IMF’s Grants a 174 Million-Dollar Loan & more –21st Sep 2023

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 21st of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

The International Monetary Fund (or IMF) will give Malawi 174 million dollars under the Extended Credit Facility.

On Thursday the 21st, the IMF announced that it has reached a staff-level agreement on their reviews of the Staff Monitored Program, which is conducted with their Executive Board Involvement. In light of this meeting, they will give Malawi 174 million dollars under a forty-eight-month financing arrangement, managed by the IMF.

However, the IMF said the arrangement needs an executive board approval, scheduled for mid-November this year.

Mika Saito, IMF Mission Chief, said the agreement will restore Malawi’s macroeconomic stability, strengthen resilience to climate-related shocks, among others.

If you take Captopril Tablets for your hypertension, diabetes, or other health concerns, then you may want to stay clear of it.

On Wednesday the 13th, Pharmavet Limited, which manufactures the Captopril tablets, wrote a statement saying they are recalling the drug from hospitals, clinics, retail pharmacies because it had been found with a suspected quality defect which could result in inconsistent dosing or ineffective treatment.

Pharmavet said Captopril tablet consumers haven’t reported any adverse reactions, but urged all of them to contact the pharmaceutical company should they experience any problems. Consumers can report any side effects, and can also return the drug where they purchased it.

On Friday the 15th, students from the University of Mzuzu (or Mzuni) demonstrated against the management’s decision to hike tuition. The students stormed the streets and were met by police, causing a running battle.

The protests got so bad, that the students detained two ambulances carrying patients to Mzuzu Central Hospital and attempted to break into a local supermarket, Sana Cash ‘N’ Carry, at Luwinga.

Later that night, the Mzuni Registrar released a statement saying the school’s Council had directed the immediate closure of the university, following the unrest. They ordered the on-campus students to vacate the premises by 5 AM on Saturday the 16th and emphasized that no student would be allowed entry during the closed period, which remains undetermined.

The Registrar said the school would communicate when it would re-open, and the conditions for the student’s return to Mzuni.

Meanwhile, students at the University of Malawi (or UNIMA) had a contrasting reality.

On Tuesday the 19th, UNIMA released a statement saying they will be hosting their second graduation for twenty twenty-three, on Wednesday the 11th of October at the Great Hall in Zomba. President Chakwera will preside over the event.

Two more graduations will be held the following day on Thursday the 12th at the same venue, but this time, Professor Mkali Sajidu, the Vice Chancellor for UNIMA, will preside over the graduation.

Still on news concerning universities, locals from Msakambewa Village in Dowa district are trending on social media.

An unnamed student from the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources had received an opportunity to study for his Master's in Israel. All the villagers helped to fund his flight. They even escorted him to Kamuzu Airport and fried meat for his mother to celebrate her—take into account that meat is expensive and usually cooked only on special occasions.

A video and an image went viral. The footage shows villagers, mainly women, praising the boy, and the image has some of the names of the people who contributed to the boy’s plane ticket. Wanna check them out? Follow the link in our show notes!

Chimwemwe Dickson, who is in Standard 6 at Chirimba Primary School created a generator that uses water to operate. He uses the generator to power his house and charge mobile phones.

Pictures of the generator show that it is smaller than an average one for home use. It is several inches below the knee. It also uses recycled materials. For instance, the water reserve is a recycled bottle of Maheu—a local malt made from finger millet.

There was also some sad news concerning the mysterious death of a thirty-six-year-old local, Alan Wittika. According to local news, Wittika was found lying in the backseat of his work vehicle in Area 15 in Lilongwe on the morning of Wednesday the 20th.

The police suspect it is a murder case because they found deep cuts on his head. They believe he was killed elsewhere and dumped in Area 15.

Wittika’s houseboy told the police that Wittika left home for work before 7 AM. An anonymous eyewitness also told the police that he saw a man wearing a red shirt and white gloves come out of Wittika’s vehicle around 7 AM. The eyewitness said he saw the man, now a suspect, drive in from Bwandiro. He parked and locked the car, and then walked away.

Wittika was an employee of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa. People reckon the suspect might be Wittika’s co-worker since Coca-Cola’s uniforms are red.

You can now access the country’s latest Customs and Excise Tariffs.

On Monday the 18th, the Malawi Revenue Authority released a downloadable copy of their tariffs. It can be accessed for free via their website—the link is in our show notes

A quick look at the booklet shows that it comprises tariffs for Customs, Dumping Duties, and Export Duties. But you’re in for a long read—the booklet is over 600 pages long. On the flip side, you can refer to the specific tariffs you’re interested in, instead of reading the entire booklet.

The Malawi Human Rights Commission (or MHRC) has a new cohort.

According to a statement by the MHRC dated Thursday the 14th, President Chakwera appointed eight members who will serve for the next three years, effective on the 26th of August. This comes six months after the tenure of the previous cohort expired.

The new cohort includes Teresa Ndanga, the former Chairperson for the Malawi Media Institute of Southern Africa, Sunduzwayo Madise, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for the University of Malawi, the Law Commissioner, and the Ombudsman.

First Lady Monica Chakwera said Malawi is doing well in the fight against tuberculosis, or TB. She said this during the End Tuberculosis Innovation Summit in New York, which happened on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly conference.

She said TB infections reduced from 197 per 100 thousand people in twenty fifteen, to 125 per 100 thousand people in twenty twenty-two. She still hopes that Malawi will end TB by twenty thirty.

In sports news, celebrated football player Tabitha Chawinga is expected to join France’s Paris Saint Germain (or PSG) on a year-long loan from China’s Wuhan Jiangda. The two teams had a meeting on Tuesday the 19th, but Theana Msolomba, Chawinga’s local Manager, said she could not reveal more details as they are yet to finalize their PSG deal. Still, she said that Chawinga received more offers from other teams, but that the PSG bid was the most viable.

To top it off, Msolomba said Chawinga has signed a sponsorship deal with Nike.

Chawinga said she is excited by her prospective move to the PSG. Recall that last season she won the Golden Boot while on loan at Italy’s Inter Milan.

In more sports news, the First Capital Bank's Nyasa Big Bullets, a local football team, made history after amassing a record-breaking total of eighty-eight-million-Kwacha, about eighty thousand dollars, in gate revenue for their Confederation of African Football Champions League game against TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This gate revenue beats the last one of seventy-six-thousand-Kwacha, or roughly sixty-nine-thousand-dollars, which was grossed when the country's national football team played against Egypt in March during the twenty twenty-three Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match.

Both revenues were generated at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

Albert Chigoga, the Bullets Chief Administration Officer, said they tightened security thereby reducing gate fraud. Prior to this, football patrons entered the matches for free through unofficial entry points.

And that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us! Before we leave, we wanted to thank everyone who has been listening to us, and welcome all the new subscribers! We are happy the Rorshok Malawi community is growing!

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Pitani bwino!