The Malawi Schools Sports Association (MASSA) now has a new National Executive Committee (NEC) following elections that took place at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Saturday July 1,2023 in Mzuzu.
In the new NEC,Blackson Malamula has been re-elected as President.
Brian Gausi is the Vice President responsible for basic education while Edmand Chakwira is Vice President responsible for secondary education.
Crispin Nyasulu is the general secretary with Innocent Kaundula as his Vice.
Joyce Chikho is the treasure general and she is being deputized by Elias Malata.
Blackson Malamula
Jane Gogoda is the women representative in NEC.
Reuben Sigogo has been tasked to represent head teachers while Brother Sikelo will be representing private schools.
Briefly, MASSA was formed to organize, oversee, promote sports in private and secondary schools i.e. Primary and Secondary.
Member of Parliament for Salima North West constituency, Enock Phale, on Thursday, 29th June, 2023 took time to deliver a report on how money under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is being used in his North West Constituency.
Speaking during the meeting at the Headquarters of Senior Chief Khombedza, Phale started by thanking the leadership of President Dr Lazarus Chakwera for increasing the CDF to the current tune of K100 million, saying it has greatly facilitated the completion of many projects within his constituency with other projects currently being underway.
Phale in his constituency
Phale then listed down a number of projects that have, and are still benefiting from the Constituency Development Fund which include the Kaninga Bridge at Sangwa, connecting Chitala and Kamphedza, Chiphodo Bridge at Levi, Chifungo Bridge at Chikombe, Ndonda, Mchenga, and Kalembo school blocks which have been renovated using the fund, among many projects so far completed.
The Parliamentarian further encouraged the communities in his constituency to have developmental mindset, saying Malawi leader is committed to develop the constituency and the country at large.
He also assured the Area Development Committees (ADCs) of his commitment to work with them and his support towards developing the constituency, saying working with such committees gives a platform of quickly resolving challenges when implementing projects and as their representative in Parliament.
Speaking earlier, Members of the ADC applauded President Chakwera for his development agenda that has seen the CDF being adjusted upwards to One Hundred Million Kwacha, saying it is a basket that has brought many changes on the face of their communities.
In his speech, chairperson for Khombedza ADC, Harton Chilowa appealed for inclusion of all local authorities in the committees for proper consideration of their areas in harmonization of socio-economic support programs by government.
Further, the communities appealed for government to consider improving the Unified Beneficiary Registry (UBR), claiming that the current database for the system is facing many challenges.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers missed a huge chance to claim the bragging rights for the city of Blantyre as they could only manage a 0-0 draw against city rivals FCB Nyasa Big Bullets at Kamuzu Stadium on Saturday afternoon
The Nomads gave out a brilliant performance, dominating possession in both halves and crafted the better chances as compared to their counterparts.
The Mark Harrison’s had a chance to take the lead in the 21st minute when Stanley Sanudi’s free kick found Lawrence Chaziya whose header was saved for a corner kick by Bullets goalkeeper Clever Mkungula.
Wanderers continued to knock on Bullets’ goal but still failed to find the back of the net.
Their last chance in the first half came through Vincent Nyangulu whose header hit the woodwork to deny the Lali-Lubani boys the match needed opener.
The second half saw the home side increasing pressure on the People’s team as Felix Zulu and man of the match Wisdom Mpinganjira came closer to scoring but missed the opportunities for the game to remain goalless until the final whistle.
The two notable chances for the defending champions came mid in the second half when Anthony Mfune’s shot was parried away for a corner by Wanderers goalkeeper William Thole.
Thereafter, Patrick Mwawungulu took a beautiful corner kick which found the head of Precious Sambani but the ball went over the crossbar.
Meanwhile reports indicate that the derby has grossed K56.4 million
In Lilongwe, Chitipa United goalkeeper George Chikooka received the second successive man of the match accolade as his side drew 0-0 against league leaders Silver Strikers at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
The Central Bankers remain top on the log table with 25 points followed by Bullets and Wanderers who have so far accumulated 22 and 19 points respectively while Chitipa remain fourth with 17 points.
In Balaka, Red Lions came from behind to beat Karonga United 2-1 at Balaka Stadium.
Allen Chihana put the visitors ahead 13 minutes in the second half after an assist by Alfred Chizinga who received a cross from man of the match Saulos Moyo .
Brown Gondwe leveled the scores for the home side in the 79th minute from the penalty spot after a foul on Hadgi Kung’unde.
Gondwe scored the winner for the Zomba-based soldiers in the added time with a beautiful header after receiving a cross from Andrew Biyo.
The win has taken Red Lions to position 14 with 11 points displacing Bangwe All Stars who have now moved to position 15 with nine points but Bangwe has a game to play.
In Mzuzu, Gasten Simkonda and Prince Phiri were on target as Moyale Barracks beat the struggling Extreme FC 2-nil at Mzuzu Stadium.
