Data from the Public Health Institute of Malawi (Phim) shows that the country is registering a decline in the number of deaths and the positivity rate for Covid-19 in August.

The data shows that the overall positivity rate has dropped from 20.3 percent in recent weeks to 17.6 percent with the weekly positivity rate averaging 15.8 percent.

Deaths have also declined by an average 19.4 percent, but the case fatality ratio remains high at 3.2 percent compared to the 2.1 percent global rate.

Since the country recorded its first Covid-19 death on April 7 2020, a total of 2 082 people have succumbed to the pandemic. By August 31 2020, Malawi had registered 175 Covid-19 deaths in the first wave while 1 892 died during the second and third waves.

While the country has reported a 33.7 percent drop in the number of new positive cases in this month, the Phim data shows that the recovery rate stands at 74.3 percent

According to the data, youths within the age range of 20 to 29 are the most affected (21.8 percent) by the pandemic followed by those within the age range of 30 to 39 percent (21.2 percent).

People within the age range of 40 to 49 are the least affected at 15.6 percent, according to the data.

In an interview yesterday, Health and Rights Education Programme executive director Maziko Matemba attributed the decline in both the number of deaths and positivity rate to the country’s Covid-19 response programmes.

He said while there are many factors that can be highlighted, one of the major attributes can be the readiness of the country’s health care workers and the availability of supportive medication.

Said Matemba: “Taking into consideration that it’s almost a year now since we have had Covid-19, our clinicians might have mastered how to take care of Covid-19 patients in our treatment centres.”

But while emphasising that the case fatality ratio is a cause for concern, the health rights activist expressed worry with low turnout of people at Covid-19 vaccination centres after the arrival of more AstraZeneca vaccine doses last month.

According to a Ministry of Health daily Covid-19 update, as of yesterday, 466 999 and 192 517 people had received the first and second jabs of the AstraZeneca vaccine while 168 099 had received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

In a separate interview, epidemiologist Dr Titus Divala said from the country’s detailed population the true case fatality ratio would unlikely be over one percent if there was accurate recording of the number of confirmed cases or deaths.

He said: “However, in a very fluid and overstretched setting of battling a pandemic, case fatality ratios and recovery rates do not reflect the true burden of disease.

“This is because the number of people dying from Covid-19 and the true number of cases are unlikely to be accurate because many go through the disease without being tested.”

Divala said for Malawi to improve on the case fatality ratio, there is need to expand testing access and clinical confirmation of deaths.

While expressing worry about the low turnout of people for vaccination, he underscored the need to reduce deaths by vaccinating people above 40 years before the fourth wave which may come in December this year.

On his part, Malawi University of Science and Technology Academy of Medical Sciences head of biological sciences Dr Gama Bandawe said it is important to enlighten people on the importance of vaccines despite a proportion of the vaccinated population still contracting the pandemic.

“Vaccines give a measure of protection, especially now that we are going through different variants. So, the vaccines reduce the amount of infections meaning there is a short period of time for sickness and passing on of the virus to other people,” he said.

Bandawe said while the country continues to experience the third wave, there is need to shift focus on youths and people in rural areas where the pandemic is affecting many people.

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Businessperson Zameer Karim’s lawyers yesterday insisted that former Malawi Police Service director of Finance Innocent Bottoman, who died last month, forged a letter to Ecobank facilitating a K150 million loan.

Bottoman was arrested alongside Karim and fellow police officer Grant Kachingwe in the K7 billion police food rations scandal which is now being prosecuted separately by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Karim, trading as Pioneer Investments, is accused of conspiring with Bottoman and Kachingwe between December 14 2014 and September 19 2019 at Ministry of Finance in Lilongwe and stole K7.4 billion from police.

In a separate case before the Lilongwe chief resident magistrate Patrick Chirwa, Karim is charged alongside Ecobank Malawi head of domestic banking Victoria Chanza. The duo is accused of forgery and fraud over alleged use of false documents to obtain a K150 million loan at Ecobank.

In the alleged forgery and fraud at Ecobank where Karim obtained a loan purportedly to service the food supply contract for Police, the main arguments now focus on whether a letter, which confirmed existence of a contract between Karim and Police submitted to the bank, was forged as investigators allege.

During a day-long cross-examination of the lead investigator Yotamu Banda of Fiscal Police, Karim’s defence team led by lawyer Alex Nampota, a former director of ACB, focused on presenting a picture where senior police officers, including the then Deputy Inspector General of Police Duncan Mwapasa, approved the bank arrangement.

The defence further sought to question the credibility of the subsequent police investigation, arguing that the investigators deliberately ignored several key streams of evidence, including e-mails, text messages and letters which they say corroborate Karim’s argument that the letter originated from police service.

Nampota’s cross-examination further focused on an alleged meeting between Bottoman and Mwapasa which agreed on price adjustment for the contract Karim had with police. The details of that meeting were communicated to Karim via Whatsapp text from Mwapasa.

But the witness insisted that the letter was not done by Bottoman, but by Karim, saying Karim had access to several police letters which he used to imitate Bottoman’s signature.

The witness added that Bottoman disowned the document and that further investigations proved that the document was not authored by the Police.

Later, lawyer Tamando Chokotho, representing  Chanza, focused cross-examination on lack of evidence about Chanza’s involvement in the originating of the letter and further argued that the banker was a victim of the purported fraud not an accomplice.

But Banda insisted that Bottoman had previously told investigators in the presence of Karim, Chanza and Chokotho of calls between the three acussed persons which could be evidence of the three conniving before the letter was generated.

