Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati, has warned beneficiaries of the Social Cash Transfer Program that they risk withdrawal from the program if they misuse funds.
Speaking on Friday at an interface meeting held at Lilongwe Hotel with members of the Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs, Kaliati said there is a large faction of Malawians who are ultra poor and in dire need of support.
Kaliati
She therefore cautioned targeted beneficiaries to desist from reckless spending of the allocated money but rather put it to good use.
‘’We are warning those people who are benefiting from the social cash transfer program that if they use the money on beer then we are going to withdraw them because they are not serious and ungrateful of what government is doing,’’ Kaliati said.
She further extend the communication to those getting cash for their school fees, uniform and notebooks warning that they will not be exempted from the chop if it is found that they are not reporting to school.
The minister revealed that government has added five percent in the budget allocation on the cash transfer programme which is also targeting the vulnerable, people with disabilities and street children so that they should be supported to go to school.
She said: “Parent should not send their children to the streets to beg instead they should be in their homes so that the ministry target them”
“The same goes for all persons with disability in the streets we are asking to go back to their communities because once the budget is passed we will be targeting them in their households.’’
Kaliati expressed gratitude to all the donors who are supporting the programme.
With just a year and some months into her first term as an MP for Zomba Malosa Constituency, on Saturday Hon Abiti Malosa Grace Kwelepeta officially handed over a magnificent school block to Kanjeza Junior Primary school which is found in the village headman Kapichi T/A Malemia in Zomba district. The school block was constructed with Constituency Development Fund (CDF)
Speaking at the occasion Hon Kwelepeta said that her main aim is to continue developing the area despite being in opposition and make sure that no pupils learn under the trees.
Guest of honour who graced the event was Member of Parliament for Zomba Chisi constituency Hon Mark Botoman who strongly urged the people to still rally behind DPP UDF Alliance under the leadership of Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika till the convention is held
He humbly thanked Hon Kwelepeta for her commitment on to her constuents and said that he has learnt alot from her.Some of the people who attended the function were District Commissioner of Zomba Dr Smart Gwedemule,PEA Mrs Ndojime, Headteacher Mr Kaombe and teachers of the school,groupvillage headman Kapichi and DPP UDF Alliance members. Traditional dances spiced up the event.
There are positive vibes in the Nyasa Big Bullets camp after all players and officials were declared Coronavirus-free after a test conducted in Blantyre on Tuesday.
The news is pleasing to the TNM Super League champions as they prepare to start training for the new season next Saturday.
The test was in compliance with Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 and Football Association of Malawi conditions that necessitate every Super League club to send players and officials for testing.
Health officials conducted tests on nine coaching staff, 22 players, two media officers and three first team security officers at the People’s Team.
Bullets Players
A press release publicised Friday stated that the test excluded six players and one official who are in camp with the Malawi national football team.
“The test produced negative results for every individual. Rabson Chiyenda, whose previous three tests conducted while he was in camp with the Malawi national team came out positive, is one of the players whose tests are negative.
“Our players and officials have been advised been advised to remain steadfastly compliant with health and safety measures as the new football season is about to start,” part of the release reads.
Blantyre District Health Officer, Gift Kawalazira, confirmed the tests and advised all administrators, officials and athletes to undergo the test before commencing training.
“Our medical personal collected the samples and took them to Dream Centre laboratory for interpretation.
So I can confirm that the results came out negative. We are calling upon other teams to come for tests before they start training,” Kawalazira said.
Bullets follow in the footsteps of Silver Strikers who invited medical personnel to conduct tests on their players, four of whom tested positive.
Tests were also conducted on Malawi national football team players and officials as they started camp training for Wednesday’s match against Zambia.
The Commander in chief of Citizens for Transformation Movement (CFT) Timothy Mtambo on Saturday invaded Karonga central constituency to drum up support for MCP candidate Leonard Mwalwanda. Arriving at Lughali Mtambo was accorded warm welcome with people chanting his name amidst dancing and ululations. Karonga central is due to have parliamentary by elections after the death of former legislator Dr Cornelius Mwalwanda.
Karonga Central, popularly known as Benghazi has become a battleground for political strategies as MCP candidate Leonard Mwalwanda is scheduled to go head to head with UTM candidate and former legislator of the area Frank Tumpale Mwenifumbo.
Mtambo at Lughali in Karonga Central
At the rally held at Lughali Mtambo, whose CFT movement recently officially announced that it will support the candidacy of Mwalwanda said time has come for people of Karonga Central to wake up and focus on the development of the area. He said MCP candidate Leonard will be a continuation of the good works that the late Dr Cornelius was doing. Mtambo also took time to urge the people in the area to resist from political violence and not fall for politicians who promotes violence “Politics is now war or Violence , politics is development, so don’t fall prey to politicians who promote violence” urged Mtambo.
