Malawi’s graft-bursting body Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has made a partnership with National Aids Commission (NAC) to integrate in different activities that will help in the fight against fraud and corruption as it is aligned with their mandate.
During the signing of Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) in Lilongwe, NAC Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Dr. Beatrice Matanje said this MoU will help in consolidating efforts to prevent corruption and fraud within their operations inline with the corrupt practices act as well as fraud and corruption prevention policy.
“We are here to commit ourselves as NAC from all levels starting with the board, management and staff so that the public resources that are entrusted with us are efficiently used but also prevented from being subjected to corruption.
“So we do have an institutional integrity committee that monitors what we have put in this policy and also in this MoU, this is just to assure you that we are really in good partnership with ACB in the fight against corruption,” Matanje said.
She also highlighted that this has been necessitated inline with national direction to prevent corruption as it is a mandate that every public institution that is entrusted with public resources has to be guarded under corrupt practices act.
On his part, deputy Director General at ACB Hillary Chilomba said this is a great milestone as they already have good established infrastructures with NAC in the work against corruption and this has just helped them to put strong strategies one of it being monitoring, so they have a team of experts that will be looking into all the necessary strategies.
The MoU will guide the two public institution in ensuring strong transparency and accountability in their operations.
In a bid to drive progress and development within communities in Malawi, the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust has urged citizen forums in the country to actively engage with duty bearers to ensure accountability for their actions. This initiative aims to help the nation reach its development goals by fostering transparency, promoting responsible governance, and ultimately contributing to the overall advancement of the country.
The call for increased engagement between citizen forums and duty bearers was emphasized by Alinafe Chikakuda, a Civic Education expert in Dowa District. Chikakuda highlighted the importance of holding duty bearers accountable through regular interactions, stating that this proactive approach is key to driving progress and development within communities. By actively engaging with duty bearers, citizen forums can ensure that the needs and concerns of the community are heard and addressed, leading to more effective governance and improved service delivery.
Chikakuda
One such example of citizen engagement in action was seen at a recent Citizen Forum meeting held in Mponela under Traditional Authority Mponela in Dowa District. The forum members, led by Chikakuda, discussed various issues affecting their community and worked together to come up with solutions that could be presented to duty bearers. This collaborative approach not only increases transparency and accountability but also empowers citizens to be actively involved in decision-making processes that affect their lives.
Jericho Chinkhadze, the chairperson of the Chilima Citizen Forum, expressed gratitude towards Dowa NICE for their interventions and support in facilitating these important discussions. The partnership between citizen forums and organizations like NICE is crucial in ensuring that communities have the necessary tools and resources to advocate for their rights and hold duty bearers accountable for their actions.
By empowering citizen forums to engage with duty bearers and advocate for their needs, Malawi is taking a significant step towards achieving its development goals. This grassroots approach to governance not only strengthens the relationship between citizens and their leaders but also ensures that development priorities are aligned with the needs of the community.
The proactive engagement of citizen forums with duty bearers is a vital step towards achieving accountability and development in Malawi. By fostering transparency, promoting responsible governance, and empowering communities to take an active role in decision-making processes, we can work towards a brighter future for all Malawians. It is through initiatives like these that we can build a more inclusive and prosperous nation, where every citizen has a voice and a stake in shaping the future of their country.
Minister of sports and youth affairs,Uchizi Mkandawire has emphasized the need for leaders to take a leading role in the development of different sporting activities in the country as this will help in developing Malawi across all sectors.
The minister retaliated that through sports, alot of people are able to generate huge amounts of money.
He was speaking this on Saturday March,23, 2024 when he presided over the Limbe Leaf tobacco company 2023 under 12 and 15 tournament finals in Lilongwe.
Uchizi Mkandawire
“What I mean is that, basically there is quiet alot that is happening in sports, whereby those that are participating as athletes are able to make earnings in form of money, but we also have football administrators, we have refrees, we have coaches, so this is a source of employment and other people which also do events management they find space,” Mkandawire said.
He also highlighted that when we talk of sports supporting various sectors one of it is tourism, as people travel from one destination to another alot of people generate revenue as well.
Managing Director of Limbe Leaf tobacco company Don McAlpin, articulated that Limbe Leaf has been investing heavily in this tournament in order to ensure that no primary school in communities lacks the opportunity to better its sports program or expose its players to the opportunities that sports affords.
“During the tournament last year, the company noticed that due to the shortage of sporting equipments in our schools, schools were willing to do anything to get into these positions and secure prizes, especially the sports kits, even under declaration of ages of players.
“To encourage good sportsmanship and maintain integrity of the tournament the company increased the budget of the tournament from $11,000 last year to $20,000 so that more teams could be afforded the opportunity to access the sporting kits and boots,” he said.
He also added that this 40th year tournament is an indication of the company’s commitment towards sports and education development in the local communities and they ensure that children are positively engaged inside and outside the classroom so that they are not used for labor anywhere including farms.
“Limbe leaf the past 10 years has invested alot in child labor prevention and detection programs to the point where we have almost eradicated it across our value chain, this is why the tournament continues to have our support each year as it is instrumental in preventing child labor in our communities by keeping children in our farming communities positively engaged,” McAlpin highlighted.
The tournament has been running for 39 years as of 2019 and they resumed this year after 3 years break due to outbreak of Covid-19 making this its 40th year of commemoration.
This year the preparation games involved 470 primary schools from rural and urban Lilongwe and the total number of participating students is 34,440 pupils.
During the tournament teams in position 1 to 4 were able to secure a sporting kit for their school and other prizes.
The following are the prizes in different categories;
Under 12 netball winners, Balango’mbe.
Under 12 Football winners, Tsabango Primary School.
Under 15 netball winners, Chidzingwe Primary school.
Under 15 Football winners, Kasiya Primary school.
Player of the Tournament, Under 12 netball ( Eunice Mataka from Balang’ombe).
Player of the Tournament, Under 12 Football ( Lloyd Zimba from Tsabango).
Player of the Tournament, Under 15 netball ( Patricia Songola from Chidzingwe).
Player of the Tournament Under 15 Football ( Mwamadi Hawadi from Kasiya).
Overall player of the Tournament, Netball ( Caroline Greenwell from Ndaula).
Managing director Limbe leaf tobacco company, Don McAlpin making delivering his speech
Malawi’s Junior Flames are the champions of the under 20 4 Nations tournament, after beating Kenya Under 20 3-1 at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe on Sunday afternoon.
Emmanuel Savieli opened the scoring in the 36th minute while Chifuniro Kamenya scored the second for the Junior Flames just some seconds before half time.
Kenya pulled one back through Dalphane Ezekiah in the 64th minute but Madaitso Safuli consolidated Malawi’s lead in the added time.
The Junior Flames have finished the tournament with six points followed by Kenya with 3 points and Zimbabwe who have finished the tournament with no point.
The tournament was supposed to have four teams but Zambia Under 20 pulled out in the last minute.
The Malawi Congress Party has gone full throttle in drumming up support for its candidates ahead of the by-elections that are due in Karonga.
The Party has urged prospective voters in Karonga local government by-elections to vote for it’s candidates in the Tuesday polls to be assured of meaningful development.
Speaking during a political rally held at Ntchowo primary school,MCP Director of Campaign,Moses Kunkuyu said the hiking the Constituency Development Fund in the current budget to K200 million is aimed at ensuring that development trickles to the rural communities.
Among other notable figures at the rally included, Dr Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima and Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka.
The Malawi Congress Party will have it’s final rally at Ngalamu primary school.
The by-elections will take place in Rukuru, Chilanga and Kaporo wards.