According to Banda, during a meeting over the issue at Fiscal Police, there was a confrontation between Bottoman, Karim and Chanza when the issue of the phone call was mentioned, but said efforts to obtain call logs from phone operators failed as it required obtaining some call logs from the Indian government.

Particulars of the case indicate that Karim, in August 2015, using his companies—Oil and Protein Company Limited and Pioneer Investments—obtained a K150 million loan from Ecobank using forged documents with a promise to pay back the loan from proceeds of the police food ration deal but never did.

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The Ministry of Agriculture says it is consulting stakeholders on the Fertiliser Bill which Parliament is banking on to bring sanity in the management of the soil nutrient in the country.

A recent assessment of the national fertiliser regulatory authorities revealed that fertiliser production, importation, distribution, marketing and trade is regulated and controlled by multiple institutions.

The institutions are established under different laws in Malawi and in carrying out their duties they draw their mandate from their specific Acts, policies and regulations, a development that has previously led to conflicts and/or overlaps; hence, making it difficult to reach consensus on certain issues.

Parliament hopes that if the Fertiliser Bill is tabled and passed, it would help bring sanity in management of fertilisers, including pricing.

In an interview on Monday, Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Erica Maganga said there are a number of stages before it can be tabled in Parliament.

She said the ministry first had to work on the Fertiliser Policy following guidance from the Office of the President and Cabinet.

Maganga said: “Last year we finalised the Fertiliser Policy and it was launched in January this year. With that approval and launch of the Fertiliser Policy, we are now finalising the Bill

“We already had a draft Bill, but we wanted the Fertiliser Policy to be processed first before we can go into finalising the Bill.”

However, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security chairperson Sameer Suleman suspected that there are deliberate delays on the Bill.

He said government should bring the Bill to Parliament during the November meeting. He said if government dilly-dallies, the committee will have the Bill tabled as a private member’s Bill.

“The Bill is a key to resolving challenges being faced in management of fertilisers. And the Bill will empower government to regulate fertiliser and put an end to skyrocketing of fertiliser prices but also protect farmers,” he said.

Currently, there is an outcry from farmers on the rising prices of fertiliser from about K20 000 to K40 000 per 50 kilogramme (kg) bag.

In his national address on Saturday, President Lazarus Chakwera vowed to act on soaring fertiliser prices in the country.

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Ministry of Finance has deferred the rollout of tollgates under the Roads Fund Administration (Tolls) Regulations 2021 from September 1 to October 1 2021 purportedly to enable Malawians fully understand the importance of tollgates.

Ministry of Finance spokesperson Williams Banda on Monday said government has extended by a month the rollout of paying fees to raise awareness on the tollgates project.

He said: “Implementation will start at 1st September, but in terms of effectiveness of paying fees, that one will start on 1st October.

“We considered the time which the public was given to know what happens at the tollgates and how will it be done. So, it’s for the sake of public awareness of the procedures and technicalities of the tollgates.”

The development follows a public outcry over the gazetting of tollgate fees last week.

According to the Malawi Gazette Supplement dated August 6 2021 signed by Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu, the toll fees or other charges imposed for use for a tolled public road shall form part of the Roads Fund and shall be used for maintenance or rehabilitation of the tolled public roads

Among others, at a time of passing through a toll payment point, motorists driving light vehicles will pay K1 700, K3 400 for minibuses and pickups, K5 100 two to five-tonne vehicles with between 17 to 31 passengers capacity with two to five tonnes, K8 000 for vehicles with 10 tonnes capacity while for abnormal load vehicles, they will be required to pay K20 000.

In a separate interview, Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament chairperson Peter Dimba on Monday said his committee is planning to meet Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport and Public Works officials as well as Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Public Works to understand the rationale of toll-gates prices.

Roads Fund Administration introduced the tollgates project as a reform area to diversify sources of financing for road maintenance which currently solely relies on levies on prices of petrol and diesel.

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Sparc Systems (Africa) Limited has partnered Caring Hands, non-profit organisation that promotes mental health awareness, to develop a mobile application called Mental Lab.

In an interview in Blantyre on Friday after signing the partnership, Caring Hands events management and partnership director Spiwe Zulu said the application will simulate the automation of processes involved when one seeks mental health therapy.

He said: “The app will automate the processes of awareness to individuals who are mentally disturbed or who are stressed and anxious and are seeking therapy to ease their state.

“It will also automate the activities involved when individuals are trying to reach out to service providers (therapists) by providing a feature that will enable them to remotely book therapy sessions.”

Zulu said to minimize face-to-face interactions in the Covid-19 pandemic era, the mobile app will also automate this process by providing a user interaction platform feature that will enable them to chat, discuss various mental health issues and interact with each other in a group format.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also exacerbated cases of mental health, with Malawi Police Service figures showing that suicide cases increased by 57 percent in 2020 as a result of loss of hope in dealing with problems resulting from Covid-19.

“Looking at the trajectory, these figures are likely to go up in 2021,” said Spiwe.

Sparc Systems, an information and communications technology firm, is developing the application from scratch into implementation stage and will be be supporting the application when it is up and running.
The firm will also be responsible for all the technical requirements to do with the application.

On his part, Sparc Systems (Africa) Limited acting group head of sales and market Harry Kasandala said in Covid-19 era, may people have been affected by mental health issues one way or another.
“We have lost loved ones, most people are struggling to put food on the table and make ends meet, and many other issues.

“Most people are struggling thinking about how they take the next day. Most of the people end up into alcohol and illicit drug abuse or even suicide,” he said.

Kasandala said they are delighted to partner Caring Hands to help have a better national healthwise whose people can become productive citizens.

