Tag Archives: Dowa

Development, Politics

Malawi’s MCP lawmaker Abel Kayembe fight with councilor Songeya over Mdika bridge project worry constituents

Maravi Post Reporter

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-People of Mdika in Traditional Authority (T.A) Kayembe in Dowa have stopped construction works of Mdika bridge after authorities allegedly sent a contractor to the site to construct an Irish bridge contrary to their expectations.

Councillor for Kayembe Ward Gift Nkhono Songeya and Village Headman Phezewa said on Sunday, July 25, 2021 that the kind of bridge the contractor is constructing does not stand pressure when the river is flooded hence they want a box Calvert bridge and have resolved to send back the contractor, a decision made on Saturday after convening a crisis meeting with community members.

But Director of Public Works in Dowa, Oscar Kumwenda has accused councilor Songeya of misleading the community claiming that the MK12 milllion Irish bridge design was opted after considering the terrain of the site and available funds.

He therefore said his team will go to Mdika on Tuesday to explain to the community about the planned Irish bridge being constructed at the site.

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Dr. Abel Kayembe said people in the area have rushed to make such a decision when the work has just started saying about 50 rings and concrete deck will be installed to re-enforce its strength.

Lifestyle, Top News

Malawian man in Dowa burnt to death over witchcraft

Maravi Post Reporter

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Angry villagers in Dowa burnt to death a man identified as Paulo Tokoma suspected of practicing witchcraft.

According to Dowa Police Station spokesperson Richard Kaponda the incident occurred on August 2, 2019 at about 16:00 hrs at Kachala village, Traditional Authority (T.A) Msakambewa in the district.

Kaponda told The Maravi Post that during the month of July, 2019, Sipe Chibala of Chibala village, T.A) Msakambewa in the district died believed to have been bewitched by the deceased, Paulo Tokoma and Kalaya Mwale, of Kakondaudya village, T/A Msakambewa, both are long- time suspects of practicing witchcraft.

“On 2nd August, 2019 at 16:00 hrs, relatives of the bewitched person mobilised other villagers who abducted the deceased to death while the other suspect, Kalaya Mwale, born in 1982, was rescued by relatives and is currently admitted at Dowa District Hospital.

“The scene was  visited accompanied by a medical officer who pronounced death of the deceased as due to hypovolemic shock secondary to severe burns,” says Kaponda.

He added that investigations are in progress to arrest the perpetrators.

The deceased Tokoma hails hails from Kachala village, T.A Msakambewa in Dowa district.

 

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Development, Politics

Malawi President for total digital migration: China helps Malawi extends satellite TV coverage to rural areas

Patience Mandowa
By Malawi News Agency
President Arthur Peter Mutharika has commissioned a project dubbed Access to Satellite TV for 500 Malawian Villages which will see some households in rural areas being connected to satellite television and says he wants rural communities to join  urban counterparts in digital migration to enjoy access to information.

President Mutharika (right) at the launch of Access to Satellite Television for 500 Malawian villages sponsored by the Chinese government

The project being financed by the Peoples Republic of China is targeting 500 villages across the country and 20 households in each beneficiary village are going to be given satellite television sets where they will be accessing up to 21 local and international channels for free.

Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the project at Mponela 2 Primary School ground in Dowa, Mutharika said the coming in of the project is a result of cordial bilateral relations between the Governments of Malawi and China.

He said the project will ensure that people in rural areas are being entertained and informed just like their counterparts in towns.

“Our goal is to make sure that people in rural areas are having access to satellite television programs for their learning, exposure and decision making.

“When people have information, they make informed decisions and participate meaningfully in national development,” the President said.

In his remarks, the Peoples Republic of China Ambassador to Malawi, Liu Hongyang said the project was hatched at the Forum on Africa —China Cooperation (FOCAC), where President of the Peoples Republic of China, declared that China will provide satellite TV reception to 10,000 African villages during a 2015 summit held in Johannesburg.

“After the consultations between relevant authorities of China and Malawi, 500 Malawian villages were identified to benefit from the project. As the main platform and mechanism of China —Africa cooperation, FOCAC has made great achievements in promoting our bilateral relations and cooperation since its establishment,” he said.

The Ambassador added that China-Malawi relations have entered a new era of rapid and comprehensive development and the two governments will continue to broaden and enrich the cooperation by creating favorable conditions for cooperation in production capacity, human resources development, infrastructure, agriculture and others.

Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Nicholas Dausi said politics means bringing happiness to the people and what the DPP government is doing is bringing happiness in peoples homes.

