Callista tipped for malaria ambassadorship

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

President Bingu wa Mutharika yesterday officially opened Chisoka Health Centre in Thyolo where he also announced his government was considering setting up a new portfolio for malaria control and that First Lady Callista Mutharika will be its first ambassador.

Callista Mutharika is currently the African Union (AU) Safe Motherhood Goodwill Ambassador for Malawi after replacing Vice President Joyce Banda.

“…my government attaches great value to issues of motherhood and the fight to reduce maternal deaths, hence I appointed the First Lady, Madam Callista Mutharika, as Safe Motherhood Goodwill Ambassador. And very soon, I am going to give her some more portfolios, especially that of malaria control programmes,” Mutharika said, explaining that Malawi cannot achieve safe motherhood without controlling the spread of malaria.

“There is a direct and close link between these two issues. In the same vein, I will also appoint her to take over the responsibilities of prevention of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV and Aids [PMTCT] programmes,” he added.

And turning to the new health centre, Mutharika said Chisoka was crucial in the fight against maternal mortality in rural areas of Thyolo.

But the president warned health officials against stealing government drugs and equipment for sale to private hospitals, saying his administration will not exercise lenience on the culprits.

“I would like to appeal to the authorities to ensure that there is no theft of the hospital equipment at this facility. But I’m also aware that medical personnel are the main culprits of drug theft in the country. Besides drugs, they are selling hospital beddings [blankets]. This is retrogressive and should stop, I plead,” Mutharika said.

He thanked African Development Bank (AfDB) for the financial support towards the construction of the clinic. And in his remarks at the function, AfDB Country Representative, Frank Kufakwandi, pledged his bank's continued support to the health sector.

Minister of Health Professor David Mphande indicated that the new health centre will cater for 19,000 people from T/A Chimaliro’s area and will offer a wide range of services such as PMTCT, safe motherhood services, fistula scan, maternal and postnatal and HIV Testing and Counselling services, among others.

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Irrigation scheme asks for technical support

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Irrigation farmers from Nkawinda Village in the area of T/A Chigaru has asked government and development partners to help them with financial and technical support for the development and improvement of Manda a Mvuu Irrigation Scheme.

The scheme was opened in 2002, but has failed to make a significant progress for the past years because it is lacking technical, managerial capacity and market access support required for sustainable small-scale irrigation development.

And when officials from Blantyre Irrigation Services Division (Bisd) visited the scheme last Friday, Manda a Mvuu Irrigation Scheme chairperson Yohane Kamwiri said the scheme is failing to go into serious irrigation farming because of it is lacking necessary facilities.

 “There are a lot challenges that are retarding our agricultural activities. But chief among them is the poor canal system…the current canals cannot pump enough water for irrigation,” Kamwiri said.

He disclosed that because of the poor canal system, people were still drawing water direct from Shire River using cans. He said this has discouraged many people from working hard in their gardens. 

“The scheme could have made a significant contribution towards the fight against hunger in the country if it had the required resources. We are asking government and your office to help us,” Kamwiri said.

The farmers appealed to government to help in lobbying buyers of agricultural products to offer fair prices.

In his remarks, Bisd Chief Irrigation Scheme, Anderson Mbozi, pledged his office will offer every available support to the scheme so that its dreams to contribute towards food security is achieved.

Mbozi said it was necessary that Manda a Mvuu should receive attention since it is among the schemes earmarked for Greenbelt Irrigation Initiative.

“But on prices for your products, I would like to encourage you to form cooperatives or associations, which can help you in identifying market and lobbying buyers for better prices for your crop produce,” he said.

Irrigation has lately been viewed by government as a major component in agriculture, but its implementation in many areas continues facing challenges and problems due to inadequate facilities and technical skills.

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