He said Sparc systems will be providing technical expertise to develop the Mental Lab App.

“This is a complex App to develop as it will have a combination of medical informatics, third party integrations, a blog, social media and payment gateway functionalities all in the Mental Lab App,” he said.

Mental health is one of the most pressing concerns for public healthcare systems worldwide.

Studies have identified mental illnesses as the second leading cause of disability and premature mortality across the world.
Caption: Kasandala (L) and Zulu after signing the partnership

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Praise and worship musician Apostle Chitheka-Louis is set for a live DVD recording session dubbed Stay Soaked in Worship this Saturday at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe.

The project will see the veteran gospel singer and composer record 20 songs, a mixture of her old and new compositions. Some of the songs to feature include M’chipululu, Onani Malawi, It Is Well, You Are Able and Kabiosi.

Out of the 20, eight are old songs, two are from the hymn book, five are covers and the other five new compositions, according to Chitheka. The title of the DVD is You Are Able (Palibe Chokukanikani).

She said the show will be used as a prayer session to intercede for the country as it struggles to overcome challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Said Chitheka: “The world has so many questions. We really don’t know what next is coming our way. It is only God that can give us hope, peace of mind and spirit we so much need right now. As a minister of the gospel, I would love to see people gaining back their trust in God.”

Apart from her performance, other artists to perform include Sam Mjura, Marlin Chakwera, Esther and Khezia Chitheka-Louis  and Enoch Chitheka.

During her performance, Apostle Chitheka-Louis will be backed by the Dynamics Band which comprises names such as Ruth Mputeni, Randy Nansungwi and Dingalizwe Ngayaye.

One of the organisers of the event, Alex Chitheka-Louis said in view of the Covid-19 public gathering restrictions, patronage to the show will be limited.

He said: “We are very cautious of the prevailing situation. We have, therefore, restricted the number of attendees to a safe and acceptable bracket. And again, through our partnership with Rab Processors Limited, face masks and hand sanitisers.”

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It is a seven-hour trek from the foot of the mountain to the Chisepo Hut. After a night at the hut, it is another three-hour hike to the highest point in southern central Africa, Sapitwa on Mulanje Mountain.

But Minister of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife Michael Usi is not fazed to and will join musician Lawi on that three-day trek.

And, surprisingly, organisers on Monday announced that the music on the two nights will be from Lawi and Keturah, to drum up support for Malawi’s Island in  the Sky.

Lawi, as the Voice of the Mountain, says he is set for the trek to the peak, perched at 3 002 metres above sea level.

“I have been doing physical preparation for the past few weeks and it is a wonderful experience knowing I will be going up the mountain with a dedicated team of nature enthusiasts, including the minister,” says Lawi.

The musician, who will be part of the poetry and music performances on the mountain, said he has hiked smaller mountains in Gauteng and North West in South Africa so a hike to Sapitwa is exciting.

“I’m looking forward to going all the way to the great Sapitwa,” says the Amaona Kuchedwa artist.

The artist believes this is an opportunity for him to be inspired by nature.

“Nature makes us sing, music is everywhere: In the sky, on land and in the ground music is subtle. I look forward to enjoying music from a higher ground,” says Lawi.

Usi is equally excited. He has been preparing by hiking to the summit of Bunda Hill in Lilongwe.

“I used to hike the Mulanje Mountain some 30 years ago. I am looking forward to the challenge. I am excited to be part of this mission led by Lawi,” he says.

If he makes it to the peak, Usi will be the first Minister of Tourism in office to make it to the tourist attraction that is characterised by grandeur, sparkling pools and exciting slopes, but faces environmental degradation.

According to one of the organisers, Emmanuel Maliro, all preparations are on the right track.

“Everyone is extremely excited, many have just been hearing about Sapitwa myths, they believe it’s time to see on their own. Malawians now love their country to see what we have, instead of going to other countries, we should hold hands and fix our local tourism ourselves,” he says.

The nature enthusiasts will spend two nights at Chisepo hut, before and after reaching the summit with a treat to music, storytelling with a bonfire lighting the nights.

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Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda has assured security personnel in the country that government is going to solve their housing challenges.

Speaking on Monday when touring police houses under construction at National Police Headquarters in Lilongwe, he said he was satisfied with progress of the project.

The site will have 300 three-bedroom apartments for junior officers, 38 three-bedroom houses for middle rank officers and 12 houses for senior officers.

Said Chimwendo: Banda: “We are going to make sure that as soon as some houses have been completed, we hand them over to police officers while the rest of the houses are still being constructed.

“That way, we can solve the housing challenges facing the police service where 70 percent of officers are renting outside police quarters.”

According to the minister, officers lack access to decent housing and where it is available, it is in dilapidated state.

Police Deputy Inspector General responsible for Administration Merlyn Yolamu said the housing shortage in the police service has had an impact on their operations.

She said: “The current status quo where 70 percent of officers reside outside police quarters is not good. Normally police are designed to be at one location where it becomes easy to mobilise them in case of need.”

On his part, Mughal Construction site agent Imtiaz Mirza said the project is scheduled to finish in June next year.

“I am very optimistic that we will meet that target,” he said.

Chimwendo Banda recently told The Nation that government has set five years to construct 10 000 houses for law enforcement agencies but they will start with 2 500 houses.

The first phase of houses was inaugurated by President Lazarus Chakwera on December 15 2020 in Karonga.

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African Potato Centre (APC) will hold its 12th triennial conference in Lilongwe from June 27 to July 1 2022.

