Trying to Keep Forex in the Country & more – 26th Oct 2023

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 26th of October twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

The Reserve Bank of Malawi (or RBM) has introduced a new forex measure to keep forex in Malawi.

On Tuesday, the 24th, RBM issued an Operational Manual for Cross-Border Foreign Exchange Transactions to Authorized Dealer Banks (or ADBs). Mark Lungu, the Spokesperson for RBM, said the new measures prevent holders of foreign currency-denominated accounts (or FCDAs) from directing commercial banks to allocate or sell forex to specific parties since that can distort the forex market by limiting the intermediary role that ADBs play.

For instance, FCDAs can no longer dictate where they withdraw their forex. In addition to that, when holders of FCDA want to convert their forex to Kwacha, the ADBs can only allow it if that forex doesn’t end up in another account other than ones belonging to the ADBs or those that limit the role of ADBs as a financial intermediary.

The bank’s move was called into question as it might hurt traders’ businesses.

The police have been very busy.

On Saturday the 21st, the Fiscal Police and Financial International Authority made two arrests following a joint operation.

They arrested Willem Steenkamp, a notorious South African Interpol fugitive facing fraud and money laundering charges, and Edward Phambala, a Traditional Authority—which, for those who don’t know, is a leader of a district or village. Kalaya said they found several documents, including court documents, that revealed that the Office of the President and Cabinet (or OPC) allowed Steenkamp to invest 20 billion dollars in Malawi in twenty twenty-two under a fake name, Dr William Bilderberg. He also had a Malawian passport.

Steenkamp and Phambala were charged with forgery, uttering false documents, and money laundering, and Interpol has been alerted on all developments. However, this has raised questions about how the government could miss Steenkamp’s fugitive status.

The police have also detained twenty-nine-year-old Lester Maganga, a Personal Assistant to the Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu. The police arrested Maganga on Friday, the 20th, concerning the murder of Allan Wittika, a Coca-Cola employee found dead in his car in Lilongwe last month.

Alfred Chimthere, the Deputy Spokesman of the National Police Headquarters, said Maganga and Wittika had been dating the same girl and having issues over that for quite a while.

The interesting part is that Maganga is a married man, and the woman they had been fighting over was his side chick.

A few hours after Maganga’s arrest, a leaked voice note started circulating on WhatsApp groups. In it, a policewoman allegedly working on the Wittika and Maganga case accused Moses Kunkuyu, the Information Minister, of orchestrating Wittika’s murder and paying Maganga to do it. However, the police said that the minister had no connection with the murder.

The rumors went so viral that on Tuesday the 24th, the Malawi Police Service released a statement revealing their arrest of three women—Mercy Chiligo, Chipiriro Kalima, and Inspector Susan Kachinga—suspected to have made the voice note. They were charged with cyberbullying and defamation of character and will have to answer court charges.

The police have since warned locals to refrain from spreading rumors.

The police have also made headway on the murder of Agnes Katengeza, whose body was found in the boot of her car with multiple stab wounds last month.

According to local news, the police are keeping Annie Nwozuzu Chinyere, a Nigerian woman, in custody regarding Katengeza’s murder. The police allegedly arrested Chinyere on the 27th of September, three days after Katengeza’s body was discovered. Katengeza’s phone calls pointed to Chinyere, but when the police wanted to interview her, she dodged them. The police ended up detaining her and confiscating her phones.

She has already appeared before court and awaits a ruling on her bail application.

Meanwhile, Katengeza’s sister, Estiner, has looked to music to express the pain of losing her sister.

On Tuesday the 24th, Estiner released a song titled Why? In it, she describes her struggle to understand why her sister had to go that way.

The song already has sixty-one thousand views.

But perhaps the most shocking of these arrests has been that of celebrated musician Joe Gwaladi. Phalombe district police arrested him on Monday, the 23rd, for assaulting his wife.

