Former Minister of Sports Moses Dossi has died at the age of 70.
Dossi who was also Member of Parliament during the UDF era died at Adventist Hospital in Blantyre.
Writing on her facebook wall, Susan Dossi, who is a daughter to the former minister and the current Member of Parliament for Chikwawa West, said “Lord if there is something else that we were supposed to do just to keep him alive, a little longer we were ready to do that.
The late Moses Dossi
Rest well my pillar, my hero, my mentor will love you forever,” wrote the MP
Dossi served as Member of Parliament (MP) between 1999 to 2004. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Education by Dr Bakili Muluzi before heading youth, sports and culture ministry.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) President Fleetwood Haiya has hailed Southern Region Football Association(SRFA) league side Ekhaya FC for embracing proffesionalisation and commercilisation while still in the lower league.
Haiya made the remarks on Wednesday evening at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre during the team’s launch of their official kits for 2024 Season.
The FAM boss expressed optimism that the team has a potential to play into the TNM Super League.
Haiya then urged lower league clubs in the country to follow Ekhaya FC’s example of going commercial.
He said:”Progress always begins with self-belief. Ekhaya FC has just earned promotion into the second tier league but they have already shown their potential of becoming a big club through their innovations and ambitious plans.We need more clubs to follow suit.”
On his part, Ekhaya FC Director William Mpinganjira, who also represents sponsors Ekhaya Group of Companies, said they harbour ambitious plans of playing in the Super League next season and they saw it fit to enhance their brand awareness.
“We are a team that dreams big and, as we fight for top-flight league slot next season, we would like to grow in all spheres including our fan base.We are capable of becoming a big name in football,” he said.
Mpinganjira said the replica jerseys which are white, black and gold will be available for sale in all Ekhaya shops across the country.
Ekhaya FC which is nicknamed ‘Cow Boys’ won the SRFA Division One League last season to earn promotion to the Second tier League.
The Government of United States of America through its US Department of State has banned four former top officials of the Malawi Government and their spouses from entering that country due to their ‘significant involvement in corruption’.
According to a statement on the US Embassy Facebook page, the four individuals are former Solicitor General and Principal Secretary for Justice, Reyneck Matemba, former Director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets, John Suzi-Banda, former lawyer of the Malawi Police Service Mwabi Kaluba and , former Inspector General of Police George Kainja.
Reyneck Matemba
In the statement,the US Department of State accuses Matemba, Suzi-Banda, Kaluba, and Kainja of misusing their public positions by accepting bribes and other favours from a private businessperson in exchange for awarding a government procurement contract for the Malawi Police Service.
According to the Embassy, endemic corruption hampers Malawi’s economic growth and has since pledged collaboration with those committed to fight corruption and promote justice.
The travel ban also applies to the spouses of the four officials: Rhoda Violet Matemba Maxwell, Mariana Ismael Suzi-Banda, Bernadette Mwangosi, and Jacqueline de Silva Kainja.
Matemba and Suzi-Banda were arrested in August 2022 for allegedly receiving kickbacks from businessman Zuneth Sattar to supply 350,000 food ration packs worth US $7,875,000 (equivalent to 13 billion Malawi Kwacha) to the Malawi Police Service.
Investigations revealed that Matemba pocketed $10,000 as a benefit for overseeing the vetting process of the food rations contract.
Suzi-Banda received MK3,000,000 (approximately US $2,900) from Sattar’s agent, Zun Cheena, to influence him to award the Malawi Police Service contract to Sattar’s company without objection.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau(ACB) arrested Kainja and Kaluba in June 2022.
Kainja was detained for allegedly “receiving an advantage” from Mr. Sattar when he was granted a contract worth $875,000 to supply 350,000 food rations to the Malawi Police Service.
The investigations conducted by the bureau established that Dr. George Kainja solicited an advantage in the form of a vehicle and $8,000.
Kaluba is accused of corruptly obtaining $20,000 from a British businessman as an advantage for assisting in the procurement contract of the food ration packs.
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Director General, George Kasakula has warned District Information Officers (DIOs) to avoid sending stale news to the public broadcaster, saying this is against broadcasting ethics.
Kasakula said this on Wednesday in Mponela during the training of Ministry of Information and Digitalisation Officers in Local Authority News production that will enable Malawi News Agency district based journalists to send stories for MBC to publish.
Kasakula said there are a lot of things happening in districts and it is the responsibility of District Information officers to send such stories in good time.
“News stories should not take 24 hours before being published. This should be your daily trend,” said Kasakula.
District Information Officer for Zomba, Solister Mogha commended the move and promised to always observe time when sending news.
“We have taken note of the concern and promise to do better. However, let me appeal to our editors to also develop keen interest by ensuring that stories are processed in time.
“Furthermore, I would like to suggest for a special editorial desk that would be responsible for district news alerts other than the normal and long editorial channel,” said Mogha.
The workshop attracted 28 DIOs from all districts and was funded by World Bank through National Local Government Finance Committee.
National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) has disclosed that in the 2024/25 financial year, it will disburse K4 billion to communities in Mangochi district, after its satisfaction with the district’s percentage of loan repayment.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting which was organized in Mangochi on Tuesday, Head of Finance at NEEF, Benedicto Kananza said out of over K4 billion that the institution disbursed to communities in Mangochi for the past three years, it has managed to collect 85 percent of the loans.
Head of Finance at NEEF, Benedicto Kananza
“We are impressed with how communities in Mangochi are responding on loans repayment, which is at 85 percent, surpassing the national loan repayment, currently at 70 percent.
“We are therefore going to disburse K4 billion to help people expand their businesses and farming. We want to focus on providing substantial loans for both businesses and farming activities, with a special emphasis on supporting winter irrigation farming to utilize the district’s plentiful water resources,” Kananza said.
He also said the institution was facing difficulties getting some people to repay back their loans, which he said was a hindrance to their aim in empowering Malawians who are yet to benefit.
“Some of our staff members get beaten when they want to collect loan repayment. This makes it difficult for us to operate, and at the same time prevents us from accessing back the loans balances,” he said.
In his remarks, Chairperson for Mangochi District Council, Councillor Hassan Chikuta hailed NEEF for providing an opportunity to communities in the district, saying it has helped to uplift livelihoods of many households in Mangochi.
One of the stakeholders at the meeting, Golden Tebulo said the meeting has been an eye opener on how loans are accessed at NEEF, and how to effectively utilize the resources.