The win has taken Moyale to position five on the log table with 16 points from 11 games while the Mchinji-based side remain bottom with five points after playing the same number of games as Moyale Barracks.
Log tableWanderers’ Wisdom Mpinganjira receiving the man of the match award from Sulom president Freetwood HaiyaSilver Strikers vs Karonga UnitedChitipa United goalkeeper George Chikooka
President Dr Lazarus Chakwera visited Huawei Headquarters in Shenzhen during his trip to China for this year’s China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE).
The visit comes amid growing concern of low consumption of modern technologies.
Chakwera expressed his gratitude for the honor of being in Shenzhen for this visit to the headquarters of Huawei, which is a leader, a champion, and a creator of technological wonders.
“When I speak of technological wonders, I do not exaggerate, for what I have seen on display in the exhibition hall here has truly blown my mind. It showcases Huawei’s pioneering strength in ICT, which is evidently driven by a culture of marrying the endless possibilities of the human imagination to the groundbreaking innovations that come from heavy investment in research and development,” he said.
The Malawi leader said he takes special delight in the fact that he came not as a stranger, nor even as a guest, but as a friend and partner of Huawei representing the Malawian people.
“With Huawei, Malawi has already been working on a number of game-changing projects for a number of years and has accomplished a number of milestones. As a case in point, I want to thank you Huawei for your support towards the implementation of the Malawi National,” he said.
The UK based Economist Intelligence Unit (EiU) has just released a country report apparently on Malawi, which has made claims that are as murky as much they are bland.
Among other things, the report says the current governing alliance ‘could’ lose the next election if the prevailing economic variables will sustain.
The report has even predicted riots in 2024. Yes, you heard me. Riots!
As would be predicted, some small minded and overzealous politicos have taken it upon themselves to curate a narrative based on this report.
They are making the story look like a cut and dried affair that will come to pass no matter what. The opposition’s social media army has particularly gone abuzz on social media. It is embellishing and speaking as though God has silently whispered to them that what the EIU has said is cast in stone. This is so wrong.
I want to give a friendly warning to these particularly over-excited high school boys that their excitement is coming a little too soon, and will be short lived. They will be disappointed in 2025, and there are comprehensive reasons for that.
It is worthy to note that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is a consultancy organisation just like many others around the world. It provides forecasting and advisory services to assist entrepreneurs, financiers, and governments make decisions.
It uses data modeling and scenario analysis to help clients predict business performance, as well as doing country and city forecasting.
However, in as much as the EIU is an internationally-reputed policy think-tank, which has been noted over the years for political and economic forecasting, its predictions are not sacrosanct or proven facts.
Like many other consultancies in its industry, the EIU has also been known to goof and make some spectacular prediction failures.
Even though some of its predictions have come to pass, it has gotten it wrong on many occasions.
For example, the EIU predicted that Nana Akufo-Addo will win the 2008 general election in Ghana, but it was Professor Evans Mills of the NDC who won that election.
In the recent Nigerian general election held on February 25, 2023, the EIU predicted a win for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but it was Bola Tinubu, the former Governor of Lagos State and nominee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who won that election.
The same think tank predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 US election, but it was Donald Trump who carried the day in that election. And this was the US turf where data for analysis, triangulations and attendant statistics are readily available unlike in Malawi where it is difficult to obtain such accurate data. Still, the EIU goofed.
Having done an objective and dispassionate analysis of the latest EIU report on Malawi, it is difficult to understand why the organisation came to such an inconsistent conclusion.
President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) have been frantically working to stabilize the economy. The fuel queues that have been a constant feature in filling stations across the country and a flash point for ‘riots’ are now a thing of the past.
President has also just returned from Ghana where he held high level meetings with Afreximbank officials. Among other things, the bank has pledged to help Malawi with debt restructuring as well as funding to balance its books and to stabilize the economy.
Currently, the President is in China where he is attending the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) slated for June 28 to July 2 in Changsha City. While in China, the President is also expected to strike trade and investment deals with representatives of the Chinese private sector, among other things.
The sum total of these efforts is more investment as well as foreign exchange for Malawi in the short, medium to long term and not ‘riots’ as the EIU report is trying to make Malawians believe whilst fanning the flames of an opposition rhetoric.
In fact, the same EIU agrees that there will be economic growth in the next 12 months as quoted in its report: “Despite social instability, GDP growth will accelerate from 2024 if funding lines open up through the ECF and as output in the mining and agricultural sectors picks up”. It is well documented that Malawi and IMF are at an advanced stage towards striking an ECF facility.
Malawians are, therefore, inclined to conclude that the EIU report on Malawi will go down as one of those spectacular prediction failures based on the solid fact that President Lazarus Chakwera and the MCP government have put in place measures to ensure economic stability, and have two years to round that up before the next elections.
The ‘riots and election loss’ predictions for the current government are, therefore ,just a figment of EIU imagination, plus those that are running with that false narrative.