Jimmy Kapanja, the Spokesperson for Phalombe Police Station, revealed that Gwaladi left his home and went to a bar to have a drink on Sunday, the 22nd. He did not return home until the following morning when he asked his wife to accompany him to the same bar to drink with him. They both returned home that night drunk.

Upon arrival, the two quarreled, and Gwaladi started hitting his wife with a brick, injuring her on her forehead and both arms. A toe on her left foot reportedly got cut off.

He is currently in police custody, awaiting his sentencing.

In light of these and other crimes, the Lilongwe City Council revealed their plans to introduce closed-circuit television (or CCTV) cameras in the city streets in the next two months to assist in tracking criminal activity.

On Saturday the 21st, Richard Banda, the Mayor of Lilongwe, disclosed that the Council has a memorandum of understanding with a foreign Information and Communications Technology company. He said the company has already started working and installing cables, but he did not say where.

While the Council’s heart is in the right place, the move was called into question as the local authorities struggle with simpler things. One Twitter comment said: “But you can’t even keep the street lights on.”

Many locals in Thyolo district ignored the Ministry of Health when they asked them to get vaccinated against cholera when the country faced an outbreak of the disease earlier this year. Now, they have started registering cholera cases.

On Saturday the 21st, Dr. Arnold Jumbe, the Director of Health and Social Services at Thyolo district, said most communities were misled and misinformed through social media messages. For instance, some users said that the vaccines caused infertility among both men and women, so there was a low uptake of the cholera shot. However, he said his office would carry out a series of cholera awareness meetings.

Netball fanatics have bid farewell to Jane Chimaliro, the captain of the Malawi National Netball team, the Queens.

Chimaliro announced her retirement from the Queens on Saturday, the 21st. She said she wants to give young players a chance and also cited personal reasons. She clarified that her retirement has nothing to do with her public dispute with fellow player Mwayi Kumwenda during this year’s World Cup finals.

Senior Chief Liwonde, whose real name was Awali Buluhani, passed on on Friday the 20th due to hypertension. He had just been discharged from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre the previous day.

Senior Chief Liwonde started serving his district in nineteen ninety-three. In twenty thriteen, Joyce Banda, the president at the time, promoted him to Senior Chief. Recall that Chiefs rule clusters of villages or districts.

He was laid to rest on Saturday the 21st at his Mbonechera Headquarters in Machinga. Prominent political figures, including former president Bakili Muluzi, showed up to pay their last respects.

Four Jamaican artists have jetted into the country this week. Mutabaruka, Everton Blender, Luciano, and Admiral Tibet will perform at the Conscious Roots and Reggae Festival on Saturday, the 28th, at the Grand Business Park in Lilongwe.

According to the festival organizers, Jah Kings Promotion, this event will be Malawi’s biggest reggae event. Their lineup also includes local artists such as Don Tarz, Malinga, and the Black Missionaries, and renowned reggae deejays, DJ Spyda, DJ Chronik, and Mista Slyk.

Local reggae fans have been sharing their “reggae” outfits on social media to show their excitement about the event.

In trending news, the country has produced its youngest PhD holder. On Thursday, the 26th, Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu graduated with a PhD in Agricultural Resources and Economics. He is twenty-seven.

Mgomezulu has a Bachelor of Science and a Master in Agricultural Resources and Economics too. Apart from that, he has another Master's in Data Science. But that’s not all; Mgomezulu said he will graduate with another PhD in Business Management Studies next year.

And that's it for this week!

So, you've noticed we are ad-free. That is because we dislike ads and respect your time. But that also means we don't get any money making these shows, unless someone makes a donation or buys a shirt. What shirts you ask? Well, we have made 100% unbleached organic cotton shirts that are the most environmentally gentle and cool new T-shirts you can buy. If you want to check them out and help us, go to Rorshok.com and click on Support, or head over to the link in the show notes. You can buy them from anywhere in the world! Let us know if you get one at malawi@rorshok.com

Pitani bwino!