Malawi President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Tuesday joined Malawians to mourn the football ‘magnet’ keeper, Bonface Maganga, who died on Tuesday at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
Late Maganga will be remembered as high-level keeper who helped the Flames to win East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup in 1978 and 1979.
Chakwera has since described the death of Maganga as a great loss to the country.
The President has further extended his deepest condolences to his family, friends, and all those who knew him.
“The First Lady and I are saddened by the passing of Boniface Maganga, Malawi’s legend goalkeeper who played for the Malawi national team and several clubs in the country.
Renowned for his exceptional skills on the field, his unwavering devotion to the sport, and his commitment to nurturing young talent, Maganga’s contribution to Malawian football shall forever be etched in our memory.
He has left behind an enduring legacy in the realm of sports. His passing is a great loss to the football community in Malawi and beyond,” said the Malawi leader in a statement.
A Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) Liaison Assistant David Mwawa Chingola has released a new album titled’ Jimani’ .
Chingola who is also a retired Malawi Defense Force(MDF) said in an interview that ‘Jimani’ album seeks to preach about positive benefits of Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as the love of God.
He said the album has ten songs such as Kondwani, Confessions,Ndifuna,Glory for me and Jimani (a title) among others.
David Mwawa Chingola
The country’s fast-rising Afro Jazz singer said the love of Christ and the music talent that has been in him for over 26 years now are what motivated him to drop the album.
When asked to comment on how music industry is performing in Malawi, Chingola said: “Music in Malawi is heading to the greater heights to exploits
“We have good musicians and Singers as well as Producers.COSOMA is doing well nowadays evidenced by the fact that there is now what we call auto tracking of any song played on Radio or TV.
“We need just keep exploring more in music since we are in a digital world and everything changes daily.
“And most of all, musicians must now learn how to read Music in staff notation and stay long in studio in order to come up with mature music coz the music market is not that easy to penetrate.”
The musician who is inspired by Malawi’s gospel musicians Lloyd Phiri and the late Wambali Mkandawire appealed to the government to introduce Music as a subject from primary level to tertiary level as well as making sure that Ministry which looks after musicians is well bankrolled with enough money for music competitions and others activities that can develop music in the country.
Chingola started singing in 1996 when he was in standard eight.
Apart from being a musician, he also plays guitar and have had stint with Mulangeni and the Malawi Army Strings Bravo for Kamuzu Barracks in Lilongwe.
His ‘Jimani’ album has been produced by Thatcher Ng’oma who once been Wambali’s lead guitarist.Voices and Saxophone were recoderd by Right kanyama Dream Music studios owned by Right Kanyama.
The album can be accessed on Malawi music. com or by contacting him on 0996 093 439.
President Lazarus Chakwera has described natural disasters as a pain on Malawi.
The Southern region has thousands of people whose livelihood or work have been destroyed by floods triggered by cyclones which kept hitting in circles while in the Northern Region, thousands of households are currently being provided with social protection due to drought that destroyed their livelihood and work.
Speaking at Masintha ground in Lilongwe during this year’s commemoration of International Labour Day on Monday, 1st May, 2023, Chakwera said alot of Malawians are in pain that has come about due to natural disasters.
“In economic terms, Cyclone Freddy alone has sunk more workers into unemployment and poverty, increased their food insecurity and malnutrition, and reduced their access to health, education, utility, transport, and sanitation services. And in monetary terms, our experts now estimate that the damage and losses caused by Cyclone Freddy alone exceed $500 million, and that despite the 1.6 billion Kwacha that I ordered the treasury to release for emergency relief and despite all the additional support we have received from Malawians, neighboring countries, and development partners for Operation Tigwirane Manja we still have a shortfall of K107.3 million to address humanitarian needs that effected population are expected to face until the middle of June,” said the president.
Further, President Chakwera told the nation that the country is under natural attack.
He said the country needs for 700 billion Kwacha for recovery and reconstruction.
Added the President; “We are under such heavy attack that we need reinforcements from other nations in order to not mobilize the 107.3 million Kwacha needed to respond to the humanitarian crisis at hand and K700 billion needed to adequately recover and reconstruct what has been lost but we also need the support of other nations to better prepare and mitigate against the next disaster before it comes.
This is why the State of National Disaster that I declared on March 13th to call for international support remains in force and why I will personally use a few upcoming international gatherings of the world leaders to directly engage them with specific proposals on how they can support us with the daunting task we have going forward.”
Chakwera has since directed Minister of Labour to review the national job creation strategy that was launched in March last year to strengthen it to reflect the realities of the post disaster period that the country has found itself in.
In her remarks, Minister of Labour, Agnes Nyalonje thanked President Chakwera for creating a conducive working environment for workers in the country.
She added that his attendance to the function reaffirmed his commitment towards ensuring favourable working environment for all workers across the country.
This year’s commemoration has been held under the theme “Natural Disasters a Threat to Livelihoods and Decent Work: Creating Decent Jobs and Extending Social Protection is Key to Sustainable Recovery.”
Employer’s Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) has commended President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, and his administration for assenting into law, Labour Relations (Amendment) Act, and the Employment (Amendment) Act of 2021.
Speaking on Monday at Masintha Ground in Lilongwe where President Chakwera was presiding over the International Labour Day Commemoration, ECAM President Annie Chavula said two years down the line, the two pieces of legislation are working towards promoting job creation as well as the welfare of workers across the country.
Chavula said the two laws make Malawi progressive in managing labour relations while also dealing away with forced and child labour.
“Employers are a critical energy in driving decent work.
“As Employers, we look forward to further policy interaction and dialogue,” she said.
On his part, Malawi Congress of Trade Union (MCTU) President Charles Kumchenga also joined ECAM in thanking President for tirelessly instilling hope among Malawians who were affected by the devastating Tropical Cyclone Freddy.Kumchenga has since described the Malawi leader as a visionary, inspiring and caring leader Malawi has ever had.
In his speech at the event,President Lazarus Chakwera said in view of the country’s development agenda, workers remain an integral component in the implementation of short, medium and long-term projections informed by the Malawi2063 vision.
He disclosed that he has restated his administration’s untiring efforts to listen to and act on persistent appeals by national stakeholders, both in public and private sector, for more jobs, good wages and all other accompanying benefits.
Said Chakwera:”My administration will always remain compliant to the Sustainable Development Goal Number 8 which seeks to “Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.”
This year, the day is was commemorated under the theme “Natural Disasters a Threat to Livelihoods and Decent Work: Creating Decent Jobs and Extending Social Protection is Key to Sustainable Recovery”
The theme was carefully selected to highlight the significant role of workers in recovery efforts following socio-economic devastation rendered by Cyclone Freddy early this year.
The football fraternity in the country is in great grief following the death of Former Flames and Mighty Wanderers goalkeeper, Boniface Maganga.
Maganga died in the afternoon hours of Sunday at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Blantyre where he was receiving treatment.
Maganga
The winning custodian of the 1978 and 79 East and Central Africa Senior Challenge cup is considered by many as the best-ever shot-stopper the country produced.
He was famed for stopping penalties during his playing days.
