The Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) says it is alarmed with the rising prices of goods amid the weakening of the kwacha and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cama executive director John Kapito said in an interview that considering that the access to basic needs is a challenge, consumers need protection to maintain a decent standard of living

He said: “We are also witnessing the continued weakening of the kwacha, which is affecting prices of other goods and services on the market. These are matters that must be dealt with urgency in order to reduce the impact of high cost of living.

“We are also appealing to consumers to be assertive and check the quality and prices of goods every time they go out for shopping.”

Business News analysis show that in the five months period to September 9 2020, common goods retail outlet prices have increased, despite reduced incomes and loss of economic opportunities in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For instance, the price of a 20 kilogramme (kg) bag of sunshine maize flour has climbed from K7 799.99 in May to K9 799.99 in September while Donnas eggs large tray with 30 eggs is now selling at K3 399.99 from  K3 199.99.

The price of Mulawe cooking oil has moved from K1 049 to K1 159 while a 500 grammes (g) pack of kitchen salt has moved from K189 to K229.

The price of 200 bar of Butex laundry soap has moved from K229.99 to K249.99 while a 100g bar of Lifebuoy soap has moved from K399.99 to K509.99 with a 500g packet of Boom powder moving up from K1 149.99 to K1 249.99.

In construction sector, cement prices have moved up from an average of K6 500 to K8 500 per 50kg bag.

On the other hand, the price of a 12-feet 32 gauge iron sheet has  increased by an average of K K950 from an average of K2 750 while a six-feet 28 gauge iron is now selling at K4 800 from K3 900.

The rising prices of goods has made life difficult for Blantyre-based Mirriam Chigwenembe, a single mother of four, who is working as a domestic worker in Chileka.

Chigwenembe, who earns K35 000 a month, has been making additional income through sand mining and washing clothes on Sundays, her off-day.

She bought a piece of land in Mdala Village and built a two- bedroomed house.

“The rising prices has made everything difficult for me. And with the pandemic, many people have suspended their housing projects, chocking my other income generating avenue,” she says.

Chigwenembe is, however, optimistic that once the economy starts ticking again and prices come down, she will be able to finish her house.

In the first-half of the year, the cost of living declined by 12 percent with figures from the Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) indicating that a family of six people needed K197 980 in June 2020, a drop from K223 173 in January 2020 while the minimum wage stands at K35 000.

The food poverty line is at K94 000.

On the other hand, the kwacha has, in recent weeks, depreciated from K740 to K757 against the dollar, with authorised dealer banks rationing foreign currency supplies in the wake of scarcity.

However, a June 2020 assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on employment in Malawi by Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that a typical worker in the informal sector will see their earnings drop to below K22 396 ($30.37).

But if the crisis lasts all of 2020 or till March 2021, the earnings will go below K17 729 ($24.07) and K16 152 ($21.9) respectively, both of which are below the $1 a day line.

For formal workers, if it were not for the Covid-19 crisis, on average, the aggregate monthly labour income in 2020 would be in the region of K941.2 billion ($1.25 billion) and that would rise to about K1 092.66 billion ($1.46 billion) in 2021.

However, the assessment shows that the pandemic will cost each worker between K11 853 ($16.07) and K18 096 ($24.54) of labour income per month.

The K2.2 trillion 2020/21 proposed National Budget has not made life easy for consumers either.

As Kapito argues, the fiscal plan has ignored the basic policies and promises that could generate resources to support livelihoods.

He said the budget does not respond to any economic recovery and is a complete departure from the many promises that were made during the campaign.

Kapito singled out free connection of electricity and water, the reduced prices of passport and driving licences, the creation of one million jobs and removal of taxes on some basic goods and services as some of the ignored promises that the new administration made during the campaign.

“Government has instead introduced measures that will hurt many consumers such as the introduction of new taxes on some products such as cooking oil and taxes on winning bets, which has become a new income generator to the many unemployed Malawians,” he says.

Finance Minister Felix Mlusu, however, says the budget framework’s key focus is achieving sustainable and inclusive growth, macroeconomic stability and sound financial management, adding that the budget has been developed under the theme Living the Promise

In the budget, Mlusu sys the Affordable Inputs Programme, which has been allocated K160.2 billion, is expected to benefit 4.2 million farming families who will be buying fertiliser at K4 495 per 50 kilogramme bag.

He also announced the increase of the pay as you earn (Paye) tax-free threshold from K45 000 to K100 000 per month and withholding tax threshold for casual labour from K15 000 to K35 000 per transaction.

Malawi women football export Temwa Chawinga on Tuesday continued her superb scoring form in the Chinese Women’s Super League as her strike inspired Wuhan Jiangda to a 3-1 comeback victory over Shandong Sports Lottery.

According to a match report on goal.com, the strike, a ninth-minute equaliser before Yao Weili hit a second-half brace to put the game beyond Shandong’s reach, has not only taken the 22-year-old’s tally to five goals in eight matches, but also helped Wuhan confirm a place in the final top-four championship and cement a stand at the summit of the 10-team log table with an unbeaten run.

With a single round to go before the play-offs, Temwa’s team has already made it into the final top-four battle alongside her elder sister Tabitha Chawinga’s Jiangsu Suning and Zambian Barbra Banda’s Shanghai RCB. Beijing and Changchun will fight for the remaining slot.

Temwa has to pull up her sock in the remaining games if she is to effectively fight for the Golden Boot Award as she is six goals behind leading scorer Banda and two adrift third best scorer Tabitha, who is tied on seven goals with Tang Jiali (Shanghai RCB) and Ma Xiaoxu (Beijing BG Development). Florencia Soledad Jaimes of Changchun Dazhongzhiye is the second leading scorer with 10 goals.

But in an interview yesterday, the former Blantyre Zero striker, who is eighth on the scorers’ chart, said she is more interested in helping her team win the league title than individual honours.

“While it is my wish to win the golden boot, my main focus is on helping Wuhan take the league’s ultimate glory. So far, I am happy that I have helped my team qualify for the final top-four championship,” Temwa said.

On her part, 24-year-old Tabitha, who did not feature in Suning’s 4-0 thumping of Guangdong Meizhou Huijun due to suspension after committing two bookable offences in previous games, said she is determined to help her team defend the title and the chase to retain the golden boot comes second.

Temwa is having her first season in the Chinese women’s football top-flight, having joined Wuhan from Swedish second-tier league side Kvarnsvedens IK early this year.

As for Tabitha, she is having her third season in China, where she helped Suning win the championship last season. She also grabbed the golden boot accolade in both the league and the Chinese Women’s FA Cup aside from being named the league’s Player of the Year.

The Public Affairs Committee (PAC) has announced a shift of focus on its dialogue initiative from the political perspective to other emerging issues requiring urgent attention.

