The body of the departed former Cabinet Minister and Attorney General Peter Fachi will be laid to rest tomorrow Saturday August 5,2023.
According to the funeral program that has been released by family members, funeral service will take place at his residence from 10:30 am while the Church Service will start from 12:00 noon in the HHI Annex Burial at HHI Cemetery in Blantyre.
Fachi succumbed to stroke in Blantyre on Wednesday night.
He served as Attorney General and Justice Minister in the United Democratic Front-led administration.
Recently, President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera ordered that his burial should be done under the military honours following his positive contributions towards the country’s development.
Malawi parliament on Thursday passed a motion for political party financing which was moved by Zomba-Ntonya legislator Nedson Poya.
Among other important things,the current law provides that a political party can only get funding from Parliament if it gets 10 percent of the national vote.
The new bill seeks to bring new amendments where political parties will get funding based on the number of MPs it has in Parliament.
Speaking in parliament, Poya said the new bill will be a watertight legislation that will also promote transparency and accountability of the funds received by the parties.
Having passed the motion, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Madalitso Kazombo, who presided over parliament on the day, said Poya will work with the Parliamentary technical team to draft the bill which will later be brought to Parliament for deliberations.
Commenting on the matter, DPP MP Ben Phiri said it is important that political parties get financing to support their operations.
He said the lack of financing pushes parties to allow financiers who come as donors, especially during the campaign period, but end up pushing for business as investors when the party they financed gets into power.
State witness in the abuse of office case involving former minister of Homeland Security Cecelia Chazama and five others, has implicated some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) senior officials for aiding the alleged irregular recruitment of immigration assistants.
The witness Daston Tasauka Manda, who is a former principal human resources officer at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, told the Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court in Blantyre on Wednesday that during the recruitment exercise of Immigration assistants in 2017, he received list of names from some DPP officials through former Immigration director general Masauko Medi for consideration.
He said among some DPP officials that allegedly submitted the names include, Chazama, former ministers Joseph Mwanamvekha, Japie Mhango, Francis Katsaila, Nicholas Dausi, Charles Mchacha and Paul Chibingu.
“I received some names through the office of Director General from Hon Paul Chibingu, Mgeme Kalirani, Hon Dausi, Hon Mwanamveka, Mr Malefula, and Mr Thole,” Manda said.
He further told the court that besides the DPP officials, through Medi, he also received list of names from State House, including from former First Lady Gertrude Mutharika and former presidential press Secretary Mgeme Kalirani.
In May 2022, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Chazama, Medi and others over the questionable recruitment exercise.
ACB Principal Public Relations Officer, Egrita Ndala said the bureau received a complaint that the Immigration Department in 2018 had recruited 210 immigration assistants who didn’t have the necessary qualifications.
However, the Bureau’s investigation established that the department recruited 127 immigration assistants who were not qualified.
Silver Strikers Football Club coach Hendrikus Pieter de Jongh has described the first round of the TNM Super League as challenging in terms of officiation, fixture arrangements and also bad pitches.
De Jongh said this during a press briefing in Lilongwe on Thursday.
He said :”Our opponents get lots of penalties. We only received one penalty but our opponents got 8 out of 9 penalties. We hear yesterday they had another soft penalty.How is that possible and they get freekicks in good places. We also play an offensive, attacking game but we had only a single penalty. That’s surprising. It’s a miracle that we are second on the table, just a point behind FCB Nyasa Bullets.
According to De Jongh, the way fixtures are arranged leaves a lot to be desired because they disadvantage other teams.
“Whatever is said is not personal because I want to improve football. I am a person who always say what I want to say and I express myself respectfully. Yesterday in Mzuzu, Moyale coach called me stupid, but I told him that I have coached in 40 countries and top teams in Africa that have played in Champions League. But he has only coached in Malawi,” he said.
The coach also maintained his stand that Mzuzu Stadium should not be hosting games because it has “a terrible pitch”.
Silver Strikers finished the 2023 TNM Super League first round with a goalless draw against Moyale Barracks at Mzuzu Stadium.
With the result, the bankers moved to position two from three, displacing Chitipa United who moved down to third.
Silver have 29 points from 15 games with eight wins, drawing five and losing two.
On the other hand, Moyale are on position nine from 10 last weeks with 18 points from 15 games.
It does not get any sweeter than this to see President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has securing US$100 million which will be used as educational loans to 1000 Malawian students.
The Malawi leader broke the news on Friday when he attended virtually the launch of Africa – US Presidential Forum on STEM / AI on Thursday.
President Chakwera
“The programme is expected to see collaboration between US academic institutions and prospective African students to pursue courses in fields such as engineering, through scholarships,” Chakwera wrote on his Facebook page.
“The initiative gives us a chance to build our own future by harnessing science and engineering technology at tertiary level which in turn will anchor our aspirations towards a middle income economy.”
According to Chakwera, the gathering also committed US$2.5 million as a grant in the form of prep school scholarships.
Chakwera explained that he took opportunity to lobby for more collaboration from the global community in the Cyclone Freddy recovery efforts under Operation Tigwirane Manja.
During the deliberations, said Chakwera, he was also accorded the privilege of serving as the initiative’s chairperson.
The event was hosted by Her Excellency Rev. Dr. A.K. Ocansey, the Executive Chairperson of the Nekotech Center of Excellence and Founder of the Nekotech Center for Labour Migration Diplomacy.
