No More Daily Reports on Cholera Because It’s not a Public Health Emergency & more –10th Aug 2023

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 10th of August twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

According to the systems for Public Health threats by the World Health Organisation, Cholera is no longer a Public Health Emergency. The Presidential Taskforce on Coronavirus and Cholera made the announcement on Saturday the 5th after reviewing the cholera situation in the country.

Malawi has been struggling with a cholera outbreak since last February. President Chakwera declared a Public Health emergency last December. Since the outbreak, the country has had over fifty-eight thousand cholera cases and close to two thousand deaths.

The Taskforce said there is a decline in cases and deaths, as most districts have now controlled the outbreak. So now, the Taskforce will start making weekly reports on the cholera situations, instead of daily ones. They won’t report on the hardest hit districts, the number of cases, and deaths, as well as contact details for health institutions in case of emergencies or queries every day.

Still on death, Goodall Gondwe, the country’s former Finance Minister and Politician, passed away.

He died on the night of Tuesday the 8th, at the age of eighty-seven. His nephew Komani told local media that Gondwe collapsed in his home in Lilongwe and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Adventist Hospital.

Gondwe was a renowned Economist who served in the cabinet as Minister of Finance, first from two thousand four and two thousand nine under President Bingu Mutharika’s government, and from twenty fourteen and twenty nineteen under President Peter Mutharika’s administration. He also served as the Minister of Local Government, and the Minister of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Affairs.

He was considered the backbone of Malawi’s economic affairs.

On Wednesday the 10th, Komani said Gondwe will be buried at his home village in Mzimba North. The burial will take place on Sunday the 13th, as the family is waiting for Gondwe’s two sons to fly in from the US. In the meantime, the family is holding a vigil at Gondwe’s residence in Area 10 in Lilongwe.

Last week, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (or MACRA) and MultiChoice Malawi started having disagreements because MultiChoice raised the prices for their DSTV subscription packages. MACRA got a court injunction to stop MultiChoice from increasing its fees, allowing MACRA to enforce its jurisdiction as a Communications Authority to monitor prices of local entertainment, including how much companies like MultiChoice charge for it.

MACRA said anyone who disobeys the court’s injunction would be held in contempt and be liable to imprisonment.

MultiChoice’s parent company, MultiChoice Africa Holdings, did not take this news well. It released a statement announcing the withdrawal of its DSTV services from Malawi, with immediate effect, because of the court’s injunction.

They requested that all their customers halt their payment for DSTV services, but said that the people who already paid for the services will still be able to use the streaming platform until the 10th of September.

On Wednesday the 9th, Zena Makunje, the MultiChoice Malawi Corporate Affairs Manager said they will continue to provide their GoTV services to the Malawi market, but confirmed that they won’t be receiving any subscriptions for DSTV, nor will they sell DSTV decoders or provide technical services.

On Thursday the 10th, the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information, and Communications summoned MultiChoice, the Ministry of Information, and MACRA over DSTV’s withdrawal of its services. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday the 16th.

In other news, Members of Parliament (or MPs) were accused of greed.

Last week, on Tuesday the 1st, news leaked that Werani Chilenga, the MP for Chitipa South, was planning to table a Private Members motion in Parliament. The draft said that former MPs should receive a monthly salary that is half their current salary after they retire, considering the important service that an MP offers to the country. He said he was concerned that former MPs did not have a pension, hence his motion. He called it a retirement package.

On Tuesday the 8th, local media revealed that a lot of MPs were in support of the proposal, but didn’t want to say it publicly because they feared backlash.

Later that day, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition released a statement denouncing Chilenga’s proposal. They called it a “pursuit of self-interest and greed”, and said it disregards the dire circumstances that Malawians are facing.

To make matters worse, on Tuesday the 8th, Kamlepo Kalua, the MP for Rumphi East, told the Parliament that the government should construct a filling station at the Parliament in Lilongwe so that legislators should not queue for fuel “with ordinary Malawians”. However, Madalitso Kazombo, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, told Kalua that MPs need to experience the same hardships as Malawians.

Speaking of filling stations, Malawi has been experiencing a fuel scarcity for months now, due to a foreign exchange shortage.

Just last week, on Saturday the 5th, local media reported that hundreds of people were stranded at Shoprite in Lilongwe around nine PM. They were waiting to board local transport to get home, but no minibusses or taxis were in sight.

There are mixed emotions following the death of Omega Nankhuni, a US-based Malawian businesswoman.

Earlier this week, her family reported her missing. They said her phone was off, she wasn’t home, and she had not reported to work. A few hours later, several Malawians took to social media to complain that Nankhuni owed them money amounting to over two hundred million dollars. Rumors have it that they trusted her to change currencies for them.

On Wednesday the 9th, media reports said Nankhuni was found dead in a hotel room in South Bend, in the US. They alleged that she took her own life due to her debts.

Social media comments indicate that people are torn about how Nankhuni’s family will handle her debts, if at all.

Last week we mentioned that Malawi’s national netball team, the Queens, was performing wonderfully at the twenty twenty-three Netball World Cup. In fact, they were doing so great that Takondwa Lwazi, the Queens’ center court player, won the Player of the Match in Malawi’s game against Barbados.

Unfortunately, on Sunday the 6th, Lwazi announced her retirement from the Queens after playing her 100th game, known as the “100th cap”. She said she had done her part, and that it was time for her to leave the stage.

Samuel Kanyenda, the Queens’ interim coach, revealed that Lwazi had made her request to resign “sometime back”.

The Queens’ international export, Mwawi Kumwenda, also hinted at doing the same. After helping the Queens win sixty-four against fifty-four in their game against Tonga, local media asked Kumwenda if the netball fraternity should expect to see her at the next World Cup Finals—four years from now—to which she replied, No. She said it was time to leave and give emerging talent a chance.

South African veteran gospel musician Rebecca Malope will be performing in Malawi at the Blessings Gospel Concert, on the 2nd of September in Lilongwe.

On Sunday the 6th, Wendy Harawa, a local singer and one of the lead organizers of the concert, confirmed the news and also said they are working towards inviting artists from Uganda and Nigeria as well. However, she said the country’s foreign exchange shortage is causing them problems.

Nonetheless, fans have faith in her because last year, she brought US-based artist Travis Greene to her album launch.

Residents of Likoma Island have bemoaned the suspension of the MV Ilala boat. On Friday the 4th, Thomas Chafunya, the Spokesperson for Mota-Engil Malawi, said that Ilala was sent for servicing in Monkey Bay and that another boat, MV Chilembwe, will replace it.

Ilala is huge and caters to the majority of island dwellers, including fishers. Smaller boats mean they must reduce their stock or risk keeping it for longer between trips and possibly rotting it.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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Pitani bwino!