In a telephone interview yesterday, PAC executive secretary Robert Phiri said there was no pressing political issue at the moment requiring mediation; hence, the shift in focus.

But he clarified that the quasi-religious grouping will still embark on dialogue on political matters if need arises.

Said Phiri: “At the moment, there is nothing to mediate from any dialogue process we initiated. We have prioritised emerging issues like the billboard issue which was resolved as well as the dress code issue.”

Last month, PAC facilitated dialogue between Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) and Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) who differed on the content of a billboard that allegedly used offensive words towards Christians.

PAC is also initiating a dialogue process between Muslims and Christians on dress code of students who belong to different religions following a request the Ministry of Education made.

This followed a dress code dispute between Muslims and Christians at Mmanga Primary School in Traditional Authority Nsamala in Balaka District where female Muslim learners were barred from attending class wearing a hijab.

Phiri yesterday said they have since organised training workshops on dress code from today and tomorrow targeting senior clergy from schools of the two faiths.

The training workshops are scheduled to take place in Blantyre where the senior members of the two religions are expected to go through separate sessions.

“An advisory opinion emanating from this exercise could feed into the legal framework,” he said.

Phiri said while PAC had proposed of proceeding with their dialogue on the matter after the fresh presidential election, the billboard dispute saga emerged; hence, PAC had to intervene in the matter.

Some of the dialogue initiatives PAC has been undertaking include implementation of the Electoral Reforms Bills and the debate on federalism.

In its request to PAC, the Ministry of Education also expanded the scope of the dialogue to include Rastafarians and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who Phiri said are being included in the process.

In the aftermath of the disputed May 21 2019 presidential election which was later annulled by the courts, PAC rolled out a dialogue initiative to calm down a heated political atmosphere from opposition political parties and other stakeholders that were disputing the polls.

When the court nullified the presidential election and ordered a fresh vote, PAC pledged to observe the political situation after calm had been restored.

But in an earlier interview, governance expert and Institute of Policy Interaction executive director Rafiq Hajat said if PAC was going to proceed with the dialogue process, it should go back to the drawing board to change its focus.

He said dialogue was still necessary to find lasting solutions as there were many things involved in the overall process.

PAC is a grouping of umbrella bodies of faith groups in Malawi formed in the early 1990s and played a key role in the transition from one-party to multiparty democracy.

Malawi has forfeited $70 million (about K53 billion) under the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the new administration’s decision to cancel the programme.

Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu announced the cancellation of the programme when he tabled the full 2020/21 National Budget pegged at K2.2 trillion in Parliament on Friday.

In a written response to our questionnaire yesterday, IMF country representative Farayi Gwenhamo said the cancellation of the ECF arrangement implied that future disbursements under the remaining programme’s reviews will be cancelled.

However, she clarified that the cancellation of the programme will  not affect resources already disbursed before the decision.

Our records, corroborated by the IMF, show that total access under the ECF was about $145 million and the funds included the initial resource envelope (about $112.3 million) approved in April 2018 plus the $40 million under Augmentation of Access  approved in November  2019.

Resources under the Augmentation of Access were approved on November 22 2019 by fund’s Executive Board of Directors sitting in Washington D.C and were meant to support Malawi’s reconstruction efforts through the financing of imports in the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Idai.

Of the $145 million ECF package, Gwenhamo said the disbursements done so far under the arrangement stood at $75 million. This means the country was yet to access$70 million under the facility.

She said: “While the remaining resources under the ECF will be cancelled, Malawi is also expected to receive emergency financing under the Rapid Credit Facility [RCF] within this year, ahead of the expected negotiation of a new ECF in early 2021.”

In the meantime, Gwenhamo said, the IMF is engaging the authorities on macroeconomic issues and policy reforms, including in the context of RCF.

Recently, authorities and the IMF staff team held discussions during August 24-September 3 2020 for Covid-19 emergency support to Malawi under RCF and work is currently underway to conclude the process. This will be the second time this year for Malawi to access emergency financing under the RCF which was designed to help with Covid-19 needs, following the first RCF disbursement in May 2020.

Traditionally, the IMF programme has been known for its “signalling effect” of triggering budget support, although in recent years such an effect has been fading due to Malawi’s  ‘confidence deficit’ in the eyes of development partners as well as legacy issues in the aftermath of Cashgate—the plunder of public resources at Capital Hill exposed in September 2013.

Reacting to the cancellation, former Mlusu’s predecessor Joseph Mwanamvekha faulted the timing and warned that by doing so, Malawi had taken a huge risk.

He said: “To me it is a timing issue. They should have allowed the programme to finish because it is only ending this December and later negotiate the new terms.

“By doing so [cancelling], we are going to lose a lot of money and we are not guaranteed that we may get the subsequent programme or if it [the new ECF] will be agreed.

“I don’t think they did a proper cost-benefit analysis because immediately after expiry, they could have negotiated another programme not necessarily cancelling it.”

Mwanamvekha said the sacrificed money could have gone a long way to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic while also mitigating the prevailing foreign currency shortage on the market.

Our analysis shows that the $70 million opportunity cost of cancelling the ECF programme represented 33 percent of the country’s monthly foreign exchange requirement (import cover) estimated at an average $209 million based on Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) statistics.

Another former minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe, who has previously worked at senior level at IMF Headquarters, declined to  comment on the matter, saying he had not critically analysed the issue at hand.

He only said: “Things in the IMF are complicated… But there must be a reason for cancelling the programme.”

In a separate interview yesterday, Centre for Research and Consultancy executive director Milward Tobias said the “signalling effect” or “power” by the IMF is still intact and relevant to the donor community.

However, he argued that if the country is to receive on time the anticipated $100 million under the RCF, that could help offset the $70 million sacrificed under the ECF programme.

Said Tobias: “But if the processes delay to access proceeds under this RCF, that should be of greater concern but if the process is hurried, then we should not get worried as a country because we will have gained.

“However, the ECF programme has quick repayment conditions and helps the recipient country to retire it quickly without passing repayment burden to next generations.”

From the traditional donors point of view, African Development Bank (AfDB) acting country manager Fasika Eyerusalem yesterday said in a written response that the bank had already approved $45.07 million budget support operation for Malawi Covid-19 emergency response on July 22 this year, adding that the support aims to finance the government’s response to the health, social and economic impacts of the pandemic.

Out of the $45 million direct budget support to Malawi, $20.59 million (grant) was disbursed at the end of August and the remaining loan ($24.48 million) will be disbursed as soon as the bill is presented to Parliament.

Said Eyerusalem: “The budget support intervention will help boost the Malawi National Covid-19 preparedness and response plan that has been developed with multi-stakeholders including government, development partners and non-government organisations.

