By Monica Tambala
Farmers in Lilongwe District have hailed the farm input loan intervention by the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) aimed at capacitating able farmers to venture into agri-business as a way of eradicating poverty and improving food security in Malawi.
Speaking during a NEEF loan progress inspection tour, Senior Chief Khongoni, who is also a beneficiary of the farm input loan, hailed government for providing farmers with loans which have allowed them to farm in large quantities and a hope for bumper yields.
“When NEEF loan officers came to my area, they first reached the people in my area and said I could also take a loan so that I set a good example for my subordinates and their counterparts.
“This loan has helped me as I am now farming on a 70-acre land with diverse crops. I request my fellow chiefs to set a good example in their areas. It is not right for a chief to be begging but if we all venture into farming, we can better our lives and the nation,” she said.
Director for NEEF, Jacob Mdelu, expressed delight that the farm input loans are being put to good use.
He said, as a fund, they are encouraged to reach as many farmers possible in eradicating poverty in Malawi.
“Our role as NEEF is to support the nation through economic empowerment. From what we have seen here, we are encouraged by the example set by Senior Chief Khongoni. We encourage all those taking the loans to service them so that other farmers can also benefit,” he said.
Addressing the media, Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale said his ministry is ensuring food security by implementing several programs to increase food production for consumption at domestic level as well as national level.
“Last year, we talked about Agricultural Inputs Programme (AIP) reforms and we have been doing these in several ways. The first group of people are those who are benefiting from AIP whose number we’re reducing to transition them to commercial farmers. The second tier are those that we are sending to NEEF.
“These are the farmers who are doing agriculture business, producing different crops, getting loans as low as K250,000 to K2.5 million or more depending on what they are investing in. The third tier is that we are sending to the Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) and the fourth tier are those benefiting from mega farmer anchor farms,” he said.
He added that his ministry seeks to transition majority of the people from AIP to commercial farmers in order to guarantee food security at household level as well as at national level.
Farmers eye bumper yields with NEEF loans
Waste management stakeholders call for mindset change in waste management
By Steven Godfrey Mkweteza
Different waste managers convened in Blantyre on Wednesday have called on the residents to change their mindset in the way they manage waste in the commercial city.
Speaking in an interview at the meeting Blantyre City Council (BCC) senior environmental health officer Chipo Majoni acknowledged that mindset change is crucial in addressing the liquid and solid waste resources in the city.
Majoni said the existing mindset of the residents could have been changed if more sensitization campaigns were put in place.
However, she cited the lack of resources as one of the main elements pulling down the efforts.
” We could have put together the organised civic education campaigns, targeting people such as parents, children and other leaders so that these people should be aware of the basic facts about waste management.
“This should have been done to make sure that all people have enough information about waste management,” she said
According to her,at first BCC was facing a challenge of having inadequate vehicles used for collecting waste and lack of equipment to manage dumpsites, among other things.
She said currently, the council is planning to construct a new waste recycling center in Chigumula township , engaging private waste management companies and enforcing local laws mandating people’s trash disposal.
In a separate interview, city coordinator for waste advisors, Idris Mkwanda advised the city dwellers to cultivate a culture of recycling materials as one way of managing waste since the current dumpsite at mzedi has become so full of waste.
“The waste products can be value added into manure making which can benefit the residents in the end as well,” he said.
Representatives from companies, industries, waste collectors, business persons and Blantyre city council brainstormed strategies to improve waste management under ‘ Blantyre Think Tank Networking Meeting’.
Marketing,sales leaders urged to be innovative
By Steven Godfrey Mkweteza
One of the commercial firms in the country, the Sales Hub, says the public sector can overcome the current turbulent economic shocks only if the sales and marketing leaders are innovative.
Senior consultant and director for the firm, Micheal Khomani said this in Blantyre during an open sales leaders training.
Khomani noted that some companies scaled down production while others closed shop recently due to the prevailing turbulent economic environment.
“But the situation could not be like that if the marketing and sales leaders were innovative to cushion the companies against such economic shocks,” he said.
According to Khomani, his company decided to build the capacity of the sales leaders across the country on strategies to implore so as to save companies from death due to the poor economic parameters.
“As we have just started the year, sales team of companies need to kick start on a good note for the survival of the companies,” said Khomani
In a separate interview, one of the participants Titania Katenga Kaunda, hailed the company for the training, which she said would go towards motivating the marketing and sales teams.
Kaunda noted that the survival of the companies rest in the hands of the sales and marketing teams, therefore, need innovative leaders.
