MALAWI: Kamba Market Development & more – 12th Nov 2024

Muli bwanji from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 12th of November twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Blantyre City Council in the south signed an agreement with CP Investments to develop Kamba Market. The project is worth three billion Kwacha, which is 1.7 million dollars.

On Thursday the 7th, Dennis Chinseu, the CEO of the Council, disclosed that the market generates only 800 thousand Kwacha a month, which is nearly 460 dollars, despite the Council spending about 2.5 million Kwacha monthly to maintain it. They feel this one-time maintenance will help them reduce their monthly expenditures.

The Council has since moved people out of the market temporarily to make way for the construction. Unfortunately, they didn’t say how long they would go on for.

The Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (or LUANAR) is working on its own development project.

On Friday the 8th, Robertson Khazata, a lecturer at the University, told local media that LUANAR had introduced an e-market for farmers in the Dedza district in the central region and the Mzimba district in the north under their Zakudimba project.

The e-market will help farmers sell their products through their phones, instead of the usual markets. It will also help them interact with other farmers.

Despite efforts to boost agricultural initiatives, issues like climate change are still a huge block locally. This is why the Civil Society Network on Climate Change (or CISONECC) is advocating for climate justice, and demanding that those responsible for climate change, such as major polluters, provide grants and not loans to affected nations.

They are eyeing the upcoming 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which started on Monday the 11th and will run till Friday the 22nd.

On Saturday the 9th, Melton Luhanga, the Board Chairperson for CISONECC, launched the Cycling For Climate Justice initiative, which seeks to make locals aware of climate change issues. They rode bicycles from Blantyre city in the south to Lilongwe city in the central region, which is a stretch of over 360 kilometers which is nearly 224 miles, as part of their initiative.

Speaking of climate, on Thursday the 7th, heavy rains destroyed several houses and schools in the Mangochi district located in the southern region.

The rain didn’t last for more than twenty minutes, but it caused a lot of damage. Some electricity poles fell down and got damaged too, so most parts of the district currently don’t have electricity either. According to social media posts by the Electricity Supply Corporation, they are restoring power in phases as they work in the affected areas.

Even though there were some pictures circulating on social media showing the damage, authorities from the Mangochi District Council said they are yet to evaluate how many people were affected by the rains.

Speaking of electricity, some locals who use ZUWA Energy had issues buying and paying for their solar electricity over the weekend.

On Friday the 8th, ZUWA posted on their social media that their electricity payment system was down, but that they were trying to fix it promptly. They provided numbers you can call in case you’re still having difficulties. We have the link to their original post in our show notes.

In some news on the twenty twenty-five presidential elections of the United Transformation Movement party (or UTM), Vice President Michael Usi said he wouldn’t stand as a candidate. He made the announcement on Monday the 11th, just days before the UTM Convention, which is set for Saturday the 16th in Mzuzu city in the north. He might want to leave the UTM and join the Malawi Congress Party, which is the current ruling party.

On Wednesday the 6th, Penjani Kalua, popularly known by his artist name Fredokiss, also withdrew from the UTM presidential race, despite young people hoping that they might have a young presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. Kalua will instead contest to keep his position as the UTM National Director of Youth.

In some updates of a different election, potential voters got confused after Edgar Lungu, the former President of Zambia, announced that he had joined the Tonse Alliance and would contest in the general elections. The move raised questions as to why and how a Zambian national would contest run for the Malawian presidency, but it turns out that Zambia has its own political party that is also called the Tonse Alliance, and that Lungu would contest in Zambia’s presidential elections, which are slated for twenty twenty-six.

A publication from Zambia confirmed the alliance’s intent to unseat the current government. The Tonse Alliance looks like a replica of Malawi’s coalition namesake, as the Malawian one was also created to unseat its administration.

Malawi and Zambia share way more than we probably know. The two countries have the same currency, similar languages, and now, a similar political party.

In trending news, Onesimus, a local Afropop singer, won the Best New Act at the US-based African Entertainment Awards, which were held on Saturday the 9th.

This is his third international award this year, following his other wins for Best Male Artist from Tanzania’s Hapa Awards and Best Star Artist of the Year from South Africa’s Shining Star Awards.

Tonderai Banda, who manages Onesimus, told local media that this year was one of their most successful, as they have managed to make Onesimus’ music international.

Other notable musicians who won awards include Nigeria’s Wizkid and Davido, and South Africa’s Mafikizolo.

Still on entertainment, Ethel Kamwendo Banda – an artist, and Mr Jokes – a comedian, pulled out of the Maso Award nominations on Tuesday the 12th.

According to a post on Banda’s Facebook page, she withdrew from the nominations because she wants her new music to be nominated, but it only comes out next year.

Mr Jokes, on the other hand, said he didn’t understand the voting process. He wrote on Facebook that the votes feel rigged, because people only started voting yesterday, yet some people seem to be winning already.

Maso Awards has yet to comment on the matter, but the entertainers’ withdrawal was put into question, as it could be insulting to their audience when artists pull out from award nominations.

Another artist duo, AidFest and Kineo, weren’t so lucky last weekend. On Friday the 8th, they got into a car accident in the Kasungu district in the central region.

Review Wasema, who manages their operations, said the accident happened around 7 AM as they were headed to shows at the Rumphi, Karonga, and Chitipa districts, all located in the north. He said their car collided with another one, and the other car caught fire.

Wasema said they all sustained injuries, but no one was hurt too severely.

Unfortunately, another car accident did kill someone, but this time it was a member of the football fraternity. On Saturday the 9th, local news reported that Othaniel Hara, the former Second Vice President of the Football Association of Malawi, had died in a car accident.

Maurice Chapola, the Spokesperson for the Northern Region Police, said Hara lost control of the vehicle, and it swerved and hit a road embankment before overturning. He said Hara sustained severe head injuries and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Mzuzu Central Hospital.

Several sports enthusiasts have since taken to social media to share their condolences.

We end this show with more positive news as students from the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences were so excited about their upcoming graduation that they held a parade in Blantyre on Monday the 11th. The graduation, which was held on the following day, is a big deal since it was the first one the university had after officially delinking from the University of Malawi.

During the ceremony, President Lazarus Chakwera was installed as the Chancellor of the school.

Family members of the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Malawi’s first president, gave the university a fly-whisk belonging to Kamuzu to use in their ceremonies. The fly whisk was one of Kamuzu’s signature accessories.

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

Thanks for sticking around for this episode of the Rorshok Malawi update! If you’ve got questions, thoughts, or just want to say hi, reach out at info@rorshok.com. Don’t forget to hit subscribe on your favorite podcast app!

Pitani bwino!