BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-A heated debate has erupted in Malawi’s mining sector after Vice President Michael Usi suggested that the military should provide security in the country’s mines to curb alleged illegal extraction of precious stones by foreign nationals.
Usi made the remarks during campaign rallies in Mulanje District, ahead of the September 16 elections.
According to Usi, Malawians have not benefited from the minerals because foreign companies extract them solely for testing purposes.
He proposed that the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) establish camps in all mining areas to protect the minerals.
However, mining expert Paul Mvula has strongly disagreed with Usi’s suggestion, calling for effective civilian management of the mining sector instead.
“State agencies mandated to manage the extractive industry should ensure that minerals are not being smuggled,” Mvula said in an interview with MIJ Online.
Mvula’s sentiments echo concerns raised by other experts who believe that involving the military in mining operations could lead to more problems than solutions. Instead, they advocate for strengthening civilian institutions to effectively manage and regulate the sector.
Malawi’s mining sector currently accounts for only about 1% of the country’s GDP, despite having significant mineral deposits, including uranium, phosphates, bauxite, and precious stones.
The government has set ambitious targets to increase the sector’s contribution to GDP to 10% by 2063.
The mining sector in Malawi faces several challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, lack of transparency, and inefficient management of mineral resources.
Some experts have called for urgent action to address these issues and ensure that the sector contributes meaningfully to the country’s economy.
As the debate over military presence in mines continues, one thing is clear: Malawi’s mining sector holds significant potential for economic growth, but it requires effective management and regulation to ensure that its benefits are shared equitably among all stakeholders.
Malawi army, National bank cover Chilumba barrack with trees
By Lusekero Mhango
KARONGA-(MaraviPost)-National Bank of Malawi (NBM) on Saturday partnered Malawi Defence Force (MDF) and planted 2000 trees at Chilumba Barracks in Karonga.
NBM Service Centre Manager for Karonga Franklin Banda, said the initiative was part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility and as well as contributing towards making the environment green through planting trees.
He said, as a bank they are equally concerned with climate change which has been attributed to the degradation of the environment hence the teaming up with the MDF to reverse the trend.
Despite being a financial institution, we are also very passionate in creating an environment which is friendly to our customers as they are also affected by the negative effects of the depletion of the environment,” he said.
Adding, as a bank they will continue to partner MDF as one way of enhancing their working relationship and as a way of sustaining the environment through planting trees.
In his remarks Major Zawanda of Batalian 2IC, said forests play a vital role to soldiers as they provide training grounds to soldiers hence, they need to protect them.
“Safeguarding forests is vital to us because we need to have training areas as we can’t train anywhere else thus the need to plant trees,” he explained.
Group Village Headman Mwamakandala, expressed profound gratitude to NBM and MDF for the gesture and urged communities to borrow the same spirit of planting trees to conserve the environment.
In partnership with MDF, national bank are planting 37000 seedlings across the country this tree planting season.
Malawi Army, police cashing on Anti-Ansah-demos… cost taxpayers MK2.9 billion
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Following conclusion of Human Rights Defenders Coalition led peaceful protests in Lilongwe on Friday, capital hill decided to ‘handsomely’ reward all Malawi Defence Force soldiers and Malawi Police Service personnel with MK80,000 each as an allowance, The Sunday Times can reveal.
According to information that The Sunday Times is privy to, government deposited the money on Friday on the fourth and last day of the Lilongwe demonstrations.
Since results of the May 21 Tripartite Elections were announced on May 27 by Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) Chairperson Justice Jane Ansah, the country has witnessed massive protests that kicked off on June 20, which saw MPS seeking re-enforcements from MDF in providing security during the protests.
When contacted, Malawi Police Service Public relations Officer James Kadadzera confirmed that police management has approved to give each and every officer K 80,000 as an allowance.
“Police management has indeed approved K 80,000 allowance to each and every police officer in the country for working overtime,” he said.
According to Kadadzera, with the current situation in the country, police officers in all the districts have been working day and night, stressing the allowance is meant for their upkeep.
His Malawi Defence Force counterpart, Paul Chiphwanya, also confirmed that the K80,000 allowances in question have also been received by MDF soldiers for what he termed ‘working during odd hours’.
“It’s true Malawi Defence Force soldiers have received the money as their allowance for working during odd hours, and this is normal for MDF soldiers to receive such allowances,” Chiphwanya said.
When approached by our reporter, Homeland Security Minister Nicholas Dausi refused to comment on the subject, saying he was not the government spokesperson while deputy Minister of Defence Chipiliro Mpinganjira did not pick his phone.
Approximately, there are a total of 12,000 police officers in MPS, and about 25,000 active soldiers in MDF, meaning close to K2,960,000,000 was spent on the demo allowances alone.
It is not clear as to whether the money was already budgeted for but Treasury spokesperson Davis Sado said the security agencies are funded according to their needs.
“The ORT funding which was made to the institutions being referred to was a normal monthly funding,” Sado said.
He added that Treasury funds Ministries, Departments and Agencies monthly, according to submitted cashflow to enable them achieve their planned programmes.
The demo payment issue has raised suspicions, as some soldiers and police officers are currently on peacekeeping mission abroad, which makes one to wonder as to why they too have made the paid list.
During the past four days, the country witnessed another wave of demonstrations where protesters have been pressing for Ansah’s resignation.
It was also this past week that the demonstrators asked the police not to be a part of security detail during demonstrations, opting for MDF soldiers to control them.
According to laws of the land, it is the police who are obliged to provide security cover during public demonstrations.
Governance and political analyst Henry Chigaipe said though it was irregular for the protesters to ask police to leave and not control them during the protests; it demonstrated how the public has lost confidence in the law enforcers.
He said even the law governing demonstrations require that demonstrators inform the police precisely because of the duty they shoulder in the maintenance of public order.
“I think that the protesters asked the police to leave as a show of their lack of confidence in the police and because of narratives that have been making rounds in public domain that often, it is the police that provoke violence during demonstrations in an attempt to give the right to demonstration a bad connotation. In this regard, I would understand this as a wake-up call for the police to do some soul searching of their conduct as this act may indicate dwindling levels of trust by some segments of the populace,” Chingayipe said.
According to Chingaipe, after the recent ruling by Supreme Court of Appeal on demonstrations, the protests are bound to continue happening in the country.
He has since urged the police to rise to the occasion and build their professional capacities in public order management in a democratic context.
Changaipe warned that haphazard firing of teargas or use of lethal force will always put the police in negative limelight, and could see them being regarded enemy of democracy and symbol of oppression.
Since June 20, HRDC has been holding a series of demonstrations demanding the resignation of Ansah and other Mec commissioners, saying they failed to manage the results of the May 21 Tripartite Elections.
Mec declared President Peter Mutharika winner of the elections with 1, 940,709 million votes, followed by Malawi Congress Party’s Lazarus Chakwera who had 1,781,740 votes and UTM’s Saulos Chilima who got 1,018,369 votes. .
Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan (R) meets with Deputy Defense Minister of Malawi Vincent Winstone Ghambi in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 12, 2016. (Xinhua/Liu Fang)
