Journalist Dorothy Kachitsa has on Sunday been elected chairperson of the Association for Women in Media (AWOME).
The elections took place at its first ever Annual General Meeting held in Mponela in Dowa district.
Speaking after the election, Kachitsa,said she will not disappoint women in the media in the country.
“I pledge to use the association as a platform that will provide mentorship for female media practitioners.
Kachitsa
“It has not been easy for the association to get this far, we owe it to support from a lot of people and institutions, I would like to ask all women practitioners in the media industry to take advantage of the association to network and build each other,” said Kachitsa.
She added that the vision for the newly ushered executive committe is to ensure that women dominate in leadership and decision making positions like never before, but also strive to improve the country’s development.
On her part, veteran journalist Jayne, appealed for the new committee to cultivate unity in the group.
“I hope the new committee will level the ground to ensure that all members feel represented and part of the grouping,” she said.
The elections, conducted by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), also saw Lisa Malango appointed as vice chairperson, while Edith Gondwe was elected to the position of general secretary, deputised by Towera Katswiri.
Five media women were elected executive members and these are Wezzie Nyirongo, Nyuma Chokhotho, Faith Kamtambe Kadzanja, Rabeca Chimjeka, and Perina Wahara.
AWOME was registered 3 year ago.
Its goal is to promote the advancement of women in the Malawi media by providing trainings, networking opportunities, monitoring developments that affect and promoting the coverage women, among others.
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Secretary General Elsenhower Mduwa Mkaka on Sunday assured the people of Lilongwe City South West that the Government has lined up different development activities aimed at changing the face of the constituency.
Mkaka was speaking at Sese Ground during the development rally. The SG said the Government has rolled out a construction of 900 Clinics across the country and that the said area will benefit.
According to Mkaka all projects which have been drawn in other constituencies will replicate to the area citing water, roads infrastructure, school blocks just to mention a few.
Mkaka has since asked people in the area to continue supporting Member of Parliament of the area Hon Nancy Tembo if the area is to continue receiving various projects from the Government.
During the rally , Minister of Local Government Richard Chimwendo Banda assured the youths in the constituency that the Government is taking care of them through National economic empowerment fund (NEEF).
Mkaka and Tembo
Chimwendo urged the youths to form groups and register in order to benefit from the scheme.
Speaking at the same rally, Member of Parliament for the area, Nancy Tembo, hailed Area committees in her constituency for the love shown towards MCP. She said what these people want is nothing but development projects.
Tembo commended the Malawi leader President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera for the developments taking place in her constituency. She says Chakwera is developing Malawi without political eye even without seeing regions.
“These developments are taking place while Malawi is facing global challenges caused by natural disasters and wars in Europe we are so thankful to the president,” he said.
Nancy had time cites all projects taking place in her constituency for people to appreciate such as school blocks , water and sanitation, roads infrastructure, and many other projects.
Super League of Malawi (SULOM) says despite the congestion on the football fixture for the elite league in the 2023 soccer season, mechanisms are in place to ensure that the league finishes in time, on the same day and without occasioning any negative externalities.
SULOM made these sentiments during a press briefing chaired by vice president Colonel Gilbert Mitawa, where they emphasized that due to the adoption of one game per week policy, it has made the 2023 super league season highly competitive and exciting as the policy has been a key driving force towards Reviving, Reforming and Rebranding the elite league.
Sulom Vice president Colonel Gilbert Mittawa
“Let me, however admit that implementation of this policy has not been an easy task. The main challenge has been fixture congestion due to several factors. Firstly, several stadiums were closed for maintenance and failure to meet licencing infrastructure requirements. This forced SULOM to reschedule some matches against the provisional season fixture that had been released at the beginning of the season,” reads part of the statement.
They also mentioned some other factors to be National team engagements and unplanned prolonged camping of the national team together with the introduction of CASTEL CUP including participation of Nyasa Big Bullets in CAF Champions league.
“SULOM understands the negative impact of fixture congestion to Clubs, players and the league as a whole. Fixture congestion undermines efforts to professionalize the game but most importantly, affects the welfare of players due to risk of fatigue, burn out and undesirable injuries,” the statement adds.
On the other hand, SULOM highlighted that this situation is not seen only in Malawi football as Europe and South Africa elite league were also affected with Qatar World Cup and CAF competitions respectively.
However SULOM assures its affiliates and all football loving Malawians that it is taking measures to mitigate the impact of congestion for the remaining 2023 fixtures, among others there is an introduction of mid-week games especially for teams that have fewer games than others.
