Youths in Israel & more – 7th Dec 2023

Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 7th of December twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

In our last episode, we mentioned that the government had sent over two hundred out of five thousand university graduates to work in Israeli farms. The move was called into question due to the Israel-Hamas war and also because the youths had to sign a “dubious” contract.

Moses Kunkuyu, the Information Minister, said the government’s decision was well-planned, but the Ministry of Labor disagreed.

Agness NyaLonje, the Labor Minister, said the request to recruit youths was cleared before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could check the authenticity and legality of the recruiting agents and companies.

So the youngsters could be in danger.

In other news… Recall that, in October, the Malawi Revenue Authority (or MRA) amended the Customs and Excise Tariffs. The MRA had hiked duty for most imported used vehicles by over 50%. However, there was so much backlash from the public that the Ministry of Finance ordered a review of the taxes.

Last Thursday, the 30th, Simplex Chithyola Banda, the Minister of Finance, revoked the amendment order. According to their statement, the revocation means that the MRA started using the hiked Customs and Excise Tariffs on the 30th of November.

Tariff hikes may affect universities too.

A leaked letter from the Ministry of Education to the Vice Chancellor of the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (or KUHeS) started circulating on social media this weekend. According to the letter, on the 30th of October, the Vice Chancellor of KUHeS asked the ministry’s permission to revise its tuition fees. The trending letter, dated Wednesday the 29th of November, approves this request.

The letter shows that tuition fees for generic undergraduate programs will go up. Some programs that used to cost 400 thousand Kwacha or about 240 dollars or 550 thousand Kwacha or roughly 330 dollars, will cost one million Kwacha or nearly 590 dollars per academic year.

The university is yet to comment on the issue.

On the flip side, the Electricity Supply Corporation (or ESCOM) has suspended its plans to hike electricity tariffs. If you recall, these were meant to go up by nearly 41% gradually from now until twenty twenty-six. However, after the Kwacha devaluation, ESCOM wanted to implement an additional hike of 44% under the Automatic Tariff Adjustment Formula, which is highly dependent on forex rates.

However, on Monday the 4th, Ibrahim Matola, the Minister of Energy, told local media that ESCOM would halt its 44% tariff adjustment until April twenty twenty-four “to cushion locals from the rising cost of living”. Still, the move might be just postponing an inevitable price increase.


Nonetheless, ESCOM employees want their pay cheques to reflect the recent devaluation.

Business in Blantyre city slowed down for about an hour during the late morning of Thursday the 7th after employees of ESCOM took to the streets to protest against ESCOM’s proposed salary increment. According to local news, ESCOM was planning to increase their employees’ monthly salaries by 10%, but the employees felt it was not enough. They are demanding a 44% increment to cushion the effects of the devaluation.

The employees were loaded in trucks, chanting songs across the city as they made their way to the ESCOM Head Office in Blantyre from Ginnery Corner in Chichiri.

While the country is in economic ruin, President Chakwera thinks it is important for locals to pray.

On Wednesday the 6th, Colleen Zamba, the Secretary to the President and Cabinet, released a statement saying that the President would lead the nation in prayer on Thursday the 7th at the Bingu International Conference Center in Lilongwe. The statement did not specify what the prayers were for, but locals on social media assumed it was for the economic turbulence the country has been facing for several months now.

The move was called into question. He was accused of treating Malawi like a congregation, as he was a pastor before becoming president.

The Parliament passed a draft law that is expected to improve the country’s economic infrastructure.

On Wednesday, the 6th, the Parliament passed the Investment and Export Promotion Bill twenty twenty-three “to enhance the legal mandate of the Malawi Investment and Trade Center by establishing it under a statute”. This will improve the country’s attractiveness to local and foreign investors, and catapult economic activities and the potential for the creation of jobs.

Sosten Gwengwe, the Minister of Trade, said the bill will also boost statutory mandates that the Malawi Investment and Trade Center has, by repealing the Investment Promotion Act, Export Incentives Act, and the Export Promotion Council Act.

The Blantyre District Health Office says water from boreholes is contaminated.

On Tuesday the 5th, Penjani Chunda, the Chief Preventative Health Officer for Blantyre, said his office collected samples from boreholes in the city. They found that all of them had fecal contamination, assuming that it came from the contents of pit latrines that somehow made their way to the boreholes. He said this puts many locals at risk of water diseases, with cholera being the most prominent.

Chunda recommended dousing a healthy amount of chlorine in boreholes to destroy fecal organisms in the water.

In other news… the feud between the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (or MACRA) and MultiChoice has finally come to an end. The two corporations have been at loggerheads since July because MultiChoice wanted to raise tariffs for its television subscription service, DSTV, but MACRA wouldn’t let them, so MultiChoice withdrew its services.

On Wednesday the 6th, MultiChoice announced their return to the Malawian market. They said their customers can now access their services as before, and that they would provide free access for nine days to customers who have been active at least once this year under their Premium Package.

Some people on social media confirmed that they are using DSTV services again. However, local media has yet to confirm these comments.

The National Registration Bureau (or NRB) is set to start the fourth phase of its National Identity Card Outreach and Community Death Registration exercise this month. According to their statement dated Saturday the 2nd, the National ID Outreach Registration exercise helps citizens who have just turned sixteen to register for their first ID card, and assist those who lost them in getting a replacement.

The Community Death Registration exercise intends to register all deaths that occurred since twenty seventeen.

The implementation of the exercises started on Monday the 4th and will go on till the 18th of December. The target areas are Zomba, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Kasungu, Mwanza and Neno districts.

For more information, follow the link in the show notes.

Malawi has its first female neurosurgeon and urologist.

On Wednesday the 6th, four Malawians graduated from the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa. Two of the graduates were Doctor Sithembile Chimaliro, Malawi’s first female Neurosurgeon, and Linda Kayange, Malawi’s first female Urologist. The women are considered trailblazers. This is not only because of their achievements, but because the health sector is male-dominated. Most women usually become nurses.

Speaking of achievements, six students from various schools will represent Malawi at the African Spelling Bee Competition in Uganda, after dominating their categories in the twenty twenty-two/twenty twenty-three Malawi National Spelling Bee.

They departed for Uganda on Tuesday the 5th, ahead of the African Spelling Bee, which brings spellers from twelve countries across the continent.

Aaaand that’s it for this week. Do you ever wonder who these Rorshok people are and why they care about what is going on in Malawi? If so, head over to our website to find out more about us and the other things that we do! You can read all about the organization, other projects we are carrying out, and the other podcasts we do. If something catches your eye, or you have any questions, please reach out. You can find all the contact information and the website link in the show notes.

Pitani bwino!