MALAWI: Food Crises & more – 10th June 2025

Muli bwanji from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 10th of June twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Locals started the week with an impromptu holiday that the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture announced on Saturday the 7th. According to their statement, the public holiday was declared in the interest of the Muslim community, so that they can enjoy their Eid Al Adha celebrations.

After the holiday was announced, some parents and guardians wondered if Junior Certificate of Education exams would still be administered to their Form Two children since their kids started taking them on Monday the 9th.

On Sunday the 8th, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education issued a statement clarifying that the holiday did not impact the exam timetable, and that candidates would still take their exams as scheduled. However, students who did not have any national exams were allowed to observe the holiday.

Unfortunately, the Ministry was hit with the untimely death of Joyce Chitsulo, its Deputy Minister, on Friday the 6th.

Local news said that Chitsulo collapsed in her home in Lilongwe in the Central Region. She was rushed to the Kamuzu Central Hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. Chitsulo was involved in a car accident last month and fractured her leg, but people are unsure if the two incidents are related.

Public figures, including President Lazarus Chakwera, have since expressed shock and sadness at Chitsulo’s passing.

The Malawi Electoral Commission (or MEC) refused to give people access to the voters’ register for the September elections so that they could assess it and perform an independent verification.

According to local news, the Commission refused to give five opposition political parties and electoral watch groups access to the register. The groups wanted data on each voter’s name, date of birth, and residence, among others.

On Thursday the 5th, MEC released a statement saying the request was unconstitutional, although the law says it isn’t.

Many have since accused the Commission of being undemocratic. Some groupings, like members of the Democratic Progressive Party living in the UK, are calling for global electoral oversight organizations to intervene.

Despite the public backlash, MEC held a press briefing on Saturday the 7th and shared some updates on the elections.

They said voters will be identified using physical and biometric fingerprint verification, both of which were taken during the registration process. They said this system would provide real-time voter statistics and improve transparency.

MEC also released the schedule for submitting nomination papers for candidates aspiring to run in the September Tripartite Elections. Local government candidates will start submitting their nomination papers on Friday the 20th, while Parliamentary and Presidential candidates will do so on the 1st of July.

On another note, the twenty twenty-five Global Report on Food Crises projects that at least 6.8 million people in Malawi, over a third of the country’s population, are struggling to find food and meet other basic needs. It also said that 5.7 million people faced a more critical level of food insecurity last year.

The report said macroeconomic impacts, like the forex shortage, are behind the shocking statistics. It also said local food crises persist because the government fixes symptoms of the shortages, instead of their actual causes.

In the meantime, local news said the Department of Disaster Management Affairs will continue to distribute free food to vulnerable households to alleviate hunger.

The report comes after the World Bank increased the international poverty line for low-income countries, from two dollars and fifteen cents to three dollars per person per day. The Bank said the revision reflects global changes in prices, and more accurate data on the costs of basic food, clothing and housing in low-income countries.

According to local economists, the revision means eighty percent of the population lives under the poverty line, up from seventy-two percent in twenty twenty-two, when the World Bank made its last revision.

On Tuesday the 10th, the Center for Social Concern told local news they were worried about the widening gap between incomes and living costs; they think families will resort to desperate coping strategies like skipping meals, taking up unsafe work, or pulling their kids from school.

In other news, the Cotton Council of Malawi officially opened the twenty twenty-four/twenty twenty-five Cotton Marketing Season on Saturday the 7th. For the first time ever, cotton sales will also be carried out on the Cotton Management Information System (or COTMIS), which is a digital trading platform that facilitates nationwide transactions.

Cosmas Luwanda, the Executive Director for the Cotton Council of Malawi, told local media that their trading platform allows registered farmers to receive payments through mobile banks and also track sales, both of which were hard for them before.

Malawi’s current focus on cotton is one of the government’s tactics to boost forex reserves.

There were rumors that former president Peter Mutharika had died.

On Friday the 6th, local publications said that several sources from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services confirmed that Mutharika had left the country on Monday the 2nd and flown to South Africa for medical attention.

Many people quickly believed the rumor since the eighty-six-year-old had not made a public appearance for a while.

However, on Sunday the 8th, the Democratic Progressive Party, which Mutharika leads, released a statement confirming that he had travelled to South Africa, but said it was for private business.

Unfortunately, the passing of Saulos Chilima, the former Vice President, was not a rumor, as the 10th of June marks exactly one year since he died in a plane crash alongside other passengers.

His wife and children went to his burial site in Ntcheu in the Central Region where they had a memorial ceremony for him, alongside party members and other supporters.

Meanwhile, President Chakwera and First Lady Monica visited the plane crash site in Mzimba District in the Northern Region to lay wreaths. While there, the President also declared that the Six Lane Road in Lilongwe be named after the late Chilima to honor his legacy and dedication to Malawi.

Questions were raised on why the President didn’t join Chilima’s family, with some assuming there might be some hidden animosity between the two families, since Chakwera was blamed for the Vice President’s death.

The President and other government officials might have avoided Chilima’s family since the final investigative report on the plane crash that killed Chilima was released on Sunday the 8th.

According to the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, many key players did not adhere to standards, causing the plane to hit the terrain. For instance, the flight crew flew at a low altitude, in bad weather and without guidance from the Meteorological Services.

Despite these findings, many people who loved Chilima still believe Chakwera had a hand in the former Vice President’s death. They believe Chilima was set up, so there is a lot of high tension as the nation mourns and remembers him.

Shifting gears, news that Old Mutual Limited, a local insurance company, has sent its top-performing employees on an all-expense-paid trip to Brazil has many wondering if they’re working for the wrong company.

On Monday the 9th, local news shared that Old Mutual has sent seventy-four of its staff to Rio de Janeiro. They left on Saturday the 7th and will be flying back into the country on Sunday the 15th. This is Old Mutual’s way of saying thank you and encouraging their employees to work hard.

According to local news, this isn’t the first time Old Mutual has done this. In past years, their staff were sent to several countries including Thailand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

And to close this episode, Malawians are going to have their first representation at the BET Experience and BET Awards in Los Angeles this July.

On Thursday the 5th, Tay Grin, a local musician and Ambassador of the Malawi Tourism Council, was invited to represent the country at the prestigious ceremonies, just weeks after he scooped an award at the Tourism Excellence Awards in the UK.

Local news said Tay Grin will participate in media interviews to share his music and influence. Grin said he was proud to represent Malawi, and people hailed him for achieving a huge and significant win for Malawi’s music scene.

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

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Pitani bwino!