Thoko Banda, son of the late veteran politician Aleke Banda has officially announced his bid for the presidency in 2025 as an independent candidate.
Banda made the announcement on Thursday at a press briefing in Lilongwe.
He said once elected into power, he will make sure that the wealth of the nation directly benefits its citizens, emphasizing that the resources of Malawi should primarily serve Malawians.
He further said his vision is that the ownership of Malawian land should remain in the hands of Malawian citizens.
Thoko Banda
Banda, said he firmly believes that elected officials should be barred from engaging in business activities while in office for the country’s economic growth.
Additionally, he said he proposes limiting the salaries of elected officials to no more than ten times the country’s minimum wage, with the aim of promoting equitable compensation within the government.
Banda concluded that Malawi should wipe out this crop of politicians if the country is to make progress.
First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera says Malawi is making a significant progress to eliminate cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in the country.
Madam Chakwera made the remarks at the End Tuberculosis Innovation Summit in New York, United States of America.
Madam Monica Chakwera is Malawi’s TB champion. She was crowned the new role few weeks ago.
As TB champion, the first lady is expected to lead the country’s efforts in mobilizing financial resources towards TB; fighting stigma and discrimination towards TB affected populations; advocating for better nutrition for TB patients; advocating for multi – sectoral participation as well as promoting community engagement in the fight against TB.
Madam Chakwera in USA
In her remarks, Madam Chakwera explained that the number of TB cases have been reduced from 197 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 125 per 100,000 people in 2022.
She expressed concern over women and girls in rural areas who walk long distances to access quality treatment hence encouraged door to door treatment to ensure that patients are diagnosed early.
“Strategies such as mobile diagnostics, community sputum collection, door to door screening are enablers to end TB by 2030,” she said.
She added that challenges such as lack of resources and poor service delivery require collective efforts to mobilize and adequately implement strategies that will help end TB.
She therefore, appealed for more support from various stakeholders and international institutions saying it will help to boost the programme and service delivery for Malawi to achieve TB elimination.
Human Kind Institute has crowned President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera as a champion of gender equality.
President Chakwera received the award on Monday 19th September 2023 in New York during a Fashion for Development Gala, a side event on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Chakwera has been acknowledged for elevating the status of women in the country by surpassing the SADC gender equality threshold.
President Chakwera
He has achieved 40 percent representation of women in his cabinet and more than 40 percent in decision – making positions.
In his acceptable speech, the Malawi leader described the gesture by Human Kind Institute as an honor.
“I am honored by the Human Kind Institute’s recognition of my efforts in promoting gender empowerment,” he added.
“I am pleased to accept this award in celebration of the remarkable achievements of Malawian women, both at home and abroad. I consider these achievements an honor to showcase for the world to see.”
President Chakwera highlighted the contributions of female artisans to the tourism sector, noting that many of the products promoting tourism are crafted by women.
“In every sector of our economy, we cannot achieve sustainable development without considering the recognition of the contributions of women and girls. Their efforts must lead to empowerment,” he emphasized.
President Chakwera’s dedication to championing gender equality and recognizing the significant contributions of women and girls across sectors demonstrates his commitment to a more equitable and inclusive society.
Malawi President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Tuesday, took advantage of his presence at the Clinton Global Initiative annual event in New York to convince the audience to come and invest in the country’s agriculture sector.
Updating Malawians through his Facebook page, Chakwera said he capitalized on the meet to woo the audience to invest in agriculture because the sector has great potential.
President Chakwera with Former USA President Bill Clinton
“Through the meeting, attended by executives and philanthropists from the Fortune 500 club among others, I lobbied the audience to invest in Malawi’s agriculture sector which now has great potential in view of our commercialisation drive characterized by mechanized and large scale irrigation schemes,” he said.
Meanwhile the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has officially opened with a call for a better world that is rooted in equity, solidarity and universality.
Self Help Africa (SHA) which has 57 years combined experience of United Purpose (UP) in the country has assured the communities it works with in Dowa District that it will continue supporting them in accessing safe drinking water and use basic sanitation services.
The organization says it will support the communities to be able to sustain their forests, land and water sources whilst increasing income, health and diets as the programmes are designed with and for women and girls and address harmful gender norms.
Chifundo Mandala
WASH Project Manager for Dowa Chifundo Mandala said the 5 -year Strategy (2023-2027) provides a framework for the two organizations to support the Government of Malawi to progress towards a self-reliant Malawi as per the Government’s vision 2063.
Mandala said the Vision 2063 lays out what behaviors their partners and their project participants can expect of them as the vision recognizes the changing climate in which they operate with the overall vision of sustainably livelihoods and healthy lives for all in a changing climate.
He said the Strategy will alleviate hunger, poverty, social inequality and the impact of climate change through community led, market based and enterprise-focused approaches so that people have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment and income while sustaining natural resources.
The Manager said SHA Strategy will continue to support marginalized and excluded people addressing challenges related to representation and participation at all levels by ensuring that their voices and perspectives are heard in respect to everyone’s input.
“Our approach will strengthen women’s access to and control over resources and decisions, prioritizing working with young people in line with the Malawi Vision 2063,” said Mandala.
In his remarks, Dowa District Council’s Chairperson Councilor Mayamiko Kambewa, said he would have loved if the budgetary allocation for water be increased from K12 million to K20 million or over saying this can help to implement piped water system to serve a large number of people than drilling a borehole which only serve a few people.
Kambewa said each constituency of the district is allocated K12 million for water saying this is not enough and cannot be used to implement piped water system claiming that in some areas, the water taste is not good thanking Self Help Africa for continuing supporting marginalized and excluded people in Dowa.
