It’s development galore as the Chakwera administration has had some good news in it’s efforts to develop the country.The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Wednesday 1st June, 2022, finally gave its “No Objection”nod on the M01 Road Rehabilitation Project.
According to a statement made available to 247Malawi News and signed by Kelvin Sato, public relations officer for Minister of Works Hon Jacob Hara, His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera will on 5th July 2022 lead Malawians in a ground-breaking ceremony, kickstarting the project.
The Statement highlights that The following contractors have been awarded related contracts to execute the following project:
1. From KIA Junction upto Kasung Boma: China Jiangxi International_ together with _Jiangxi Transport Ltd
4. From Kacheche upto Chiweta: China Henan International Co. Ltd.
Transport and Public Works Minister Hon Jacob Hara
Many Malawians have welcomed the news with Many describing the groundbreaking development as a testament that the Chakwera administration is serious about developing Malawi.
According to European Investment Bank, The M1 road is an important link in the North South Corridor network of COMESA. It is the backbone of the Malawi road network. The road facilitates regional trade with Mozambique in the South and further beyond to the countries of the SADC
The project is therefore of high priority for the Government as part of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy. The need for rehabilitation and improvement arises from increased levels of traffic, high presence of pedestrian and bicycle traffic and because the overall condition of the road pavement is either nearing or has reached the end of its serviceable life. Rehabilitation and improvement of the almost 1,145 km will be undertaken in phases.
The rehabilitation of the M1 road is also important for the EU efforts to improve rural roads to allow smallholder farmers access wider markets. This will strengthen food security and links to agro-processors, which in turn contributes to sustainable agriculture and income growth among the predominantly poor rural population.
The EU contribution will co-finance, alongside the EIB loan, civil works and thus increase the concessionality of the financial package.
At least 257 secondary school girlsirls across the country have benefited from Girls’ Empowerment Retreat Programme which aims at encouraging girls to work hard in schools and become self-reliant citizens in future.
The programme which was started by the first Malawi’s female President Joyce Banda enables girls to interact with their role models and share with them their academic dreams.
Speaking during the official closing ceremony for the 2022 programme’s session on Thursday June 9,2022 at African Bible College in Lilongwe which started on Monday June 6,2022, the Deputy Education Minister Monica Ching’anamuno expressed her excitement with the programme.
She said” I am very happy for the 257 girls from various secondary schools who have benefited from this mentorship program.
” I would like to congratulate Girls Secondary Education Trust and the Board of Trustees for organizing this retreat. This Retreat could not have come at this an opportune time than this one, when a number of challenges are obstructing girls from reaching their dreams.
” These challenges include poverty, dropping out due to early marriages, and teen pregnancies, declining in performance, dropping out of school and gender discrimination”‘.
Ching’anamuno disclosed that in the 2019/2020 Academic Year, a total of 21, 123 learners dropped out of secondary school of which 18,249 were females representing 63 percent.
She said a majority of girls dropped due to lack of school fees, pregnancies and early marriages, among other challenges.
The Deputy Minister said it is everyone’s duty to make sure that girls who drop out of school are brought back so that they complete education.
She said through the Readmission Policy, her Ministry is encouraging and ensuring that learners including girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy, return to school.
She said currently, the Ministry is working with its partners to assess the implementation of the policy so that they can identify gaps and find the best ways to implement it.
Ching’anamuno said the Ministry has also put in place structures such as Mother Groups to make sure that girls are able to go to school and finally graduate.
She said the other intervention is the provision of bursary by Government and its partners such as UNICEF, EU, Shaping our Future Foundation and CAMFED.
” In addition to that, Government and its partners are constructing girls’ hostels in a number of secondary schools across the country.
” For example, UNICEF through SPOTLIGHT Initiative is constructing hostels at Mpatsa and Magodi in Nsanje and Puteya in Machinga while Press Trust and Standard Bank are constructing a twin hostel at Lilongwe Girls Secondary School,” said Ching’anamuno.
Literature points out that Malawi has one of the highest school dropout rate in Southern Africa with 15 % of girls (three in every twenty) and 12 % of boys (three in every twenty-five), dropping out between Standard 5 and 8 of primary school.
In a clear response to President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera’s vision of seeing the country being power reliant, Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has embarked on a project to develop a 30 megawatts solar plant to help pumping water from its Walkers Ferry treatment works.
Experts have hailed the project as timely and that it compliments President Dr Chakwera’s dream of the country producing at least 1000 megawatts of power by 2025.
On Friday, BWB signed a contract with an Indian firm, TATA Consulting Engineers to prepare a detailed project report, feasibility study, design and project management consultancy services for development of the project in Nkula, Neno.
BWB CEO Dr Rober Hanjahanja
The Board’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Robert Hanjahanja said the project will help to move away from the national power grid and use renewable energy to pump water.
“We hope the solar plant will be functioning in the next 18 to 24 months,” said Hanjahanja.
The project is being funded by the Indian government to the tune of 72 million US dollars.
Chakwera on Sunday launched a 20 megawatts Solar and Battery Charge Project being run by JCM in Golomoti, Dedza with optimism that the solar energy plant fits perfectly with the country goal to add 1000 megawatts to the national grid by 2025.
Electrical engineering experts have said that the BWB could also be used as an addition to the national grid observing that 30 megawatts could be more than enough for daily water pumping.
Dr Hanjahanja could not immediately comment whether the Board has such plans to sell excess power.
During the Golomoti event President Chakwera said: “Together with other existing sources of power, this solar power project fits perfectly with our goal to add 1000 megawatts to the national grid by 2025.”