Sales Hub, was established in 2023 to among others, capacitate the sales and marketing sectors of various companies.
Dedza Dynamos ropes in Bunya as Head Coach
By Chisomo Phiri
Dedza Dynamos has announced the appointment of Andrew Bunya as the team’s head coach effective immediately.
Bunya ‘s appointment was confirmed by Technical Director for the team Massa Kalamula on Thursday.
Bunya, 44, replaces Gilbert Chirwa, whose contract was not renewed after it expired in December, 2023.
Accepting the appointment,Bunya said:”Dedza Dynamos is a club with huge potential with fantastic people and I’m really excited about the plans, ambition and possibilities at this club.”
He said being a citizen of Dedza, he has seen the establishment and growth of the team with each passing day and he know the high standards that the team demands.
“We have an exciting squad and a brilliant backroom team and the team came very close to playing in the final of the FDH Bank Cup last season, together we understand and know that absolutely everything has to go up a gear for the 2024 campaign,” he added.
Bunya who has signed a two-year contract brings with him his passion of football he has already proved in many years that he has been involved in football circles.
While confirming of Bunya’s appointment, Technical Director Massa Kalamula said they opted for him because he is someone who knows the culture of the team.
“He is from Dedza and knows what we want hence his appointment,” Kalamula said.
Bunya led relegated Extreme FC during the second round of the 2023 TNM Super League Season.
He is a holder of CAF B coaching license and founder of Dedza Young Soccer a team he established in 2002 and managed to take it to the TNM Super League during the 2015 season.
Bunya is also the head coach of the Dedza Youth select team under the Dedza district youth football committee.
Dedza Dynamos will be playing in its third season in the elite league after being promoted in 2021 three years after played in its first competitive competition.
MISA Malawi concerned with threats on PIJ’s Gregory Gondwe
By Chisomo Phiri
MISA Malawi says it is deeply concerned with threats on Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) Editorial Director Gregory Gondwe.
Gondwe is currently in hiding, on advice from military sources, following his expose on the payments that Malawi Defence Force (MDF) made to businessman Zuneth Sattar, a fraud suspect under the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe.
“This is not just about legal threats, which I was prepared to face head-on. Yesterday, top government officials confirmed that the MDF intended to ‘arrest’ me for allegedly ‘endangering state security’—a vague and ominous accusation.
“Given the potential for my situation to be ‘accidentalised’ with a seemingly plausible explanation posthumously, I have heeded the advice to protect myself. In this line of work, death can be disguised as an accident, and no hospital can revive a life once lost,” Gondwe wrote on his Facebook Page.
In a statement, MISA Malawi Chairperson Golden Matonga says the media body engaged the Army Commander General Paul Velentino Phiri and the Attorney General (AG) Honourable Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda on the matter and they have both assured them that there are no plans to arrest Gondwe or intimidate him for writing the story.
“We hope and trust that these assurances are true and sincere.
“We would like to remind government bodies and all citizens that threats on journalists are retrogressive and a threat to democracy.
“We believe that if MDF or any other concerned parties have an issue with the media, they should use proper channels to raise such issues, but military interrogations and threats are not among those channels,” says Matonga in a statement.
He adds that threats on Gondwe’s life have a chilling effect on journalists and the media fraternity.
“As a democracy, Malawi should not slide back to the era of heavy-handedness on media and critical voices.
We will continue engaging the leadership at MDF and the office of the Attorney General to ensure the safety of Gondwe and a free and conducive media operating environment,” he concludes.
In April 2022, police also detained journalist Gondwe after refusing to disclose source of his information that laid bare that Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda had allowed the government to make payments to Sattar.
This was despite his public statement terminating all of Sattar’s contracts with the government and restricting any payment on the same.
Previously, President Lazarus Chakwera pledged that no journalist would be arrested or harassed as long as he is the president of Malawi.
“We must each regulate ourselves to ensure that any time a journalist publishes something or a social commentator says something, we never react in a manner that infringes on their freedom to do so.
“This principle of self-restraint applies to me, every public official, every agency of the state, and every citizen. Freedom of the press and freedom of expression means that from time to time someone will write or say things that offend or embarrass us, but that does not give any of us the license to deal with them.
“We too can write and say something to defend ourselves, and if we feel our name and reputation have been unjustly defamed, we can even complain to regulatory bodies and the courts that follow strict rules of justice, but we must never seek to harm those who offend us in this way or try to deprive them of their freedom through illegal searches, seizures, arrests, or invasive acts like hacking, harassment, and cyberbullying. These things have no place in a free country,” Chakwera said.