ATLANTA (MaraviPost): Necton Mhura presented his credentials as Malawi’s ambassador to the United States on May 18, 2015. He’s also his country’s representative to the Bahamas, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico according to the bio on the Malawi Washington DC Embassy.
Mhura, who counts a Master of Laws degree from the University of London among his credentials, held government posts including Commissioner of Lands and deputy head of the Civil Service. He also helped negotiate his country’s compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. aid fund aimed at stabilizing the governments of poor countries through economic development.
However Mhura has been very low key since replacing longtime diplomat Steve Matenje who preceded him. Steve Matenje was known to socialize among his friends in the Washington DC area many of whom were classmates in Malawi or social friends he knew in Malawi before being posted as an Ambassador in the US.
Many Malawians in DC have noted that we have a new Ambassador but have not revealed one way or another how effective he has been to date. Asked for direct comment on how he has been to date many have refused to pass judgement choosing a wait and see attitude.
It is not to say he has not been busy. In fact we are told he was active in the July 4th Malawi Independence Day activities. He has also attended the obligatory events that are held frequently in the Capital a place with a large presence of Diaspora Malawians.
Reporting coming out of Malawi indicate that recently Necton Mhura, toured bio and health facilities that have been benefiting Malawians at Rice University 360 degrees in USA.
According to the reporting ambassador Mhura visited Engineering Design Kitchen, Rice’s center for development and incubation of innovations in bio and health technologies that have been implemented in various hospitals in Malawi which includes a variety of low-cost robust technologies called the nursery of future aimed at providing adequate hydration and nutrition, treating infections, keeping babies warm and treating jaundice.
According to the press statement made available to the Maravi Post Rice 360 degrees has developed bCPAP machine locally known as Pumani in partnership with Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and 3rd Stone Design in Malawi.
Part of the statement read “Pumani is a low cost high performance bubble CPAP system to treat infant with respiratory distress syndrome in the developing world, the cost of Pumani bCPAP machine is US$800 compared to a conventional CPAP machine that costs as much as US$6,00”
“Rice 360 degrees has made the machines available to all government District Hospitals and has trained nurses on use, Rice further plans to make more machines available to CHAM Hospitals and further to be incorporated in the curriculum in nursing schools.”
The statement further stated that Rice 360 degrees has an exchange programme for staff and students with the Malawi Polytechnic, two institutions are in the process of establishing an innovation technology/engineering lab at the Polytechnic.
Ambassador Mhura commended young girls and the youth for demonstrating that STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) are alive and functioning among girls in the USA.
A prominent Malawian talking to the Maravi Post said, The Malawi community in the Washington Dc area has settled here for a long time. They expect their Ambassador to assimilate himself in that community as the last two Ambassadors before him did.