“All the 193 constituencies in the country are benefiting from this project and this means a great number of people will have entertainment in their homes. This also means improved access to information as the people will view different channels from all over the world,” said Dausi.

Speaking earlier before the launch the Dowa District Commissioner (DC), Alexander Mdooko said satellite television will help people access information on different issues like health, education and current affairs.

StarTimes Group which is contractedl to implement the project in the country has registered subsidiaries in 30 countries, and is operating in 19 countries with more than 20 million users.

Law and order

Malawi woman steals K8 million from filling station

Special Absalom

Police in Kasungu are keeping in custody a 26 year old woman for allegedly swindling K8 million at a filling station where she has been working as a manager.

The suspect, identified as Jane Chirombo, was working at Mtunthama Puma Filling Station in the district which is owned by Germson Mkweza.

According to Kasungu Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, Harry Namwaza, the suspect has been pocketing part of the proceeds from the sale of fuel at the filling station.

“She has, for the past six months, been diverting some money meant to be deposited into her employer’s bank account,” said Namwaza.

The Police PRO said the employer got suspicious last month (June) after noting that the filling station was failing to raise enough money to replenish its stock of fuel, hence instituted an audit exercise.

According to Namwaza, the audit exposed a shortage of K8 million which Chirombo failed to account for, leading to her arrest.

The suspect will appear in court soon to answer the charge of theft by a servant once police complete their investigations into the issue.

Chirombo hails from Kachigunda Village, Traditional Authority Chiwere in Dowa.

Politics, Sports

Malawi Women Caucus for increased budgetary allocation for Queens

Malawi News Agency (MANA)

Parliamentary Women Caucus has asked the government to consider increasing budgetary allocation for Malawi national netball team the Queens for them to perform better in international competitions.

Chairperson for the Caucus, Jessie Kabwila made the appeal on Sunday during the launch of the 2018 Mpico Gateway Mall Netball Challenge at Police ground in Mponela, Dowa.

She said it was disheartening to note that despite registering a number of success stories on global scene, the Queens are still subjected to low budgetary allocations for their progression.

“We need to change our mindset and view the Queens as equally important as the Malawi National Football team, the Flames in terms of allocating disbursing financial resources to them,” the chairperson suggested.

Kabwila observed that currently the Queens are number six in the World netball ranking but still lacks adequate financial resources while the Flames are enjoying the lion’s share of budgetary allocation despite being number 123 on FIFA World ranking.

“As a caucus will make sure that we should fight for the Queens and they deserved to be allocated enough financial resources for them to continue doing a good work for the nation. The Queens have put the country on the map and we are proud of their achievements,” she stated.

Kabwila pointed out that the Queens need to be supported in their endeavours whether they are doing well or not since they have demonstrated of doing well despite lacking financial resources.

“Even when they have not done well in an international competition we need to always welcome them at the airport in large numbers. They will always need our moral even if the chips are down,” the Caucus Chairperson hinted.

She commended Mpico for considering girls and women within the region to participate in a netball challenge which brings a lot of excitement among them.

Kabwila pointed out that the intuitive need to be supported by all stakeholders and that all 193 constituencies need to have netball courts in order to encourage grass root development of the sport.

Vice Chairperson for Central Region Netball Committee (CRNC), Fernando Magola thanked Mpico for sponsoring the netball challenge for third time in a roll since 2016.

He said Mpico’s initiative has helped to identify raw netball talent from the grassroots within the central region districts.

“Central region teams managed to contribute 10 netball players to the National Netball team in the last call up through the same initiative and we take this as a positive development to enhancement of the sport in the region,” Magola explained.

The Vice chair said the intuitive started with 15 teams in 2016, the number increased to 107 in 2017 and now 168 teams have registered to take part from 10 districts of the region.

He said this give an encouragement to the organizing committee and the sponsor that the sport is getting much needed support from teams.

Mpico sale and marketing Manager, Ellen Nyasulu said Mpico is pleased to note that the intuitive has produced a player of the likes of Joyce Mvula, who is currently playing professional netball in England,
She added that the netball challenge is helping players to be resilient when approaching challenges in their lives.

“We are taking netball to rural areas in order to help the girl child to appreciate that sports is another weapon which can help people to do things together in an organized manner. We want every district within the region to be part and parcel of the development process of the sport,” Nyasulu said.

The Queens are expected to take part in the Africa Netball Championship in Lusaka Zambia in August 2018 and played in the World Netball Tournament in March 2019 in England.

