MALAWI: MSCE exams blunder & more – 23rd July 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 23rd of July twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Locals were unable to buy electricity tokens this weekend.

On Friday the 19th, the Electricity Supply Corporation (or ESCOM) released a statement saying all their prepaid vending systems were down, making it impossible for their customers to buy electricity tokens through any of ESCOM’s online platforms.

They said their vending system was erratic but didn’t say why. They only referred their customers to their physical Customer Service Offices for assistance, as that was the only channel they could buy electricity tokens from.

A few hours later, they released another statement saying they had fixed the issue. However, comments on their Facebook page showed that customers were still failing to use ESCOM’s online platforms. Some users even shared screenshots that showed that ESCOM’s online services were still unavailable.

It might seem insignificant, but issues like these contribute to locals’ desperation to leave the country. A feature article by one of the country’s biggest newspapers revealed that some people have been spending their nights outside the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Offices in Lilongwe.

One of them was a local called Martha Phiri, aged forty-three. She told the paper that, as of Monday the 21st, she had spent six nights at the Immigration Offices because she could not afford to travel to and from Ntcheu district to get her passport printed. According to the paper, there were so many people that an onlooker could easily mistake the scene for a vigil.

The Immigration Offices have been overwhelmed, since they only started printing passports in March after the passport issuing system failed in January, causing a nationwide backlog.

Meanwhile, a new report by the Research and Planning Office at the Malawi Police shows a five percent increase in crimes in the South West Region.

Owen Douglas Linzie, the Research and Planning Coordinator for the Police, said they have registered an increase in homicide, theft, and assault cases from January to June. Last year, they registered a little over 3,400 cases but now, they are nearly 3,600. Linzie attributed the homicide and assault cases to mob justice and disagreements between locals and said the theft cases were because of economic hardships and released convicts.

On the flip side, the report said there are fewer cases of robberies and sexual offences, and fewer road accidents too. As to accidents, the Traffic Management reported about 820 cases last year but now, the numbers are a little over 760.

Perhaps a slight change in management will make things better. On Monday the 22nd, councilors from Blantyre City voted for a new mayor at the Blantyre City Council offices.

A few hours later, local news announced Joseph Makwinja, the former Deputy Mayor, as the city’s new mayor, while Isaac Jomo Osman, was elected Deputy Mayor. The news of Osman’s election took social media by storm because he used to be a street kid but managed to work his way through to a much better life.

Makwinja succeeds Wild Ndipo in the position.

In trending news, the National Oil Company of Malawi (or NOCMA) received a delivery of fuel from Mozambique via train, after a twenty-one-year hiatus. The train carried sixteen tank wagons loaded with diesel and unloaded it at NOCMA’s Fuel Depot at Kanengo in Lilongwe on Tuesday the 23rd.

This is the first train to grace the Nkaya to Lilongwe Railway since the Central East Africa Railways rehabilitated it a few weeks ago.

The news excited locals because it is proof that the country’s transport system is improving. It also ensures that the country will have a steady supply of fuel, and this is a huge relief given the fuel spells the country experienced these past two years.

In one of our previous episodes, we mentioned that secondary students were sitting for their Malawi School Certificate of Education (or MCSE) exams, which determine whether a student qualifies for university.

The exams were going well until Thursday the 18th, when the Malawi National Examinations Board (or MANEB) canceled the first question in the Geography exams on the day the students were to take it due to a silly error. The question was testing the candidates' map reading skills, but MANEB did not enclose the map in the question papers during packaging. As a result, the candidates were asked to skip the question, which was worth thirty-five marks out of 110.

MANEB released a statement saying they will take administrative guidelines when marking the paper, but they didn’t explain what the guidelines are.

MANEB almost had another bad day after ESCOM announced they would carry out some maintenance work on the day MSCE candidates were sitting for their Practical Computer Studies exams, which require electricity for the computers to work.

Fortunately, on Sunday the 21st, ESCOM released another statement saying they had postponed the maintenance work to allow MSCE students to sit for their exams without disturbances.

In entertainment news, it turns out locals have one more festival to look forward to this year. On Friday the 19th, organizers of the Likoma Island Festival said they will be celebrating the festival’s tenth anniversary on Likoma Island from the 12th to the 15th of October.

According to their statement, the festival includes multiple activities such as an Investment Forum, sports, music, traditional dances, sightseeing tours, a wellness retreat, and a dinner, among others. These will be held at multiple venues on the Island.

The organizers said they will be announcing more details on their social media pages platforms.

Speaking of festivals, the Lake of Stars –which is set to take place from the 6th to the 8th of September in Nkhotakota district– announced their first international act.

On Friday the 19th, they announced that Sho Madjozi, a South African rapper and singer, will be one of their headliners. Sho Madjozi is known for her vibrant energy and sound. She became a global star for her song titled John Cena. The Lake of Stars team followed up their announcement with a video from Sho Madjozi herself confirming her performance.

The news made locals believe that Lake of Stars is coming back with a bang after their absence due to COVID-19. This year’s event will mark their 20th anniversary.

Still on art and entertainment news, some Malawian artists will be having fun in France and Spain for the next two months.

The Rising Choreos and Theatre Company announced that they will participate in the Festivals du Sud, a cultural tour that brings together fifteen folkloric ensembles and national ballets from all over the world to participate in the main art and traditional festivals of the European continent.

Joyce Mhango Chavula, an award-winning filmmaker, actor, and leader of the group, said they will be leaving for the festival on Tuesday the 30th. She also said Malawi and Tanzania are the only two African countries that were invited to join the tour.

The government is also in on the fun events.

On Tuesday the 23rd, the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry announced that they will be hosting the National Agriculture Fair from the 29th to the 31st of August in Blantyre city.

They released an advert inviting interested exhibitors to register to showcase at the event. We have the flyer for you in our show notes in case you’d like to register or get more details.

According to the flyer, the theme for this year’s fair is Driving Towards Export-Oriented Agriculture Through Commercialization and Innovation.

For our last story, we would like to recommend some books you could read. A few weeks ago, Jack McBrams, a prominent local journalist, wrote a list of books he thinks every Malawian should read to understand the country’s history. He shared it on X, previously called Twitter.

We read the list and we think it’s amazing. It covers books such as A History of Malawi from eighteen fifty-nine to nineteen sixty-six, and And Crocodiles Are Hungry at Night. The latter is a chronicle of a poet’s imprisonment during Kamuzu Banda’s dictatorial regime.

Other locals have since shared their favorite Malawian books on the Twitter thread. The recommendations are linked in our show notes. You can also find out where you can buy the books locally and online in the comments.

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

Thank you so much to everyone who filled in the survey over the past few weeks, we really appreciate your comments and ideas. Many of you mentioned you would like to get some more in-depth episodes and interviews, is that something you would like? Do you have any topics in mind? Something specific about Malawi that you want to know more about for us to do a special show on? We want to do some new things very soon!

Please email us at info@rorshok.com. If you left an email to contact you in the survey, we’ll reach out to you very soon. The survey is still linked in the show notes if you are interested in that as well.

Pitani bwino!