National budget meeting of Parliament & more – 11th Jan 2024

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 11th of January twenty twenty four. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Talks of salary increments are still making headlines. It's understandable, as they are mainly a consequence of the Kwacha devaluation and the resulting surge in prices of commodities.

th, during the first: 2024

Noel Zigowa, the Chief Executive Officer for the Institute, said this will help Malawians deal with the rising cost of living.

Meanwhile, the Bankers Association of Malawi think that a reduction in value added tax (or VAT) from 16.5% to 15% will encourage consumption and stimulate the economy. They urged the Treasury to look into this during the pre-budget consultation meetings.

But John Kapito, the Executive Director of Consumers Association of Malawi quickly refuted the idea. He argued that VAT reductions have no impact on consumers' welfare as industries' production costs drive the cost of goods. He thinks tax reduction in industries would be more effective.

On Wednesday the 10th, Catherine Gotani Hara, the Speaker of the National Assembly, said the pre-budget meetings will run up to the 5th of April.

, the official opening of the: 2024

Nonetheless, most of the propositions made at the pre-budget meetings suggest one thing: Malawi’s economy is in ruins, and recent data by the World Bank confirms it.

While most countries in the Southern African Development Community region have an average savings rate of 25%, Malawi is lagging behind at 11%, which is also one of the lowest on the global scale. World Bank's data said Malawi's savings rapidly decelerated at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also said “This is driven by high levels of government consumption and limited household and commercial savings.”

Gilbert Kachamba, a local Economist, said a lower savings rate hinders the country's ability to invest in critical developmental areas like infrastructure, and makes the country more vulnerable to external shocks too.

Despite the economic ruin, at least locals know one person who is going to smile their way to the bank. That's Brian Banda, one of Malawi's biggest television hosts, and former Press Secretary for President Chakwera.

In July twenty twenty two, the State House announced Banda's departure to China for studies. They quickly replaced him with Anthony Kasunda. In September twenty twenty two, Banda sued the State House for unfair dismissal. He wanted compensation for constructive dismissal, severance allowance, and recompense for unfair labor practices.

million Kwacha, or around: 6000

In trending news, news that T.B. Joshua, the famous televangelist prophet, was a predatory cult leader has caused division among locals.

On Monday the 8th, BBC Africa released a three-part documentary on a two-year investigation that they conducted on the late prophet. The people that were closest to Joshua, including his own daughter, revealed that he raped and physically assaulted them and others at his church, the Synagogue Church of All Nations.

Since its release, loyal followers of Joshua have fought tooth and nail for his dignity, calling BBC Africa liars and faulting the investigation. Some have even fallen out with friends who questioned Joshua's actions. A quick scroll on social media indicates the sides that users are taking.

There was a nationwide power blackout on Tuesday the 9th of January. The Electricity Supply Corporation (or ESCOM) said they experienced a system shutdown at 1:45 PM. The company restored the power later that day, after a couple of hours. In most parts of Blantyre, power was restored around 4 PM. According to their statement, shared on social media, they haven’t found the cause of the fault yet.

Unfortunately, locals will be without electricity this weekend, starting from Saturday the 13th to Monday the 15th. ESCOM said they will be conducting a load shedding so they can perform maintenance works at Nkula A and Nkula B power stations.

They said they will conduct load shedding in phases, and have categorised customers in groups. They will be releasing the load-shedding schedules on their social media pages.

We've linked their Facebook and X pages in our show notes.

Sadly, this load shedding means locals will be forced to celebrate their John Chilembwe holiday in darkness, or without their usual entertainment.

Malawi celebrates the life of John Chilembwe - one of the country's freedom fighters - on the 15th of January. This year, the day falls on a Monday, so schools and offices will be closed. Most stores usually open until 12 PM, so you might want to do your shopping earlier.

Fortunately, most entertainment spots like eateries and bars are open during holidays.

The Democratic Progressive Party (or DPP) expelled four of its senior members on Friday the 5th. But a few hours later, they withdrew their statement and called it fake, leaving the public confused. An anonymous insider confided in local media and confirmed the statement's authenticity, but said there were some disagreements on the decision, so some members leaked the statement before making a unanimous decision to involve the media.

The four expelled members - Kondwani Nankhumwa, Grezelder Jeffrey, Mark Botoman and Cecilia Chazama - were called in for a disciplinary meeting on Thursday the 4th for their "misconduct and indiscretion", which were deemed "detrimental to the values and principles of the party".

The government is planning to enroll students into its yet-to-be constructed M'mbelwa University in Mzimba district by next June. The government allocated 5 billion Kwacha, roughly 3 million dollars, to the school's construction.

Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima, the Minister of Education, toured the project on Monday the 8th following the awarding of a contract to two companies - Paramount Group and DEC Construction. The project started in the first week of this month.

Wirima said she’s optimistic that the project will be done in eighteen months, but this time period was put into question as it might be unrealistic.

This year, Chilembwe Day will be commemorated in Chilembwe's hometown, Chiradzulu. This year marks 109 years since he died. As one way of preserving Chilembwe's legacy, Providence Industrial Mission (or PIM) Church has revealed its plans to give their church a "facelift". PIM was founded by Chilembwe, who was also a Reverend.

Davis Kambewa, PIM's Deputy Publicity Secretary, told local media that the facelift may boost tourism, since the church now serves as a historical site.

Speaking of churches, the Blantyre Synod Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, or CCAP as it's commonly known, revealed that they have a 2 billion Kwacha debt. That is approximately 1.2 million dollars.

On Wednesday the 10th, Reverend Anderson Juma confirmed the news, and said most of it stems from unpaid tax and loans that the church took from banks. He complained that the funds they get from their members' tithes and offerings was not enough to pay off their debt. He revealed that they have been asking their members to give more to the church.

Aaand that's it for this week!

It is the second week of the year and you still haven’t told your friends about us? How do you sleep at night?!

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Pitani bwino!