MALAWI: US Foreign Aid Ban & more – 28th Jan 2025

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 28th of January twenty twenty five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Hours after regaining his seat as US President, Donald Trump signed an executive order to temporarily suspend all US Foreign Assistance Programs for the next ninety days. The development has created a lot of uncertainty for Malawi, as the country currently receives over 350 million dollars in bilateral assistance from the US government every year. The assistance covers various sectors including health, agriculture, education, environment, transport and governance.

On Wednesday the 22nd, local media highlighted crucial areas that may be affected. For instance, they said the US’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization would affect Malawi’s fight against diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. Trump’s stance on illegal immigration may also cause mass deportations of Malawians in the US, and the US’ withdrawal from the Paris Convention could likely affect Malawi’s efforts to fight climate change.

Meanwhile, a new study by Oxfam - a global confederation of independent NGOs that work to reduce poverty - says that the inequality gaps in Malawi have grown so much that only ten percent of the country's richest people control about a third of the national income, while the poorest ten percent hold less than two percent of the wealth.

The twenty twenty-four Report also said that over fifty-one percent of the population lives below the poverty line - or on less than two dollars a day- despite Malawi’s progress in reducing poverty.

The report attributed the statistics to cronyism, inheritance, and national tax policies which favor wealthy citizens and large corporations, worsening income inequality. It also highlighted other critical areas, like how well-off citizens receive better healthcare than poor ones.

If you are interested, you can find more details in the link in our show notes.

Another report showed how bad things might be. The January twenty twenty-five rankings from the Global Petrol Prices indicate that Malawi is Africa's fourth-highest country with the most expensive fuel prices.

Local petrol prices are currently at 1.46 dollars per liter, compared to 1.71 dollars per liter from the Central African Republic, which was ranked as the country with the most expensive petrol.

The news was ironic since Malawi’s fuel prices were the lowest in the Southern Africa Region in recent months. However, the forex shortage, which led to the fuel crisis, forced fuel players to increase fuel prices.

Still on reports…The Monthly Economic Report from the Reserve Bank of Malawi shows a new record for tobacco exports after reaching sales worth 504 million dollars between January and November twenty twenty-four, compared to the 449 million dollars earned during the same period in twenty twenty-three, representing a twelve percent growth.

Despite these figures, the country’s overall trade status is quite concerning. The Central Bank’s Report said Malawi’s imports were a little over 2.9 billion dollars, while the exports were a little over 880 million dollars. This means there’s a trade deficit of over 2 billion dollars.

On Wednesday the 20th, Sosten Gwengwe, the Trade Minister, said the government and development partners have a number of initiatives that will help increase local production, but he didn’t specify what they had in store.

In our last episode, we reported that Vitumbiko Mumba, the Labor Minister, closed several companies for not being compliant with labor laws. Now, he wants all companies that have expatriates to submit reports to his Ministry.

During an interview on Friday the 24th, Mumba said the companies’ reports should include the expatriates’ qualifications, job descriptions, resumes and visas, so that the Ministry can confirm whether the jobs being taken up by expatriates cannot be done by Malawians.

He said that his inspection visits revealed that a lot of foreign investors employ expatriates for jobs that Malawians can do, while citizens are exploited for cheap labor. He believes hiring more Malawians would fix the country’s unemployment issues.

On to development news, Malawi Airlines unveiled its plans to start flying to Mzuzu and Karonga districts in the Northern Region in the first half of this year. Currently, the company only operates from Blantyre in the Southern Region to Lilongwe in the Central Region, and vice versa.

On Sunday the 26th, Moses Chikalipo, the Malawi Airlines Spokesperson, said their partner, Airport Development Limited, has been working on the airports and will be done this month.

Some users on social media welcomed the development, saying it will help address the longstanding issue of limited travel options to the Northern Region. The shortest drive to the Northern Region is four hours, while the longest is nearly ten hours long.

Meanwhile, the government has resolved to protect Zomba Mountain in the Southern Region.

In our last episode, we mentioned that several locals on social media were worried about Zomba Mountain after a video hinted that illegal tree cutting might be happening there.

On Tuesday the 28th, Owen Chomanika, the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change, confirmed that illegal tree harvest is an organized crime that is rampant on the mountain, but said the Ministry would be deploying some soldiers from the Malawi Defence Force to patrol and protect it.

He said the forest was initially protected by Forestry Rangers, but some of them were killed in twenty twenty-four by illegal sawyers.

In trending news, a local paper - the Nation - found out that Brigadier General Charles Kalumo , the former Director of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, is still on the government’s payroll despite the High Court annulling his appointment in June twenty twenty-four because it was illegal and unconstitutional.

The news article, which was published on Saturday the 25th, said Kalumo still receives a salary and allowance of over 2.3 million Kwacha, which is over 1,300 dollars, and he still hasn't returned the official vehicle to the Department.

Local media tried to speak to several authorities, including the Department’s Spokesperson, the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Justice, but none gave any substantial comments.

In this very sad update… Zinthenga Banda, the Director of Political Affairs in the Malawi Congress Party (or MCP), was found dead on Monday the 27th. Banda was reported missing on Monday the 20th after visiting an estate to collect sugarcane and cocoa.

Edward Kabango, the Spokesperson for the South-East Police Region, said they found his body in a decomposed state in a sugarcane field behind Comforzi Plantation in Thyolo in the Southern Region. He said Banda’s body had multiple cuts on the back, but they are yet to conduct a postmortem to find out how he died.

Meanwhile, Richard Chimwendo Banda, the Secretary General of the MCP, said the party strongly suspects political violence.

On another note, three Malawi Defense Force soldiers died while supporting the Democratic Republic of Congo in its war against the M23 rebel group, which seeks to take control of Congolese territories that are rich in minerals like gold.

On Saturday the 25th, Major Emmanuel Mlelemba, the Spokesperson for the Defense Force, said the deceased were deployed under the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He said they would release more details, like the names of the soldiers and where they were deployed to, in due time, since the war has escalated.

In cultural news, the submissions for the Chakwera Music Challenge will close on Tuesday the 28th.

Last year, Vitumbiko Mumba, the Minister of Labor, introduced the contest called Dolo Kwambiri Amavotera Chakwera, which means geniuses vote for Chakwera. However, the competition was put into question as it could be a political stunt for President Chakwera ahead of this year’s presidential elections, but its organizers said it’s just a music competition that will promote creativity in the country.

A statement that the organizers released on Tuesday the 14th said that the judges will shortlist the top fifteen songs next month, and then the public will vote for their favorite song. The top five musicians with the most votes will walk away with five million Kwacha, which is nearly 2,900 dollars.

More artists will receive some cash after the Copyright Society of Malawi (or COSOMA) distributes Blank Media Levies on Wednesday the 29th.

A Blank Media Levy is a type of tax that compensates artists for the potential royalties they lose when people copy or use their work for personal use without paying for it.

When queried by local media on Wednesday the 22nd, COSOMA authorities said they collected data through a survey that they conducted alongside some local producers last November.

Many people – artists included – don’t seem to understand how the Blank Media Levy works. So on Wednesday the 22nd, COSOMA met with the Film Association of Malawi to address and resolve misunderstandings about the upcoming distribution.

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

Just a quick reminder before we leave: subscribing to the Rorshok Malawi Update is completely free! That’s right, whether you listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, or YouTube, hitting that subscribe button won’t cost you a thing. Subscribing is one of the best ways to support us and ensure you never miss an episode. So, if you haven’t already, go ahead and subscribe today! And as always, if you need help, feel free to contact us at info@rorshok.com.

Pitani bwino!