“The bank’s support aims to protect lives, strengthen public health systems, protect livelihoods through enhanced social protection systems, foster economic resilience and protect jobs.”

Both the European Union (EU) and the World Bank had not responded to our query, as we went to press.

We sought to find out on their prospects of unlocking budget support to Malawi in view of emerging issues including the cancellation of the IMF programme and the commitments made by the new regime.

When quizzed to clarify on the specific new policy changes that have necessitated the cancellation of the ECF programme, Ministry of Finance spokesperson Williams Banda said: “The new ECF will be negotiated next and IMF and government agreed for RCF that is faster and has no conditionalities.RCF can support both budgetary and Balance of Payments[BoP].”

Resources from the IMF also help the country cushion its BoP position—a record of all transactions by a country and the rest of the world—thereby mitigating the current foreign exchange scarcity on the market.

At least 79 percent of city and district councils are pathetic under-performers who need to urgently reverse this situation, particularly in some key governance areas.

A study report released yesterday in Lilongwe by independent consultant Professor Mustafa Hussein, conducted on the performance of councils in the 2018 /2019 financial year, revealed that few councils did well in some areas while most of them registered no improvements on governance and cross-cutting issues.

His findings revealed that only 21 percent of the councils performed well in areas such as development planning, human resources management and development, health and harnessing the environment. This was despite the fact that previous reports had pointed to the need for the councils to strengthen their governance structures.

For example,   a research conducted by Asiyatu Lorraine Chiweza, a Zomba-based professor in the department of political and administrative studies at University of Malawi’s Chancellor College in 2015, also revealed that councils had a long way to go in improving governance systems. The report on the Political Economy Analysis of Accountability in Governmental Councils that recommended there should be reforms to improve governance aspect in councils.

But Hussein’s report showed that the previous recommendations were not implemented. Pegging the national average score for all key performance areas (KPAs) in the 2018/2019 fiscal year at 39 percent, the report indicated that only Blantyre and M’mbelwa councils topped the list of the most 14 improved councils. Followed by Kasungu, Mulanje, Dowa, and Lilongwe.

Mchinji, Nkhata Bay, Mangochi, Salima, Phalombe, Ntchisi and Zomba are also included in the good performing category.

But Rumphi and Karonga have been listed as the worst performing councils. Others in this category are Thyolo, Dedza, Ntcheu, Likoma, Neno, Balaka, Mwanza, Nsanje, Nkhotokota, Chitipa and Chikwawa.

According to Hussein, this means performance of all KPAs need improvement on the governance aspect while other areas such as health, public works, agriculture and education require critical attention.

He said: “In the 2018/2019 fiscal year, the national score for all KPAs was 31 percent. This is lower than the 2016/2017 national score of 35 percent. This represents a four percent decline in the performance. However, the aggregate national score of 31 percent is below 50 percent and it implies there is need for improvement.

“Urban councils did not perform satisfactorily in the seven key performance areas based on expected level or indicators or regulatory requirements or established norms and standards. However, some few systems are in place and functioning in the councils but not to the expected level and therefore there is need for improvement.”

The report attributes good performance of some councils to sound leadership at council secretariat, good record keeping, retention of key personnel and a prudent use of financial resources.

In an interview, both Blantyre district commissioner Bennet Nkasala, whose district is a star-performer, and Rumphi District Council chairperson Harry Mnyenyembe, whose entity is the worst performer, described the findings as a true reflection of how they performed in the last financial year.

Nkasala said his strategy has always been to include everybody as well as engaging relevant stakeholders in the daily operations of his council. He further hinted that council meetings are frequently held to ensure there is transparency on what the council does.

But while acknowledging that his council did not do well in a number of areas, Mnyenyembe underscored the point that the poor performance was partly due to frequent transfers of key personnel.

For example, he mentioned that government transferred some of the top officials, including directors of Finance and DCs, four times in a year., leading to a loss of institutional memory on what the council was supposed to do.

Mnyenyembe said: “I should say that the findings in the report are a true reflection on the performance we registered. But we did not do well because we had too many transfers. We had situations whereby directors of finance were transferred twice a month; that really affected us.”

Deputy Minister for Local Government Halima Daudi acknowledged that transfers of key personnel at council level affected their performance. She hinted that there is need for staff to work harder.

She said:  “It is our duty to ensure that councils are performing. Sometimes when we ask them why there is under-performance, they will also say it is because of funding. But funding on its own is not an issue; it needs staff to work hard.  As a ministry, we are going to make sure that all the councils are being empowered and supported.”

In terms of policy direction, the ministry’s Principal Secretary Charles Kalemba proposed that the government should revert to the 1998 Ministry of Local Government Act which provided a five-year term of office for officials such as council chairpersons. According to him, the moving back to the old law would help improve performance of councils in governance aspect because that will also help in sustaining programmes and  putting on check office bearers.

Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) and faith groups in the country have protested the proposed Termination of Pregnancy Bill, saying the country should promote good morals and protect lives of unborn babies.

Parliament is expected to debate the Bill, which seeks to increase the grounds for permissible abortion, at a date to be decided by the parliamentary Business Committee.

Section 243 of the Penal Code permits abortion only if it endangers a woman’s life, but the Bill has proposed that the grounds for termination be broadened to pregnancies resulting from rape, defilement, incest and in situations where a foetus is deformed that it is not compatible with a human being.

In an interview yesterday, Mhen executive director George Jobe said there is no justification to end lives of unborn babies.

He said: “The unborn babies or foetuses cannot speak for themselves. There should be ways to avoid the pregnancies.”

Jobe called for proper measures of preventing pregnancies, adding that if someone has been raped there should be a remedy to prevent fertilisation.

Weighing in on the matter, CCAP  General Assembly moderator the Reverend Bizwick Nkhoma said the stand of the synods is that abortion should not be legalised, adding whether abortion is safe or unsafe, no one has the right to take someone else’s life.

He said: “Our stand is biblically based and we are saying no to abortion. Whether safe or unsafe abortions, the mandate to terminate lives does not lie in our hands but in the hands of God.”

On his part, Quadria Muslim Association of Malawi publicity secretary Sheikh Jaafar Kawinga also trashed the Bill, urging members of Parliament to reject the bill.

Episcopal Conference of Malawi chairperson Archbishop Thomas Msusa also spoke against abortion, saying the country should not promote killing.

He said the bishops were never consulted on the matter.

Meanwhile, Coalition for Prevention of Unsafe Abortion vice-chairperson Amos Nyaka said the proposed law is only seeking to add more grounds on which abortion can be conducted.

In an earlier interview, Parliamentary Committee on Health chairperson Matthews Ngwale also said they were not introducing a new law, but providing additional exceptions for abortion.

