Blantyre based consortium Civil Rights grouping known as Independent Civil Society (ICS) , has supported Government decision of exporting young people to Israel saying the decision stands in the best interest of young people in the country.
Addressing a news conference in Blantyre, ICS chairperson, Ceaser Kondowe who was flanked by Veteran human rights activist Unandi Banda and others said the decision remains part of the job creation initiative.
Independent Civil Society (ICS)
“We, members of the Malawi civil society organisations, applaud the State President, His Excellency, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera and his government for remaining committed to job creation and youth empowerment,” he said.
The CSOs commended the state President and his government for handling the labour export deal transparently as fully disclosed in the media release by the Ministry of Labour.
“We are fully aware that past administrations, including the immediate past one, handled such deals in total secrecy and with absolute lack of accountability,” he said.
The CSOs have since appealed to the Government to negotiate for labour exports to more counties so that the youths are absorbed.
Kondowe reminded Malawians that unemployment has remained source of evil and agony amongst Malawian youths.
“So, we welcome the Labour Export Programme and in particular the Malawi–Israel deal as an initiative coming along the way to address the unemployment, we will support the initiative,” he said.
The CSOs believe that the initiative is a major accelerator towards achieving Malawi 2063 agenda.
“We believe the initiative will surely help the Government to achieve Malawi 2063 agenda,” he said.
He said, Youth Development and Empowerment, is among the key priority areas of the Malawi Government.
Kondowe said the initiative will help achieve the Malawi 2063, that envisions “An Inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation,” in the next four decades.
One of the country’s prominent human rights activists who is in South Africa Charles Ben Longwe, has accused Malawi opposition parties of lacking intelligence to see things from far saying all members in opposition parties are too sleepy hence giving President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera an advantage of doing whatever he can to destroy the country.
Ben Longwe observes that if the opposition was made to be well- alert they would have seen that what the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is doing sending youth to Israel without transparency and in secrecy, they would have advised the government to either stop or prevent it from happening.
Leader of opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa
He says the news surrounding 221 youth that have safely arrived in Israel to work in farms has exposed the Malawi opposition sleepiness on duty claiming that if President Chakwera wants to kill all Malawians it is because of opposition parties inactiveness.
Speaking through an audio clip circulating in various social media platforms, Ben Longwe saya it is sad that all opposition leaders are hungry for power to rule forgetting that their role is to offer constructive criticism to the MCP-led government for it to know that God reveals hidden agendas to come at open open air.
Longwe further observes that Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa wanted Government to clarify on the 221 youths flying to Israel in secret saying this is speaking for itself that the cohort that has safely arrived in Israel on Friday is not the first and second,but many youths are in Israel on secret deals.
He alleges that since 2022, Malawi has been exporting labour to Israel in secret recalling that former Minister of Foreign Affairs Eisenhower Mkaka was pictured with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in August, 2021 saying nobody knows what jobs these youth are being offered best explained by President Chakwera and the Government of Israel.
The activist claims that the Israeli Government cannot offer Malawi 60 million US Dollars for nothing describing this as a good business for President Chakwera and an offence on the other side, exporting labour to other countries is Slave Trade and in the modern world-Human Trafficking.
“There is no law that allows the youth of the country to be exported as labour to another country, to Malawi, the leadership has failed to create job opportunities,” said Longwe.
According to an audio clip circulating in various social media platforms from one of the youths, said at Area 30 National Police Headquarters, they only came out with a clearance letter, passport withheld, and opening an FDH Bank account for salaries to be deposited while working in Israel.
The youth in the audio clip expressed doubts with all of these arrangements describing the deal as pure 100 percent human trafficking.
However, Ben Longwe has asked Malawians to pray for these youth to have their phones so that they communicate to their parents and guardians progress of what they will be doing in Israel.
He is suspecting someone to be behind this business claiming that if the passports of those travelling to Israel are detained here in Malawi, the youth will have no freedom to come back even if there parents and relatives buys a return air ticket.
The Public Affairs Commitete (PAC) has commended President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera for his development strides.
Speaking on Tuesday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during a meeting with the President, the religious grouping said they have noted with satisfacton some of the unprecedented developmental milestones that have taken place in the country in the last three years of his reign.
Some of the notable projects that have been undertaken by the Chakwera government includes the 301 km M1 road rehabilitation stretching from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe to Chiweta up north, the six-lane Kenyatta drive connectinng Old town to City Centre in Lilongwe, the four- lane Mzimba street, the Cross Roads to Kanengo four way lane.
President Chakwera
President Chakwera’s developent drive has seen a lion share of developmental project being destributed equally across the country. In the northern region for example there is NOCMA to Dunduzu Bypass road, the Rumphi-Nyika road, Mzimba-Mzalangwe road, the Ilomba road in Chitipa and the Chakazi bridge currently being constructed.
Some of the flagship projects in the southern region include the Zomba dual carriageway, 100 kilometre Mangochi-Makanjira road to (commence soon), the Ndirande Kachere road, the Mahatma Ghandi-Kapeni road among others.