According to the centre’s statement, the conference will be held under the theme Harnessing Potato and Sweet Potato Innovations for Resilient and Healthier Agri-food Systems.

The previous triennial conference was held in August 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda.

African Potato Centre president Wilkinson Makumba in the statement said the conference will provide professionals with a platform where they can discuss studies pertaining to potatoes.

He said:  “The conference will provide an opportunity for scientists and other stakeholders throughout Africa and around the world to come together for networking, exchange information and ideas and to initiate new collaborative studies on sweet potato and potato.”

The centre said the conference will be jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the International Potato Centre and some of its partners.

It is expected that renowned scientists, up-and-coming researchers and other stakeholders will attend the meeting either virtually or in person.

Proposed sub-themes include breeding and genetic innovations for increased resilience, production and nutrition, innovative approaches for building sustainable seed systems and policies and approaches for achieving impact at scale.

The association was formed in September 1995 with numerous objectives aimed at promoting interests of potato and sweet potato workers in Africa and facilitating greater inter-country collaboration and horizontal exchange of information and exchange visits by scientists.

It seeks to champion the stimulation on the development of potato and sweet potato research, production, and utilisation in Africa and to popularise potato and sweet potato as important food items.

Besides, the association was also launched to act as a link between the International Potato Centre and other relevant associations in the world and member countries and to monitor training opportunities to its members.

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Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) says the public Wi-Fi initiative the authority is implementing will enhance learning among students.

The initiative is being implemented under the Digital Malawi Project championed by the Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) and Macra. It aims to establish 30 free Wi-Fi hotspots in various public places nationwide.

Macra acting director of financial regulation Andrew Nyirenda said development of the sector has been frustrated by lack of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, especially in rural areas.

He said: “There are some pockets of society in Malawi that do not access and use ICT.

“However, as Macra, through the universal service project, we are hopeful that such areas will be covered soon.”

Nyirenda said that as at December 2020, Malawi’s Internet penetration was at 37 percent.

On his part, PPPC digital project manager Chimwemwe Matemba said the pilot phase will cover all central and some district hospitals.

He said: “Blantyre and Lilongwe city markets as well as four national libraries in all the regions have also been targeted for the free Wi-Fi.

“We also contacted Office Mart to install Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning [Rachel] in selected secondary schools.”

Matemba said about 16 secondary schools and four national libraries in all the country’s four regions have been selected as beneficiaries of the free public Wi-Fi.

The project, being funded by the World Bank to the tune of K1.2 bilion, is expected to improve student performance through easy access to study materials within their schools and national libraries.

It is also expected to reduce the digital divide as people with computers and phones will be able to access the Internet freely.

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The High Court of Malawi has ordered the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to re-tender the K1.8 billion ATS equipment and ICT hardware for flexicube procurement contract.

The contract involved the supply and delivery of automated transfer systems (ATS) and information and communications technology (ICT) hardware for flexicube upgrade.

The ruling delivered on Monday in Lilongwe followed an earlier determination by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) Review Committee that RBM erred to award a contract to Mitra Systems, a company that had two years’ experience when the bidding document specifically required a period of five years.

Sparc Systems Limited, an information and communications technology firm, challenged the award of the contract on the basis that Mitra Systems did not qualify.

In his 50-page ruling, High Court Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda further ordered the RBM to engage independent evaluators in the contracts.

He said: “The re-tender(s) in respect of both contracts must be published at reduced period of 21 days and bidding for the contracts to be re-tendered will only be open to the qualifying bidders which participated in the previous procurement proceedings.

“Each party to the administrative review proceedings that took place before the defendant [PPDA] will bear its own costs and there will be no refunds for the cancelled procurement process to any of the bidders.”

The judge further ordered that future tender submissions should include an electronic copy (compact disk) from the bidders to avoid suspicion of tempering with bids.

Nyirenda also ordered the RBM to pay costs to the successful party.

In his reaction yesterday, Sparc Systems Limited lawyer Khumbo Soko said he was delighted that justice has been served.

He said: “We think the correct result in this case has never been in doubt. Something went wrong and we are glad it is going to be remedied.”

On his part, Human Rights Defenders Coalition deputy chairperson Gift Trapence, whose organisation raised an alarm on the contract, said they are vindicated by the ruling.

In May 2020, RBM invited bids for the supply and delivery of ICT hardware for flexcube upgrade and ICT hardware for automated transfer system and on November 16 2020, it published an intention to award contracts on both bids to Mitra Systems, a decision that was challenged by Sparc Systems Limited.

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Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe says low tobacco prices offered by buyers threaten to force farmers out of production of the green gold next season.

The minister said this on Monday during an impromptu visit to Lilongwe Auction Floors to find out why some buyers offered prices below the government set minimum prices as the market was clearing remaining stocks.

Lowe, who temporarily suspended the market, pleaded with the buyers to refrain from exploiting farmers by offering as low as $0.50 (about K405 per kilogramme (kg) instead of recommended minimum of $0.90 (about K730) per kg

In an interview, he said he feared that the practice would discourage farmers from producing the crop, which brings in about 60 percent of foreign exchange earnings, next year.

Said Lowe: “Unfortunately, they [tobacco buyers] are buying below minimum prices, if you consider production cost, it’s a total loss.

“This is why I suspended the market so that we could talk with buyers and map the way forward. We have agreed that they should improve on their prices so that farmers are compensated adequately.”

The minister said government will push for a review of the Tobacco Industry Act to ensure that there is enforcement of minimum prices.

During the visit, a group of farmers pleaded with Lowe to intervene on the prices, saying their dependence on tobacco is fast diminishing because the production and marketing challenges are enormous.