A 2008 Ministry of Health Magnitude Study shows that over 100 000 women and girls undergo abortion every year and 33 000 of these develop serious complications whose treatment costs the country around K300 million annually.

Ministry of Finance plans to introduce levies on few items or a special tax for the implementation of the Debt Retirement Fund (DRF).

This follows sentiments by Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu in the 2020/21 National Budget Statement that to repay the huge public debt stock estimated at K4.1 trillion, Treasury is looking at the possibility of establishing a fund.

He said the proceeds of the fund will be ring-fenced and entirely used to retire public debt until debt levels subside to within sustainable levels.

In an interview on Tuesday, Ministry of Finance spokesperson Williams Banda said the only way to retire debt is to record a surplus in the budget, but this has been a problem for a long time as revenues have always remained below expenditures. 

He said: “The proposal here is that we will be introducing some levy on a few items or a special tax, ringfence the proceeds and use those resources for retiring debt.

“Somewhere, government introduced a levy on its own expenses and used the money to repay debt. Discussions are underway and I can’t tell when exactly we will have the fund.”

In the proposed K2.2 trillion National Budget, Mlusu said the fund could be turned into a Malawi Sovereign Wealth Fund to support economic activities and the citizens in times of pandemics and natural disasters through bailouts and fiscal stimulus packages.

As at end June 2020, Malawi’s total public debt was recorded at K4.1 trillion, the majority of which at 57.3 percent was domestic debt.

In the 2020/21 financial year, Treasury projects a deficit of K754.8 billion, which will be financed by foreign borrowing amounting to K224.8 billion and K530.1 billion from domestic borrowing.

Chancellor College economics lecturer Lucius Cassim in an interview on Tuesday welcomed the proposal to have a debt repayment plan regardless of how the funds will be sourced.

He said: “What is very important is whether those funds will be idle awaiting debt retirement or will be put in a sensible investment.

“I think it wouldn’t make any financial sense to keep the money idle in a fund and keep borrowing.”

Of the K2.190 trillion expenditure plan for the 2020/21 financial year, K1.679 trillion is for recurrent expenses, with K376 billion for interest payments alone.

Government says it will drop a case in which Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) leaders were arrested in March this year for planning to seal State Residences.

Attorney General (AG) Chikosa Silungwe in an e-mail response yesterday confirmed the development, but referred The Nation to lawyers representing HRDC for more details.

When contacted, a lawyer representing HRDC, Khwima Mchizi, said consent was granted by the AG’s office to withdraw the case.

He said: “Now, consent has been reached where the AG is ready to withdraw the criminal charges which will end the judicial proceedings.”

In March this year, police arrested then HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo, who is now Minister of Civic Education and National Unity, and his then vice-chairperson Gift Trapence, who has since taken over HRDC leadership, and its Central Region chairperson Reverend MacDonald Sembereka.

The activists planned a march to State Residences on March 25 to force former president Peter Mutharika to assent to the Electoral Reforms Bills that were passed in Parliament earlier.

According to Mchizi, after their arrest and criminal proceedings in the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court, the trio applied for judicial review in the High Court challenging the legality of the arrests.

Mchizi said in their submissions to the High Court, they argued that the arrests were politically motivated under the previous Democratic Progressive Party administration.

The High Court then stayed the criminal proceedings in the lower court pending the judicial review proceedings before arriving at the consent with the AG’s office following no progress.

When asked for his reaction, Trapence said he will comment on the matter once all the court processes are finalised for the withdrawal of the case.

The HRDC leaders were arrested after Mutharika, at a rally at Njamba Freedom Park in Blantyre, ordered the Malawi Police Service and Malawi Defence Force to use all necessary force to stop the protesters.

Besides forcing the former president to assent to the Electoral Reforms Bills, the HRDC leaders also wanted the then Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson Jane Ansah and her commissioners to be fired for being found incompetent by the court.

They were charged with four counts centred on mobilising people to break the law, contrary to Section 124 (1) (b) of the Penal Code.

Chikwawa Diocese of the catholic Church, through its Social Services Directorate, has launched an HIV project to prevent new infections among children in the district.

The project is also expected to reduce vulnerability among orphans and vulnerable children as well as adolescent girls and young women.

In an interview, project assistant manager Lewis Msiyadungu said the five-year project targets at least 10 000 HIV positive orphans and vulnerable children and adolescent girls aged between zero and 18.

He said: “We are also addressing cases of sexual violence and gender-based violence (GBV) among orphans and vulnerable children and adolescent girls and young women.

“We will also enhance child protection systems by building capacity of local organisations.”

Chikwawa district director of planning and development Thokozile Ngwila said the project came at the right time when the district was grappling with GBV and rising HIV infections.

“I urge district stakeholders to support the project for implementation,” she said.

The Ana Patsogolo Project seeks to build the capacity of caregivers, vulnerable families and health workers and is being implemented in partnership with World Education Inc/Bantwana with Funding from USaid and President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief.

Details have emerged that the controversial Ministry of Health ambulances supply deal had the blessings of Cabinet ministers in the former Democratic Progressive Party administration, but technocrats charged with execution apparently frustrated the move.

Paper trail on the ambulances deal shows that in 2018, then minister of Health Atupele Muluzi highlighted the shortage of ambulances and requested special funding for the exercise from his Cabinet colleague Goodall Gondwe, who was minister of Finance.

In a letter reference number DPPD/21 dated January 22 2018, Muluzi requested the Ministry of Finance to provide K4 billion outside the Ministry of Health allocation for the procurement of 66 ambulances.

Gondwe approved Muluzi’s request and further proposed that the number of ambulances be increased to 300.

Gondwe’s response letter dated February 2 2018 under reference number FIN/BD/2/2/9/310 reads in part: “Honourable minister, you may wish to note I totally agree with your suggestion that some resources should be set aside in the 2018/19 budget for procurement of ambulances for our health facilities.

“I am of the view that instead of planning for 66 ambulances, we could be planning for the procurement of 300 ambulances.”

The Nation has established that after Gondwe’s communication, the ministries of Finance and Health received a proposal from a South African company identified as Vision International to supply 300 ambulances to Malawi. The payment plan was staggered over a period of five years to give the Malawi Government some fiscal space.

We have not independently established how the South African firm came to know that Malawi needed 300 ambulances. But sources familiar with the deal claimed there was a syndicate of senior government officials involved.

Vision International was to supply the 300 basic life supporting ambulances at a cost of K32 billion and that government would be paying an average of K6.4 billion annually over five years.

In a memo to Secretary for Health reference number EAD 13/1/2/1 dated June 20 2018, Ben Botolo—who was then Secretary to the Treasury—described the deal as technically and financially viable.

