Vice President Dr. Michael Usi who is also Minister of Public Service Delivery has hailed Neno District Council for its reform initiatives, particularly the establishment of a High Dependency Unit (HDU) at the district’s hospital.
Speaking during a public sector reforms review meeting in Blantyre on Friday,Usi emphasized that reforms should prioritize people’s interests and provide accessible healthcare services within the district.
Usi
He stressed the importance of delivering quality healthcare services locally.
“When people are sick, they should not have to travel to Blantyre to seek medical attention.They should receive the care they need right there in the district,” said Usi.
The VP called for discipline, professional ethics, and adherence to core values to ensure effective service delivery.
He also advised the council to implement a robust monitoring and evaluation system to track the reforms, given Neno’s history of neglect in terms of road infrastructure and development.
On his part, Secretary in the office of Vice President responsible for Public Sector Reforms, Dr. Luckie Sikwese, noted that Neno’s reform areas are unique and hold significant potential to transform lives and advance key reform objectives.
In her brief speech,Neno District Commissioner(DC), Rosemary Nawasha, outlined the council’s three key reform areas: agricultural diversification and structured markets, irrigation development, and the establishment of the HDU at Neno District Hospital.
Civil Society Advocacy Forum (CSAF) has urged the government to prioritize domestic funding for the health sector, citing concerns over the country’s heavy reliance on donor support.
Speaking at an interface meeting with the Ministry of Health and Treasury in Dowa on Friday,CSAF Vice Chairperson,Simon Sikwese said the dependence on donors not only undermines the country’s autonomy in healthcare decision-making but also leads to the implementation of donor-driven priorities rather than Malawi’s specific needs.
He emphasized the need for Malawi to take charge of its healthcare financing.
“We must forget about relying on donors and lead in deciding the health of our people,” he said.
Sikwese also highlighted the impact of the termination of US aid and the need to generate resources to fill the resulting gaps.
He pointed out that Malawi has various opportunities to finance the health sector, including enhancing paying services in public hospitals, promoting health insurance, and partnering with the private sector.
He also mentioned the potential of sin taxes as a revenue source.
On his part,Vitumbiko Gwamba Zgambo from the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) echoed Sikwese’s sentiments, suggesting that the government promote mining to support health services and introduce special levies, such as tollgate fees, to fund the health sector.
Zgambo also emphasized the importance of collaboration between the government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in promoting domestic health financing, calling for civil society representation in the Health Financing Reforms Committee(HFRC).
Civil Service United Football Club has has paid tribute to its former Head Coach Alex Masanjala who died in the early hours of Saturday, June 14, 2025.
In a statement signed by the team’s Chief Executive Officer, Edgar Chipalanjira, the club says it is deeply saddened by the passing of Masanjala.
According to the club, Masanjala was a very dedicated coach who helped the team to be what it is today.
The Late Masanjala
“We fondly remember and celebrate his remarkable tenure at Civil, which was marked by great success, including winning prestigious silverware such as the Presidential Cup,” reads the statement in part.
Coach Masanjala passed on on Saturday morning at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre after a long illness.
Apart from Civil, Masanjala also coached FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, Mighty Wanderers, Silver Strikers, Mighty Tigers and the defunct MDC United, Escom United and Blantyre United.
A long -standing bilateral relationship between Malawi and China continues to bear good fruits, as a Chinese leading heavy manufacturing equipment company Sany Group has committed to invest in Malawi’s mining sector through the establishment of heavy Mining equipment.
In 2023, the state president of the Republic of Malawi Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera visited the company in Changsha- China where he was gifted an excavator, a symbol of a good relationship between Malawi and China.
On Friday 13th June,2025, the minister of Mining Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma who is currently in China for the 2025 China- Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) ,visited the company to understand on how best the company can come in to help in promoting Malawi’s mining sector.
Speaking during the meeting, Sany Group of Companies Vice president Roger Guo committed to invest in Malawi by supporting the sector through machinery.
Guo highlighted that the company is currently doing research in the country on the type of mining it can venture together with other partners, stressing that it has full capacity and necessary equipment for the mining.
Additionally, Sany Group vice president revealed that the company intends to bring the best technologies to help in providing comprehensive solutions to the country’s mining sector.
