MALAWI: Cyclone Chido & more – 17th Dec 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 17th of December twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Tropical Cyclone Chido hit Mozambique over the weekend, and its remnants officially hit Malawi on Sunday the 15th, with the Southern and Central Regions being the most affected. The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services said some of the affected areas include Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe cities, and districts Dedza, Thyolo and Mangochi. They received rainfall and strong, gusty winds, which caused damage. For instance, on Monday the 16th, the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi said many areas in the affected regions lost power supply on Sunday the 15th.

The Ministry of Education suspended schools on Monday the 16th, and had them resume on Tuesday the 17th.

By Monday the 16th, most areas were only left with light winds and showers as the cyclone’s impact had reduced.

On Tuesday the 17th, assessments by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs said Cyclone Chido killed two people and affected 1,800 households, which is over eight thousand people.

It looks like Malawi has another issue to deal with. On Monday the 16th, local news said that Ntcheu District Hospital recorded one case of cholera in a seventy-four-year-old woman who was admitted over a week ago for treatment of a different illness. However, she developed symptoms of diarrhoea while at the hospital, and was later diagnosed with cholera.

The Ministry of Health has yet to comment on the matter, but there are concerns that there might be more unrecorded cholera cases.

Digital security is also another concerning issue. On Thursday the 12th, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (or MACRA) said more people are falling victim to hacked WhatsApp accounts and the theft accompanying them.

According to MACRA, some thieves are hacking locals’ WhatsApp accounts and using them to ask for money from the hacked person’s contacts. They said this is a new form of identity fraud and money theft.

MACRA has since urged locals to use WhatsApp’s Two-Factor Verification, which you can find in your WhatsApp settings. They have also asked people to verify demands for money, even when they come from family members or close friends. They recommend making phone calls to the person before sending any cash.

Meanwhile, some people have been struggling to buy electricity through the prepaid vending system provided by the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (or ESCOM), but not because of the cyclone.

On Thursday the 12th, ESCOM released a statement saying their vending system is experiencing some technical challenges that are making it unavailable on some channels. They said they are working with some of their providers to help fix the issue.

At least things are looking up in the education sector which got funding of thirty-nine million euros, which is a little over forty million dollars, from the UK government.

On Tuesday the 10th, Anneliese Dodds, the UK Minister for International Development, said the funds will go towards supporting 1,500 secondary school girls with scholarships, expanding feeding in vulnerable areas, and doubling children’s basic mathematics skills by age ten.

On the other hand, the EU might pull out their funding of 10.5 million euros, which is nearly eleven million dollars, which was meant to help some District Councils with projects that seek to increase the share of commercial agriculture by smallholder farmers and agro-businesses.

On Monday the 16th, local news said the EU had requested that District Councils open foreign currency-denominated accounts (or FCDAs) with commercial banks by November end, but the Treasury failed to help the councils.

A letter from Rune Skinnebach, the EU Head of Delegation, addressed to Betchani Tchereni, the Secretary to the Treasury, indicates that the EU is still keen on the project, but will have to terminate the it if the FCDAs are not opened by the 13th of January.

In other news, President Lazarus Chakwera appointmented Vitumbiko Mumba as the new Labor Minister on Wednesday the 11th.

While talking to local media, Mumba, who is currently based in Zambia, said he was excited to get to work. However, his credibility was put into question on Twitter. A small search on Google shows that Mumba is a Professional Engineer, which has raised questions about his suitability as a Labor Minister.

Mumba’s appointment came just a few days after Agnes NyaLonje, the former Minister, resigned from the Cabinet.

Recall that in one of our previous episodes, NyaLonje said she resigned because the death of former Vice President Saulos Chilima unsettled her. The Commission that President Chakwera appointed to investigate Chilima’s death released its findings on Saturday the 14th.

It said the plane crash that killed Chilima happened because of bad weather and human error, and it ruled out any foul play. There were suspicions because Chilima’s relationship with the President and the government at large had soured, after what could be considered one of Malawi’s influential alliances. As such, there are concerns that the findings were tampered with.

For instance, Dunstain Mwaungulu, a retired High Court Judge, said the findings are “skewed, amateurish and an attempt to sidestep deeper accountability.”

Switching gears, a bizarre incident happened on Saturday the 14th when some locals from Phanisa Village in Mulanje district in the Southern Region attacked a group of seven hikers who were coming from hiking on Mulanje Mountain. They suspected that the trekkers had gone up the mountain to plant a gadget that would trigger Cyclone Chido, which the Department of Meteorological Services had been warning people about.

Jones Matemvu, one of the hikers, told local news that their tour guide tried explaining the situation to the villagers but they didn't listen and started stoning them. Matemvu said they suffered minor injuries.

Some locals on social media said this situation reflected Malawi’s illiteracy levels, which are at 35%. Others said the situation paints a dark future for next year’s elections, as the villagers represent a majority of voters.

Speaking of literacy, in our last episode, we mentioned that students from one Secondary School set their classrooms and school bus on fire because they did not like the food that the high school provided. Well, a similar issue happened at another school.

On Thursday the 12th, school authorities from Michiru View Secondary School in Blantyre in the Southern Region closed down the high school and students were sent home after some kids burnt the school’s Staff Room and their Head Teacher’s office because they were unhappy with the food.

Authorities from the school have involved the police, who are now investigating the matter and looking to arrest students who started the fire.

On a positive note, three local kickboxers won five bronze medals at the Wako African Kickboxing Championship, held last week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Emmanuel Namate and Bashil London won two medals while Mike Mando won one.

On Thursday the 12th, Bright Limani, the General Secretary for the Malawi Kickboxing Association, said he was very impressed with the results because the kickboxers were ill-prepared and had inadequate equipment for their training.

Let’s close this edition with more sports news. The Queens, the national netball team, also had a victory of their own when they made it to the semi-finals of the twenty twenty-four Africa Netball Cup on Friday the 13th. They were playing against Kenya and won with a massive sixty-thirty victory.

Unfortunately, the victorious streak ended for them on Saturday the 14th after they lost to Uganda. Despite their failure to make it to the finals, they put up a good fight with goals of fifty-one to forty-three.

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Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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Pitani bwino!