But while seemingly falling for the deal, Botolo feared procurement consequences and stated the same in writing: “I propose that government may consider procuring such type of ambulances.

“However, I would urge your Ministry of Health to procure such vehicles in line with the Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act from which this may be seen as single sourcing and plunge your ministry and government into misprocurement battles.”

Following the advice from Treasury, Ministry of Health advertised for international competitive bidding for the supply of 300 ambulances and three companies emerged successful bidders. They were Vision International, Grand View International and Savenda.

The bidders, at their own cost, were asked to organise inspections of the ambulances.

In view of this, between November and December 2018, a team of about 10 Malawi Government officials travelled from Zambia to the United Kingdom and Dubai to inspect ambulances under the sponsorship of bidders; an act former PPDA acting director Timothy Kalembo described as conflict of interest and promised to investigate.

“Interestingly while there was so much interest to have Vision International given the contract, the inspection team went to South Africa but could not locate the company’s office and could not inspect anything.

“We met at some lodge and a representative from the company gave an excuse that they were not ready for inspection,” confided one official who was in the Malawi Government delegation.

Following the inspection, Ministry of Health settled for Grandview International and PPDA granted a no objection in a letter dated February 15 2019 for the supply of ambulances worth K4 billion, which was the sum set aside in the budget.

In the letter, PPDA clarified that it had withheld its approval for the supply of 300 ambulances because of funds limitation.

But our sources indicate that the choice of Grandview International was to frustrate other interested officials in the deal because Ministry of Health officials allegedly had personal interest in the Zambian firm.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) says it has suspended implementation of the intention by Ministry of Health to award a Zambian firm a contract to supply 35 ambulances because its vetting role was bypassed.

In an interview in the wake of the graft-busting body’s second cancellation of the ambulances deal in 12 months, ACB senior public relations officer Egrita Ndala said the legal requirement to vet contracts allows for checking of the database to see if the supplier or consultant has a case with the bureau.

She said if the contractor has a case with the ACB, the legal and prosecution team within the bureau is consulted to provide guidance on whether clearance should be given.

Ndala said: “If the ACB vetting is not done, there is a possibility that the law may not be followed and officials may abuse their powers in the procurement process.

“Procuring and disposing entities may not be able to realise value for money. The bureau can prosecute officials who break the law.”

She said the bureau also checks adherence to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act of 2017 in the procurement process to ensure transparency, accountability and fairness.

The public procurement law requires that the ACB vets all single-sourcing and high-value contracts and Ndala said the Grandview International contract was not vetted.

Section 37(11) of the PPDA Act provides: “Single source method of procurement or any high-value procurement shall be subject to vetting by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, pursuant to the powers conferred on the bureau under Section 10 of the Corrupt Practices Act.”

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority considers any contract above K50 million a high-value deal to be subjected to ACB vetting before a notice of intention to award the same is made.

This is the second time the ACB was evaded in the Toyota Landcruiser ambulances deal. In 2019, Ministry of Health awarded a K4 billion contract to Paramount Holdings to supply 74 ambulances without ACB vetting.

PPDA director general Elias Hausi asked for more time before responding to our question on why ACB was bypassed in the K1.6 billion contract. He was yet to respond as we went to press.

In a separate interview on Tuesday, procurement specialist Amos Nyambo said by bypassing ACB vetting, the contract raises a red flag which should attract interest.

He said while there was no excuse to break the law, some government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) may not go for vetting because they do not want to be delayed as it may affect value for money.

Nyambo, who is board chairperson of Malawi Institute of Procurement and Supply, said: “I think processes have to be clear. For example, if a contract goes for vetting how long should it take to avoid situations where processes are delayed unnecessarily? This [prescription of timeframe] could indeed motivate more MDAs to go for vetting.”

He also dared PPDA to crack its whip on errant officers who deliberately bypass the procedure. He observed this would deter others from not doing the same.

“The procurement regulations provide for penalties on those who defy the law let it be applied and publicised to send a strong message to others. On our part, we discipline members involved in any procurement malpractices and this helps to promote professionalism” said Nyambo.

The Government Contracting Unit (GCU), which also vets contracts, said the ambulance deal in question had not yet reached a stage where they could come in.

GCU engineering specialist Vincent Sikelo said they are involved at a time an MDA has prepared a contract and their role is to vet technicalities in the contract to maximise value for money.

Like Ndala, he also admitted that some MDAs bypass his office for their own reasons.

Said Sikelo: “We look at risks; hence, we focus more on terms and conditions and we make modifications where necessary to avert wastefulness. In some cases, we have stopped contracts before.

“We encourage MDAs to follow all process including vetting at ACB as well as here so that public procurement is done in the best interest of the people.”

The ACB is currently investigating the Ministry of Health’s contract intention to award to Grandview International following a public outcry. The notice of intention to award the contract indicated that local bidders, including Toyota Malawi and Nissan Malawi, offered low rates.

But in a written response last week, Ministry of Health spokesperson Joshua Malango justified the selection of Grandview International, saying the low-priced local companies “failed due to non-compliance to minimum specifications as indicated in the bid document. These include the requirement that the ambulances should have raised roof, ground clearance and pay load”.

He said Grandview also committed to provide free after-sales service for the ambulances through a local partner he only identified as Avis. He could not state how long the free-service period will take. However, Toyota Malawi provides free service for two years or 50 000 kilometres besides a three-year warranty.

Israel has hailed President Lazarus Chakwera’s decision to establish a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, saying Malawi has demonstrated its sovereignty and desire to strengthen its ties with Israel.

In an interview on Wednesday in Lilongwe, Israel Ambassador Oded Joseph, who is based in Nairobi, Kenya, said there is no controversy in Malawi’s decision because Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.

He said: “We are naturally encouraged with President’s Chakwera’s decision which gives Malawi easy access to Israel.

“This is a long-standing relationship between the two countries and the President’s decision to establish a mission in Jerusalem is nothing strange; this is our capital. So, the issue of recognition does not arise.”

His sentiments come against a background of an unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine over east Jerusalem. Due to the conflict, many countries in diplomatic relations with Israel have not recognised Jerusalem as the capital and instead establish their missions in Tel Aviv.

In its online edition, The Times of Israel reported that if Chakwera fulfils his promise, Malawi would be the first African country to establish a diplomatic office in Jerusalem.

During the interview, Joseph said the conflict between Israel and Arab countries was no longer an issue because Israel was in close contact with the countries.

He said Chakwera needs support as he has started on a good note, citing his appearance in Parliament to answer questions from legislators. He is the second President among five in post-1994 Malawi to fulfil this constitutional requirement. The other was Bakili Muluzi, the first multiparty president who served between 1994 and 2004.