The Golomoti project is the largest renewable and sustainable energy source in sub Saharan Africa with 52,300 panels and a capacity of 50 gigawatts of clean energy for the next 30 years.
“We will continue making Malawi an attractive destination for private sector investment in the energy sector by creating a conducive environment for independent power producers (IPPs),” said Chakwera in his speech.
One among many chronic problems Malawi has been grappling with for years is the elite mentality by the educated folks that they are always right. The country is endowed with brilliant minds sadly a majority of these scholars are good at diagnosing problems, only few are problem solvers.
These educated elite are good at criticizing government but they are reluctant to become part of the solutions to the ills they point out. At worst these folks trek to foreign land where they contribute to the development of those countries while their motherland is thirsting for their innovative ideas.
It came as no surprise therefore, that a group of Malawian distinguished scholars in diaspora released a statement expressing their misgivings on what they described the ‘’growing leadership crises and the “worsening socioeconomic conditions” in the country. In part the statement signed by 30 prominent scholars reads: “For the ordinary person, there is no hope. Malawi faces an existential crisis as a country, a crisis which is man-made and is, therefore humanly resolvable”.
Napoleon Dzombe, one Malawian making huge impact in people’s lives
If I may be indulged to speculate I would say that no one saw this coming but the undertone of this write up is very familiar. Our wise men and women in diaspora sound more like some emissaries sent to amplify the anti-government voices.
To begin with, there is no denying that our country is riddled with some social-economic upheavals but it is totally unfair to suggest that there is leadership crisis in the country. President Chakwera has never shied away from the fact that the country is experiencing some challenges. And as one way of ensuring that those problems are effectively dealt with, President Chakwera has been inviting suggestions on how the country can navigate its mirade of challenges knowing that we are stronger together than we are individually.
Addressing a development rally in Mchinji district earlier this year, the Malawi head of state was on record urging Malawians to join hands in the fight against prevailing problems in the country. He said: “The country is facing some challenges but there is no problem we cannot solve if we come together. There is no fear we cannot conquer if we are united. There is no worry we cannot confront if we are united. Let us stand together and fight these problems”. These remarks can only be spoken by a leader who is in control of the affairs of the state.
Against this background one finds it difficult to understand where this idea of Malawi having leadership crisis is coming from. If they are talking about people in this country grappling numerous economic problems, I expected our enlightened brothers and sisters in diaspora to understand the devastating impact of Covid-19 and the Ukraine war on the world economies. I hope I am not stating the obvious for saying there is no country that has been spared in this global economic melt-down.
In case they have remote experience of what has been happening in the country; let me remind them that Chakwera inherited a broken system, a system which will take time to be repaired. Even amidst those aforementioned two problems that have wreaked the global economies, President Chakwera has managed to hold the economy from further slump.
The statement also alludes to the fact that the problems the country is experiencing are man-made. What they are insinuating is that the problems are squarely President Chakwera’s fault. The truth is that President Chakwera is a victim of circumstances. Imagine what progress we could have made had the DPP government not doctor figures to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Perhaps for once we must agree with late President Bingu Wa Mutharika’s words that Malawi is not a poor country it is the people’s minds that are poor. But this impoverishment of the mindset is not only limited to people who have not been to the hallow walls of the universities. If anything, some of the problems we are facing in the country have been worsened by failure by educated elites in finding solutions
The importance of education is to transform the society and any country looks up to its educated people to be change agents. Of what use is education if it cannot transform one’s society? While we may not fault their choice of going outside this country in search of greener pastures, we cannot help it to worry of the brain drain being experiencing by most institutions in the public sectors.
For years, our public universities have been suffering from shortage of qualified lecturers yet we have distinguished scholars offering their services in the foreign land. Our hospitals are suffering from acute shortages of personnel due to an influx of well qualified medical doctors to the outside world in search of job opportunities. Without pitting one group of compatriots against the other, but the statement by our educated brothers and sisters in diaspora is compelling enough to acknowledge some equally educated selfless sons and daughters of the soil who without a doubt may have been tempted to trek to other countries but they decided to remain in the country and serve their motherland.
I am reminded of people like Professors Edge and Ngeyi Kanyongolo, Alfred Mtenje, Kalenga Saka, Jack Wirima, Kanyama Phiri Doctors Thomas Munthali, Charles Dzamalala, Charles Mwansambo, Janet Banda, Hawa Ndilowe. These are not only upstanding citizens but scholars of great repute whose contributions to the development of this country are so innumerable.
In case people have not noticed, in our country a majority of people who have directly impacted people’s lives are those without sound academic credentials. Napoleon Dzombe is one good example of such people. If Malawi is to develop she needs practical men and women like Dzombe and the Kanyongolos who talks less and do more. If this country is to develop it requires more men and women with practical solutions. End-
The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority ( MACRA ) has revoked the Television Content Licence content for Rainbow Television for failure to pay licence fees set under the licence.
According to MACRA,the revocation is effective 30 days from 9 June,2022, the day the licence got revoked.
Meanwhile, the Authority has advised all the licensees in the Telecommunications, Broadcasting and Postal sectors to always pay their annual licence fees as failure to do so is a serous breach of their licensees which result in licence revocation.
The move has met with some reaction from a cross section of Malawians. Social commentator and Journalist Kondwani Bell Munthali took to his social media to voice his concerns . He said “MACRA is always a threat to freedom of speech. With this economy can’t they make arrangements to have them pay the arrears. No matter how you explain it, MACRA rushes to close or threat to close Malawian companies. Airtel and others breach they don’t close them they fine them….”
Munthali thinks the threat to close Rainbow is because it had been biting the Government.
