MALAWI: Report on VP Accident & more – 3rd Sep 2024

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

The government released an interim report regarding the plane crash that killed Vice President Saulos Chilima in June.

After the accident, the government asked experts from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation to investigate it. The government shared the interim report on Friday the 30thof August but it only gave details on the fitness of the plane and highlighted concerning issues, like the airplane not having a Cockpit Voice Recorder or Flight Data Recorder, both of which could have given more details on why and how the accident happened.

Unfortunately, the Bureau said the full report might be ready in the summer of twenty twenty-five – meaning Malawians will have to wait for at least one more year.

Wanna read the interim report? Follow the link in our show notes.

In trending news, President Lazarus Chakwera granted eight legal professionals the Senior Counsel position, but the list does not include Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda. In our last episode, we said the media reported that the Attorney General was among the list of legal practitioners to be appointed as Senior Counsel, but the Malawi Law Society questioned his legibility for the role. As a result, the Ministry of Justice postponed the appointment ceremony.

On Friday the 30th of August, the ceremony finally took place at the Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe. Some of the new Senior Counsel include prominent lawyers like Dingiswayo Madise and Healey Potani.

During the ceremony, the President said that the appointments were not politically motivated.

Despite missing out on a Senior Counsel role, the Attorney General is still making news in his current position.

Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda recently made headlines for giving Total Malawi Limited, a local fuel distribution company, an ultimatum of fourteen days to pay four billion dollars to the Malawi government and an additional fifteen percent for legal costs for allegedly breaching a rebate contract to supply fuel to the government. But here’s the kicker: this issue dates back to a deal signed in two thousand one.

The move was called into question, as social media users said that Chakaka might be trying to lick his wounds from missing out on a Senior Counsel position. Still, there are fears of what would happen if Total closed shop in Malawi.

Two weeks ago, the Democratic Progressive Party held their convention in the heart of Blantyre city ahead of the twenty twenty-five presidential elections.

On Sunday the 1st, they released a statement announcing new appointments within the political party. Some Members like Everton Chimulirenji, George Chaponda and Jean Mathanga have scooped positions.

Meanwhile, the ruling party, the Malawi Congress Party, also made its own headway by selecting members for its National Executive Committee, which includes fifty-two members.

Eisenhower Mkaka, who was once the Chief Executive Officer of the Party, did not get a position, and the press had a field day trolling him.

One media house, Malawi24, published a story saying his arrogance made him miss out on some roles. They’re using him as a cautionary tale for other politicians.

Now, all eyes are on the United Democratic Front political party as they prepare for their own convention, scheduled for the 2nd of October in Blantyre. They said over one thousand delegates will be in attendance.

Aisha Mambo, the Chairperson for the Convention, said they will deliberately allocate fifty percent of the nomination slots to women and young people to make room for them to compete in the convention.

In some sad news, two local figures passed away.

Senior Chief Nkhulambe of Phalombe District died on Thursday the 29th after a short, undisclosed illness. She passed at the John Chilembwe Hospital, where she was receiving treatment.

She started her leadership work in nineteen ninety as a Group Village Head and grew across the ranks until her promotion to Senior Chief in twenty nineteen.

Two days later Willie Zingani, who was a veteran novelist, poet, playwright, and journalist, passed away.

His brother Peter told local media that Zingani said he was feeling unwell. They took him to the Masm Medi Clinic in Area 14 in Lilongwe for a checkup. While there, he collapsed and was unfortunately pronounced dead.

Tributes have since been pouring in for the literary legend. Some of them are from the President and the Media Council of Malawi. There were comments on social media describing Zingani as Malawi’s own Chinua Achebe.

Next, the police in Thyolo arrested four locals under suspicion that they tried to abduct and traffick sixty-five people.

Aubrey Singanyama, the Limbe Police Spokesperson, told local media that the sixty-five individuals were picked up from different locations across Thyolo district. It is unclear why the people got on the bus and whether they knew where they were going. However, Singanyama said that Maxwell Banda, one of the arrested people, said the bus was headed to Rumphi district in the north.

This could be a case of abduction by trickery, but the bus did not have the jurisdiction to travel to its intended destination, so it could be trafficking.

Airtel, a local telecommunications company, frustrated its customers on Friday the 30th of August due to intermittent internet services.

Locals complained that the network was very slow and mostly unavailable. It took minutes for a message to be delivered, and it was almost impossible to make online calls or have any online meetings.

Airtel released a statement on its social media pages apologizing for the issue. They attributed it to fiber cuts in their internet lines, but people were not having it. A lot of them threatened to leave Airtel and go with its competitor, Telekom Networks Malawi.

In other news, the National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (or NONM) launched the Journal of Nursing and Midwifery on Wednesday the 28th of August. The publication is the first journal of its kind to be launched in Malawi and the Sub-Saharan Africa Region.

Shouts Simeza, NONM’s President, said the journal is the first of many publications. It will feature case studies, health reports, and policy analyses – all of which they hope will impact the health systems in the country and the continent at large.

Simeza said the journal was developed with support from local health experts in line with the twenty twenty-four-twenty twenty-six NOMN Strategic Plan.

Wrapping up with sports news, the Malawi National Women Under-19 Cricket team was in Rwanda, competing in the International Cricket Council Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup sub-region qualifiers. The Malawi team won six straight matches, earning them the top spot in the competition.

While commenting on the win, Vivek Gansen, the President of Cricket Malawi, said the girls achieved a huge feat, especially since they finished in the fifth position the last time they competed.

Meanwhile, the national football team is gearing up for their Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers against Burundi and Burkina Faso.

Local news said that ever since Patrick Mabedi, the Flames Coach, named the team that will play in the qualifiers, the players have been making their way to Lilongwe for preparations. For instance, the Zambia-based trio of Chifundo Mphasi, Chawanangwa Kaonga, and Robert Saizi started their training on Monday the 2nd.

The Flames will host Burundi at the Bingu National Stadium on Thursday the 5th of September. After that, they will travel to Mali to play against Burkina Faso on Tuesday the 10th.

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

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Pitani bwino!