Law and order

MEC DATES BVRK TRAINEES

Maravi Post Reporter

By Joshua Mphanda, MEC Stringer

The Malawi Electoral Commission drilled Biometric Voter Registration kit(BVRK) operators and technicians on Tuesday at a two day workshop the electoral body organized in Lilongwe to enhance capacity of the groups as the country prepares for the 2019 tripartite elections.

Speaking at the event, MEC commissioner who is also chairperson of the Electoral Services Committee, Dr Jean Mathanga dared the trainees not to be complacent and work hard as they have a role in ensuring that Malawi has a credible election through registration of eligible voters only.

“This exercise is very critical as you are all aware the Malawi Electoral Commission will in the coming tripartite elections migrate from the old system we were using, the paper system to BVRK machine when registering voters using biometric features,” said Mathanga.

She further revealed the new system will also help in eliminating human errors which characterized the previous tripartite elections.

Voter registration will commence throughout the country in phases with districts like Kasungu, Salima and Dowa in phase 1 which will kickoff from 26th June to 9th July.

District News, Education, Politics

Malawi traditional leader goes back to school at the age of 74

Malawi News Agency (MANA)

Senior Group Village Head woman Jonasi whose real name is Chifuniro Ndelamani of Traditional Authority Mponela in Dowa district is back to school in Form One at Mpando Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) after 17 years of dropping out from school.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency Thursday, Senior Group Jonasi said she dropped out from school while in Form Two in 2000 at Tchawale CDSS to take over the chieftaincy of her grandmother, who at that time was aged and not able to discharge her duties well.

Jonasi said she made up her mind to enroll in Form One at Mpando CDSS in the district because of her involvement in many forums where she is asked to stand and deliver speeches.

She recalled that while she was in the Girl’s Empowerment Committee, she was meeting several English people from UNFPA, however, she failed to mix with them freely and was using her interpreter for proper communication, a development which has been paining her for years and think of going back to school.

Jonasi has an ambition of getting into the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and become a prominent farmer.

Born on 11th October, 1974, Jonasi who looks younger than her age is happily married to Katsache and is blessed with 5 children and 2 grandchildren.

At Mpando CDSS, she performs all school activities such as sweeping, mopping and cleaning toilets just the same as all other female students are supposed to do, but she says she however feels ashamed to be called’ Madam” by fellow students.

Jonasi said she went back to school not as a Chief but a student and has encouraged fellow chiefs to go back to school.

She is calling upon all well-wishers to come in and assist her with school fees, uniform and books to enable her learn better in class and become a role model.

Senior Group Jonasi is in a class of 18 students and her favourite subjects are English, Mathematics, Agriculture and Physics.

Besides performing motherly duties at home, she is a member of the Women Guild of Nkhoma CCAP mission and during her free time, she enjoys playing netball

Business

New Finance Bank launched at Dzaleka Refugee camp

Special Absalom

In an effort to promote financial inclusion, New Finance Bank on Thursday officially launched the first ever Bank at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa.

Officially opening the branch, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Cecilia Chazama said the bank would ease the distance that refugees and asylum seekers had to travel to access banking services.

”I am aware that our refugees and asylum seekers had to go to as far as Dowa, Mponela, and Lilongwe just to access banking facilities,” she said.

Additionally she said the coming of the branch would ease pressure for the camp management in issuing exit permits to the refugees when they wanted to access banking services outside the camp.

Chazama urged New Finance Bank to offer quality services to the refugees, advising them to extend its services to cover all transaction needs for the refugees.

She pledged support to the new branch through the Reserve Bank of Malawi, in ensuring that operations in the camp remain a success, saying their initiative was in line with the Malawi Governments Development Agenda to strengthen the private sector.

New Finance Bank Chief Executive Officer, Zandile Shaba said refugees world over are excluded from accessing formal banking services and the new branch offers access to simple products, such as micro-lending, group loans that will further benefit the economic development of the community.

“We are launching a fully operational branch here at Dzaleka refugee camp, this is indeed a departure from what banking institutions normally focus on and this speaks to our mission of making people’s lives better,” she said.

Shaba said the camp has seen an explosion of entrepreneurism, giving rise to successful micro-businesses, from farmers to barbers, to profitable enterprises that include grocery shops, saloons, restaurants and poultry businesses. “It is indeed a unique and flourishing economic ecosystem and the only thing missing from the community was a bank.”

“It is in this context that New Finance Bank has chosen to strengthen entrepreneurial progress and broaden financial inclusion by offering the community a conveniently placed banking opportunity, coordinated with the immeasurable support of the Malawian Government, and efforts of various NGOs like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),” Shaba explained.