The diplomat also said the President’s move to reduce presidential powers was another signal of a leader willing to improve the country’s state of affairs.

In his maiden State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered in Parliament on September 4, Chakwera announced that Malawi will establish its mission in Jerusalem, a decision some local governance commentators have described as insensitive and a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.

The critics expressed fear that the decision could spark some diplomatic row.

In an earlier interview, Professor Happy Kayuni, who teaches public policy and political science at Chancellor College—a constituent college of the University of Malawi, observed that Malawi already has strong ties with Israel and that it would be better if the new administration avoided the Jerusalem controversy.

But responding to questions in Parliament on September 10, Chakwera acknowledged the debate on his decision to reopen the mission offices in Jerusalem, saying Malawi was a sovereign State and that “relationships will be established with any country provided it is for the benefit of Malawian people”.

In November last year, Chakwera—a former Malawi Assemblies of God president who quit the pulpit in 2012 to join frontline politics by vying for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidency—visited Israel to pray for Malawi, according to his post on Twitter.

Since 2017, United States (US) President Donald Trump officially has championed a campaign to have Jerusalem recognised as the capital of Israel.

However, when the question was put at the UN General Assembly in December 2017, there were 128 countries that voted against the US proposal while nine were in favour and 35 were absentee votes, including Malawi. Togo is the only African country to have voted in favour of the US proposal.

But in May 2016, the US proceeded to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The European Union, the United Nations and African Union have all expressed worry over Trump’s move, saying it is a setback for peace efforts between Israel and Palestine.

Chakwera became the sixth President of Malawi following his triumph in the court-sanctioned Fresh Presidential Election held on June 23.

The Malawi Agricultural Policy Advancement and Transformation Agenda (Mwapata) Institute and the National Planning Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore long-term collaboration.

The partnership is expected to support government development planning and coordination in the implementation of those plans.

Speaking yesterday during the MoU signing in Lilongwe, Mwapata acting executive director William Chadza described the event as a significant milestone cementing the partnership between the institute and the country’s planning commission.

He said: “The MoU provides a framework for long term collaboration between Mwapata Institute and the National Planning Commission in research and outreach. Research that will inform the ongoing visioning process for the country and contribute to progress towards realising the Transformation 2063.”

The new pact, Chadza said, will also build on enhancing the quest for the institute to establish mechanisms for its sustainability.

Specifically, the two parties will explore and collaborate in areas of research, organising Eminent Speakers Forum, identifying development initiatives that are working, up-scaling development initiatives, identifying and adapting successful models in various sub-sectors of agriculture and also promoting dialogue on issues affecting agriculture, among others.

On his part, NPC director general Thomas Munthali said the commission expects that following the signing of the MoU, Mwapata will now be crafting research that fits into long-term planning.

He said: “We want them to help us make sure the plans that we have put in place around the pillars we have developed in the new vision can be operationalise so that we move into implementation of those plans and that is the context in which we are having Mwapata on board.”

Efforts to protect girls from risky practices, including child marriages and teen pregnancies, remain fragile with lax law enforcement of laws and policies.

Mother groups in Namatubi, Traditional Authority Mwabulambya in Chitipa District are working closely with the area’s child protection network to make laws work for the good of boys and girls.

During a visit, Lucia Simovwe, the network’s lead mother, was briefing fellow child protectors  on how to handle violations of children’s rights, including teen pregnancies and pregnancies involving girls below 18.

She constantly visits various communities to sensitise parents and children to the importance of educating girls as well as dangers of child marriages and teen pregnancies.

However, Simovwe is concerned that many girls in the rural locality quit school for marriage before their 18th birthdays. The Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) shows that almost half of Malawian women marry before reaching the legal marriageable age.

“We hear of girls elsewhere working in government or leading community development projects. But for ours, it is a dream we can only achieve if early marriages are eliminated and girls stay in school,” she says.

Restrictions to roll back the coronavirus pandemic have not deterred Simovwe and her colleagues from visiting families reported to have allowed minors to marry. They work with village heads to enforce child protection by-laws.

The rural community registered eight child marriages since March when the government closed schools to reduce coronavirus spread.

“We have by-laws that still apply even though the children are out of school. Every parent whose child falls pregnant or goes into marriage is fined a goat,” says Simovwe.

The mother group’s work helps community members, even children, understand the dangers of risky sexual acts that result in school dropout rates, teen pregnancies, child marriages and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

“We have to continue this work, including our meetings  to assess on child protection issues because the pandemic will end, but we cannot leave our children at risk of all forms of child abuse,” Simovwe says.

The mother groups’ efforts to create safe spaces for girls have given rise to study clubs to support girls with learning difficulties.

Magdalena Musaku, a Form One student at Namatubi Community Day Secondary School, works closely with the child protection network.

She dreams of becoming a police officer to enforce laws and safeguard rights of children, particularly girls.

“I don’t see a lot of police officers coming to investigate cases of child abuse, especially girls impregnated by older men” she says.

 Magdalena wants an end to cultural setbacks that force girls to quit schooling. She reckons her area is short on role models and mentors to give girls signposts to success.

“This is why most girls lose focus and concentration on their education,” she explains.

With the closure of schools, Magdalena and her peers meet to discuss academic work in study clubs formed to keep learners active until schools reopen.

“When classes resume, it will be easy for us to cope. The clubs also help us stay away from risky sexual practices,” she says.

Namatubi Child Protection Network’s work receives funding from Lusubilo Community Care Centre.

 Makangila Mbale, project officer at Lusubilo, commends members of the network for their dedication and inroads to safeguard children’s rights.

He urges them to remain vigilant in the push to eliminate child marriages and teen marriages, which are surging during the school closure created by the pandemic discovered in China nine month ago.

“Despite the pandemic, don’t overlook child protection and promoting girls rights,”  Mbale says

According to Unicef, Malawi has the world’s 12th largest prevalence of child marriages—with 42 percent of women marrying before the age of 18, according to MDHS. The nationwide survey shows a tenth of these marry before their 15th birthday.

The coronavirus pandemic and precautions have disrupted schooling, which lessens girls’ risk of marrying young and falling pregnant.

A girl who stays in school focuses more on achieving her academic qualifications and career goals, delaying her first pregnancy or marriage in the process.

This also enhances her chances and earnings in life.

However, the closure of schools has exposed gaps in child protection systems, including parenting, as all regions report a rise in teen pregnancy and child marriage.

Girls Not Brides Alliance, a global partnership to end child marriages,  reports that many factors that drive child marriages in stable environments are exacerbated in emergency settings as community structures put their work on hold to address the causes of the emergency.

The challenges include disruptions in schooling and loss of household income that may lead girls to transactional sex.

