Members of Parliament from Mzimba have boycotted the Mmbelwa District Council full council meeting, which discussed the 2025-2030 District Development Plan (DDP). The absence of MPs from the meeting is believed to be a direct response to the recent constitutional court ruling that stripped them of their control over the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the Water Resources Fund.
The constitutional court ruling also declared unconstitutional the provision that allowed MPs to vote during full council meetings and removed them from the role of selection, implementation, and monitoring of projects under CDF. Incumbent Member of Parliament for Mzimba South, Emmanuel Chambulanyina Jere, confirmed that the absence of MPs is due to the ruling, which they feel gagged them from being involved in council discussions.
Despite the absence of MPs, the full council meeting proceeded and approved the K233 billion 2025-2030 District Development Plan. District Commissioner Rodgers Newa described the plan as a blueprint that will spearhead the development of the district.
The boycott by MPs highlights the tension between the legislative and local government arms over the management of development funds. The outcome of the constitutional court ruling has significant implications for the role of MPs in local governance and development.
As the district council moves forward with implementing the approved development plan, it remains to be seen how the MPs will engage with the council and contribute to the development of Mzimba district. The situation underscores the need for clarity and cooperation between different arms of government to ensure effective service delivery to the people.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost )-The Ministry of Labour and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Tuesday launched an initiative aimed at harmonizing child labour and child protection committee activities in four key districts of Mchinji, Mzimba, Kasungu, and Lilongwe.
In an interview with journalists, Chief Labour Officer and Head of the Child Labour Unit, Francis Kwenda, said the effort aims to strengthen coordination and ensure effective protection for children.
On his part, ILO National Project Officer under the ADDRESS program,Ndamyo Kabuye,emphasized that the initiative will help reduce duplication of efforts and improve coordination in eliminating child labour.
According to the 2015 National Child Labour Survey,38 percent of Malawi’s children between the ages of 5 and 17, representing 2.1 million children, are into child labour across the country.
Malawi Police are hunting robbers who have killed a guard in Mzimba
Robbers have killed a security guard at a Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) shop at Ekwendeni in Mzimba.
According to reports, on the night of Saturday, 27 November, 2021, the guard, who was identified as Riffred Nkhoma, was on duty with his three colleagues when eight robbers armed with machetes and axes came to the shop with an intention to burglarize.
However, in the course of defence, the security guards were overpowered and three of them managed to escape the scene leaving Nkhoma behind, who ended up being attacked to death by the gang of robbers.
Meanwhile, police have launched a manhunt to track down the robbers.
Nkhoma, 35, hailed from Chinyama Village, under Traditional Authority Chinyama in Thyolo district.
He is to be laid to rest today 29th November, 2021.
A man has on Thursday died in Mzimba district due to excessive drinking of beer.
According to report from sources privy the incident, the man, who was identified as Mackleen Wilikani, went drinking with his friend. After taking too much of the substance, the two decided to go to a nearby stream to take a bath as one way of getting rid of the drunken state they were in.
However, after bathing themselves, they wanted to come out of the stream and return home. It is at this point that Wilikani failed to come out of the same while his friend managed to do so. After waiting for some time, the friend decided to leave the scene and report the matter to his village members.
Upon receiving the news, the members rushed to the stream and found Wilikani stiIl in unconscious state. At this point, they decided to rush him to Bwengu Health Centre where he was pronounced dead.
A medical examination conducted on his body indicated that Wilikani died of suffocation due to failure to breathe.
Meanwhile, Police in the district advise imbibers in the country to avoid going to streams or rivers to bathe or cross the same whenever they are drunk.
Wilikani, 27, hailed from Kiskombe Village, Traditional Authority Mtwalo, in the district.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Saint John of God which provides mental health and allied serves has cleared the mist over pictures of an ambulance carrying a coffin in Ekwendeni, Mzimba District that went viral on social media, saying the team had gone to the area to record a covid-19 movie.
Some people alleged the coffin was to be buried by health officials who would later claim that it contained the body of a person who had succumbed to Covid-19.