PAC also hailed President Chakwera’s government for restoring donor confidence in the wake of his decision to devalue the Kwacha which led to the approval of the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and consequently opened floodgate of donor support and a prospect of resumption of direct budgetary support from multirateral institutions.
PAC is an interdenominational grouping born in the early stages of pluralism whose mandate is to safeguard rule of law and good governance.
As Malawi grappled with the aftermath of careless economic posturing by previous regimes, President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has taken bold steps to rectify the economic malais inherited from the previous government.
Soon after coming into office, President Chakwera terminated the Extended Credit Facility with IMF, a hard but necessary decision, considering the circumstances surrounding the program signed in 2018 but was later embroiled in lies and misrepresentation of the country’s economic figures to portray a rosy economic position.
All this was happening in the backdrop of other development partners and traditional donors suspending their support especially towards balance of payment or budgetary aid. Dr Chakwera’s subsequent efforts to regain IMF support and donor confidence underline his commitment to steering the nation towards financial stability.
The devaluation of the local currency on November 8, albeit met with public outcry, was a crucial component of securing IMF approval for another Extended Credit Facility on November 15. President Chakwera’s willingness to make tough decisions demonstrates his dedication to addressing economic challenges head-on. However, these measures need time to take root and yield positive results.
A mere two weeks after the IMF approval, the President announced a series of austerity measures, including a personal commitment to curtail his foreign travels and a 50% cut on fuel allowances for the senior government.
These actions are not only symbolic but also substantial, signaling his personal sacrifice for the greater good of the nation.
Even, the country´s donors and development partners seem to agree-if their recent actions are anything to go by. So far, the World Bank has announced a US$60 million Trade Finance Facility, US$217 million package to support fiscal reforms and US$250 million support for the Agricultural Commercialisation Project.
The European Union has also thrown in €70 million (US$76 million), African Development Bank (ADB) US$30 million, both towards budget support while there is another US$6 million support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The Ministry of Finance announced that the austerity measures as announced by Dr Chakwera are expected to save the current budget a total of MK4.2 billion. Announcing this during the presentation of the mid-term budget review, Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda said the saved money will go towards productive areas such as the mega farms.
The mega farms initiative is one of the growth areas at the heart of President Chakwera as he has set his sights towards changing the narrative of Malawi being a predominantly consuming country to an exporting one.
Now against these exciting developments, the Public Affairs Committee comes in to call for additional measures, including a reduction in the number of Cabinet Ministers. This call seems to be misplaced or coming too soon. The November 15 austerity measures are still in their infancy, and expecting further sacrifices before their impact is fully appreciated is asking for too much, too quickly.
President Chakwera’s decision to cut his foreign travel alone is anticipated to save 4.2 billion Malawi kwacha in the current budget—an immediate impact. However, expecting additional measures before the nation has had a chance to witness the full extent of these initial reforms and the financial donor injections risks undermining the positive momentum gained.
While the Public Affairs Committee rightly serves as a governance body with the responsibility to advocate for prudent policies, it is essential to acknowledge what President Chakwera has done this far to address the economic challenges, especially in the wake of the devalued kwacha. Rushing into more austerity measures before the effectiveness of the current ones can be evaluated, may hinder the nation’s ability to fully appreciate their impact.
In these trying times, patience is a virtue. President Chakwera deserves the opportunity to showcase the benefits of the November 15 austerity measures before being pressured into further actions.
Malawi’s journey to economic recovery requires a measured and phased approach, allowing for the sustainable implementation of reforms that will ensure long-term stability and prosperity.
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) says will soon introduce a new technological system called Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) which is aimed at combating the rampant theft of mobile devices in the country as well as ending money fraud through mobile phones.
The system is also expected to help in reducing the proliferation of fake mobile devices on the Malawian market.
Currently, the authority is conducting a campaign dubbed “Ntchingila” which is aimed at senstizing the general public on this new technological system.
Mphatso Chaluluka, campaign coordinator addressing the gathering during the road show tour on the need of the campaign
Speaking during a road show tour in Lilongwe, campaign coordinator Mphatso Chaluluka described the sensation about CEIR as important for people to know more about it.
“Today we are here sensitizing people on the importance of this new system as we know that there are others who always benefit from such malpractices and after hearing about this they can not take it with a positive mind that is why we are here for us to tell people on the need of this new system,” he said.
He added that through the technology, people will be able to trace, block their stolen mobile devices as well as protect themselves from money fraud which is on rise here in Malawi.
He further highlighted that they are aware of some resistance from the masses as it is a new thing but they are making it to be visible as they are enganging people in every corner of the country starting from the southern up to the northern region.
CEIR is a database that stores unique identifiers of mobile devices such as International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers and it helps to track mobile devices to prevent unauthorized or illegal activities.
The system has not been launched yet as it is in the implementation stage and it is expected to be rolled out at the end of this year.