While assuring the farmers that government is already working to resolve the challenges, Lowe described the concerns as genuine, saying it was unfair to see tobacco that was produced at $1.45 per (about K1 174) per kg, selling at $0.50 (about K405) per kg.

However, during the meeting between the minister and the buyers’ it transpired that during the day, the market was dedicated to merit sale—an arrangement where buyers offer any price for rejected tobacco that was supposed to be returned to the grower.

In an interview, AHL Tobacco Sales general manager Graham Kunimba said prices have slightly gone down towards the end of the marketing season, averaging $1.64 (about K1 328) per kg down to $1.60 (about K1 296) per kg as at week 19.

He said so far, the market has sold 120 million kg with projection to reach 122 million kg at the end of the marketing season, which is lower than what buyers demanded. The rejection rate shot to 70 percent on average.

On his part, Tama Farmers Trust chief executive officer Nixon Lita said some tobacco sold on merit sale at $0.50 was of good quality; hence, farmers were being exploited.

About 8 000 bales have so far been put up on merit sale with the lowest price pegged at $0.50 (about K405) per kg against government set minimum price of $0.90 (about K730) per kg.

Speaking on behalf of buyers, Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company Limited head of leaf sales Chris Malila said the tobacco sales committee earlier agreed that the return to grower leaf should be bought on merit sale to ensure farmers get at least something than losing out completely.

Malawi was expected to produce 122 million kg of tobacco against the buyers’ demand of 132 million kg.

In the previous year, earnings from tobacco plunged by 27 percent to $174 million (about K140 billion) against $237 million (about K191 billion) earned in 2019.

Tobacco markets at Limbe in Blantyre and Chinkhoma in Kasungu closed earlier this month while Mzuzu Auction Floors closed on August 18.

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The second wave of COVID-19 hit Malawi as people were ringing in 2021 and celebrating the end of a year of pandemic life. Malawi has entered its third wave as I write this, with the new outbreak unfolding at exceptionally high speed.  

The new outbreak puts an additional strain on the Malawi health system, already fatigued after battling the virus in the last 20 months. During the previous wave, the only public health facility hospitalizing COVID-19 patients for Blantyre District was the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, which alone admitted more than 600 COVID-19 patients during the second wave. 

 To respond to the additional needs caused by this outbreak, WFP joined forces with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) to erect a COVID-19 Field Hospital within the QECH compound, with assistance from the Malawi Institute of Engineers, in support of the national response. WFP set up large tents commonly known as Mobile Storage Units (MSUs) to provide the critical space for testing, observation, isolation, and treatment facilities during this wave. The field hospital also served as a vaccination point for the vaccination campaign rollout and will continue to do so as soon as new vaccines arrive in the country.  

“The partnership between WFP and MSF came at a critical time in Malawi’s fight against the virus,” says Fabrice Weissman, the MSF France Emergency Coordinator of Malawi Mission. He highlights that the field hospital was only part of the MSF response that also encompassed the provision of oxygen and the secondment of staff to replace Ministry of Health personnel who had been contaminated or quarantined by the virus.  

“Without the installations provided by WFP, it would have been impossible to increase capacity on time given the lightning speed of the second wave. WFP’s quick response and rapid deployment of installations allowed for the increased space necessary to test, isolate and treat patients in record time, which contributed to reducing the impact of the second wave,” adds Weissman.

Malawi remains a highly unvaccinated population. By mid-July, out of a total population of around 19 million, around385,242 people had received the first dose of the vaccine and only 43,165 the second dose. With the majority of Malawians still unvaccinated, the QECH field hospital, erected with support from WFP-MSF in Blantyre, will continue to serve on the frontlines of the country’s response to the pandemic. 

WFP Malawi, as co-lead of the National Logistics Cluster, has provided logistical support to the COVID-19 response, ensuring augmented storage, transport capacity and engineering support to the Government and humanitarian partners.  In addition to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, WFP has deployed mobile units at border posts (for screening and isolation), in health centres (for testing and vaccination), as well as in Dzaleka refugee camp (for isolation and testing).  Additionally, WFP facilitated 22 humanitarian flights in 2020 and supported 53,000 people with cash distributions to respond to the economic impacts of the pandemic.   

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United Democratic Front (UDF) president Atupele Muluzi turned 43 this month. That, for many Malawians, makes him too young to have his name on the ballot or political museums.

Not him, anyway. The son of former president Bakili Muluzi has seen the bright days and walked dark passages of politics for over a decade.

At his age, he has already lost three presidential elections—as a candidate in 2014 and 2019 as well as  runningmate to former president Peter Mutharika in the 2020 court-ordered Fresh Presidential Election. This is not withstanding his dramatic fall—probably his worst blow—in 2019 when he lost the Machinga North East Constituency parliamentary seat he occupied for 15 years.

However, despite these setbacks, Atupele can still look back with some satisfaction having held influential Cabinet positions under Peter Mutharika and his predecessor Joyce Banda.

In UDF, he has endured a similarly disastrous decline for two decades—hurtling down the hill in self-destructive mode like a vehicle without brakes.

Numbers don’t lie.

Under Atupele’s famous father, UDF won his second term in  1999 with over 2.4 million votes—52 percent of the ballots—amid stiff opposition from the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and its Alliance for Democracy (Aford) allies.

In 2004, with Bingu wa Mutharika on the ballot, UDF tally shrunk to around 1.2 million, just over a third of the total ballots cast, but still retained the grip on the presidency.

The political dynamics may have changed, but losing 1.2 million votes within five years was, in every political sense, unprecedented for the party which would vanish from the ballot in 2009.