The alliance’s policy brief on the coronavirus crisis recommends that all players in the humanitarian response and recovery should ensure their activities do not lead to or perpetuate further discrimination, abuse, violence, neglect or exploitation, including the practice of early and forced marriage.

As coronavirus slows national efforts to empower adolescent girls and young women, Simovwe hopes that the restrictions will not halt their efforts to ensure that no girl is left behind.

Football supporters have welcomed Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 directive that the Flames participate in Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and Fifa World Cup qualifiers under strict conditions, including playing the matches without fans.

This follows a meeting between Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Ministry of Youth and Sports officials yesterday in Lilongwe.

However, the task force will review the resumption of TNM Super League and other games issue to be relooked into during the next on Thursday next week.

Government’s decision comes just a day after supporters across the country were organising demonstrations against the ban on football.

One of the organisers of the demonstrations, Silver Strikers supporters chairperson Kingsley Malaya welcomed the return of football without supporters.

He said: “As one of the organisers of the planned demonstrations, let me say that we welcome the decision that supporters should not be allowed. What we wanted was for football to resume. Our concern was on the welfare of players.”

Blantyre-based Be Forward Wanderers staunch supporter, Yona malunga, who has also been campaigning for the return of football, also welcomed the restriction on supporters.

He said: “We don’t have any problem with that. Once football starts, we can watch the matches on television. The fight for football to resume was for the players who have been suffering due to the economic impact of not playing football. Our national team can now start preparing for the Afcon and Fifa World Cup qualifiers.”

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu applauded government for the decision.

On playing without supporters Nyamilandu said: “It’s the first step to get started. We will warmly seize the opportunity to restart football.

“At least for now, we are assured that training will commence with earnest. The rest will follow as the situation is being reviewed periodically.

“Half a loaf is better than nothing. This is good enough to get started. We will deal with how to overcome the challenges later,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Flames will go into camp this weekend. However, Mozambique-based Flames players, including captain John ‘CJ’ Banda, who were back home following a lockdown in Mozambique due to Covid-19, have been recalled by their clubs.

This means the players will not be available for pending national team camp in preparation from the Cosafa Cup to be held in South Africa next month.

Banda confirmed been recalled after the country eased on lockdown to allow clubs to start training in preparation for competitions.

He said: “The players got tested 10 days ago and training was supposed to start yesterday,” he said.

Former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has today summoned its vice-president (South) Kondwani Nankhumwa to a disciplinary hearing.

In an interview yesterday, the Mulanje Central legislator confirmed being summoned by the party, saying hearing is scheduled to take place today.

According to a letter dated September 10 2020, signed by DPP disciplinary committee secretary Charles Mhango and addressed to Nankhumwa, the party has summoned the Leader of Opposition in Parliament following a complaint raised by the party’s deputy secretary general.

Reads the letter in part: “The disciplinary committee has received a complaint from the deputy secretary general regarding your conduct in contravention of the constitution of the Democratic Progressive Party.

“You are hereby given notice of a disciplinary hearing against you to be conducted by the disciplinary committee of the Democratic Progressive Party at the DPP National Headquarters in Lilongwe.”

In the letter, Nankhumwa is charged with four counts of disciplinary breaches. First, he is accused of undermining DPP president Peter Mutharika, contrary to Article 6 (ii) and (vii) of the party’s constitution.

It is alleged that Nankhumwa imposed himself on the position of Leader of Opposition when Mutharika had appointed Mulanje South West legislator George Chaponda, with Nankhumwa as the party’s chief whip.

On the second count of the alleged disciplinary offences, the party is accusing the legislator of conspiracy to mislead Mutharika, contrary to Article 6 (II) (v) (vii) of the DPP constitution and to the interest of the party.

The letter alleges that between July 10 and August 29, Nankhumwa together with the party’s secretary general (Grezelder Jeffrey) lied to Mutharika that members of Parliament (MPs) would revolt if his position is to be reversed.

And on the third count, Nankhumwa is accused of failing to resolve and respond to queries about his education background while the fourth count pertains to his alleged meeting with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) officials between August 1 and September 4 at former official hostess Cecilia Kadzamira’s residence.

When contacted yesterday, Nankhumwa said: “Yes it’s true, I have been summoned. Hearing will take place tomorrow [today].”

But in a separate interview, governance commentator Makhumbo Munthali said there is lack of sincerity in the alleged disciplinary offences against Nankhumwa as raised by the party.

For instance, he said if the party was sincere about his education qualifications, it would not have retained him in numerous Cabinet positions if that was a concern.

Munthali said the alleged offences are likely being used as a scapegoat for the real issues about the party’s succession wrangles.

Last month, the party also summoned its secretary general to a disciplinary hearing following her sentiments that the party should have an early convention to elect new leadership as Mutharika has played his part.

This did not go down well with Mutharika, who is said to have fumed at the sentiment during a meeting at his private retirement home in Mangochi.

Jeffrey’s views came days after DPP regional governor (North) Christopher Mzomera Ngwira admitted that some members of the party were calling for Mutharika’s replacement to start rebuilding the party.

But in his reaction, Mustapha Hussein, a political and administrative studies lecturer at University of Malawi’s Chancellor College, said the fact that Mutharika took offence with the remarks demonstrated signs of political intolerance.

He said the DPP,  after losing the court-sanctioned June 23 Fresh Presidential Election, needed to immediately put its house in order.

Africa’s perennial food deficit could be resolved within 10 years, even with the current population boom projected to hit 1.7 billion by 2030, the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate Professor Rattan Lal has said.

The esteemed Ohio State University professor of soil science said this recently at a side event titled Building Africa’s Second Fertiliser Summit, which preceded the 2020 AGRF virtual summit hosted by Uganda.

Organised by the Alliance for African Partnerships (AAP), a consortium of 10 universities in Africa and the Michigan State University (MSU), working together with other partners including the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) and the Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Institutes (ReNAPRI), the event was conceptualised as a consensus-building step towards the Abuja II Fertiliser Summit.

Lal compared the question about Africa’s inability to feed herself to the pessimism that judged Asia’s capacity to feed itself between 1960s and 1990s.

Said Lal: “Africa is facing the same situation as did India in 1960s and China in 1990s. Africa will also overcome the same way as did other nations.”

He derives his optimism from the continent’s capacity and resources to turn around the population curse into an opportunity that would see technological growth sufficient enough to improve Africa’s agricultural output.

“The doubling tripling or even quadrupling of current production with existing knowledge is possible provided there is political stability, political willpower and financial support to translate known science into action,” said Lal.

He said Africa should consider practices that would increase soil organic matter and reduce acidity, apart from prioritising irrigation farming to turn around its food insufficiency.

Another expert, Dr. Omou Camara, observed that if Africa failed to address persistent “food security, low yield/productivity and poverty”, the continent will see “an even greater economic migration to developed continents”.

