Flash Floods & more – 28th Dec 2023

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 28th of December twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

On Thursday the 28th, The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services warned of flash floods. They said districts likely to receive the highest impact are Mwanza, Zomba, Mulanje, Phalombe, Blantyre, Chikwawa and Nsanje.

Other districts that should be on the watch out are Karonga, Rumphi, and Lilongwe.

Flash floods stem from heavy rains, which are causing a heavy flow of water in rivers and other water bodies. They have urged locals to stay away from them.

While the warnings are mainly targeting districts in the Central Region, some districts in the North haven't been spared. For instance, on Wednesday the 27th, strong winds accompanied by heavy rains damaged some school blocks at Bwengu Primary School in Mzimba district.

Eric Munthali, the Headteacher at Bwengu, said there were no injuries and that the necessary authorities have been alerted. But, Munthali was concerned that a delay or failure to repair the damaged infrastructure may affect learning, since schools will be resuming in less than two weeks.

This is the second school in Mzimba to suffer the impact of the heavy rains. The first incident happened on the 12th of December at Mtendere Junior Primary School.

In other news, The Reserve Bank of Malawi has refuted rumors that they are wiping some Kwacha notes out of the system. In the past weeks, several locals took to social media to complain that some retailers are refusing ten Kwacha coins, and the twenty and fifty Kwacha notes, because they hold no value.

Mark Lungu, Spokesperson for the Central Bank, urged locals to report such retailers, as the Reserve Bank has not made such orders. He said every Kwacha note and coin has value, and accused the retailers of denying consumers their right to purchase goods and services.

Moving on, The Roads Funds Administration has noted an increase in motorists that forcibly drive through toll gates on the M1 road to avoid paying toll fees. They described this behavior as a criminal offense that is punishable by law.

They warned that motorists would pay a fine of one million Kwacha, roughly 600 dollars, if they don't pay their toll fees, use counterfeit toll payment receipts, or destroy toll gate infrastructure, such as the barricades. They said such offenders may face year-long imprisonment if caught.

You may notice heavy presence of the police and traffic officers on the road this festive season.

The Directorate of Road Traffic and the Safety Services are collaborating with the Traffic Department at the Malawi Police Service to enforce traffic laws and conduct road safety exercises on all public roads.

They want to minimize drunken driving, overspeeding, overloading, and reckless driving - all of which are typically high during the holidays.

They have warned that they will impound vehicles that aren't road-worthy or those that are carrying people and goods illegally. They will also conduct routine spot checks.

Speaking of the festive season, while people across the globe celebrated the birth of Jesus, some local families celebrated the birth of their own babies. According to the Ministry of Health, close to 600 children were born on Christmas Day in twelve of the country's twenty-eight districts. This is a significant drop from the 1,700 Christmas babies from last year, and a drop from the estimated birth rate of 1,800 children every day.

Mangochi topped the list with seventy-nine births, followed by Lilongwe and Chikwawa, with fifty-seven births each. Other districts on the list include Karonga, Zomba and Mwanza.

Currently, the population is around 20.9 million—an increase of approximately 4% compared to last year.

Tobacco farmers are set to have a "rich" entry into the new year, following a 56% hike in their revenue earnings, up from last year's 10% revenue increase.

Tobacco is Malawi’s main forex earner with a contribution of 60% to foreign exchange and an overall contribution of 15% to the country's economy.

This year, the country generated over 280 million dollars from 120 million kilograms of tobacco. It was selling at an average price of two dollars and thirty-five cents per kilogram. Despite these earnings, Malawi lost about 150 million dollars, as it provided only 120 million kilograms from a market demand of 170 million.

Nixon Lita, the Chief Executive Officer for Tama Farmers Trust, owed the earnings to a heightened demand for tobacco leaves.

Meanwhile, the country's staple crop, maize, is in short supply because of Cyclone FREDDY, which wiped out numerous hectares of maize last year. The World Food Program estimates that 4.4 million people will face food shortages until next March.

When the country faces food shortages, Malawi often looks to Tanzania and Kenya for help. But last week, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the ban of maize from Tanzania and Kenya because they're worried that their maize may spread the lethal necrosis disease locally and wipe out Malawi's good crop or lead to a "100% yield loss". They said the maize can only be imported if it is milled as flour or grit. The government has yet to find an alternative importer.

Experts such as Grace Mijiga Mhango, the President of the Grain Traders Association of Malawi, are concerned that the ban will likely result in higher costs of maize on local markets.

Next up, Malawi has had a shortage of healthcare workers for years, but this might change soon. On Friday, the 22nd, the Ministry of Health said they received a grant from the Global Fund, allowing them to recruit over five thousand health workers.

The Ministry wants to employ about 2,500 healthcare workers, and over one thousand nurses and midwives, and will be conducting a series of walk-in interviews in January.

If successful, the recruitment will go a long way in alleviating Malawi's unemployment rates, which are currently at 91%.

On that note about employment, recall that the Ministry of Labor sent five thousand youths to Israel to work as farmers. Now, the youths have told local media they are victims of scams.

An article dated Thursday the 28th said agents representing the youths are forcing them to sign contracts that give their Israeli employees a directive to send the youths’ earnings to the agent’s local accounts instead of the youngsters accounts. The agents want to transfer the earnings to the youths’ accounts themselves. But the young adults think it's a scam.

One anonymous youth revealed that their agents had already stolen one thousand dollars from them. He said prior to departing for Israel, their agents told them to deposit the money for their upkeep while in Israel, but it was withdrawn by the agents a few weeks later without warning or reason.

The government has yet to comment on the matter.

In sports news, local football has received a much needed financial boost.

For starters, Fleetwood Haiya, the newly elected president of the Football Association of Malawi (or FAM), said he wouldn't pocket his entitlement fee of 25 thousand dollars from FIFA but will, instead, invest it in the development of local football, as a demonstration of his "servant leadership."

He also revealed that FIFA has pledged to support FAM with outstanding allowances for the national football teams, the Flames and Scorchers, and said that the international federation - through its FIFA Forward 3 Program - has already allocated 8 million dollars for Malawi's football projects.

Unfortunately, the concept of servant leadership isn't so widespread. Fifty-two-year-old Mwimira, the Group Village Headman in Kasungu, was arrested on Wednesday, the 27th, for raping and impregnating his sixteen-year-old granddaughter.

Joseph Kachikho, Spokesperson for Kasungu Police, said the victim's parents were shocked to discover the child was pregnant. She was reluctant to reveal the baby's father but did so after being cornered. They learned he had been sexually assaulting her since twenty eighteen, when she was only eleven years old.

Mwimira, whose real name is Henderson Mwale, is currently in police custody awaiting trial.

Aaand that's it for this week!

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Pitani bwino!