A dozen years ago, it had no presidential candidate after Bingu wa Mutharika dumped it to form his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “to safeguard the dignity of the presidency” from a party widely associated with corruption.

To make matters worse, Muluzi senior’s bid to contest was rebuffed by the Electoral Commission because he had already served the constitutional maximum of two terms from 1994 to 2004.

Muluzi argued that after a five-year break, he was eligible to contest as the Constitution was only limiting seeking a third consecutive term.

If anything, the 2014 elections offered the Atupele-led UDF a chance to redeem the party from free fall—thanks to the young man’s Agenda for Change which resonated with the youth though the party lost the poll with just above 700 000 votes.

It was another blow. In the second election, UDF lost half of its previous votes and signs were clear that the party that led Malawians from the founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s 31-year-old dictatorship  had become a pale shadow of itself—with little hope, attraction and direction to rise again.

The 2019 poll—nullified by the courts due to widespread irregularities—was a disaster as Atupele only bagged 235 000 votes nationwide.

The Constitutional Court ordered a fresh presidential election held in June 2020 when Atupele was named running mate for DPP leader Peter Mutharika’s re-election campaign. However, the DPPUDF alliance lost to the opposition alliance of President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima.

Former UDF strategist Humphrey Mvula blamed the party’s collapse on poor succession strategy after Muluzi handpicked Bingu, snubbing deserving old-timers  that unorthodox regional governor Davis Kapito termed madeya—meaning ‘rejects’.

“In 2004, we outsourced a leader who has earlier dumped the party to form his own—someone who did not have the values of the party. This was despite the fact that we had enough human capital to tap from,” he said.

Muluzi’s chosen son

Mvula said Muluzi’s second mistake was dragging in his son to take over leadership at the expense of veterans who resisted the mass exodus to the DPP in 2005.

Explained the one-time insider:  “When Muluzi couldn’t bounce back in 2009, he retired from politics and handed over the party leadership to Friday Jumbe, his former finance minister. Jumbe and the executive committee appointed former Speaker of Parliament, the late Sam Mpasu, as Central Region president and myself as Northern Region leader.

“Strangely, the party later organised some unstructured convention where Muluzi’s son was smuggled into the leadership. This was another blunder as people started looking at it as a family party.”

Mvula doubts UDF’s chances to bounce back. He says the party needs to rediscover itself instead of rendering itself worthless by clinging to its offshoot—DPP.

“UDF needs to rebrand and open up so that anyone can be its leader, not a Muluzi only. It must focus on becoming a national party, not an Eastern Region bloc where it has also lost much ground,” he says.

But UDF spokesperson Yusuf Mwawa remains optimistic that the party can return to power in 2025 if the Tonse Alliance administration keeps goofing in a streak of “poor governance, corruption, indecisive leadership and economic decline”.

 “UDF has really lost ground, but the situation is very healthy. The Tonse government’s poor leadership is giving all parties a chance to be optimistic about returning to power,” he says.

Mwawa reckons despite his recent poll defeats, Atupele remains the right person to lead the party back to the top.

He argues: “Losing a parliamentary seat doesn’t mean you are not fit to lead a party. However, that is something the party membership will decide during our next convention.

“Currently, we are focusing on rebuilding the party from grassroots. We have revamped our regional areas as part of that exercise.”

Muluzi’s positioning of his son, Atupele,  as his successor was widely seen as a ploy to retain power after  his rejected comeback in 2009.

‘UDF should rebrand’

In his meditation at his BCA Hill residence, the former president, most assuredly, asks himself: “What does the future hold for my son?” However, the answer could be bleaker if he asks: “What lies ahead for the party I co-founded in the fight against dictatorship?”

Mustapha Hussein, a political analyst from the University of Malawi, says the party should embrace intraparty democracy and stop relying on the Muluzis for funding.

 “The leadership should address those two priorities. The machinery should be re-oiled. UDF should be people’s party in action, not just on paper. Leadership must be democratically elected,” he said.

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Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) board of directors have appointed motivational speaker and former Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) president Henry Kachaje as the parastatals’ chief executive officer (CEO).

Mera board chairperson Leonard Chikadya yesterday said Kachaje emerged the best candidate out of eight people interviewed for the position.

He said: “We received 92 applications and the board shortlisted the best eight candidates for interviews and Mr Kachaje emerged as the best candidate amongst those eight candidates.”

Chikadya said Kachaje reported for work yesterday after the board offered him a three-year contract.

He said they expect the new CEO to preserve the integrity of Mera and rebuild its image and reputation as a regulator.

However, Chikadya declined to reveal names of the other candidates, saying: “It would not please anyone who failed an interview to have his name published in a national paper.”

According to the advert floated in the press in December last year, Mera indicated that they wanted an individual with a minimum qualification of a master’s degree in law, economics or energy.

Efforts to talk to Kachaje yesterday proved futile as he did not pick up our phone calls throughout the day on his two mobile numbers.

But according to his LinkedIn profile, Kachaje holds a bachelor of social science majoring in economics from University of Malawi obtained in 1994 and is a certified business consultant (University of Durham-United Kingdom).

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President Lazarus Chakwera yesterday hailed the peaceful transition and handover of power in Zambia as an indication that democracy is maturing on the continent.

The President, who was speaking in his capacity as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) during the inauguration of former opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema as the seventh President of Zambia, also lauded former president Edgar Lungu for conceding defeat and paving the way for a peaceful transition of power.

He described Lungu’s gesture as one of the key principles that epitomise the values of African people.

