A huge fiire has destroyed a hostel at The Malawi Polytechnic main
campus in Blantyre. The fire which has
gut Nyika Hostel at the campus is not
known how it started with students
claiming that teargas canisters thrown by the Police has caused the fire.
Poly on fire
First year students at the college staged protests demanding management
to introduce security measures at Poly Alley Hostels after a wave of robberies
.It is alleged that the protests were ignited by an incident last night at the
Poly Alley Hostels where armed robbers broke into rooms and stole various items
. Laptops, phones and clothes are among
the things that were stolen.
In the morning, the students started demonstrating and were joined by
other students from the main campus. Police later fired teargas at the students.
It didn’t take long before Nyika Hostel was burning. This has led the students to
accuse the police of setting fire to the hostel through their irresponsible shooting
of teargas cannisters
So far the college has been closed with the registrar Yamikani
Dalitso Chilinde confirming the closure , saying its only temporary. Students
were told to leave the campus by 6pm.The Polytechnic management has not revealed
what caused the fire nor have the Police commented on the accusations that are being
levelled against them.
Four-time African footballer of the year Samuel Eto’o and Malawi’s top football export Ernest Mtawali will headline the Mpira Stadium Inauguration match to be played on Wednesday on the sidelines of the FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s visit to Malawi.
Samuel eto
Eto’o a two-time AFCON, three-time UEFA Champions League and one-time Olympic champion will lead a team of FIFA and FAM Officials that will also comprise of former French national football team attacking midfielder Youri Raffi Djorkaeff, a 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 200 winner with France.
The FIFA/ FAM team will also feature FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FAM President Walter Nyamilandu and other high-profile FIFA and FAM officials including Flames Coach Meck Mwase and his assistants Lovemore Fazili and Bob Mpinganjira as well as Malawi Under 20 coach and former Flames captain Peter Mponda.
On the other hand, Mtawali who played club football in South Africa, Argentina, France, Italy and Saudi Arabia will lead a team of former Flames greats that includes big names like Patrick Mabedi, Chancy Gondwe, Swadick Sanudi, Joseph Kamwendo and Fischer Kondowe among others.
Legendary coaches Kinnah Phiri and Yasin Osman will be in charge of the FIFA/ FAM and the Flames Legends respectively.
The match is one of the activities lined up ahead of Infantino’s first visit to Malawi whose main objective is to inaugurate the Mpira Stadium and the FAM Football Academy which were funded under his FIFA Forward initiative.
FAM General Secretary Alfred Gunda said the country is excited to host the FIFA delegation.
“It is very exciting to see Etoo and Djorkaeff come to Malawi and play a match. Malawians have for a long time been looking forward to see Eto’o in Malawi. Flames did not play Cameroun during the time he was playing. We have had big stars from Ivory Coast, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria and Ghana coming to Malawi but not Eto’o.
“As FAM we thought of also honoring our own sons to come and be part of this great event
“Having the FIFA president in our country to appreciate our football development projects is exciting. It gives us a chance to showcase what we are doing with their money and enable as lobby for more,” said Gunda.
Mtawali said he was excited to be called for such a match and thanked FAM for the gesture.
“This is a great initiative to have former players come together and mingle with top officials we hope this should continue beyond this meeting,” he said.
According to Gunda, the FIFA delegation will arrive at the Chileka Airport on Wednesday 27th November 2019 at 2pm and will proceed to Mpira Village in Chiwembe where led by Infantino and Minister of Sports Francis Phiso, there will be a tour of the stadium and its official inauguration.
The delegation which also comprise of CAF President Ahmad, FIFA GS Fatma Samoura, FIFA Deputy General Secretary Football Mattias Grafstrom, FIFA Acting Head of Member Association Veron Mosengo- Omba, FIFA Head of Communication Onofre Costa, FIFA Presidents Office Manager Federico Raviglione and FIFA Regional Development Officer David Fani, will leave the country at 8 pm in the evening the of same day.
