In exercise of the power vested in him under Section 161(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has appointed Lieutenant General Paul Valentino Phiri as the Commander of the Malawi Defense Force (MDF) with immediate effect.
Valentino Phiri
Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba has confirmed of the development in a statement adding that the President has promoted Phiri to the rank of General.
Phiri replaces Lieutenant General Vincent Nundwe who was appointed the MDF commander in 2019.
Against a background of social media stint criticising President Dr Lazarus Chakwera for no apparent reasons at all, Chakwera has outclassed his critiques proving to be the best president Malawi has been looking for long time.
Chakwera has managed to restore donor Confidence at a very short period of time which got lost during Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regime.
In terms of economic turndown through, multilateral relations, Chakwera has also scored highly.
As a matter of background, on 22 September, 2022, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera and the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided over the signing of a Millennium Challenge Corporation compact (MCC) worth US$350 million.
The Malawian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Sosten Gwengwe and MCC CEO Alice Albright signed the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) MOU (Memorandum of Understanding).
The aid through the MCC, which assists developing nations meeting democratic benchmarks, will fund a major road network to connect rural and urban areas in Malawi.
The Biden administration says through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the U.S. government and the Government of Malawi will include the $245 million Accelerated Growth Corridors Project.
The project “sets out an ambitious agenda to reduce transport costs and better connect goods, farms, and rural populations to markets.”
The compact’s Accelerated Growth Corridors Project will invest in Malawi’s transportation sector, including road updates in four selected corridors located in strategic agricultural areas.
As that is not enough, through the same multilateral relationship in October, 2022, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Mika Saito held discussions with the Malawian authorities during October 11-17, 2022, in Washington DC, following meetings in Lilongwe during October 5-8, 2022, on Malawi’s request for emergency financing under the IMF Rapid Credit Facility’s new Food Shock Window and for Program Monitoring with Board involvement.
The IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with Malawi on a Rapid Credit Facility through the IMF’s new Food Shock Window and Program Monitoring with Board involvement (PMB) to help restore macroeconomic stability and provide the foundation for an inclusive economic recovery.
The disbursement under the Food Shock Window, of up to about US$88.3 million (50 percent of IMF quota), combined with the PMB, to help address Malawi’s urgent balance of payments needs related to the global food crisis and will support economic adjustment and structural reforms.
Malawi national football team, The Flames, will face Lesotho in the semifinals of the HollywoodBets Cosafa Cup after beating Comoros 2-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium in South Africa.
The first clear chance for Flames came in the 22nd minute through Alick Lungu who sent a cross to Lanjesi Nkhoma but Nkhoma’s shot went straight into the palms of Comoros goalkeeper.
Chawanangwa Kaonga put Flames ahead in the 30th minute from the spot after he was fouled by a Comoros defender.
Patrick Mwaungulu increased Flames’ advantage five minutes later from a rebound after Chimwemwe Idana’s shot hit the post.
In the second half, Gaddie Chirwa replaced Christopher Kumwembe in the 60th minute while Chifundo Mphasi and Frank Willard replaced Patrick Mwaungulu and Chawanangwa Kaonga in the 73rd minute.
Ekwendeni Hammers captain Blessings Singini replaced Chimwemwe Idana in the 87th minute and it still ended 2-nil in favour of the Patrik Mabedi boys.
The result means that the Flames has qualified as group B winners after winning all their three games and managing to keep a clean sheet.
In another match, Zambia has beaten Seychelles 4-2 to finish Group B as runners up.
Chirimba Community Day Secondary (CDSS) and Luchenza Secondary School have on Monday been announced inaugural winners of the 2023 ICT Specialists Teachers Association of Malawi (ISTAM) Computer Studies Quiz competition held at Lilongwe Technical College.
Chirimba CDSS outclassed 19 other schools in junior category (Form 1), while Luchenza Secondary scooped position one in the senior category (Form 3) in a tightly contested quiz competition.
On the other hand, Dzenza Secondary School and Ekwendeni Girls Secondary School finished second and third in the junior category, respectively.
Malindi Secondary School and Ekwendeni Girls Secondary equally finished second and third in the senior category, respectively.
Speaking to journalists, ISTAM President Masemo Kinyota Banda said the competition was aimed at improving the performance of students and prepare them for tertiary education.
“The future of ICT will be brilliant if we carry everyone along and if we work together as a team, we will make a great improvement and eventually Malawi might the next USA or any country in terms of manufacturing,” said Banda.
On his part, Director of Science, Technology and Innovation in the Ministry of Education, Professor Chomora Mikeka stressed the need for concerned efforts and resource mobilization to enhance and scale up the learning and teaching of ICT concepts at primary and secondary schools to create young innovators from the grassroots.
Mikeka said government wants to accelerate the country’s transition to an upper middle-income by creating a vibrant knowledge-based digital economy by, among others, equipping academic institutions with world class ICT laboratories.
Malawi is one of the developing countries trying to tap into the benefits of the digital world.
Despite its limited resources, the country is reaping the benefits of modern ICT in different sectors, including but not limited to health, education, finance and agriculture, though with glitches.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the country’s economy, and such players in the sector are trying to take advantage of different ICT tools to improve farming, which makes up for the ways of earning a living for almost 80% of the 18 million-plus population.
The Director of Strategic planning in the Malawi Congress Party Dr Ken Zikhale Ng’oma continues his onslaught of previously DPP stronghold as he has lined up development rallies in Nsanje and Phalombe this coming weekend . Zikhale who is also the Minister of Homeland Security, has wasted no time but thrown himself in the deep end to get to areas where MCP was not dominant in an attempt to get the masses hear first hand information about the developments that the Chakwera administration is delivering in this country.
Already described as one of the hardworking Cabinet Ministers and one with a no nonsense approach , he has received applause from various stakeholders including the international community on the way he has handled the issue of refugees, especially those from Burundi and Rwanda.
A very experienced and arguably one of the best political strategist in the country, Ken Zikhale Ng’oma has galvanised the party senior members to engage with the grassroots by conducting rallies in various districts around the country. His big milestone so far has been how he has penetrated the southern Region , and managed to get people loving MCP more and more.
“ We are not surprised that Dr Ken Zikhale Ngoma has managed to penetrate in the southern region , he is a great leader who connects well with common Malawians and everywhere in Malawi , people will welcome him “ said one MCP District Chairman from the Eastern Region.
The District Chairman went further to say Zikhale is showing the he is not selfish by working hard for the party as he is making sure that in all these rallies , everyone is involved including other Cabinet Ministers , and local leaders.
Details  of the Phalombe and Nsanje rallies will be fully announced. This comes after a very successful week where Zikhale and Brown Mpinganjira held a mammoth rally in Nyambadwe and as Guest of Honour at a rally in Kasungu