Then the issue was linked to Minister of Health Jappie Mhango whom some quarters claimed had sent the team to bury the coffin with the aim of scaring people that the disease is real and deadly.
But according to St John of God Hospitaller Services, the team had gone to the area to record a health education movie on Covid-19.
The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles Masulani Mwale, said the team sought permission from the village head and that they were not chased away as the social media portrayed it.
“While management condemns the behaviour of staff on the choice of the setting of the video in Ekwendeni, we would like to categorically state that there was no political influence, nor involvement of any politician in this matter.
“This is mere fabrication of false news through irresponsible use of social media and we condemn it in strongest terms,” Mwale said.
The alleged setting of the scene of the movie was a graveyard apparently to depict how the body of a person who has died with Covid-19 is buried.
The team that was reportedly shooting the movie went to the area on an ambulance with an empty coffin and put on personal protective equipment as part of the set.
Joyce Banda Former President-MCP Lazarus Chakwera-Current President Peter Mutharika-and-Vice President Saulos Chilima leading UTM
Written by Patseni Mauka
It’s amazing how children trust their parents. Every child believes his dad is all powerful, he can beat up anybody. The fact that the father always lost fights in school does not exist to them. Such is the trust and belief that kids have on their parents that a child who I will call ‘John’ believed his mum so much that it led to one embarrassing and sad incident.
One day John’s Mom cooked meat, a rare dish in the family. Being a rare dish, John wanted to have it for lunch and dinner that day. But there was a problem, the family suddenly received a visitor just before lunch. John’s mom had to include the visitor on that day’s lunch. That meant sharing the meat with the visitor. Sadly, all the meat would be finished during lunch. That was a big headache for John’s mom. The only consolation that slightly helped lessen the headache was the fact that the visitor came just on the right day, when the family had a meat dish. Every family wants to have visitors on a day when the meal includes meat. Ndizonyaditsa.
When John saw his mom emptying the meat pot in the kitchen, he started crying. He cried because he would have no meat to eat in the evening. To avoid embarrassment and keep John from crying, mom told John that the visitor would definitely leave some meat in the plate. She promised to give John the visitor’s expected leftover meat for his dinner later that day.
John ate his meal quickly and went out of the house. Carefully hiding, he stood on the window peeping through a small space, watching the visitor and mum enjoying their meal. The visitor hungrily ate his food. Then he grabbed the last piece of meat and devoured it. Just at that moment, John broke into a loud cry on the window, “mami amaliza nyama ija!”(“mom he has finished the meat!”)
Johns mom banked on the fact that visitors have the tendency to be shy and eat just a little, leaving some food. Unfortunately, not that visitor. This was a very hungry visitor. Perhaps that could explain why he came just around lunch hour. He finished eating all the food. The visitor was embarrassed. Mum was shocked and embarrassed. But John simply believed her promise. Such is the power of promises.
With the Malawi general elections just about five months away, party leaders are competing to prove to the electorate on who is the best person to lead the nation after May, 2019. So many promises are being made. Some so real, credible and convincing you just wish the implementation started immediately. Some so wild, and unbelievable, you wonder whether they can be fulfilled. Some so abstract, it’s difficult to understand whether those making promises really understand what they are talking about.
Some promises are so dumb you know they are outright lies. Some party leaders have completely abandoned the promises they made just about five years ago and embarked on a campaign of new promises as copied from other parties. Some are making new promises believing that voters have forgotten scores of unfulfilled promises they made just about five years ago. Such is the race to win the elections next year.
So whose promises should voters believe? No one want’s to be lied to. Nobody wants broken promises. Nobody wants to be taken for granted. Nobody wants to be taken for a fool. Therefore, it’s easier to start with who we should not believe. We should not believe those who have lied to us before in terms of election promises. We should no believe those who promised us the moon. We should not believe those who deliberately promised things they had no clue on how to deliver. We should not believe those that promised us excellence but delivered mediocrity.