Said Chakwera: “Africa is the spirit of integrity finding expression here in the credibility of Zambia’s electoral officials. Africa is the spirit of tenacity finding expression here in the fortitude of President-elect Hakainde Hichilema.

“Africa is the spirit of civility and generosity finding expression in this remarkably peaceful transfer of power from one President to another and one party to another.”

He was among several African heads of State who attended the inauguration at the Heroes Stadium in Lusaka and congratulated Hichilema. The others included Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Hichilema won the August 12 general election with 2.8 million votes against Lungu’s 1.8 million.

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Five judges of the High Court of Malawi hold the fate of the country’s Presidency in a case where opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wants the court-sanctioned June 23 2020 fresh presidential election nullified.

The development follows the certification by Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda of the DPP application as a constitutional matter; hence, to be heard by the Constitutional Court.

DPP wants the court to nullify the election of President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima as well as other parliamentary and local government by-elections managed by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) cohort four whose members the High Court in May this year declared not duly appointed.

In an interview on Tuesday, High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Gladys Gondwe said Nyirenda referred the matter to judge president Sylvester Kalembera  and that it will be heard by five judges.

She said Kalembera will lead a panel also comprising judges Rowland Mbvundula, Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga, Annabel Mtalimanja and Thom Ligowe.

Gondwe said the panel is scheduled to meet on August 30 to decide on the further conduct of the matter.

Reacting to the development in an interview on Tuesday, lawyer Charles Mhango representing DPP said the Chief Justice’s decision was expected.

He said: “We are happy with the development because that’s what we were looking forward to. So, we are satisfied with what has happened. We are expecting that the matter will be handled in a fast manner.”

Mhango said what is important at the moment is to expedite all processes for commencement of the case since the panel of judges to handle the case has been chosen.

On his part, Solicitor General Reyneck Matemba on Tuesday said they will wait for guidance from the Constitutional Court on how to proceed with the case.

“You may wish to know that there are some preliminary issues that both parties raised in the referral to the Chief Justice. Issues that will have to be determined by the court,” he said.

The DPP case will mark the second time that the Constitutional Court will decide the fate of the country’s Presidency. The first was the presidential election nullification petition filed by Chakwera and Chilima after the May 21 2019 presidential election. The Constitutional Court granted the petitioners their wish on February 3 2020 and ordered a fresh election.

The erstwhile governing party wants Chakwera and Chilima’s election nullified following removal of their electoral commissioners the court declared were illegally appointed.

If the DPP is granted its wish, former president Peter Mutharika will be back in power as President with Chilima maintaining his office as the party only seeks to return the country to the pre-fresh election status.

The former governing DPP is seeking the nullification on the grounds that the process was managed by a MEC cohort that was not legally constituted following the High Court ruling that nullified the appointment of four DPP-sponsored commissioners—Arthur Nanthuru, Linda Kunje, Jean Mathanga and Steven Duwa.

In June this year, High Court Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda faulted Mutharika for appointing more DPP commissioners than were legally necessary. The ruling followed an application by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka.

The former president appointed four commissioners representing DPP and two for the then opposition MCP.

High Court Judge Dingiswayo Madise referred the matter to the Chief Justice for assessment and possible certification as a constitutional matter to be heard by a panel of at least three High Court judges.

In nullifying the appointment of the four DPP-nominated commissioners, Nyirenda said his judgement would have no bearing on the validity of the elections the commissioners presided over.

But DPP wants the court to nullify the June 23 2020 fresh presidential election and several parliamentary and local government by-elections the team managed.

Reacting to the developments in an interview on Tuesday, public policy and governance expert Rafiq Hajat said it would be unpredictable on the outcome of the matter.

“Our Constitution is being severely tested, but it has withstood all that with time and I am sure it will also withstand this one as well,” he said .

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The Department of Human Resource Management and Development has given ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) until September 30 to reconcile staff records and put an end to inefficient human resource management.

The department’s communication follows revelations that the civil service continues to be rocked with inefficiencies that include excess staff, poor employment record keeping, delayed conclusion of disciplinary cases and failure to report deaths and resignations.

In a communication dated August 18 2021, the department said it has alongside the Ministry of Finance, with assistance from the European Union programme Chuma cha Dziko, carried the ‘personnel audit’ between October and December last year.

Reads the circular in part: “The aim of the audit was to address the concerns pertaining to general human resource management functions such as recruitment, establishment control, payroll management, employment records and leave administration.”

The department said the inefficiencies were “adversely affecting the management of human resources in the civil service” and has called on departments to take appropriate actions to remedy the situation.

Signed by the department’s Principal Secretary Blessings Chilabade, the memo lists the findings as “inaccurate or complete employment records like dates of birth and qualifications; non-reporting of personal events such as deaths, resignations and postings to facilitate the updating of employees data.

“Non-adherence to regulations and policies affecting leave administration especially relating to sick leave, paid and unpaid study leave”.

On excess staff, Chilabade wrote: “You will further observe from the report that one of the main issues identified by the audit team, after a physical count of the bodies against the authorised establishment, is the existence of excess staff.”

To counter the problem, the department has unveiled plans to redeploy some workers after a comprehensive vetting exercise.

Reads the communication: “Ministries/departments should submit their vacancy returns to this department by 30th September, 2021. Ministries/departments should submit their updated and accurate staff returns to this department by 30th September 2021.

“Upon receiving the returns indicated above, this department will make further consultations with the affected ministries and departments for appropriate actions which will include re-deployment of excess staff to ministries which have high vacancy rates and restructuring, where necessary.”