Although the bank was being officially opened it has already been operating in the camp since November 2017, through a small kiosk that was erected at the camp, and over 1000 refugees have already opened bank accounts with the bank since it started operating.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Malawi Representative Monique Ekoko said the banking services being offered will empower refugees to make proper savings with the proceeds from their businesses.

“There is no denying that refugees will be delighted to benefit from these services just as any individual would, further, we look forward to additional banking services being offered in near future,” she said.

Adding: “What is also exciting is the fact that the branch will incorporate some Malawians and some Dzaleka community members in the running of its operations as UNHCR we are delighted with this news as it draws on the human resource capacities in the camp and also benefits the surrounding community.”

Dzaleka Refugee Camp hosts nearly 27,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Ethiopia

Human Rights, Law and order

Malawi prostitute kills girl by inserting 30cm stick into her he private parts

Malawi News Agency (MANA) 1 Comment

Malawi Police in Kasungu have arrested a 34 year old woman Memory Kanjere , a sex worker, for allegedly murdering a three months old child belonging to Madalitso Limbikani for suspecting her mother of having a love affair with her boyfriend.

The whole incident is said to have happened on the night of 9 to 10 March 2018 and Limbikani are said to be plying commercial sex work.

According to Kasungu Police Deputy Public Relations Officer, Harry Namwaza, the incident happened on the night of 9 March at Katenje Trading Centre where Kanjere where the two worked as prostitutes.

“Limbikani left the child in a room and went to seek sex clients at the trading centre and it is alleged that after Limbikani left, Kanjere went into the room and took the baby to a groundnut garden where she inserted a 30 centimeter stick through the private part of the small child.

Namwza said the suspect also inserted a stick into the mouth of the deceased which protruded through the head and placed the dead body in the house of a man identified as Moffat Kasala, but after some investigations it was established that it was Kanjere who killed the child.

Postmortem examination conducted at Santhe Health Centre revealed that death was due to head injuries, internal bleeding and fire burns.

Police spokesman said Kanjere will appear before court soon to answer the charge of murder when police investigations are completed.

Kanjere comes from Katenje Village, Traditional Authority Santhe in the district while the deceased child hailed from Longwe Village, TA Kayembe in Dowa District.

Malawi, Other Sports, Sports, Top News

Rawo Football Academy opens in Dowa to unearth rural talents; seeks partnership

Lloyd M’bwana

DOWA-(MaraviPost) – The newly opened Rawo Football Academy (RFA) is set to unearth soccer talents among young ones in rural areas.

As non-profit making sport organization, RFA is created to provide activities and opportunities for young people regardless of race, religion, or economic status, in both rural and urban communities.

The academy which is located in the central district of Dowa is designed to implement youth sports programs with academic and social standards that will develop young people into well rounded members of our community.

With its mission to enhance the lives of young people living in both rural and urban areas through sport and activities that is rooted in fun, and education, and ethical principles, the RFA expects much support from the public.

With the vision to be the leading football academy in Malawi and in southern Africa, the academy has four provisional possible age range teams, under 12, 16, 18, and 20

In an exclusive interview with The Maravi Post, Rabson Woodwell, RFA founder and Executive Director hopes to help youths to take sport as a career and to give them the discipline, knowledge and opportunity to be successful in their adult lives.

Woodwell who is also a media practitioner disclosed that expects to provide football career derive, promotion of sport participation, development of football and better performance of Malawi national football team.

He therefore said the academy has started with under 16 and for those who would want to register they can come do so but with the concert of their parents or guardians.

“Actually, the academy when it grows it have its services in both rural and urban areas; but for now as we start we chose the rural area in Dowa because many people know that Dowa communities have for over years been denied of such initiatives and there is no any football initiative in Dowa so we wanted to give it to them first. And the main campus for RFA is in Dowa.

“Ideally we also want to use RFA to help develop the rural areas through other charity works apart from football for example empowering parents or guardians who have their kids at the academy with some loans to do business, offering scholarships to some students and many more,” said Woodwell.

Woodwell who is the sports personality at Nkhoma Radio in the capital Lilongwe said the academy has identified over 30 children who many of them are in the age range of 12-16.

He added that RFA scouts for the students of the academy, students sign dorms with us with the convent of their parents or guardians.

‘So this form it’s what shows that they belong to RFA. The other thing is that the structures that RFA will build in future will improve the community. RFA will have its own arena where there will be classrooms, hostels, and stadium.

“This is so because when we talk of a football academy, it’s supposed to offer both football and academics so that when children grow they should choose whether to continue with football or academics. This is the reason we are seeking partnership from all sports loving stakeholders on this venture”, appeals Woodwell.