Mutharika at Anglican prayers in Mangochi
Take DPP, for instance, they promised five universities in five districts of Karonga, Mzimba, Nkhotakota, Mangochi and Nsanje. Until now, not even one university has been built. The best the DPP government and President Peter Mutharika did was to lay a foundation stone for the Mombera University in Mzimba. As usual, millions of Kwachas were spent on transportation and allowances for the president and his henchmen to attend the foundation stone ceremony in Mzimba. DPP members danced and praised Mutharika for this achievement of laying a foundation stone. Over three years after this expensive jamboree, the foundation stone is still lying in loneliness gathering mosses. No university in sight.
Peter Mutharika promised to fly in a helicopter soon after the 2014 elections to open the Shire Zambezi Waterway or what is also called the Nsanje port. The 2014 elections are way gone. He partly won based on this promise. But about five years after this careless promise, Nsanje port is dry with some small boats rusting away on the surface. Not to lose everything after being lied to, Nsanje citizens have devised a genius way to make use of this multi-billion Kwacha white elephant. The Nsanje citizens are using the platform of the port as a wedding venue!
The promises that DPP made and failed to fulfill are numerous. They promised zero-tolerance to corruption, fraud, theft and other economic crimes but now the president is the highest suspect of corruption. If I were to list all DPP broken promises, this article would easily transform into a book about DPP’s lies. But this article is about whose promises voters should believe, not DPP broken promises. So let’s not waste time talking about people whose promises should not be believed. DPP is a bunch of liars. They should not be believed when they come back with more promises on the back of the numerous unfulfilled ones.
There is a new broom in town which is also making promises. It’s the UTM party, formerly movement of the people that was formed by people who just couldn’t permit DPP and Mutharika to continue with mediocrity, cronyism and corruption of the highest order. The party is led by Vice President of Malawi Dr. Saulos Chilima. Chilima and UTM have brought a totally different kind of politics in Malawi. For once, we are able to sit on our couches, watch and listen to rally speeches without immediately switching back to football highlights of the 1998 World Cup. Switching to old football highlights was what we used to do before Chilima transformed the art of speaking at a rally in Malawi. In the past, it was insults after insults at political rallies. Now we are able to listen to alternative policies and vision for the country with keen interest.
Kaliati and Chilima; trouble in UTM
UTM under Chilima’s leadership seems to have done fantastic homework. The party has come up with original promises, which in my opinion, are genuine and implementable. What other way to know the quality and credibility of promises than to have all other parties copying and pasting them in their rally speeches? DPP and MCP have already copied some of UTM promises.
But the question is; should UTM’s promises be believed? My answer to that question is affirmative. The reason why one would give UTM the benefit of doubt is how it’s leader, Dr. Chilima, has consistently and passionately articulated the party’s vision and promises. Chilima has not only made promises, he has even gone to the extent of proving what will be the source of financing for the promises made. For all promises to deal with infrastructure, health, education, agriculture and others that need money, Chilima as a person who has seen the government at the highest level, has said the country has enough resources to meet most of it’s needs.
If you are in doubt, note that over 20 billion Kwacha was misappropriated in the cashgate scandal within six months! That’s only money that could be traced in the financial system! What about the money that could not be traced? What about potential revenue that is not corrected because of corruption? With good leadership and proper governance structures, this country can do a lot of things with locally available resources.
As for MCP, it’s main promise is to run the country like it did under Kamuzu. At least this is what it’s leader Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and his supporters tell us consistently. Nothing new from this party. Just copying other parties’ policies and repeating ‘we will do what Kamuzu used to do’. No clue whatsoever. No one should believe parties that rely on past policies unless the old policies are refined to suit realities of modern life. So many parameters of development have changed since the Kamuzu days. MCP’s insistence on old ways of doing things just shows why they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of the Publisher or the Editor of Maravi Post
Malawi Government through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) with assistance from the Government of the People’s Republic of China are set to distribute parboiled rice to 2,700 food insecure households in Karonga.
The donation follows the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report of 2017 which projected that many people in 20 districts in the country will experience food shortage.
About 20 districts were projected to experience food shortages. 10 were severely hit with statistics above 10% of these districts’ population to be food insecure prompting a quick response from the country’s development partners who came in with humanitarian response.
