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Thom Mpinganjira arrested

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Thom Mpinganjira arrested

Malawi’s anti-graft body on Wednesday said it had arrested a prominent businessman over allegations he tried to bribe judges hearing a legal challenge to the re-election of President Peter Mutharika.

The arrest comes days before the court is expected to deliver its ruling on the election petition mounted by the opposition.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said it had arrested Thomson Mpinganjira, owner of FDH Bank, following investigations into claims by Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda that bribes had been offered to the five judges presiding over the case.

“Mpinganjira will be taken to court after the ACB has recorded a statement from him,” the agency said in a statement, without further details.

Thom Mpinganjira

Malawi has been embroiled in a battle over the credibility of the May 2019 election.

Mutharika won a second term, but his victory unleashed a six-month-long court case and nationwide demonstrations demanding the head of the electoral commission be fired.

Mutharika beat opposition candidate Lazarus Chakwera by 159,000 votes — a lead of just over three percentage points.

Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party and the United Transformation Movement say the poll was marred by fraud.

Allegations this month by Chief Justice Nyirenda that the judges in the petition case had been offered kickbacks sparked fresh fury.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched last week calling for the culprits to be unmasked.

The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on the election challenge sometime between January 27 and February 3, its spokeswoman Agnes Patemba told AFP on Wednesday.

It is the first time presidential election results have been challenged in court since Malawi gained independence from Britain in 1964.

Americas Air Forces Africa helps develop Malawian Air Force

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Americas Air Forces Africa helps develop Malawian Air Force

Airmen from U.S. Air Forces Africa conducted force development training with the Malawian Air Force Jan. 13-17.

“This is a very important partnership for us and right now the force development program is helping us lay the foundation of the Malawian Air Force,” said Malawian Maj. Gen. Andrew Lapken Namathanga, Malawi Air Force commander. “I am very excited because the establishment of the force development program here three years ago has brought a foundation during the transition period for the development of our air force.”

Since 2018 teams with U.S. Air Forces Africa have partnered with the Malawian Air Force to help build, sustain and stand-up an independent air force.

“It is through the program that the Malawian air force airmen are becoming knowledgeable on how an air force functions,” Namathanga said. “Now, our airmen are all equipped with air knowledge and able to execute roles and functions in our air force because of this program.”

MSgt. Brandon Owens, superintendent, 86th Mission Support Group Detachment 1, Air Force Deployment Transition Center, briefs members of the Malawian air force on the U.S. Air Force’s sole third location decompression program at Lilongwe Air Base)

Up until August 2019, the Malawian Air Force was not a separate service within the Malawian defense force.

“This program gives us a chance to share ideas, and how to meet current threats and various challenges in terms of Human Resources,” said Mr. Noel Fachi, program manager, U.S. Air Forces Africa Force Development. “Our program brings our partner nations together to try and solve African problems. By providing frameworks for how to address most of these challenges, we bring partners together to collaborate, share ideas and come up with solutions to answer those challenges.”

One unique element about the force development program is its low cost but its lasting ability to have a huge impact, according to Fachi. He highlighted the fact that because of their program, they are able to conduct engagements with countries in Africa more frequently throughout the year. This leads to creating trusted partnerships with those countries and ultimately leads to greater interoperability with partners across Africa.

“To have an air chief and a deputy air chief sit in every single event when we have been here, day in and day out, it shows you how serious they are,” said Fachi. “They have empowered their airmen.”

The majority of events during the week revolved around the sharing of ideas related to the U.S. Air Force’s Deployment Transition Center, located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The Malawian Air Force routinely deploys to the Democratic Republic of Congo and expressed interest in developing their own deployment transition center for their airmen returning from deployments.

“I think it is imperative to have our own center because currently we do not have one within the Malawian defense force and we have seen the effects of the experiences the troops are facing in the mission area,” says Namathanga.

During the week, members from the U.S. Air Force Deployment Transition Center shared how the U.S. executes their program to help integrate Airmen back from a deployment into their home station environment. They provided the Malawian air force with recommendations on ways they could establish their own program to assist their own airmen who come home from deployments.

MCP Diaspora leader doubts Mutharika ability to woo investors at UK summit 

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MCP Diaspora leader doubts Mutharika ability to woo investors at UK summit 

By Durell Namasani

President Peter Mutharika is in the UK to attend the UK-Africa Investment summit under the invitation of prime minister Boris Johnson. However , critics are already questioning  if the president will be able to strike any meaningful business deals at the summit. One of the leaders of the MCP Diaspora Wing Allan Mandindi has gone on to describe the trip as  one of those shopping trips.

