Commander in chief of Citizen for transformation movement Timothy Mtambo has said he is happy and ready to serve in the government. He said this after rumours started circulating on social media that he has turned down the offer. Mtambo was picked to be in the newly unveiled cabinet by President Lazarus Chakwera to be Minister of Civic Education and National Unity.
Speaking to 247Malawi News of Thursday morning Mtambo said he is looking forward to serve Malawians in his new role “For the sake of nation good I am accepting this role. This role will give a better platform to continue the struggle that I have fought for many years, issues of human rights, freedom and national unity are very important for Malawi at this time”
Timothy Mtambo
President Chakwera announced his 31 member cabinet yesterday. Mtambo also took time to thank Malawians for their support and believes Tonse government will be a listening government.
“We have talked about servant leadership and this is what we will deliver, I would like to thank President Chakwera for putting faith in me and including me in his cabinet. This position is not mine only, it is for all Malawians and I am ready to serve” added Mtambo
Mtambo a human rights activist turned politician was at the forefront of demonstrations that called for removal of former Malawi electoral commission chairperson Jane Ansah. He then, formed a political movement back in April called Citizens for transformation Movement (CFT). It was the platform of this movement that he travelled all over the country campaigning after he endorsed the candidacy of President Chakwera and Dr Chilima.
At the age of 36 Mtambo is the youngest member of the cabinet
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved on June 19, 2020, a total of $157 million for the Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP), composed of a $78.5 million credit and $78.5 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA)*
Malawi’s water resources are under threat from severe land degradation and loss of forest cover. Critical watersheds are becoming degraded, leading to reduced water availability, deteriorating water quality, increased vulnerability to droughts and floods, reduced energy security, and reduced agricultural productivity. The project will therefore help to increase the adoption of sustainable landscape management practices in priority watersheds and improve watershed services and rural livelihoods. The project is the first in a series of operations aimed at supporting the implementation of the National Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy.
Greg Toulmin, World Bank Country Manager for Malawi.
“Nearly 8 million hectares, which is 80 percent of the total land area of Malawi, is degraded and requires restoration. Soil erosion and nutrient depletion are the most severe forms of land degradation that affect more than 60 percent of the entire land area. We have committed in our strategy to restore 4.5 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, and this project is the first opportunity we must invest at scale in reversing landscape degradation and protecting our most important watersheds,” says Dr. Henrie Njoloma, Secretary for Irrigation and Water Development.
Within the first three years, the project will provide $40 million in livelihood support to over a quarter million beneficiaries through various community grant schemes designed to encourage better land stewardship. In additional to the grants, the project makes available $45 million worth of water infrastructure, including 10 small multipurpose dams, 20 rainwater harvesting structures and 10 small-scale irrigation schemes to increase access to water for productive use. The infrastructure will create over 2,500 construction jobs and give people the chance to work and earn.
“Land degradation in Malawi is a major challenge, arising from environmental, climatic and other pressures. Previous projects, supported by the World Bank and other partners, have demonstrated that it is possible to restore degraded landscapes through an integrated package of interventions involving land and water management,” says Greg Toulmin, World Bank Country Manager for Malawi. “So, we see a long-term partnership between the World Bank and the Government of Malawi as crucial to these efforts at improving livelihoods and building rural resilience, especially in the context of Malawi’s recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The project will enhance the capacity of watershed management institutions at all levels to sustain interventions beyond the project and builds on the success of another World Bank-supported project, the Shire River Basin Management Project, which the Government of Malawi implemented from 2012 to 2019.
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $21 billion over the last three years, with about 61 percent going to Africa
Now that we know that the list of cabinet appointments is authentic, it is time to call upon all Malawians to rise up once more, raise their voices and reject this cabinet. Once again, Malawians are taken as fools. Newly elected President Chakwera has quickly transformed himself into a good salesman of words and rhetoric while serving the same stale dishes Malawians have fed on in the last 26 years. On Monday, he promised heaven, yesterday he unleashed hell. He’s ripped apart the speech he gave three days ago even before the ink in which it was written has dried. These are the actions of a man who doesn’t understand the moment and what needs to be done. He has reduced the electoral victory to the actions of a few individuals whose main interest is to profit from the state, not through the ordinary remuneration and other trappings ministerial positions offer, but though corruption and looting.