In Karonga, people in the areas of Mpata EPA and Lupembe EPA have been chosen to benefit from the donation.
According to chief relief and rehabilitation officer at DODMA, Faupi Mwafongo while they intended to distribute the relief food in February and March they have delayed due to some logistical challenges.
“This response was supposed to be done in February and march but now here we are in March but the food is yet to be distributed. There are several reasons why we are doing this late,” Mwafongo said.
He said due to delay of logistics the rice which was supposed to be given in rations over February and March will be dispersed at once.
“We have already made arrangements of the transportation of the rice to Karonga. We will be just waiting for the council through their communities to do their work in identifying the beneficiaries in the area,” he added.
Mwafongo warned beneficiaries not to tarnish their image by misusing the donation by using the rice as capital for bussiness. He argued that by indulging in such behaviour would influence potential donors not to assist those affected by various natural disasters.
Karonga district agriculture development officer Raphael Mkisi, thanked the Chinese Government for the donation.
He disclosed that areas of Mpata and Lupembe were badly hit by food shortages due to drought and army worms . This therefore lead to food insecurity amongst households.
In total 3, 048 metric tonnes of rice will be distributed across the 10 districts, these include Karonga Chiradzulo, Thyolo, Mangochi, Nkhotakota, Ntcheu, Mzimba, Rumphi, Kasungu and Nkhatabay with a total of 335, 341 people representing 60, 971 households.
President of the Umodzi Party, Professor John Chisi disclosed that his party will hold its national convention in August this year. All its party positions include his seat will be filled with new elected leaders.
Speaking in an interview, Chisi said the door is open to all party members who want to contest in all vacant positions.
While failing to disclose how much the party will use for the convention and if they already have fund or not even the source of the fund, Chisi said all set for the August convention.
“Umodzi party is a democratic party, I shall not defy the party’s constitution as other parties. In brief our convention will be in August this year about the exact date you shall know soon and I am ready to be challenged or accept the defeat,” he said.
Professor Chisi said his party under his leadership is ready to bailout the current problem Malawi is facing such as shortage of employment, education and health crisis.
In a related development, the newly launched political party Democratic Peoples’ Congress (DEPECO) has announced that it will hold its first ever convention in June this year to elect office bearers the leadership contest whose winner is going to be its torchbearer in the next year’s Tripartite elections.
The party’s interim leader Chris Daza is the front runner in to take the presidency of Depeco.
Apparently on vice presidency names being floated includes James Chatonda Kaunda, who is currently deputy secretary general in MCP.
Depeco Publicity Secretary Ernest Maganga confirmed that the party is preparing for the elective national conference in June.
“We plan to go for a convention in June, God willing. You know people in the party are holding the positions on a temporary basis, so the convention will help to legitimise them,” he said.
Maganga also revealed that at the convention the party will announce “a grand plan” and demonstrate how DECEPO plans to run affairs of the State differently once voted into power.
The Depeco spokesman, however, said the party is still holding consultations on the convention venue and actual dates of the elective conference will be announced in due course.
“But the venue will likely be either in Blantyre or Lilongwe. The nation will be informed once the consultations are through,” he said.
Over the past two months, DECEPO officials have been criss-crossing the country holding public rallies.
The party held rallies in Nsanje as far as Fatima, Nthalire in Chitipa, Edingeni in Mzimba, Bolero in Rumphi, Mayani in Dedza as well as in Dowa and Kasungu.
Maganga said the rallies were meant to introduce top leadership of the party to grass roots structures.
“We had very successful rallies across the country with huge turnout wherever we went. The party has been establishing grass root structures and it is these structures that requested to see the top leadership of the party,” he said.
Maganga said the party will continue with its “underground work” in setting up grass root structures until the campaign time.
Daza introduced the new party to Malawians at a rally in Mchinji in July 2017.
He promised Malawians that Depeco will introduce a new brand of politics and system of running affairs of State.
Daza is former Secretary General of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and served in that position for five years.
During the period he dragged former MCP president John Tembo to court after the latter fired him for challenging his authority.
