food security.

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M’mbelwa not ready to pay MRA

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Inkosi ya Makosi M’mbelwa IV of Mzimba has indicated he is not prepared to pay duty for a consignment of school materials Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) seized from him about six years ago.

Between 2003 and 2004, MRA seized the school materials, which M’mbelwa bought from outside the country after winning a tender to supply school materials to the Ministry of Education, which the ministry later refused to buy.

MRA public relations and tax education manager, Steve Kapoloma, confirmed that they seized the chief’s property for non-payment of duy and that the materials have been in their warehouse since then.

Apart from paying duty for the notebooks, M’mbelwa will be required to pay the tax collecting body a substantial amount of money for the storage costs.

Kapoloma could not disclose how much M’mbelwa has accumulated in storage charges, so far, because MRA has not done the assessment.

He explained that assessments are normally done when the owner has indicated he or she is going redeem the consignment.

And in an interview with The Sunday Times early this week, the Ngoni chief said he will need to identify a customer first before settling the bill with MRA.

“I can’t pay duty for those items. I can’t sell them anywhere! What am I going to do with them?” M’mbelwa asked.

“I can only do so when I win a tender,” he indicated. The Paramount Chief refused to entertain further questions, arguing the media should find other things to write, but not about him.

In his reaction, Kapoloma said they MRA would not push the chief let alone anybody else into paying duty as that would imply MRA was becoming violent in its approach in tax collection process.

M’mbelwa became the centre of controversy following government refusal to buy the materials. Among them, Ngoni chief found himself in deep trouble with Finance Bank where he borrowed K2.2 million hoping he would repay after selling the notebooks.

 Sheriffs accompanied by heavily armed police officers invaded the chief’s headquarters at Edingeni where they pounced on his household property after the High Court had ruled that his property be seized for failure to pay the loan.

M’mbelwa was only saved by his subjects who contributed little by little to secure their chief’s redemption because they felt that the stories about the debts and grabbing of Inkosi ya Makosi's  property were not only a disgrace to the chief but the entire Ngoni tribe and Mzimba.

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Tobacco guidelines to cause economic devastation

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR 

Over 3.6 million tobacco-growing families in five of the “poverty-stricken African countries” may suffer the worst economic crisis if parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) approve the proposal by the organization to ban the use of ingredients in the manufacture of tobacco products, International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA) has warned.

About 171 parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) have gathered in Uruguay for November 15—20 conference where delegates are expected to discuss and adopt guidelines aimed at putting a restriction on the use of ingredients and flavourings in the production of cigarettes. The convention further aims at removing additives that make tobacco products attractive to smokers, especially the youth.

But the tobacco-growing countries are wary of the guidelines, fearing the ban would eliminate blended cigarettes that account for half of global consumption and drastically reduce the demand for burley and oriental tobacco used to make these products as a result.

In the Economic Impact Assessment (EIA) report released Friday, ITGA Chief Executive Officer, Antonio Abrunhosa,  warns that a population of more than 3.6 million people in Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe should expect the historic economic devastation should delegates to the Uruguay CFTC  conference agree to the proposal.

The adoption of the ban will also affect 12 million people who are directly and indirectly in the tobacco production sector, Abrunhosa says.

“This clearly shows what a devastating effect this could have in Africa and how important it is for the WHO to fully understand what proposals like these can lead to. Decisions taken behind closed doors like the ones about to be taken in Uruguay should not be tolerated; not when millions of livelihoods are on the line. It cannot be up to health ministers and anti-tobacco groups to decide on what and where farmers can grow. We call on governments that will attend the Uruguay meeting to put a stop to this before it’s too late,” he implores.

“If these WHO guidelines are adopted, some of Africa’s poorest countries that rely on tobacco growing are going to face huge social and economic crises with unprecedented job loss. Seventy percent of workers in Malawi alone are directly or indirectly employed by the tobacco-growing sector. They have no alternative and the WHO isn’t offering one either,” Abrunhosa argues.

ITGA alleges WHO rejected its request to attend the Uruguay conference where Abrunhosa would have presented the likely to be affected farmers’ grievances.

