MALAWI: Rains Wreak Havoc & more – 3rd Dec 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 3rd of December twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Rains have wreaked havoc. They started on Saturday the 23rd and caused a lot of damage in less than five days.

For instance, on Wednesday the 27th, local news reported that the heavy rains destroyed 570 houses in five villages within Machinga District in the Southern Region. They also destroyed twenty-two homes and five schools in Mzimba District in the Northern Region on Saturday the 30th.

During an interview with local news, Jennings Matalabanda Kayira, the Regional Manager for the Mzimba North Education Division, said that roofs were blown off from hostels and schools’ classrooms, so they had to send students home.

The Parliament had a dramatic stint after one MP was suspended for questioning President Chawkera’s trip to the United Arab Emirates to negotiate oil deals.

Sameer Sulemani, the MP for Blantyre City in the South East, asked how the President’s trip was relevant given Malawi’s fuel shortage, but Madalitso Kazombo, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, ignored him. Sulemani then accused Kazombo of favoritism, and a confrontation arose.

Kazombo banned Sulemani from Parliament for five days, but Sulemani wasn’t apologetic. He told local media that someone had to hold the President accountable, especially when he maked negotiations that could affect the entire country if they go wrong.

Meanwhile, the government is still working towards its development goals. On Tuesday the 26th, the executive announced that they had signed three financing agreements with the European Union during the opening of the three-day-long EU Investment Forum, which seeks to strengthen economic cooperation between Malawi and European countries.

The agreements are meant to support key development initiatives in several sectors such as Energy, Public Finance and Economic Management, and Agricultural Commercialization, and are worth a total of 50 million euros, which is almost the same amount in dollars because they have a similar value.

According to a news article by Natiion Online, 34 million euros will go towards the Agricultural Commercialization Project; 14 million to the Public Finance and Economic Management; and the remaining 770 thousand euros will go towards the Energy sector.

To read the full piece, follow the link in the show notes!

Last week, the Chamber of Mines and the National Planning Commission said the mining sector could contribute 12% to the country’s gross domestic product by twenty twenty-seven, thanks to efforts including a 250-thousand-dollar mineral testing laboratory, which was launched on Friday the 29th.

The mining exploration firm, Chilwa Minerals Africa Limited, owns the lab, which is located at Zalewa in Neno District in the Southern Region.

Cudell Buss, the Founder and Managing Director of the firm, said that before the lab was created, they had to send the minerals to South Africa for preliminary sampling of large volumes of mineral deposits. After that they sent them to Australia for further analysis. Now, they can do the preliminary tests locally.

In other news, during commemorations of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, the police officers in the Dedza District, located in the Central Region, have released an alarming rise of cases related to Gender-Based Violence (or GBV).

Gift Chiundira, the Officer-In-Charge at the Dedza Police Station, recorded over 18 thousand GBV cases this year, up from a little over 2 thousand in twenty twenty-three. He believed that economic challenges were behind the shocking statistics, but some social media users accused the police of making excuses for the abuse and defending the perpetrators since economic issues have affected everyone.

The Group Village Heads of Kaname and Kwabwazi encouraged people to report the crimes immediately after they happened. However, this is not enough to combat gender-based violence.

On an unrelated note, the Arts sector has a new law that will likely boost the industry’s growth. President Chakwera passed the National Arts and Heritage Council (Nahec) Bill into law on Wednesday the 27th – just three months after Parliament passed the Bill since it was tabled in twenty fifteen.

This law is important as it facilitates the creation of a Council that will govern the Creative Arts sector.

While commenting on the development, Associate Professor Zindaba Chisiza from the University of Malawi, said the Arts sector currently contributes 0.4% or 28 billion Kwacha - which is about 16 million dollars - to the country’s gross domestic product. He was amazed by how much more the sector would contribute now that the government supports it through the Nahec law.

On Thursday the 28th, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority submitted bills to the Ministry of Justice. The bills are for Cybercrime, Cyber Security, E-Evidence, E-Transactions, and Digital Innovation Entrepreneurship.

Daudi Sulemani, the Director General for the Authority, disclosed that the bills have already passed the public stakeholders stage, where they got opinions from local experts, and that they are now awaiting Parliamentary Review. Sulemani hopes the bills will be presented at the next Parliamentary sitting.

While commemorating International E-Waste Day on Tuesday the 3rd, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced the launch of the National E-Waste Management Policy, which aims to protect the environment and improve sustainable development.

E-waste, or electronic waste, are discarded electronic devices like computers, phones, printers or cables. It is one of the biggest global issues because improper disposal of electronic devices poses several risks to the environment, animals, and people.

The Ministry also said some aspects of the policy include raising public awareness about responsible e-waste management and inspiring collective action toward a greener future.

In trending news, seventy-seven students from the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (or Kuhes) in Blantyre in the Southern Region have received justice after the National Council for Higher Education (or NCHE) directed that they be re-admitted to the university, after being withdrawn.

The students, who were studying the Bachelor of Medicine/ Bachelor of Surgery program, complained to NCHE between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty-two that some of their consultants bullied them during their clinical supervision by insulting and threatening them.

NCHE investigated the complaints this May, and on Sunday the 1st, found that some of the students’ allegations were valid. They ordered that the students be re-admitted to continue their five-year bachelor program.

Next up, Wisely Phiri, the Managing Director of Sparc Systems, was named Africa’s Most Impactful and Innovative Corporate Leader of the Year twenty twenty-four during the Africa Consumer Choice Award Gala, held on Sunday the 1st in Tanzania.

The news came as no surprise, as Sparc Systems is one of the country’s most successful Information Communication Technology companies. For instance, they launched a seven-storey data center in Lilongwe in the Central Region. They’re also responsible for creating an information system for institutions like the Malawi University of Science and Technology.

Also making headlines is Beatus Msamange, a budding filmmaker who was named the Second Best Student in this year’s Southern African MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy award show, which took place in Zambia.

The MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy is a year-long academic and practical immersion program that develops the next generation of African storytellers. Msamange’s win has earned him a two-week scholarship at Zee World in India. The last time the Academy had Malawian students was in twenty eighteen, when the school was launched.

Wrapping up this edition, on Friday the 29th, twenty-three-year-old Weshah Mwelamoyo was crowned Miss Culture twenty twenty-four during a prestigious event held at the Bingu International Conference Center in Lilongwe. Some of her gifts include a one million kwacha cash prize — which is 570 dollars — a cultural exchange trip to South Africa, and a one-week getaway trip to Likoma Island.

Lorraine Kljajic, the CEO and Founder of Miss Culture Malawi, said they aim to use the pageant to promote tourism by showcasing cultural aspects of the country.

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

Do you know that besides the Rorshok Malawi Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water, and the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check roroshok.com/updates for the full list, the link is in the show notes.

Pitani bwino!