Malawi Congress Party Member of Parliament for Ntchisi South Ulemu Jermoth Chilapondwa says he intends to establish “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Clubs” in all schools and villages in his constituency to enhance creativity and entrepreneurship among children and youth for impartation of early knowledge of economic self-reliance in a real chase for Malawi 2063.
Ulemu Chilapondwa
Sharing his philosophy Chilapondwa said, “Life is changing. We must change our thinking too. Science and technology transform global economic trends. We need to cultivate a crop of children and youth who do not just necessarily think of employment but also entrepreneurship. We need to develop a comprehensive technical guide on how best we can bring together education, youth and trade angles together for successful implementation of the idea. I will shortly talk to education, trade and youth development authorities at Ntchisi District Council shortly. It is an extracurricular programme at the constituency level”
Reacting to the idea, educator Austin Kalumo says, “We need more creative politicians of Chilapondwa calibre. He is one of the most thrilling brains to emulate. Let our children and youth think of opening enterprises more than office jobs. We have the economy to drive. Chilapondwa is right.”
Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) says it is expecting more people to operate export warehouses government introduced last year to curb tax evasion and smuggling of farm produce.
MRA’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Steven Kapoloma, said this on Tuesday when the Authority toured some of the customs-controlled export warehouses in Lilongwe.
Kapoloma said more businesses are now coming to MRA to get licenses to own and operate the warehouses.
MRA’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Steven Kapoloma,
“We are overwhelmed by the number of people that want to own and operate export warehouses. This is due to the benefits reaped by those that were the pioneers of these warehouses. More people are now coming into their warehouses and using them to export,” said Kapoloma.
He further said the initiative has improved processes of monitoring and following up of export proceeds from farm produce, hence ensuring a clear tracking, from buying the commodities from the farms to exporting them through the borders.
James Nyasulu, Warehouse Manager for African Commodities Trading which is one of the export warehouses MRA inspected, hailed the initiative saying it has raised their business to higher standards.
“Previously, our standards were a bit diminished because we didn’t have time to grade our products. However, with the warehouses, our commodities are now of quality such that we have never experienced customers turning them down as was the case previously,” Nyasulu said.
Rachel Banda, an accountant for Giant Sprouts Ltd, an Export and Import company that owns a groundnuts export warehouse along the Bypass Road in Lilongwe, concurred with Nyasulu, saying the warehouses are a real deal.
“We lacked security, prior to the warehouses, which was making us generate losses as there was a lot of damage to the goods. With the warehouse, we are able to stock huge quantities and still maintain the same quality,” said Banda.
Apart from Giant Sprouts Ltd and African Commodities Trading, MRA also inspected Wahida Investments, another export warehouse in Lilongwe.
Nkhotakota District Council has hailed Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), Embassy of Iceland, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other development partners for supporting the recently affected flash flood survivors in the district through provision of relief items.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Spokesperson for the Council, Wongani Mkandawire, said people who are living in the twelve camps in the areas of Senior Chief Kanyenda, Mphonde and Traditional Authority (TA) Malengachanzi are receiving relief items.
“We thank all partners for their support. WHO, for instance, has provided us with essential drugs to carter for the affected people for three months and the Embassy of Iceland has made available K14 million for the purchase of various relief items,” said Mkandawire.
Mkandawire, however, expressed concern that the current condition of the M5 Road at Kaombe and Dwangwa has impacted service delivery, making transportation of relief supplies difficult and hindering the movement of emergency response teams, among others.
He said although water levels have reduced in some areas, the disaster continues to impact communities, with efforts ongoing to mitigate the situation and provide aid in the affected communities.
“Improvement in weather conditions has allowed rescue and relief teams to access previously inaccessible areas and providing assistance to those in need,” he added.
Mkandawire further said the Malawi Defense Force are working tirelessly to locate and save stranded individuals, particularly in Dwangwa.
According to DoDMA, the recent floods have affected over 14,000 people; displaced about 8,000 and claimed six lives at Dwangwa in Senior Chief Kanyenda in the district.
Social media forums have been awash with news of ghost names who have made their way in as successful candidates without attending interviews for the position of Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs] tenable in the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of health shortlisted some successful candidates earmarked to start employment in the civil service but to the surprise of many who sat for the interviews, ghost names were picked and have formed part of successful candidates a development which is worrisome to many who attended the interviews and have not been successful.
Districts such as Ntchisi, Chiladzulu, Phalombe, Mzimba, Mchinji, Chikwawa, Blantyre, Salima, Chitipa, Mulanje, Lilongwe, Karonga, Dedza, Dowa and Nkhatabay are appearing on the list with some names that have been asked to start work without attending interviews.
The development is similar to the Aptitude Test primary school teachers under went in October, 2022 across the country for PT3, PT2, and PT1 Grades where successful candidates were being invited in secret through phone calls from the offices of the District Education Managers to sign letters of promotions.
President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera was voted into office with trust that he will fight corruption in his government but instead of fighting the vice, he has been seen condoning it contributing to rampant corruption which is three times bigger than it was during the reign of the DPP.
Job seekers who attended the HSA’s interviews in Blantyre petitioned the office of the District Commissioner demanding answers and so too, Mchinji where angry youth visited the offices of those who were on the panel of interviewing candidates to explain the criteria used to pick ghost names as successful candidates to start work in the Ministry of Health.
Political activist Bon Elias Kalindo has claimed that only those with names connected to Capital Hill and State House are the ones who are being considered to work in government institutions such as Police, MDF and Immigration, among others.
Kalindo has faulted the ACB for existing on paper while on the ground is zero claiming that its Director General Ms. Martha Chizuma who was entrusted to carryout the mandate of the institution to arrest and prosecute corruption suspects is on holiday with full of scones in her mouth.
Kalindo said if the ACB was alive and kicking, it would have investigated and brought to book many people who have found their way into government payrolls without making formal applications and interviews for various positions in Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
He said this is the time that those without names and connections to Capital Hill and State House to sit down and make informed decisions that never again to vote for President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera to bounce back into government in 2025.
He said it is sad that everywhere in government institutions, there are family relations similar to what DPP was doing claiming that the Chewas have dominated the Police, MDF, Immigration and all other departments strategizing to rig the 2025 elections. “Many Chewas are in all institutions and are heading those institutions to make sure that President Chakwera and his MCP bounce back into government in 2025,” said Kalindo.