On the MCP Candidate Leonard Mwalwanda, Mtambo said the area needs a member of parliament who is development conscious , with great vision and someone who shares the values of President Chakwera. “if the people of this area need development, water in the area, jobs for young people then your future is in the hands of Mwalwanda”. Also, in attendance at the rally was Aford executive member Greene Lulilo Mwamondwe ,
Political experts have described Mwalwanda as the likely candidate to win as his popularity continues to increase “Mwalwanda is benefiting from the good works that the late Dr Cornelius Mwalwanda did, it’s not sympathy vote but the people want to honour him and haven’t forgotten what he did in the area. This is an MCP constituency, and with the presence of people like Timothy Mtambo, endorsing and Campaigning for Leonard, it will be hard for UTM candidate Mwenefumbo to carry the day “said Manchester based Political Scientist Allan Mandindi.
The First Lady, Madame Monica Chakwera on Friday joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day of the Girl Child (IDG) at a dinner held at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.
Organised by Plan International Malawi, the year 2020 was being commemorated globally under the theme ‘My voice, our equal future’. The event attracted notable figures including spouse to the Vice-President, Madame Mary Chilima, speaker of the national assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara and the global community just to mention a few.
Delivering her speech, Madame Chakwera said the world needs to stand and protect a girl child by giving her equal opportunities to education despite all the challenges encountered. Madame Chakwera made reference to her story, saying she grew up in an environment where she could have easily dropped out of school due to circumstances that surrounded her.
The First Lady of Malawi Madame Monica Chakwera speaks during the International Day of Girl Child Dinner at BICC
“I am grateful that my mom supported me. There are several challenges that hinder a girl child from furthering her studies and those include poverty, hunger and selfish motives.
“I grew up in a very poor environment, but my mom fought all odds to make sure that I continued with my education.
“That’s the spirit that all mothers need to have for a girl child to excel. My personal commitment comes from my childhood experiences. My mother and my brothers fought for me and here I am. This is the same way I am going to fight for all girls,” said Chakwera.
She said mothers in the village need to be sensitised on the importance of educating a girl child. “Let me commend our traditional leaders who are working tirelessly to make sure that they end early child marriages. We look forward to more of this to be able to protect our girls. We should be drivers of mindset change”.
“My mom was not educated but at her level, she made sure we got educated. She worked so hard and supported us all the way. Let’s join forces and promote a girl child to go to school no matter the circumstances,” she said.
Commenting on the issue, Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati said her ministry will ensure that it dissolves all child marriages. “Our work is guided by the National Strategic Plan of 2018/2023, where we indicated that we are going to end child marriages.
“As of now, we have dissolved over 4,000 marriages and have identified 40,000 child marriages and 15,000 early pregnancies,” said Kaliati.
She said government is committed and is working hard to make sure that all child marriages identified are dissolved and get the girls back to school.
The Minister called upon parents and guardians to desist from marrying off girls and warned that the law will take its course on those that will be found abusing a girl child.
Madame Chakwera was later crowned as Ambassador for Ending Child Marriages and signed a petition on cyber bullying and harassment.
In her speech, Plan International Malawi Country Director, Phoebe Kasoga said the organisation strives to advance children’s rights and equality for girls in everything it does. She said the organisation has also set an ambitious target to assist 100 million girls worldwide, including 3.2 million girls in Malawi between 2017/2022.
Kasoga said they have provided spaces for girls to be engaged using media through their partner Timveni, a child and youth media radio and television program.
“We have worked with the Ministry of Gender to address topical issues of escalating numbers of child marriages and teenage pregnancies.
“We have engaged in different work methodologies and approaches and these include strategic engagement with government, partnerships with local NGOs and networks of girls among other.
“That will help us to attain freedom online by ending bullying and online harassment,” she said.
At the event, Madame Chilima was crowned Ambassador against Cyber Bullying and Harassment and later offered her acceptance speech.
Gotani Hara and her Deputy Aisha Mambo Adams were also crowned ambassadors for Girls Get Equal Education.
Plagues were also presented to Inkosi ya Makhosi M’mbelwa of Mzimba, Senior chiefs Theresa and Bwananyambi for their efforts in ending child marriages.
Madame Chakwera urged stakeholders to join hands and build more girls’ hostels across the country to help keep them in school.
