MALAWI: 2024 SONA & more – 15th Feb 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 15th of February twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

On Friday the 29th, President Chakwera held the first twenty twenty-four State of the Nation Address (or SONA) under the theme Taking Stock And Advantage Of Our Progress In Achieving Economic Recovery And Resilience as he officially opened the twenty twenty-four / twenty twenty-five budget meeting. Here are some of them most prominent highlights from the SONA:

First, the government has introduced reforms in revenue collection. These include the establishment of an independent Revenue Appeals Tribunal to settle tax disputes between taxpayers, and the Malawi Revenue Authority transitioning all revenue collections to a digitized e-payments system.

Second, all revenue generated by State-Owned Enterprises will be deposited with the Reserve Bank and not commercial banks. At least twenty-two accounts belonging to parastatals have already been migrated to the Central Bank.

Third, the government gazetted a visa waiver exempting seventy-nine countries from paying visa fees as a way of increasing the country's access to international markets to create wealth.

Finally, Malawi has opened a new embassy in Morocco in line with the government's foreign policy objective of safeguarding Malawi's international reputation.

You can read the full address in our show notes.

There will be more changes in the government in the future, but this time, it will be because of the General Elections that will take place next year. The country is preparing and a lot of locals are determined to be more proactive in the country’s politics.

To learn more about what the preparations look like, you can attend a public lecture that the Malawi Electoral Commission will be hosting on Friday the 16th from 6 PM to 8 PM. The Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission, Justice Dr. Chifundo Kachale, will host the public lecture at Mzuzu University. It will be held under the theme Democracy, Law Reform and Preparation for twenty twenty-five General Election.

The lecture will also be streamed live on the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation's Facebook page.

A popular businessman, Leston Mulli, is suing the office of the Attorney General for losses that he incurred after the government restricted its ministries, departments and agencies from working with Mulli's businesses, because of court cases that Mulli had then.

Mulli is demanding 270 billion Kwacha - over 10 billion dollars - which covers compensation for loss of earnings and profits, suppliers and staff salaries, and interest on loans due to late repayments, among others.

Mulli’s businesses include Mulli Brothers Limited, National Bus Service and Chombe Foods.

The news has attracted the attention of many locals but some people are worried because, if Mulli wins his case, the government will most likely use taxpayers money to pay him.

In more government-related news, UNESCO will give the Department of Arts 30,000 dollars to help in the formulation of regulations that will guide the operations of the National Heritage Arts Council.

Once rolled out, the funds will support the implementation of the Arts and Heritage Promotion Fund, which aims to support artists' art-related projects.

Owen Chomanika, the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture, said the move will help in revenue generation for artists and the country as a whole.

The National Statistical Office (or NSO) also got its own donation, this time from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities. They received nearly 240 million Kwacha, which is over 140 thousand dollars, to be used in the next Malawi Demographic Health Survey.

Tione Mleme, the Director of Demography and Social Statistics at the NSO, emphasised the importance of the next health census, saying it will help get accurate data on critical issues like Malawi’s first post COVID-19 census.

Moving on to health news, there is a breakout of viral conjunctivitis in Karonga District. The Karonga District Council announced the news on Tuesday the 13th. They said they have registered over 100 cases across the district since the 1st of February.

According to their statement, viral conjunctivitis is caused by viruses that affect the eyes. It spreads easily among people. Some of its signs and symptoms include eye discharge, pink or red eyes, and swelling of the eye lining.

To prevent it, people should avoid sharing personal items like washcloths and hand towels, avoid rubbing their eyes with dirty hands, and wash their hands frequently.

Don't be surprised if your favorite superstore is closed. On Saturday the 10th, the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) shut down eleven businesses and revoked their certifications.

Bernard Thole, the Director General at MBS, said a recent routine regulatory conformity assessment by the MBS revealed that some businesses were operating below minimum requirements.

The businesses in question include Chipiku Stores at Game Complex in Lilongwe, Sanaa Superstore at North End Mall in Mzuzu, Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union Limited, and Korea Gardens in Lilongwe, among others.

Moving from closing stores to launching platforms, the public can now report electricity faults online, with the new digital platform for the management of faults by the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (or ESCOM). ESCOM launched the platform on Friday the 9th in Blantyre. They're calling it the 360 Degrees Digital Experience.

Kamkwamba Kumwenda, the Chief Executive Officer for ESCOM, said the platform aims to ease the accessibility of services, especially now that we're in the digital era.

To report or follow up on ESCOM faults and other similar electricity emergencies, locals can use a USSD code, or a WhatsApp chatbot under the number +265 886 302 774.

We've kept those details for you in our show notes.

On Monday the 12th, locals woke up to news of the US Ambassador to Malawi's resignation. David Young retired effective immediately, from his role as the U.S. ambassador to Malawi.

The US Embassy released a statement announcing the news where Young said he wants to help make a difference educating and inspiring future leaders, and that he wants to begin his season of service now.

The news has saddened and left many confused. They suspect a scandal might have caused his resignation. Until a successor is nominated by the White House and confirmed by the Senate, Amy Diaz has since assumed duties as Chargé d’Affaires in the U.S. Embassy.

Meanwhile, the Catholic University of Malawi has a new Vice Chancellor.

On Wednesday the 14th, the Episcopal Conference of Malawi announced the appointment of Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo, who served many roles such as the Dean of the Law Faculty and an Associate Professor at the University of Malawi for twenty-three years. Her appointment will be made effective on the 5th of March.

Kanyongolo has replaced Reverend George Buleya who retired last year.

Netball lovers will be seeing less of netball star Mwawi Kumwenda as she will not participate in the twenty twenty-four netball season. Kumwenda and her husband Wanangwa announced that she is pregnant and will be taking a break.

Her Australian team, the Melbourne Vixens, announced Kumwenda will not participate in the twenty twenty-four Suncorp Super Netball season, but she will remain involved in the Vixens' environment in an off-court capacity as the club celebrates and supports her growing family.

In one of their interviews, Kumwenda said she is excited to cheer the Vixens from the sidelines.

Her Malawian fans have been congratulating her via social media.

In more trending news, police in Zomba have arrested nineteen people for allegedly failing to support their children, leading them to become street kids.

According to Patricia Sipiliano, the Zomba Police Public Relations Officer, the arrested parents have been charged with neglecting to provide necessities for children, and they will appear in court soon. She said the police were compelled to launch an investigation into the sharp increase of street kids in the city because they were behind a lot of criminal activities, mainly targeting unsuspecting travelers.

The police, in coordination with the National Intelligence Service and Zomba's social welfare and gender officers, held a two-day joint operation to sweep street-connected children off the streets, and found that most of them were neglected by their parents.

They apprehended thirty-three children between the ages ten and fifteen.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Last week we asked you to fill in a survey to get to know you and we got quite a few replies, thank you so so much ! We are very excited, tons of great ideas! We’ll be sharing the link to the survey in the shownotes one more time this week in case you didn’t see it. All respondents will be entered in a lottery to win a cruise in the Mediterranean… just kidding, it's in the South Pacific, but we would love to hear from you! Don’t be shy!

Pitani bwino!