MALAWI: COVID-19 & more – 18th Jan 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 18th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

COVID-19 has made its return to Malawi.

On Tuesday the 16th, the Ministry of Health announced that, in the first two weeks of January, Kalemba Community Hospital in Nsanje district registered six COVID cases. Three of these cases were from members of the same family. One other person infected is a colleague who works with one family member, and the remaining two cases were from a surrounding community.

The Ministry urged citizens not to panic, and to implement preventative measures. These include frequent washing of hands, using sanitizers, wearing face masks, and avoiding crowded places. They have also encouraged people to get the COVID vaccines, if they haven’t already.

The statement by the Ministry of Health also said Malawi is experiencing a cholera epidemic. Every year, cholera escalates during the rainy season, which runs from November to February.

The Ministry said that, from the 1st of November twenty twenty-three to Sunday the 14th, ten health districts have confirmed forty-nine cholera cases and two deaths. From twenty twenty-two to twenty twenty-three there were over 59 thousand cases and close to two thousand deaths.

The cases were registered in some districts like Karonga, Nsanje, and Mulanje, while others were imported from Zambia.

The Ministry said that even though there has been a significant decline in cases, people should still follow water and food hygiene practices to avoid transmission.

Recently, the World Health Organization or WHO released a report saying the twenty twenty-three cholera outbreak in Malawi registered the highest number of cholera deaths in a single country in twenty twenty-three. Malawi had a death toll of 1,700 people, which was the highest in all the thirty countries that were affected by cholera last year.

Their report said that Afghanistan registered the highest number, with over 215 thousand cases, followed by Syria with over 180 thousand cases.

On the flip side, the WHO report did not single-mark Malawi as being at risk of a cholera outbreak this rainy season.

Speaking of the rainy season, the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, through its Department of Water Resources, said that at least thirty-three rivers across the country are at risk of flooding, judging by the rainfall they registered these past few days.

Their statement, released on Monday the 15th, said the rivers are experiencing “a significant increase in water levels.”

The rivers include Lisungwe, Thutchira and Ruo in the South; Lingadzi, Linthipe, and Nkula in the Central Region; and Luweya, Rukuru, and Songwe in the North.

The Ministry has since asked Malawians to be cautious.

Unfortunately, the country registered three flood-related deaths on Saturday the 13th.

MacPatson Msadala, the Police Public Relations Officer for Mponela Police in Dowa district, said that three men drowned: One in the Kasangadzi River, one in the Diliro River, and another one in the Kanyungu River.

Senior Chief Dzoole said the flooded rivers also destroyed homes, livestock, and crops in surrounding villages. He has since urged the government and well-wishers to support the flood victims.

In other news, officials at the Reserve Bank said they would introduce coins for the twenty and fifty Kwacha bank notes, but they didn’t say when this would happen. The bank notes are worth less than three US cents. However, Muopeni Ngwalo, the Director of Currency Management at the Central Bank, said locals must not reject the two notes, as they are still legal and acceptable for transactions.

In previous episodes, we mentioned that civil workers were demanding a wage hike following the Kwacha devaluation.

A local newspaper published a story saying the government had approved a minimum wage hike. The paper admitted that the government has yet to gazette the approval.

However, they revealed that the minimum wage has gone up by eighty percent, from 50 thousand Kwacha (about thirty dollars) to 90 thousand Kwacha (about fifty-three dollars) per month for general workers. Domestic workers’ minimum wage only went up by thirty-eight percent, from 38 thousand Kwacha (or twenty-three dollars) to 52 thousand Kwacha (or thirty-one dollars) per month.

Unfortunately, there are new prices that locals will have to start paying.

For starters, the Karonga District Council has started charging toll fees at the Songwe border post, which connects Malawi to Tanzania. The toll fees will become effective on Monday the 22nd, for vehicles entering and leaving the country.

According to their statement, lorries and trucks will pay the highest toll fees of five thousand Kwacha or roughly three dollars; public vehicles and buses will pay three thousand Kwacha or around two dollars; and personal vehicles will pay 2,500 Kwacha or a dollar and fifty cents.

Meanwhile in Blantyre, the managers of Chichiri Shopping Mall—Eris Properties—said they will introduce a car park management system next month. Under this system, motorists who park their cars at the mall for more than thirty minutes will have to pay a minimum fee of 300 Kwacha, or eighteen US cents.

Ellen Nyasulu, the Chief Executive Officer of Eris Properties, said motorists will be required to pay their fees at the exit terminals. She believes the system will help curb the misuse of parking space by people not intending to visit any stores at the mall—people who just leave their cars at the parking lot and go somewhere else—, and also heighten security.

Moving on to other news, if you graduated from Cyprus International Institute or Jerusalem University, then your certification is invalid.

Gusto Gadama—the owner of the universities—was taken to court on two counts of operating institutions of higher education and handing out qualifications without authority from the National Council for Higher Education. The two sentences will run consecutively.

On Wednesday the 17th, Principal Resident Magistrate Roderick Michongwe ordered Gadama to pay 3.4 million Kwacha (around 130 thousand dollars), or serve four years in prison.

Michongwe said Gadama was aware of the requirements to operate a university but chose to go against the law, causing several students to lose their money.

If you encounter a hospital by the name “Chilembwe Hospital”, then you are not being duped.

While celebrating the John Chilembwe holiday this Monday the 15th, President Lazarus Chakwera renamed Phalombe District Hospital to Chilembwe District Hospital, in honor of the country’s freedom fighter.

Chakwera said this was befitting since Chilembwe had big dreams to advance Malawi’s education and health sectors.

There have also been some changes in leadership across multiple sectors in the country.

For instance, on Thursday the 11th, Macdonald Mafuta Mwale, the Secretary to the Treasury in the Office of President and Cabinet, was promoted to Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank.

On Friday the 12th, the Office of President and Cabinet announced that Betchani Tchereni is the new Secretary to the Treasury. He also serves as the Executive Dean of Business and Economic Sciences at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences.

The Media Council of Malawi also elected Jolly Ntaba as its new Chairperson.

On Wednesday the 17th, the National Bank of Malawi appointed Harold Jiya as its new Chief Executive Officer.

The Lhomwe tribe is now under new leadership, following President Chakwera’s appointment of Stelia Munyama as Paramount Chief Kaduya. Munyama replaces Paramount Chief Ngolongoliwa, who died five years ago.

Perhaps, all this news is making you crave a little promotion too. Well, the Parliament released an invitation for bids for the supply of goods and services, such as Information and Communications Technology equipment, motor vehicle insurance services, among others.

Their statement says the call is open to all bidders from “eligible source countries.” The bidding documents are currently being sold at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe, and will need to be submitted on the 13th of February.

For more information, follow the link in the show notes.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week!

Thanks for listening. Lots of you are listening via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc, thanks especially to those of you who subscribe. If you ever want to download an episode and just send the very small MP3 audio file to somebody in a messaging app because you think they might be interested, you can download each and every episode on our own website www.rorshok.com/malawi. You’ll find the link in the show notes. Thanks!

Pitani bwino!