The Egyptian Embassy has awarded 14 undergraduate scholarships to youth in the country to pursue different university programmes in Egypt.
The scholarship awardees are expected to study programmes such as engineering, medicine, agriculture and commence.
Speaking on Friday in Lilongwe during the presentation of the scholarships Egyptian Ambassador to Malawi Hassan Shawky said the Egyptian Government is committed to support youth in Malawi.
Kagwam’minga (L) greets Egyptian Ambassador(C) before receiving her scholarship from Phiso (R)
“The Egyptian Government has introduced scholarship for the youth to study for five years in the field of engineering and medicine for them to enrich medical services and engineering future of Malawi,” Shawky said.
He further said the Egyptian Government, through its embassy in the country, is also striving to build capacity among local youth for them to be innovative and become financially independent.
One of the awardees Cynthia Kagwam’minga expressed gratitude for the scholarship to pursue engineering at Cairo University.
“The scholarship is an opportunity for me to study outside the country. It is my honour to be the first female to study engineering course in Cairo through the Egyptian Scholarship.
“Therefore, I will work hard to complete the course and come back here to serve my country,” she said.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Francis Phiso commended the Egyptian Government through its embassy in the country for its gesture in supporting the youth.
He said the support is in line with the initiatives which Malawi Government is currently doing to empower the youth.
Phiso, therefore, advised the awardees to work hard and focus on studies for them to excel their courses.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) on Sunday held a solidarity citizen rally at Nsundwe popularly known as Msundwe Barracks community ground in rural Lilongwe.
The rally which attracted a huge crowd was attended by HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo, HRDC his deputy Gift Trapence and Central Region HRDC chairperson Billy Mayaya.
Missing at the rally was Charles Kajoloweka and Reverend MacDonald Sembereka.
HRDC Leaders at a citizen rally in Msundwe
Speaking during the citizen rally Mtambo praised people of Msundwe for being real freedom fighters. He said Malawi needs more people like those from Msundwe. He said the coalition will develop a citizen manifesto where they will outline a number of issues that need to be addressed for the country to progress. He said since the country gained independence, Malawians have been languishing in abject poverty when some people in government are plundering public resources.
Mtambo then announced what he called the mother of all demonstrations to take place on December 10, 2019.
Mtambo has since invited people of Msundwe to go and take part in their large numbers as has been the case.
Speaking earlier Trapence condemned the Democratic Progressive Party-led government for the rampant corruption.
“These people are sharing money like tomato this should stop,” he claimed.
Speaking earlier block leader one Mr Vaison asked government to release four residents of Msundwe who are still being held on remand at Maula prison.
The four were among 46 members who were arrested following the killing of police officer.
Kamuzu Barracks were the last side to secure their final slot in this year’s FISD Challenge Cup following their 4-1 thrashing of Hangover United at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre.
The soldiers will meet Blue Eagles which also eliminated Silver Strikers with four goals but to zero at Civo Stadium on Saturday.
With all hopes and expectations from spectators from the Southern Region, home for Hangover, especially after being the only representative from the region, the team failed to live to its billing from the first whistle in the first half.
Spectators thronged to the Stadium expecting to see the only premier league side to reach this stage upset the Lilongwe soldiers as they did with Be Forward Wanderers in the quarterfinals, but it never worked.
Looking so determined to reach the final stage, KB scored 10 minutes into play courtesy of Francisco Kamdzeka before Nation Harazi doubled the lead through a header seven minutes later.
At 31st minute, Harazi doubled his score while Harvey Mkacha netted the last one.
As the soldiers were celebrating their fourth goal, the rookies quickly restarted play with Brighton Gomani’s long range shot ending up in the visitors’ net.
Referee Misheck Juba awarded the host a goal which was their consolation.
Second half they tried to push for another goal while outclassing KB, but it seems the early goals worked to the advantage of the soldiers.
EagIt now remains in the hands of the all-Central Region giants to prove their superiority and lay their hands on the K20 million prize money, while the other takes K7 million as runners-up.