On his part, Professor Sieg Snapp of MSU said while dependence of fertiliser persists, it was important for African farmers to know their soil organic matter content to prescribe proper quantities for a specific field.

The MSU and the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources are working with farmers on how to use handheld measuring units to test organic content in their fields for better decisions on types and quantities of fertilisers to apply.

Technology aside, Dr. John Rusike of the African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership thinks it is important to have relevant policy frameworks to promote fertiliser usage, observing that delayed policy development and legislation has impacted agricultural productivity.

Construction workers have ended their two-week strike at the new Nkhata Bay Market and resumed work after resolving their grievances with the employer.

It is alleged that China Gansu Engineering Corporation Limited did not pay the workers since the start of construction works on July 30 this year.

In an interview yesterday, a foreman Wilton Bakali said they started work without signing any contract regarding their wages.

“We did not sign any contract with the employer up until the end of the month when he produced the documents which had conditions that we did not agree with,” he said.

The documents outlined a daily wage ranging from K1 000 to K1 300.

The workers reported the issue to Nkhata Bay Boma Ward councillor Celia Nyamwera Adamana who tried to reason with the employer.

“After my intervention, the company changed nothing and I asked the workers to lodge their complaint with the District Labour Office for further assistance,” he said.

But Nkhata Bay district labour officer Lanwell Mkisi blamed both parties for failing to sign a contract agreement prior to work. 

“We don’t work for somebody without a work or contract agreement unless we want to be exploited. Any form of employment needs to follow proper procedures,” he said.

Mkisi advised that all workers be paid following government minimum wage of K1 346.16 per day.

In a separate interview, China Gansu Engineering Cooperation Limited site manager Zhong said the issue was an administrative misunderstanding.

He has since agreed to pay each worker K1 346.16 per day.

Bwaila District Hospital in Lilongwe is sailing in troubled waters with multiple challenges including poor water access and shortage of medical equipment.

The hospital’s physiotherapy department, for instance, only has one specialist and three beds, but lacks even the most basic equipment such as walking frames.

The maternity department, on the other hand, has no guardian shelter and faces erratic water supply so much that guardians buy water outside from people who have capitalised on the situation to make money.

These were among the challenges that were laid bare to Minister of Health Khumbize Chiponda when she visited the facility on Wednesday.

Speaking to the minister, a guardian Christina Mahenga said she had been looking after her pregnant cousin for three days during which they have had to buy water.

She said: “We buy about two litres of warm water at K400 which we take to our women for a bath even after they deliver. It is a sad situation.”

The minister also learnt that the hospital is operating without a slit lamp because the lone equipment requires servicing, forcing health workers to use mobile phone torch lights instead.

A slit lamp is a microscope with a bright light used during eye examinations. It gives an ophthalmologist a closer look at the different structures at the front of the eye and inside the eye and is a key tool in detecting eye diseases.

Lilongwe district medical officer Mary Chimsewu Nkunika said the hospital only has 144 beds which are not enough to cater for the many patients that require admission.

She bemoaned that a structure meant for a theatre, which was constructed by the University of North Carolina-Project Malawi, is still idle due to lack of equipment such as theatre beds and anaesthetic machines.

In response, Chiponda said government is working on finding a solution to the challenges and a consultant has already submitted a quotation to fix the water and sewer systems.

Said the minister: “I must say that water is of paramount importance in the labour ward. Therefore, we will ensure that we do what we need to do to address this. We want to ensure that we don’t only depend on our partners but also do our part in addressing these challenges.”

She further commended the hospital’s health workers for providing quality health care to patients amid the myriad challenges.

Prior to visiting the hospital, Chiponda visited Chipatala Cha Pa Foni, a programme where people access health information and advice through a toll-free phone line.

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus: “Dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom, there is a certain people living apart. Their laws differ from those of every other people and they do not obey the laws of the king; so it is not proper for the king to tolerate them.9 If it please the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them; and I will deliver to the procurators ten thousand silver talents for deposit in the royal treasury.” – Esther 1:8-9

In recent months, I have been at my wits’ end, plunging into the deep stupor of massive despair as I have tried to make sense of all the endless reports of violence meted towards people that look like me, people of colour. Today, I write this open letter to the Higher Being, a lamentation of sorts about the endless injustice that my people face globally.

As I pen the letter to our Divine Leader, it is reminiscent of two powerful biblical instances where divine intervention were enacted when Moses and Esther looked upward during their respective times of perilous danger. Perchance, as I look up, He will likewise, respond.

Charles Davis, columnist of United States (US) Insider Business reports that on Tuesday, 173 congressional US Democrats demanded an “immediate investigation” by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general into reports that women have been receiving hysterectomies without their consent at a detention facility.

The investigation would follow leads into a whistle-blower’s claim that the immigration agency known as ICE has been sterilising immigrant women. The doctor behind this heinous unnecessary and unrequested medical gynaecological procedures had been dubbed the “uterus collector.”

Such open criminality and disrespect of people of colour are rampant in the US, leading to countrywide protests under the platform Black Lives Matter. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, Atitiana Jefferson, Michael Dean, Melvin Watkins and Channara Tom Pheap are a few recent incidents of killings in plain sight of unarmed black people (predominantly men), by white police officers.

White hate on black is not a new phenomenon. It stretches deep into the vile un-erasable stench of slavery. The marks of slavery are visible with the treatment of the white race on the black race on both sides of the Atlantic.

Although sometimes people separate slavery and the experience of the enslaved in the Americas from the experience of the people of the African continent who underwent colonialism, the experiences are similar. The end result similar though vastly different.

The enslaved black man in the Americas has not led a life of roses. Slaves brought to the US have led a life of hatred meted toward them, unpaid labour, lynching, segregation laws and now institutionalised killings that threaten to cull the population of black people living in America.

Likewise, the black people in Africa have not been living a life filled with potpourri. During the colonial period (1800-1960), white people  subjugated black owners of the continent, technically enslaving the entire continent (except Ethiopia and Liberia). British, French, Portuguese, German, Belgian and Dutch colonialists instituted vile living standards and relations with Africans.

Both experiences exacerbated by the white race against the black race on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean is laced with humongous racial injustices.

As white police officers in the US find themselves again and again at the end of a gun fired at a black person, the sad truth about Africa is that of the being availed, given easy access to guns that have led to bloody power disputes and coup d’états or the quest for control of minerals. Black people are caused to kill black people using guns manufactured and sold, not on the black market, but legally, by White gun manufacturers, marketers, and imperialist manipulating rulers.

Oh my God! That You would stretch down Your hand and end the unjust justice systems that want to wipe out the black race, which is a part of Your creation!