He later joined People’s Party (PP) when its founder Joyce Banda was Head of State where Daza was appointed Minister of State responsible for Governance.
Eight people have lost their lives while nine others sustained injuries after being involved in road accident, which occurred on October 8, 2017 along the Karonga-Mzuzu M1 Road at HaraTrading Centre in Karonga district.
Karonga police deputy spokesperson George Mlewa, confirmed the incident to Maravi Post, and said the driver of the minibus, registration number CP 9379, failed to control the vehicle due to over-speeding.
“The minibus bus was coming from Mzuzu going to Karonga and driven in a very speed. And when it reached Hara Trading Centre, one of its tires burst; but due to over-speeding, the driver lost control (of the vehicle) and it overturned,” said Mlewa.
According to Mlewa, seventeen passengers boarded in the minibus, and five people died on the spot.
“Three of the passengers died on their way to the hospital. Out of the deceased, four were men while other four were women. Six passengers, including the driver, sustained minor injuries while the other three had serious injuries and are receiving medical treatment at Karonga District Hospital,” he added.
Among the eight who died, only four have been identified. These are: 49-year old Labson Silumbu from Chendo village Traditional Authority (TA) Mwaulambia in Chitipa, John Mdula, (40 years) from Chivundiko village TA Wasambo Sonia Tchongwe, (41 years) from Mwangamira village TA Wasambo both in Karonga district, and Enelesi Gama.
The driver of the minibus was 33-year old Mavuto Khonje, from Waberewa village in the area of TA Mtwalo in Mzimba district.
Postmortem of the deceased persons revealed that they died due to severe head and internal body injuries.
Meanwhile Police in the district is advising all road users to be responsible and to observe road signs and regulations to prevent accidents of a similar nature.
KARONGA-(MaraviPost)-The governing Democratic Progress Party (DPP) is said to be panicky over current political atmosphere that shows lost public trust in its leadership ahead of the 2019 general elections.
This DPP panic is demonstrated with recent tactics the Party is using to woe members of other parties to join its membership.
In Karonga, District Council chairperson, Ernest Mwaluwali, who defected to the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), claims that he was approached by the ruling Party operatives were collecting names of members of other political parties to sweet-talk them into joining the DPP. Mwaluwali reports that he snubbed them.
He disclosed that a paper was circulating at the rally President Peter Mutharika held in Chitipa recently, when he officially commissioned the Chitipa Water Supply Project.
The District Council Chairpeson accused the DPP Secretary-General of including Mwaluwali’s on the list of people that joined the DPP during the President’s development rally.
“I was told that those who would write their names on it would be given a chance to greet the President at the podium. I realized it was a trick and I ignored it. This is a desperate move by the DPP. But it won’t work,” challenged Mwaluwali.
Mwaluwali’s claims come at a time when another concerned individual, Maquenda Chunga, made a similar assertion that his name was announced by DPP Secretary General as one of those that had defected to the ruling Party.
This was done during the President’s Mzimba development rally.
Chunga claims that he had no prior knowledge of what would transpire hearing that his name on the defectors list.
“After my name was called I, indeed, went and shook hands with the President because I did not want to embarrass him. It was also a security precaution on my part, because I doubt if DPP loyalists would have let me free had I refused,” Chunga explained.
But DPP campaign director, Jappie Mhango, distanced the Party from the allegations; he said they were baseless and unfounded.
Mhango argued that the Party has an open door policy that gives everyone the liberty to join or leave it.
He therefore refuted Mwaluwali’s claims arguing that it would be a security threat if people are called willy-nilly to meet the President on the podium.
“On the part of Maquenda Chunga, working with, and joining the Party, are two different things. He did not say he was joining the Party, but said at Chintheche (in Nkhata Bay) during President Mutharika’s stop-over on his way to the Northern Region recently, that he would work with the President and his Government,” Mhango said.
Chancellor College-based political analyst, Mustapha Hussein, said, if the reports are true, the ruling Party’s actions are unethical political tactics.
Hussein advised that person should not be tricked to join a political party, but willingly join a party of his or her choice, based on one’s principles.
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