They also admitted that they are engaging their mother body FAM to allocate Mid-week cup games to mitigate the impact of fixture congestion and player burn out, further more they expect that National team will not have extended camping periods as has been the case in the past.
An international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) fully registered by National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) buildOn, will embark on a project “Breaking the cycle of poverty, low expectation through service and education” constructing school blocks in Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchisi and Nkhotakota targeting 34,000 children by the year 2026.
BuildOn is targeting 34,000 children out of school and has been implementing school blocks construction projects in Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Mali and Malawi with support from Educate A Child in the project named “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty “and the goal is for improved, inclusive and equitability of education for out of school children.
The Ministry of Education helps to identify the most vulnerable communities for school block construction project with emphasis on children who have access to school but who are not enrolled and those who do not have access. Briefing the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa at a meeting held at the boma, buildOn Malawi Country Director McDonald Chiputula, said his organization is implementing the project to see children having access in primary education in line with Malawi Vision 2063. Chiputula said the project will see to it that by the end of 2063, children of 12 years and below must have primary education that will be compulsory observing that it cannot be compulsory if they don’t have infrastructures to access education.
Mcdonald Chiputula:The Dowa Dec has been so supportive to us
He said the project has three main focus areas; construction of school blocks, holding sensitization meetings for kids and parents to have knowledge of the importance of school and having Income generating structures to reduce absenteeism because of poverty and other factors for all children to return to school. The Country Director said build on started construction of classroom blocks in Kasungu in 2021 saying the project will be completed in 2026 in Dowa and thereafter, the organization will continue building schools in the district until 30 percent saturation is accomplished. He said the organization has plans to build 17 school blocks in Dowa district in the year 2024 saying all areas of the seven Traditional Authorities will be covered for children to access better and quality primary education in a new environment.
The Country Director said if communities are participating more and the cost of building materials are a little bit cheaper, the organization will build 18 or 19 school blocks but this will depend on the cost of materials saying 13,000 already done and by the end of 3 years, they will reach 34,000 children. “By the end of the program, all learners of Dowa will have access to school for them to have a better future, 13,000 children already given access to school blocks and by the end of 3 years, we will reach 34,000 children,” said Chiputula. Chiputula then, thanked the District executive committee for Dowa for being so supportive and giving guidance on how to do better expressing hope that with the support given, build on will achieve its intended outcomes in Dowa district. In her remarks, Dowa District Council’s Director of Planning and Development Mercy Mpakule, advised buildOn to actively engage the office of the District Community Development (DCDO), and not starting construction of classroom blocks before submitting the project to the Department of Physical Planning.
Mpakule expressed hope that the project will assist in the reduction of illiteracy levels in the district also advising the organization to provide to Dec reports on the project’s progress and signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)with the council and CSO Network to enhance cooperation, transparency and accountability.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) says it has plans to have a national champion in the District FAM cup.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu disclosed this in an interview on Saturday during the launch of the K90 million District FAM cup held in Dowa.
Nyamilandu said having a national champion would not only help spot talent but also assist football administrators to know which districts are weak.
“We want that the variety, the scope must increase. We want to have a national champion because having a national champion in the District FAM cup will help us get down to know which districts are doing well and which one is lagging behind,” he said.
He further said that FAM will consider putting the cup on permanent fixture as opposed to how it has been operating.
Walter Nyamilandu Manda…. carrying a FAM District Cup in his hands
“We didn’t know that this cup would grow like this. It has proved to be successful. We have seen new talents and what we are saying is this cup is here to stay. It must be a permanent fixture in our calendar,” he said.
The FAM president further disclosed plans to have the stakes in the District FAM cup increased saying the competition has proved to be instrumental in identifying local talent.
“Our budget for the next four years already accommodates for an increase. This competition will see substantial increase in sponsorship,” he said.
Speaking in separate interviews, Chairperson the Central Region Football Association Austin Ajawa and Chairperson for Lilongwe District Football Association Gift Jere applauded FAM for the competition saying the cup has helped identify talent in district.
Currently, FAM is also sponsoring the Division one FAM motto league league in all the 3 regions of the country.
During the launch, Tchawale City FC drew 1-1 against Kalembelembe of Dzaleka in Dowa.
The event was patronised by people from all walks of life including the 3 Regional Associations namely: Northern Region Football Association, Southern Region Football Association and Central Region Football Association. The Referees Association, District Football Associations(DFA’s) and other associations also witnessed the glamorous event.