Chakwera and Chilima
Those who have called for a protest must be supported. Here are the reasons for rejecting this cabinet:
The restructing of the government is irrational, with some ministries broken up for no good reason, or having no concrete mandate deserving separate existence, while other important portfolios have been removed or ignored completely.
There’s no manifest bona fides rationale for the restructuring, which is linked to better delivery of the alliance manifesto. On the contrary it is evident that the structure is meant to accommodate the wide net of patronage networks.
The composition of the cabinet reflects back room deals founded on pay for play, corruption and nepotism.
Crooks and known looters have been appointed, sending a clear message that all talk about ending corruption and all gimmicks about shutting down the MRA and other institutions to nip looting was window dressing. We have seen this before, Malawians are not that stupid.
Key ministeries such as health, education, and foreign affairs need competent professionals to run them; to be sure, a medical doctor, an renowned academic, and a seasoned diplomat respectively. Individuals of questionable credentials have been appointed to thes portfolios.
The entire cabinet stinks of incest, and the smell is quite frankly unbearable. Not only has it been set up so that some families loot not just one ministry but two or more ministries.
The cabinet is embarrassingly male dominated, even as the ministry of gender and children has been abolished. If the men who have been appointed we’re exceptional, may be there could be an argument as to merit. But this argument is unavailable because we have some of the known incompetents and crooks on the list. There’s no excuse for marginalizing women in this day and age.
The cabinet lacks regional balance. Once more, the northern vote has been used for the hegemonic ambitions of another region. One should have expected a more fair representation from the north given the critic role it played in ushering in this government. It seems all credit has been given to the Vice President, which is altogether misplaced. Apart from the A-G, I haven’t seen any credible person from the north in this government who can stand up and put pressure to do good. The disproportionately few that are there are mere ‘hand clappers’, to use somebody’s terminology.
There are no stars in this cabinet. All we have is a collection of recycled politicians, spent forces, looters, privileged and spoilt sons of powerful families and a few unknown new additions.
If I am being too bland it is only because I cannot believe that the new President would stoop so low and dampen hopes so quickly. We need some rest please and so do the right thing!
Veteran gospel artist and a Senior Member for UTM Party Allan Ngumuya has tested positive for Covid-19, officials confirmed on Tuesday evening.
Ngumuya, who is also former Member of Parliament for Blantyre City South Constituency, has been admitted at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre where he is receiving treatment.
Meanwhile, Malawi has registered 59 new COVID-19 cases, 28 new recoveries, and five new deaths for the past 24 hours.
According to Chairperson for the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Dr John Phuka out 0f the new deaths, three are from Mzuzu, and one each from Lilongwe and Thyolo.
Allan Ngumuya
In total Malawi has recorded 1,877 cases including 24 deaths. Of these cases, 706 are imported infections and 1,098 are locally transmitted while 73 are still under investigation.
Cumulatively, 345 cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases to 1,508.
The average age of the cases is 34 years, the youngest case is aged 1 month, the oldest is 78 years and 67% are male.
Malawi has so far conducted 17,693 COVID-19 tests in 39 COVID-19 testing sites across the country.
The Mangaung-based outfit has reacted swiftly to the departure of Seema with the new technical team now confirmed
Bloemfontein Celtic have announced former captain John Maduka as their new head coach.
Maduka takes over from Lehlohonolo Seema who left the Phunya Sele Sele for Chippa United on Monday morning.
Former midfielder Abram Nteo will serve as Maduka’s assistant after being promoted from the club’s MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) team.
Simon Gopane will keep his position as the club’s goalkeeper coach.
The club confirmed the latest coaching changes to their technical team in a statement.
“Bloemfontein Celtic confirms the appointment of John Maduka of the club and we have promoted Abram ‘Wire’ Nteo as the new assistant coach with Simon Gopane as the goalkeeper coach and they will work hand-in-hand with John Maduka,” said the club.
“They’ve all got a good working relationship as they played together at the club.”
“Abram ‘Wire’ Nteo was the MDC head coach and they have previously promoted from the MDC to the senior team,” concluded the statement.
