Football Association to raise fund for bereaved Families for Make Sure Pirates
Lilongwe, December 25, 2019: Central Region Football Association (CRFA) plans to host Blantyre derby in Kasungu to raise K20 million to assist bereaved families of Make Sure Pirates of Area 25.
CRFA Vice General Secretary, Antonio Manda disclosed this Tuesday when he briefed journalists at Civo clubhouse in Lilongwe.
The match has been organized in honour of the departed soul of two players, Douglas Mkorongo, and Blessing Mhango and club official, Chimwemwe Mkwinja.
He said CFRA has organized the match involving TNM Super League Champions, Nyasa Big Bullets and second placed, Be Forward Wanderers to be played in Kasungu.
“We want to provide an opportunity for residents of Kasungu to watch the Blantyre derby at their backyard. We are targeting to raise over K 20 million in order to assist bereaved families,” Manda added.
The Vice General Secretary said a division one side, Make Sure Pirates were involvement in a road accident on November 10, 2019 when they were traveling to Mchinji to fulfill their fixture division one against St Gabriel Medicals.
“The club lost three people, an official and two players and several players were injured,” he explained.
Manda said the y have printed t-shirt to be put on by the two teams and Bullets would be wearing t-shirt with a face of Mhango (Bullets fan), Wanderers bearing the face of Mkorongo (Wanderers diehard) and club
officials would be wearing the face of Mkwinja.
He said gate charges are as follows open stand K 2,000 and VIP stand would be K10, 000.00.
Manda said there would be pre-sale of tickets on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at the Stadium.
“We will like to appeal to well- wishers to come forward to help us with any assistance in order to help the bereaved families with some materials,” he echoed.
The Owner of Make Sure Pirates, Leonard Chinjala said it was welcome development taking into account that the club has lost three people at once.
He said the gesture demonstrated by CRFA is worth commending saying the assistance would go long way to help the bereaved families.
A relative of one the deceased player, Thom Mkorongo said bereaved families have expressed gratitude to CRFA for planning to stage such a big match in order to help them.
“We are hoping that soccer fans in Kasungu and surrounding areas will come in their large number in order to watch the game,” he said.
Make Sure Pirates are no longer playing league games and at the time of accident were on position seven after playing 33 games
Malawi’s Girl Child Advocate Memory Banda Gets UN Award
Malawi’s 23 year old girl child advocate, Memory Banda, has been awarded the United Nations’ Young Activist Award for her efforts in fighting child marriage and promoting access to education for girls. The high level award ceremony which took place in Geneva attracted Ministers, Diplomats, UN officials, NGO leaders and other dignitaries.
Speaking during the ceremony, UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem applauded Memory for her efforts in safeguarding rights of her fellow young people. “It is your efforts that are helping us to build a more just, a more inclusive and a more sustainable future. You have proven that indeed women are powerful change makers”, Said Kanem.
In her acceptance speech, Ms Banda dedicated the award to the vigilant girls in rural areas who are working tirelessly to change the status quo of their communities. “I grew up in a society where child marriage, sexual violence and early pregnancies have been rampant. In my childhood, I have seen many girls dropping out of school, getting pregnant, forced into marriages and sexually violated. My own sister was forced to marry to a man that impregnated her at 11. The community did nothing about it but encouraged girls to accept and be silent. In extreme cases, girls were being raped and community justified such acts as cultural through cleansing the girls” lamented memory.
From 2013 to 2017, Memory, who is the Founder of Foundation 4 Girls Leadership (F4GL) led campaigns dubbed I will marry when I want and the Girl Plan under Genet and Plan Malawi which mobilised 42000 people online and on the streets to sign a petition to raise marriage age to 18 and request the government to remove all the irregularities pertaining to the definition of a child. All the campaigns were successful. Through her work, she has mentored 2000 girls in the past five years and has inspired thousands of other girls and women globally.
I started mobilizing girls in my community and country to stand up and fight for their rights and gender equality. I strongly believe that girls are change agents and with empowerment change is invertible. For the past 5 years, I have been mentoring over 2000 girls in Malawi and inspire thousands of other girls and young women globally through her work. She has spoken at high level meetings including United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Commission on Status of Women (CSW) and TED talk among many international platforms. Her work has been covered in international media such as BBC, CNN, Forbes Magazine among others.
