Increasing Government Workers’ Salaries & more – 4th Jan 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 4th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

In our previous episodes, we mentioned that civil servants had given the government ultimatums to increase their salaries. Their wishes have come true.

Local news said the government will increase civil servants' salaries by an average of 15% starting this month. However, the executive will pay the salaries with arrears from last November.

However, the National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi and the Physicians Assistants Union of Malawi haven’t gotten their wage increase yet since they asked for a 40% increment, in line with the 44% Kwacha devaluation. Authorities from the two unions said they haven’t held their negotiations with the government yet.

Speaking of the government, the Ministry of Homeland Security revealed that they have been repatriating refugees who want to go home. They have been conducting the exercise in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since last year, between July and December.

Patrick Botha, the Spokesperson for the Ministry, said over 200 Burundians were repatriated, and that many more want to return home after hearing good news from their repatriated counterparts.

Botha also revealed that the UNHCR is providing reintegration packages for three months to help the refugees rebuild their lives back home.

Twenty twenty-three was not a profitable year for one of the country’s biggest telecommunications companies, Airtel Malawi plc.

According to trading statements released on Friday the 29th, Airtel's profit after tax might be between 1.75 billion and negative 2 billion Kwacha, or 1 million and negative 1.2 million dollars.

Their profit in twenty twenty-two was 36.5 billion Kwacha or roughly 22 million dollars, indicating a decrease of 95% to 105% compared to their twenty twenty-three profits.

They said the Kwacha's cumulative devaluation of 66% resulted in a loss of approximately 50 billion Kwacha or 30 million dollars.

However, this is just a preliminary report that has not yet been audited. The official statements will be reported through the Malawi Stock Exchange.

Malawian youths working on farms in Israel probably had a gloomy festive season too. In our last episode, we mentioned that the youths were having an argument with their agents about their salaries. The agents wanted to receive the youths’ wages and transfer them to their local accounts, but the young farmers wanted cash.

On Thursday the 28th, the Consul of Malawi in Israel said they would not pay anyone in cash or transfer the funds to an account in Israel. Instead, they will send them to their Malawi accounts, as stipulated in their agreements. They said anyone who does not agree with this is free to leave their job and Israel.

However, some people had a lovely entry into twenty twenty-four.

Residents of Zomba city were treated to a show by the soldiers while crossing over into the new year. On Sunday the 31st, Sylivia Thawani, the Public Relations Officer for Zomba City Council, said the Council had organized an end-of-the-year street bash along the city’s Namiwawa Street. As part of the celebrations, soldiers from Changalume Barracks in the city set off fireworks.

People barely get to interact with the soldiers, so this was a good treat for them.

Meanwhile, on Saturday the 30th of December, some prisoners were gifted freedom as President Chakwera released forty-eight convicted prisoners as part of the holiday celebrations. Recall that the President has constitutional powers to pardon convicted prisoners at his discretion.

In this case, the Ministry said the forty-eight prisoners had served half of their sentences, were old, or mothers who had gone to prison with their young children or given birth there.

They Ministry said this is the President’s tactic to decongest local prisons.

Speaking of prisoners, local newspapers said Maula Prison in Lilongwe has transferred fifty-eight young offenders to Bvumbwe Young Offenders Rehabilitation Center in Thyolo, where they will be preparing to sit for their Primary School Leaving Certificate, Junior Certificate of Education, and Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations. They were transferred because Maula Prison does not have the appropriate learning facilities.

Chimwemwe Shaba, the Public Relations Officer for the Malawi Prison Service, said they make this arrangement for young offenders who would like to continue with their education.

Local laws criminalize abortions, but this hasn't stopped women from having them. On Thursday the 4th, authorities recorded over 35 thousand unsafe abortion cases last year. Lilongwe topped the list with close to eight thousand cases.

Christopher Kandionamaso, the Health Systems Coordinator for Ipas Africa Southern Region, has since asked Members of Parliament to protect women and adolescent girls by, among others, reviewing the abortion laws. He also wants them to invest more in women's sexual reproductive health rights, "including ending child marriages, teen pregnancies, and gender-based violence."

In entertainment news, locals on social media won’t stop talking about the School Days movie. It was released on the night of Tuesday the 2nd on YouTube, and had over 250 thousand views by the next afternoon.

When asked why they released it for free, Daudi Shaibu, the Production Manager, said the move was a demonstration of the local filmmakers’ talent. He also said they want many people to access it, thus building their portfolio.

Many locals, including musician Phyzix, have praised it. You can watch the movie too with the link in our show notes.

You can also watch a short action movie called "The Hunter". It is five minutes long and was shot from a phone. We must warn you, most scenes include a huge snake that eats people. If you don't want something that reminds you of that nineties Anaconda movie, we urge you to give this one a pass. If not, you can join the 23 thousand people that have watched it already since its release on Wednesday the 3rd. Link in the show notes!

Also making headlines is Temwa Chawinga, a local football player. She has been named the twenty twenty-three Women's Football World Best Goal Scorer after scoring sixty-three goals in her twenty twenty-three games. This makes her the first non-European woman football player to grab the title.

Chawinga plays for China's Wuhan Jiangda. She won a Golden Boot in the Chinese Super League. She also won a Golden Boot when she played for the Malawi national team, the Scorchers, at the recent COSAFA (or Council of Southern Africa Football Associations) Tournament.

In more positive news, Malawian digital creators will start making money from their Facebook and YouTube content.

Daud Suleman, the Director General for the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority, said Malawi would authorize Facebook and YouTube monetization this year, since it is “key for the nation’s content providers.”

He made the announcement during the Entertainer of the Year awards by the state broadcaster, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (or MBC), while presenting the award for the Social Media Influencer of the Year, scooped by Innocent Kumchedwa - a journalist working with Zodiak Broadcasting Station.

Unfortunately, Facebook and YouTube monetization are some of the few positive highlights from the MBC Entertainer of the Year Awards, hosted on Saturday the 30th in Lilongwe after an eighteen-year hiatus.

On social media, people complained that the categories for the awards were incorrect because they had the wrong nominees. The winners of certain awards were called into question. For instance, drama enthusiasts said the winner of the Best Male Stage Dramatist, Che Mandota, hadn’t been active for years. They also said the winner of the Best Film Actor, Akila, merely translated existing films and had not acted in any professional capacity.

On Tuesday the 2nd, MBC released a statement asking locals to give their feedback through their email or Customer Affairs Manager.

Aaand that's it for this week!

Happy New Year from the Rorshok family! These are our wishes for twenty twenty-four: 1) that you tell your friends about us. 2)... Noup, that’s about it.

Remember you can help us financially with the link in the show notes.

Pitani bwino!