A 28-year- old Kaunjika seller Thoko Charles from Lilongwe has become the first woman to win a 43 inches TV plasma screen in the ongoing Premier Loto Village Promotion.
The young lady who met his fortune from a K1,100 stake has asked fellow women in the country not to consider gambling as business.
In the same Premier Loto Village Promotion, another Lilongwe resident Umali Usi, 27, has also won a similar type of state of the art screen from tickets worth K15,000.
Meanwhile, Lilongwe’s Premier Loto network manager Veston Kambalame said he is impressed at the rate people are patronising the game during the promotion period.
During this week’s draw, at least 200 people have won Premier Loto branded t-shirts.
Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule has challenged Quantity Surveyors in the country to work tirelessly in order to help the Government in its quest to have this country developed.
Speaking during the opening of this year’s international conference for Africa Association of Quantity Surveyors (AAQS) whose theme is “Africa’s 2063 Agenda and the Built Environment: The Evolving Role of a Quantity Surveyor” Kamtukule said said Quality Surveyors plays crucial role in the development of the country.
Hon Vera Kamtukule
The Minister said there have been stories of building a toilet and costing it at K20Million.
“This is time to see you addressing a press conference and tackling these issues because you are experts on these issues,” he said.
The Minister emphasised that Quantity Surveyors need to turn around as we have stayed in one place for too long.
We need to take up the challenge and speak up whenever we see that we have not been there is a project with no consulting QS.
The Minister said that the government has an open door policy and you need to take advantage of that by making sure that surveyors meet the responsible government departments, Minister and the president.
The Minister further lamented that it is obscene for Malawi to have only 47 licensed Quantity Surveyors, it means we are not doing enough.
She further advised that Quantity Surveyors to take deliberate moves for career talks in primary and secondary school to make the profession known. She advised that she has taken note of all recommendations and will be followed up.
Honourable Kamtukule said the grouping has been on the mountain for so long and its time to turn around and take your journey.
In his speech , President for Surveyors Institute of Malawi, QS Martin Chimangeni commended the Minister for coming to open the conference. Chimangeni said his Organization has agreed to the challenge of working hard.
Chimangeni commended the current regime for providing conducive environment which the body has been operating on.
“Honourable Minister, Quantity Surveyors in Malawi are like a fish that is smoked, a sweet potato that is crushed, and a banana left to dry with no juice in it. We are happy you are here to care for the nursery so that we can, again, put on our mad boots for the hustle as we stand to reclaim the lost glory of the profession,” he said.
Surveyors Institute of Malawi (SIM) has been in existence since 1975 and is among the oldest professional bodies in the country. The institution comprises Land Surveyors including hydrographic and geological surveyors; Quantity Surveyors and Land Economy or valuation surveyors, commonly known as valuers.
Land Surveyors specialize in global positioning and mapping. Through the land surveyors, we get the famous deed plans for title preparation and documentation, contours, road mapping and surveying, water body mapping, geological mapping, and many others.
While in Quantity Surveyors there are the construction cost and procurement experts who have the expertise to ably combine their numerical supremacy, engineering understanding, and contract administrative prowess in the built environment.
They understand the construction and development market in terms of how work should be procured to effectively achieve maximum results whilst managing construction, legal and contract risks. They hold the key to the accountability of cost on projects and throughout the whole life cycle of a property. They are your construction economists and/or construction accountants.
The QS is in other countries referred to as a cost engineer with expertise in standardized documentation, construction contract administration, bills of Quantities, and credible Insurance or property replacement valuation expertise.
They are also involved in feasibility studies for the development of projects and general risk and insurance assessments.
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Director of Youth, Richard Chimwendo Banda has assured people of Dowa that Government intends to fast track rehabilitation of M1 Road.
Chimwendo was speaking in Mponela Dowa during the Development rally which Member of Parliament of area Darlington Harawa hosted.
Chimwendo said he will be meeting Minister of Transport to find ways how this project can be expedited.
Hon Chimwendo
Chimwendo said for long time Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regime neglected rehabilitation of this road project.
Chimwendo admitted that the project is indeed going at snail’s pace.
Speaking earlier Harawa, urged Government to speed up the project saying the road from Lilongwe has become a death trap.
Harawa said people are losing lives because of the road.
On 22 July, 2022, after many years of cries and demands to have the overused M1 road rehabilitated, Chakwera launched the 301km European Union (EU) funded project at Mtiti in Dowa.
The 140 billion kwacha project covers from Kamuzu International Airport turnoff in Lilongwe to Chiweta in Rumphi with four sections of the road constructed by different contractors.
M1 road is a backbone of the entire Malawi road infrastructure and the economy. It connects us to our shared development, it connects beauty of our shared environment and it connects us to the power of shared culture and to the prosperity of shared markets.
Minister of Homeland Security Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma has assured people with albinism of their security,saying security has been tightened in the country.
Ng’oma who is also MCP National Director of Strategic Planning made the assurance on Saturday during a political rally which he conducted at Chigumulire school ground in Nsanje district.
Zikhale assures people with albinism of security
Ng’oma said for a long time people with albinism have been facing killings and abductions in the country, hence making them live in fear and fail to support themselves.
Zikhale said anyone found killing and abducting people with albinism will face law.
During the rally, Zikhale also supported some people with albinism financially.
Leader of opposition in parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa says most opposition party leaders in the country live in an undemocratic style that consequently undermines the will of their members.
Nankhumwa who was on a week-long tour in Uganda made the remarks when he met the country’s National Unity Platform(NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu popularly known as Bobi Wine.
Nankhumwa and Uganda’s Bobi Wine
According to Nankhumwa, it is now high time that opposition leaders start adding value to the survival of democracy in their respective jurisdiction.
“Opposition parties have to reaffirm their commitment in regarding democracy as a bedrock and fundamental asset to socio economic development of the countries,” argued Nankhumwa.
In his speech, Kyagulanyi echoed with Nankhumwa arguing that democracy in different socities will only survive if it start being practiced by opposition parties.
Malawi has a multi-party system with over 40 registered political parties.
The political process in Malawi is such that parties are voted into power through elections.
The parties with the most representation in the National Assembly are the People’s Party (PP), Malawi Congress Party (MCP), United Democratic Front (UDF), and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