Memory was awarded the International inspiring youth student Award in 2015 in Taiwan and she was also nominated for the Kids Right Prize Award. Currently, she is a member of Pan African Young Speakers and Activists; Freedom Speakers Bureau under the Human Rights Foundation, recognized Goalkeeper for the Global Goals under the Gates Foundation. She has served as a board member for both local and international organizations as an advisor on adolescent girls.
Other awardees were Nadia Burad who won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war, Amy and Ella Meek from United Kingdom who are sisters that launched a global campaign to end plastic pollution, Hamangai Pataxo an environmental advocate from Brazil and Rebecca Kabuo a leader in the movement for good governance in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Government calls for peace during election case ruling
As the day of election case ruling slowly approaches, the government has taken effort in calling all Malawians to maintain peace, unity and tolerance during this time.
In a press release signed by Information Minister Mark Botomani ,The Government of Malawi would like to assure Malawians and all people living in Malawi that peace and rule of law remain priorities as the country wait for the ruling of the Constitutional Court in the 2019 Presidential Election case.
the statement went on to read “It is the belief of Government that all parties involved in the case shall exercise statesmanship to let the Constitutional Court work professionally based on evidence, facts and law. Government has already shown its commitment to peace during the entire Presidential Election case hearing.
As one way of demonstrating a gesture of peace, His Excellency the President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika has met leaders of the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) and has reiterated his willingness to meet all parties involved in the Presidential Election Case despite their lack of interest to do so.
Government would like to applaud the Judiciary in general, and the Constitutional Court Judges in particular, for declaring, through Lead Judge Justice Healey Potani, that the judges’ verdict will not in any way be influenced by public opinion. This is reassuring to all peace-loving Malawians who cherish the Rule of Law and the independence of the Judiciary.
This is why as Government we are perturbed with and condemn in the strongest terms sentiments by a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) official at a rally at Mponela in Dowa on Saturday, 14 December, 2019. The official spoke to intimidate judges who are hearing the Presidential Election case to determine the case in a particular way. We would like to urge the public to desist from interfering with the court process and being seen to influence the outcome of the Presidential Election case. All Malawians must be mindful of the fact that the Presidential Election case is also sub-judice.
Government would also like to assure all Malawians and all people living in Malawi that all security agencies will be on high alert during this period, including after judgement, to ensure that peace and calm continue to prevail in the country.
Let us embrace principles of peaceful coexistence and remain tolerant of each other despite differences in our opinion and political beliefs. Let us all respect the Rule of Law and accept the ruling of the Constitutional Court, whatever the outcome. Let us all remain united and continue making Malawi the Warm Heart of Africa.
Gwamba launches new album in style
Thousands of music lovers from all walks of life on Saturday flocked to Lilongwe Golf Club to witness the grand launch of Gwamba’s second album titled Mama Said God First.
In a typical Gwamba fashion, the award-winning artist roped in both gospel and secular musicians to support the groundbreaking event.
Among others, the launch also saw up-and-coming acts such as Focus 265 Management artists— Toria and Cookie Kay—perform as curtain raisers.
Lilongwe-based rapper Charisma opened up for the main supporting acts followed by lyricists Classic and Achina Guttah.
At 15:50 hours, South Africa-based gospel musician Onesmus jumped on stage with his smash hit Miracle Money, delivering an energetic performance.
“It feels great to be home. I felt like blessing the fans. I wish Gwamba all the best,” Onesmus said in an interview after his performance.
Then Fredokiss, who bought and distributed 1 000 tickets to his fans, followed with a series of hits, including Malamuloamu Ghetto which he performed in an a cappella version with Ras Dema.
Speaking after the performance, Ras Dema thanked Fredokiss for the platform, saying it was a dream come true.
Then Kell Kay took to the stage before the man of the moment, Gwamba.
Gwamba dished out hits from his 2016 Jesus Is My Boss as well as the latest Mama Said God First albums, including Mapiko and Mr Yesu, among others.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch, Gwamba described the show as a success.
“Just look at the crowd. This is a clear manifestation that God is working through my music. We want to touch and change as many lives as we can. I want everyone to remember to put God first,” he said.
Quizzed on the next move, the rapper said: “We are taking Mama Said God First album launch to Blantyre on 29 February 2020.”
However, missing on the list of performers was Amaona Kuchedwa hitmaker, Lawi.
Commenting on the Lawi’s absence, Gwamba said: “Lawi had family issues. He really wanted to come.”
Great Angels Choir closed the show with their angelic performance which touched the many thousands that attended and watched the launch on TV.