President Dr.Lazarus Chakwera has emphasized the need for Malawians to not give up on the fight for change, since giving up may slow the quest to improve things in the country.
The president made the remarks on Thursday during the opening of the 7th annual conference of the Dynamic Leaders and Gatekeepers Forum (DLGF) at the Bingu International Conference Centre(BICC) in Lilongwe.
President Chakwera
Said president Chakwera:”As a nation, we need to endure challenges we may encounter in the course of wanting change and we should not walk away from things when they get overwhelmingly tough.
“The roles of leaders and gatekeepers include training the people we lead to endure and making sure that ourselves are examples of endurance.”
The Malawi leader condemned the slow pace of implementing various initiatives, noting that this sluggishness has also infiltrated the public service.
He then called on all Malawians to embrace a spirit of action and dedication, stressing that only through collective effort and determination the nation can achieve its development goals.
On his part,Executive Chairperson(EC) for DLGF Revered Dr.Zacc Kawalala stressed the need for Malawians to be patriotic enough to achieve the needed change and development that the country requires.
He said: “Rebuilding Malawi will need people who will sacrifice and unite for the greater good of the nation, that can happen if we look at what we have and where we are now.”
Kawalala added that Malawians must be brave enough to take part in the rebuilding process as it costs and needs more effort from patriotic citizens.
The conference was held under the theme ‘The rising of patriots for change in Malawi: Counting the cost and rebuilding the nation’.
Genuine members of the United Transformation Movement (UTM) have gathered at Vice President Saulos Chilima’s official government residence in a show of solidarity and to express their stance on the party’s future. The gathering precedes a crucial meeting of the UTM National Executive Committee (NEC) scheduled for today, where decisions will be made regarding the future of the alliance and the party’s ideological direction under the leadership of SKC (Saulos Chilima).
The demonstrators carried placards with clear and emphatic messages. One of the central themes was the plea to “Don’t sell the soul of Dr. SKC,” highlighting concerns that the integrity and vision of Chilima’s leadership should not be compromised. Another recurring message on the placards read “No Alliance with MCP,” reflecting the members’ opposition to further political collaboration with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
This show of support and protest underscores the tension within UTM regarding its political strategies and alliances. The UTM NEC meeting is anticipated to address key issues related to the party’s position in the current political landscape and its alliance dynamics. The presence of UTM members at the Vice President’s residence signifies their active involvement and concern for the party’s future and its leadership principles.
Deputy chairman of Parliamentary committe on education, science and technology deputy chairman who is also member of parliament for Thyolo North Ephraim Nayeja said is committed to support the ministry of education science and technology to get additional funds ahead of mid- term budget review which will be held in November at Parliament building in Lilongwe.
Nayeja made the remarks on Thursday after ministry of education, science and technology delegation appeared to the committee at Parliament building in Lilongwe.
He stated that the main issue which they discussed with the ministry is about Malawi college of distance education (MCDE) where they gave background of institution on what has been the success, challenges and the way forward.
Nayeja revealed that what they have noted from the discussion has shown that the ministry want to improve the education in Malawi as they are providing education and training through distance learning in this country.
He said :” there are so many challenges that they are facing, they are coming here to seek for addition funding, so that they can improve delivery of training method”.
Nayeja- the ministry have our support
Naija disclosed that the ministry mentioned the issue to do with deputy director which has been vacant for so long due to funding issue to do with smooth running of their operation which is a challenge to them due to low funding.
He further said that they did mention in their discussion that they would like to open an university in area 30 ,that again will require additional from the parliament during mid- term budget review.
He said: they have a lot of things that they want to do for the country inorder to achieve agenda of 2063 human resource development enabler number six.”
He added that they will support issues to do with funding through highlighting the issue of allocation disbursement and due to what they are doing, strategical position and also ambition which they want to achieve.
On his remarks ministry of education, science and technology Principal secretary Mangani Chilala Katundu said the purpose of the meeting is for the committee to learn what the ministry of education are doing about open and E-learning activities through the Malawi college distance education (MCDE).
He said the committee wanted to understand what is the mandate, activities they are implementing and if they have stopped providing open distance education in the country.
Katundu:” as you know there are used to have MCDE’s all over the country and sometimes when we don’t hear the name MCDE’s it paint a picture as the MCDE’s are gone.
“MCDE’s are still available, they were transformed in the 1998, the government had a new policy and 520 MCDE’s that were there converted to community day secondary school. However as a ministry now we got 715 open secondary schools and these open secondary schools are providing the same services that we used to provide under the distance education colleges (DEC) as they were known.”
He further said that Malawians should not look at distance education as inferior yet its not inferior so the ministry is working on developing the Malawi open university in future which will be also just like University of South Africa (UNISA) which is providing distance learning in Malawi.
He added by hailed the committee for their commitment to support the ministry during the mid- year budget review request for their additional resources.
According to ministry of education science and technology said currently 96,220 candidates that have in rolled are able to access open distance education services.
Minister of Lands, Deus Gumba has said government would continue constructing houses for people with albinism for their enhanced safety and secure environment.
He was speaking on Wednesday in Mandala Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Muzikubola in Mzimba when he presided over handover ceremony of a house built to a family which was raising two kids with albinism.
Gumba handing over the house
Gumba said government was constructing 69 houses across the country with 49 of them fully completed and four handed over to the owners with the remaining ones at finishing levels.
‘‘When President Chakwera took over government four years ago, he pledged to ensure that people with albinism are provided with decent houses for their safety and this ceremony is a testament to fulfilment of that promise,’’ he said.
The Minister added that government has in the current budget provided more funding to cater for 15 additional houses for the same course.
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) Director General Daudi Suleman has emphasized the need to embrace a digital Malawi to help in developing the country.
Suleman said this on Thursday at the Dynamic Leaders and Gate Keepers Forum (DGGF) in Lilongwe.
The MACRA DG said digitization is key in economic growth as the country is fostering the long term development vision, the Malawi 2063.
Daudi Suleman
He said this can be done if challenges in the sector are addressed as there is a digital divide emanating from high cost of smartphones.
Suleman disclosed that one million SIM cards out of 14 million registered SIM cards, are working on smartphones.
“There is a need to among others make more investment in Information Communication Technology, Improve digital infrastructure and cyber security to promote digitization in the country,” Suleman said.