He said:“The company has been inspired to invest in Malawi because of the long-standing relationship that has existed between Malawi and China, as currently the company is investing in solar energy and soon it will embark on the mining sector in which it is doing some investigations at the moment”.
Responding to the matter, Malawi’s Minister of Mining Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma described China as a true partner in development, highlighting that the good relationship between Malawi and China is aimed at benefiting the people of the two nations.
Ng’oma applauded Sany Group of Companies for showing the interest to invest in Malawi’s mining sector,citing it as a stepping stone toward the growth of the sector.
He further noted that the coming of technology in the mining sector will enable the youths and women to develop interest in the sector.
“We need our youths to be innovative and creative, so the coming of the sophisticated machinery and equipment by our partners will be a catalyst in the promotion of the mining sector through the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) and other advancements.
Our State President Dr.Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera once visited the company,so I thought it wise to pay a courtesy call to map the way forward on how best we can take the mining sector forward in partnership with Sany Group of Companies,” the minister explained.
Sany Group is a multinational company that has three listed companies , including Sany heavy industry, Sany International, and Sany renewable energy with core businesses such as equipment manufacturing machinery,mining machinery and petroleum machinery.
Malawi President, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, has expressed delight at the prospect of a revitalized Marine transport network, following investment plans that will see the country’s legacy vessel “The Illala”, being replaced with a more modern passenger / cargo vessel.
President Chakwera shared the sentiments on Monday, during a meeting with a delegation of German investors. consisting of business persons, at Chikoko Bay, Monkey Bay.
The meeting is a follow up to an interaction President Chakwera had with potential investors, when he visited Frankfurt, Germany in 2024 and explored various business opportunities to benefit the country.
Subsequent to these fruitful engagements, the delegation is now in the country to cement the discussions led by His Excellency, with a tour and assessment of various marine transport infrastructure.
Chakwera with German Investors
The delegation had the opportunity to visit the Port of Chipoka in Salima, the Ship Yard and the Maritime Training College in Monkey Bay.
The Port in question is a multimodal set up connected to both rail and road but has not been operational due to siltation that ended up reducing the depth of water permissible for berthing of vessels.
Once reestablished Chipoka will be able to handle coal from the North to central and Southern parts of Malawi for manufacturing industries, further bolstering Malawi’s ATM strategy by facilitating transportation in the mining sector.
Critically the investors also inspected the Illala and appreciated its resilience for over 70 years of service, with the view to promptly replacing it with a more innovative and current vessel.
The Illala is the only vessel offering a passenger service at present. To this end the investors have commenced works by requesting structural and architectural designs of the Illala and other vessels operating on lake Malawi; as well as a chart of the passenger and cargo routes in place, in order to map a viable reconstruction and replacement plan for the famous vessel.
In his remarks President Chakwera said he is happy that the investors have seen the challenges the maritime transport sector faces and have conceived solutions to these challenges.
“…Lake Malawi is not just a tourism attraction but a viable means to addressing some of Malawis economic challenges through effective transportation infrastructure, among other attributes….” Said Chakwera.
Leader of the delegation Daniel Imhauser said he is pleased with what he has seen thus far and recognized the breadth of potential for development that is evident from the structures he has seen, reiterating that the Illala needs to be replaced swiftly and that the German team is ready to do so.
Imhauser expressed that a team of 20 experts in Germany are keen to change the conversation whose genesis was Frankfurt Germany, to action here on the ground in Malawi, adding that the investors wish to offer training opportunities to indigenous Malawian maritime technical staff, in order to empower the Malawi workforce.
In his opening remarks, Min of Transport and Public Works, Hon. Jacob Hara also highlighted that the investors are prepared to also replace cruise vessels that would facilitate the tourism industry.
The investors also visited the Marine Training College – the only institution that trains seafarers and marine engineers in Malawi, where they appreciated need for the college to partner with German experts and training institutions to ease the challenges the college is facing in terms of IT support, learning materials, and modern training equipment and simulators.
President Chakwera has since tasked his government to finalize the administrative details of this venture in order to attest transforming the marine transport network and by extension work towards attaining the 2063 agenda which espouses self reliance among other things.
President Chakwera is currently in the Eastern Tegion where he carrying out a number of official engagements.
The German delegation is expected to leave the country on Saturday.