Mandindi who is the Deputy leader of MCP Diaspora Wing said the problem is not the summit itself but the capability of the people on the entourage  and whether they can be able to strike good investment deals for Malawi. “ We have heard or seen this before, it seems most of them just gets excited with the travelling, Sleeping in good hotels, accumulating allowances but fail to cut deals that will be beneficial for Malawi” Mandindi cited the recent Russia/Africa summit where Mutharilka spent time trying to get pictures with Vladmir Putin and came back with no business deals when countries like South Africa and Rwanda signed great  business deals

MCP Diaspora Deputy Leader Allan Mandindi with Party President Dr Lazarus Chakwera

Echoing these remarks , Spokesperson for MCP diaspora Wing Chalo Mvula agreed with Mandindi remarks  that Malawi is not fully utilising these business summits effectively. Chalo Mvula who is also a foreign direct investment expert said failure by the DPP government to make Malawi attractive to investors is something that will put Mutharika at a disadvantage on this summit “Malawi is failing on the very basics of the conditions to attract FDI , our transport and infrastructures are poor, political instability , we have high levels of corruption, electricity problems are still ongoing.  If you compare state of Malawi to other African countries who have also come to woo investors at the summit, then you will easily know that Mutharika has just come here in the UK for a little break” highlighted Mvula.

The summit which has been convened by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will bring together businesses, governments and international institutions to showcase and promote the breadth and quality of investment opportunities across Africa.

The UK hopes the event will strengthen its partnership with African nations and also mobilise new and substantial investment to create sustainable jobs, boost mutual prosperity, boost access to education, improve public services and give young people the opportunity to shape their own future.

Several private sector companies from Malawi are in attendance such as Cape Maclear Initiative and Nalipiri Holiday Resort from the tourism sector and Mchenga Mine from the mining sector, while the Green Belt Initiative, Electricity Generation Company (Egenco), Export Development Fund, Malawi Agricultural Investment and Industrial Corporation and Lilongwe Water Board are among those from the public sector.

Ungrateful Northern region to be abandoned, claims Mutharika aide

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Ungrateful Northern region to be abandoned, claims Mutharika aide

As Malawi Political climate continues to be chaotic, a recent audio clip has surfaced in which a close aide to President Peter Mutharika has disclosed that the president is ready to withdraw development projects from the North because as described the people of the region are are ungrateful

Francis Mphepo who is one of the presidential aides called for a meeting of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) MPs from the Southern Region at Blantyre Civic Centre where he dressed down people from the North.

In his speech Mphepo described the people of the North as ungrateful “These people ‘ndiosayamika’ (they are ungrateful). You have braved the rains to be here because you love your President and the party but not those people from the north, they are ungrateful,” said Mphepo in a leaked audio from the meeting.

Presidential Aide: Francis Mphepo

“Government can withdraw all the development projects that it has lined up for the North. In fact the President will withdraw these development projects from the North if they continue to be ungrateful,” added an angry Mphepo.

He alleged that people from the North are blocking trucks of maize to  ferry maize to be distributed free of charge to people in the south hence his warning that President Mutharika is considering withdrawing development projects his government allocated to the North.

The remarks have caused angry remarks from a cross section of Malawians on Social Media . President Mutharika has not visited the North yet since he was reelected in May last year

Scottish Government to donate 1,000 used computers to Malawi

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Scottish Government to donate 1,000 used computers to Malawi

The Scottish Government will donate 1,000 used computers to education projects in Malawi to help trainee teachers and students, it has announced. The computers, which are no longer suitable for use in the Information and Technology Services Division, will be distributed by the Turing Trust.

It comes after the charity, based in Edinburgh, was awarded £60,000 from the International Small Grants Programme this year to train 80 teachers in Malawi, who will teach 9,000 girls who would otherwise be excluded from digital literacy lessons because of gender, disability or where they live.

James Turing, great nephew of World War Two code-breaker Alan Turing, said the computers would help around 18,000 students learn vital IT skills, while also offsetting 280 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

International Development Minister Ben Macpherson and First Minister Nicola Sturgen

The Scottish Government updates its devices every four or five years, to ensure they are capable of running up-to-date secure software and operating systems to maintain cyber security.

International Development Minister Ben Macpherson said: “I’m very pleased that the Scottish Government will be donating 1,000 more computers to the Turing Trust, an excellent charity that works to improve digital literacy in sub-Saharan Africa

“These computers will be serviced and securely cleansed of data before being taken to Malawi for use by students and trainee teachers.

“We’re delighted to be extending the useful life of this computer equipment and, by doing so, improving the IT literacy and career prospects of hundreds of people.”

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