Inefficiencies such as poor records keeping have been outstanding in the civil service for a long time.

On how they would ensure that the recommendations are implemented this time around, the department’s spokesperson Ken Mtonga said: “Our expectation is that the ministries and departments will comply. We shall also be following up on compliance.”

He could not immediately disclose the number of civil servants who have died and resigned as recorded in the audit report.

Meanwhile, human resource management expert Richard Tchereko said failure to report deaths and resignation could lead to ghost workers sneaking onto the payroll if strong mechanisms are not put in place.

He said: “The payroll office ought to prepare monthly salary payroll based on input data from various departments who should verify and validate that only active employees are paid while all inactive are removed.

“It may be negligence to auto-prepare and release monthly payroll in absence of validated input data without complying with statutory and control policy requirements.

“They need to put in place mechanisms of obtaining such data. One way is the issue of decentralisation of salaries preparation which I understand is being considered.”

The personnel audit comes after a National Audit Office (NAO) audit of the financial year ending June 30 2016, which also inspected the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) and reviewed the public service payroll, exposed similar challenges.

The 2017 audit revealed that government was losing millions of taxpayers’ money through continued existence of ghost workers, cases of civil servants taking home double salaries and abuse of payments through allowances, dubious fuel allocations, mobile phone airtime and other expenses.

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Embattled Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secretary general (SG) Grezelder Jeffrey on Tuesday broke into tears during a court session, pleading for forgiveness from Minister of Youth and Sports Ulemu Msungama who sued her for defamation.

The legal battle resulted from a DPP rally in Area 23 Towship in Lilongwe City South East Constituency in 2017 where Jeffrey alleged that Msungama raped his cousin and had a “case to answer in court”.

She condemned Msungama, who was vying for parliamentary seat on the ticket of former main opposition Malawi Congress Party, as not fit to be legislator.

Through his lawyer Pempho Likongwe, the minister filed the defamation case last year and submitted a video clip of the then governing DPP SG uttering the defamatory words.

During a High Court of Malawi mediation session before Judge William Msiska, Jeffrey’s lawyer Gilbert Khonyongwa asked that his client be given a chance to say something.

Jeffrey rose from her seat and knelt before Msungama, then asked for forgiveness.

“Sindinalankhule bwino, ndinali excited ndi moralo yomwe inali pamalopo… Ndikupempha chonde ndikhululukireni [What I said was wrong. I was excited because of the crowd that was cheering me on. I am begging. Please forgive me],” she said as a static Msungama looked on.

Speaking after the session, Msungama said he is pleased that the case was drawing to a conclusion and hoped that his name will be cleared.

He said: “I am glad I’ll be able to put all this behind me. These type of things can really put a dent on a person’s reputation. So, I urge my fellow politicians to refrain from insult-based politics.”

Jeffrey’s lawyer Khonyongwa said he will now formally discuss with the other party on the way forward.

The judge has since granted the two parties permission to hold an out of court settlement.

If Jeffrey and Msungama legal teams reach an agreement on the damages, the case will be closed.

Disagreements will mean the case being committed to full trial.

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Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) on Tuesday elected the Reverends Edna Navaya, Ernest Mpate and Baxton Maulidi as moderator, vice-moderator and deputy general secretary (GS) in that order.

The election took place during the 33rd Biennial Meeting at St. Michael and All Angels Multipurpose Hall in Blantyre.

The polls saw Navaya amassing 263 votes against Reverend Lyton Kilowe’s 156 votes.

On the position of vice-moderator Mpate received 194 votes against 107 for the Reverend Immaculate Chikwatu and  58 for the Reverend Dr. Humphreys Zgambo.

The Reverend Jafali Asidi came  fourth with 46 votes, followed by the Reverend Annie Kapinda who collected 27 votes.

Reverend Maulidi rose to the position of synod deputy GS after scooping 266 votes, beating the Reverend Jimmy Banda and the Reverend Anderson Juma who got 132 and 24 votes respectively.

Navaya is not a stranger in the Synod management board, she once served as vice-moderator the late Reverend Rabson Chimkwezule between 2015 and 2019.

Announcing the results, the elections committee chairperson Justice Frank Kapanda thanked the delegates for the smooth process of the elections.

He said: “It now remains my honour to thank you all for allowing a seamless flow of these elections. Thank you for entrusting us to run these elections. We hope that we have fulfilled the mandate and that we will all work towards building our church.”

Kapanda called on members to support the new office-bearers to carry out their duties.

Held under the theme Rebuilding the CCAP Blantyre Synod Together by the help of God (Nehemiah 2 verse 17 to 18), the 33rd Biennial Conference was less confrontational as previous gatherings where differences in voting procedure, selection of voters and last minute campaigning caused tension.

In his speech, guest of honour business mogul Thom Mpinganjira commended CCAP Blantyre Synod for various projects it is undertaking in the country.

But he called upon the church to start spiritual rebuilding in line with the great commission that calls believers to go to all the world to preach the Gospel.

Said Mpinganjira: “The CCAP Church like all else have been rocked by racism, nepotism and politics and this has led the church to divert from the great commission and focus on internal fighting. This year’s theme is pertinent.”

The CCAP General Assembly  which comprises five synods—Blantyre, Livingstonia, Nkhoma, Harare and Zambia.

The CCAP Blantyre Synod holds elections for synod office bearers every two years.  In 2019, the synod elected Billy Gama, his term ends in 2023.

The terms of office for the new moderator and vice-moderator end in 2023 while the term of the deputy GS ends in 2025. This  ensures continuity to avoid all leaders leaving office at the same time.

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