“More and more countries are questioning the approach taken by the WHO, starting with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which called on its 19 member states at a recent summit, to reject the WHO proposals and urged the WHO to provide for proper consultation mechanisms for the affected stakeholders. In September, the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) 15 member states endorsed a similar decision to oppose the WHO proposals, and in recent weeks, the African Union’s (AU) Ministers of Agriculture and Trade, including Malawi, have also expressed concern about the guidelines asking for decisions to be put back,” he explains.

But WHO through Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), a civil society helping WHO in the development and implementation of FCTC, says the fears are baseless, arguing that, contrary to industry claims, its guidelines do not recommend a ban on burley tobacco, but rather cigarettes containing burley continue to be sold in countries with strong restrictions on flavourings.

The health body explains that the guidelines under contention only recommend that countries should “restrict or prohibit” flavourings that increase palatability, have colouring properties, create the impression of health benefits or are associated with energy and vitality.

Ministers of Agriculture and Finance could not be reached for a comment, but in an earlier interview, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Shadreck Jonasi told this reporter that Malawi supports ITGA in condemning the proposal.

Jonasi explained that government has already taken up the matter through Sadc and Comesa to use the bodies’ membership into the FCTC to lobby against the matter.

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Meet Stevie ‘Paudala’ Ligomeka

For those who like radio plays, the name Stevie ‘Paudala’ Ligomeka could not be strange. He has been in drama industry for many years. Our reporter Watipaso Mzungu Jnr had a chat with Ligomeka to get a stint of what constitutes acting profession. Excerpts:

Can you tell me who Stevie Ligomeka is?

I am a teacher by profession. I teach at Njamba CDSS in Blantyre. In the acting world, my name is Paudala.

When and what made you go into acting?

At a very tender age, I used to crack jokes with people. It was when I was in Sunday school, though, that I discovered that I had a talent in drama.I used crack jokes that sent people into laughter and that inspired me into becoming a full-time artist one day.

When I graduated into Limbe Primary School in 1978, my desire for acting grew even more. In 1989, I went to Lilongwe Teachers’ Training College (TTC) where I was elected chairperson for the college’s entertainment club. This is where I developed my career.

But how did you find yourself at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Pamajiga radio play?

After finishing my studies at Lilongwe TTC, I taught in different schools before being posted to Njamba CDSS. It was here that one of the teachers, Mrs. Makwemba, spotted my talent. Mrs Makwemba’s late husband, Charles, was producer of Pamajiga and it seemed there was need for actors to fill the gap that had been created by the death of some actors.

Mrs. Makwemba advised me to see the late Charles for auditions. I was picked the same day of the auditions. I have been at MBC for 11 years now although I am not a full-time employee there.

In most of the radio plays, you assume the role of a confusionist and mischievous child. Are you happy with this role?

Yes, I am very happy with it. You may wish to know that through drama, just like journalism, we aim at entertaining, educating and informing. In most of the plays, I’m a nephew to Anyoni who is living in town with his family.

It is inevitable to find one mischievous child or two in every family, but the way each family handles such children is what matters. In our plays, we want to teach people how they can help such children grow into responsible children. But apart from being a confusionist, I play the role of a teacher and advisor to Anyoni who sometimes acts mischievously.

Is drama a profession worth pursuing?

Drama is a profession that, if well nurtured, has potential to create job opportunities for many people in the country. Unlike in the past when people used to look at actors as insane members of the society, people are now appreciating the important role actors play in the dissemination of information.

Today, even business organizations are employing services of actors if they want to advertise their goods and services. This shows how crucial this industry is in all sectors of life.

What could you highlight as main challenges of this career?

Lack of support among actors themselves could be the major challenge retarding the growth of this industry. For example, if an organization offers me a contract to write and produce plays on specific topics, I would engage my friends to help.

However, the problem comes when issues of money comes into play. Actors who clinched a deal with companies would usually want to rip off his or her friends, saying: “This was my contract and you’re just beneficiaries”. This is not good.

The other challenge is lack of contract offers from the corporate world. Things are improving, though and I can comfortably say drama has a future in Malawi.

What have achieved you achieved from acting?

I’ve a house in Nkolokoti. I have sent my children to good schools with money from acting.

Who do you admire in the acting world?

The late Du Chisiza Jnr and Frank Mwase are some of the people I respect very much in drama.

Your last word!

I thank Mrs. Makwemba who introduced me to her late husband. She opened my door to what I am today. I also thank Elson Soko, Anyoni, for his advisory role in my career.

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