MALAWI: Mwera Winds & more – 13th May 2025

Muli bwanji from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 13th of May twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

The country is currently experiencing rainy and chilly weather conditions, and the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services said this is due to the Mwera winds, also known as the southerlies, which are blowing on Lake Malawi and other water bodies across the country.

According to a weather report released on Friday the 9th, the cold and rains started on Monday the 12th and will start to ease up on Thursday the 15th. They warned that the country will have a lot of rainy, windy, cloudy and chilly weather conditions, and that some areas might get foggy.

They urged locals to wear warm clothes and avoid water bodies.

There is some confusion on whether Vitumbiko Mumba, the Minister of Trade and Industry and an aspiring Member of Parliament for the Mzimba Central Constituency, lost the primary elections on Sunday the 11th.

Local news said he got five votes while his competitor, Adamson Kuseri, a Presidential Advisor, got over 260. Before the primaries, Mumba got a court injunction to stop the primaries because the Mzimba District Council didn’t tell him that they would be held in a different area and on a different date. If he had known about the change, he wouldn’t have left the country and gone to the US, where he also lives. So, in the end, he couldn’t participate in the elections fully. The High Court is yet to rule on the case.

Despite this, some media houses are pushing the story of Mumba’s loss. But the ruling Malawi Congress Party, which Mumba is associated with, called the elections fake and unverified.

Amidst that confusion, there are rumors that President Lazarus Chakwera is considering Vice President Michael Usi as a running mate in the upcoming September elections. In previous episodes, we mentioned that Usi had launched his own party, Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu, but had not registered it with the Registrar of Political Parties, making it ineligible to contest.

On Friday the 9th, Thomas Kaumba, the President of Umodzi Party, told local media that his and Usi’s party will form an electoral alliance with the ruling Malawi Congress Party to promote unity and win the upcoming elections. Usi's recent rally, where he appeared with increased security, as his life might be endangered. Usi has made a lot of political enemies because he hasn't really been clear with his intentions. His affiliation with the President might make him a target for other people who want the running mate role and weren't selected for it, even after putting in the work to be one.

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Neither Usi nor the President has commented on these rumors.

On Tuesday the 13th, Peter Dimba, the Minister of Labor, announced an increase in the monthly minimum wage by forty percent, effective immediately.

He told local media that the government came to this decision after consulting with the Malawi Congress Trade Union, the Employers Consultative Association of Malawi, and other relevant stakeholders, about the high cost of living, among other factors.

The increase not only affected the general minimum wage, but also the salaries for domestic workers, truck drivers, shop workers, and micro and small enterprises.

Some people are criticizing the government after the High Court in Lilongwe in the Central Region heard a financial dispute where the executive overpaid SF International, a company that was contracted to supply military equipment to the Malawi Defence Force, by over three million dollars.

The story came out after Shiraz Ferreira, the Manager of SF International, sued the government, demanding that it pay his company nearly seven million dollars in compound interest because of the government’s late payments. However, these interests were not stipulated under the deal.

After the government’s overpayment was revealed, the Attorney General filed a counterclaim against SF International to refund the money.

The case is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, some Council Officers working with M’mbelwa District Council in the Northern Region were accused of allegedly demanding bribes from people who applied for the positions of Health Surveillance Assistant, which are being handled by the Council.

On Tuesday the 13th, local publication Malawi24 confirmed that some officials received bribes worth 300 thousand Kwacha, which is a little over 170 dollars, and promised to employ the job seekers in return.

Authorities from the Council are yet to comment on the matter, but civil society organizations and the public are demanding answers. They are very angry because the Council had already been accused of bribery and corruption during another recruitment process in twenty twenty-three,

In other news, the government has approved the imports of two Moroccan fertilisers.

On Friday the 9th, the Agriculture Technologies Clearing Committee endorsed the NPSB and NPSZN fertilizers. They said they had spent a year testing them in different research stations and some local farmers’ fields, and found that the fertilizers significantly increased maize yields, improved soil health, and boosted farmers’ incomes compared to other fertilisers.

Kennedy Lweya, Malawi’s Deputy Ambassador to Morocco, celebrated the news and said it is not just about the fertilizers, but about the country’s food security and the success of its farmers.

The endorsement came after the National Economic Empowerment Fund (or NEEF) launched the winter cropping agriculture loan inputs in Zomba District in the Southern Region, and spent the rest of the week visiting other districts too.

The Fund is targeting over 200 thousand farmers nationwide, giving them loan inputs which include fertilizer, maize seeds and a solar pump.

On Wednesday the 7th, Humphrey Mdyetseni, the NEEF CEO, said the loan inputs help improve the country’s food security. He said a lot of farmers need help getting into irrigation farming to help protect them from climate shocks.

Over the last two years, crops have been getting damaged due to the weather oscillating between droughts and floods. This continuous crop damage makes it hard to meet the annual maize requirement.

Unfortunately, people should expect to spend more time without electricity. On Friday the 9th, the Electricity Generation Company (or EGENCO) told local media that they removed over eighty megawatts from the national electricity grid because of faulty machines at their three hydropower stations.

Moses Gwaza, the EGENCO Spokesperson, said that, as a result, Malawi is currently producing nearly 285 megawatts, which isn’t enough to power the whole country. He assured that EGENCO is working tirelessly to fix the issue.

Right now, most parts of the country are experiencing at least four-hour blackouts per day.

The media has received criticism for referring to individuals without PhDs as doctors while neglecting those who actually have them. In previous episodes, we mentioned that the National Council for Higher Education had previously banned this practice after it became popularized, especially by the media.

On Saturday the 9th, the Nation Newspaper tweeted about Noel Kayira's appointment as the new Deputy Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service. They did not refer to him as Doctor, despite his PhD in Public Administration, leading some readers to accuse the publication of mislabeling him, especially since other articles use the doctor title for different individuals.

Malawi will be hosting its first-ever Beauty Fun Fair, organized by a local modelling agency called ELK Management.

On Wednesday the 7th, ELK Management told local news that the event is targeting professionals who work in Malawi’s beauty, fashion design, skincare and food industries, to showcase their skills and connect them to potential clients. They expect to host the event every year in different cities in the country.

According to the ELK Management team, the Beauty Fun Fair is set to take place on the 1st and 2nd of November in Lilongwe city.

Closing this edition, the second season of Malawi Has Talent has received a boost worth 500 million Kwacha, which is about 290 thousand dollars. The funding came from Goshen City, which was founded by Shepherd Bushiri, a renowned prophet.

On Saturday the 10th, the Times Media Group, which runs the show, told other stations that the program will expose a lot of great talent that is hidden within Malawi and give artists a platform to shine.

According to local news, the winner for this season will walk away with a cash prize of thirty-five million Kwacha, which is a little over twenty thousand dollars.

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

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Pitani bwino!