A 39-year-old Nigerian woman was on Monday arrested at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) for allegedly attempting to externalise foreign exchange amounting to $26 150 (about K15 million).
KIA Police spokesperson Sapulain Chitonde-Lee said in an interview the Nigerian, identified as Emanuella Ifeoma, was arrested in the departure lounge after a security check.
Some of the confiscated dollars
“Our officer, Sub-Inspector Regina Mbukwa, found over $6 000 in the suspect’s handbag and a further $20 000 was found when she was taken to the CID [Criminal Investigations Department] office for a further search,” said Chitonde-Lee.
He said Ifeoma, who was later released on bail, faces two charges of illegal possession of foreign currency and transferring the same out of the country.
Ifeoma was with her two children during the incident and was scheduled to travel to Lagos via Addis Ababa using an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Possession of foreign currency without supporting documents is contrary to Section 11(1) of the Exchange Control Act.
Increasing number of Africans are using mobile phones for financial transactions, says World Bank
Despite being difficult to access, financial services in Africa are a tool in the fight against poverty and increasing development, Stefan Nalletamby, financial sector development director of the African Development Bank has said.
Financial inclusion rate of just 25 percent is due to poor services
Nalletamby said that “access to these services, regardless of their nature (formal or informal), remains insufficient to sustainably and efficiently overcome Africa’s socioeconomic problems.”
Having access to “capital does not automatically result in an escape from poverty,” he said because one “must first know how to use it.”
Only 25 percent of Africa’s population has access to formal financial services (banks or microfinance institutions), according to data from the African Development Bank (ADB).
According to the Word Bank, 47 percent of sub-Saharan Africa lived in poverty in 2011.
“Financial inclusion can be a gateway out of poverty,” said Jim Yong Kimn, president of the World Bank, in an April 2015 press release.
“We have set a very ambitious goal, including universal access to financial services by 2020 and we now have proof that significant progress has been made,” he added.
Nalletamby said that beyond access to banking services, educating people concerning the proper use of the financial resources at their disposal while taking into account the context in which they live (rural or urban) is essential for an effective response to Africa’s poverty problem.
“The goal is not to bring people unbearable debts but to enable them reach their dreams by giving them the means to create their own projects and improve their living conditions,” Nalletamby said.
“To have money is not enough to be part of growth. One must be able to transfer and save money safely. Poor households with low incomes must sometimes borrow in order to deal with large expenses or invest to create or grow their businesses,” Jean-Loic Guieze, an expert at BNP Paribas bank, said in a research paper published in September 2014.
According to Nalletamby, Africa’s low rate of financial inclusion rate of just 25 percent is due to poor services, infrastructure and administrative structures.
Nalletamby said that despite the policies taken by a majority of African governments to facilitate access to financial services, “the financial inclusion level remains low.”
He also called on local decision makers to work to overcome the different obstacles by “adapting services to the people’s needs so that poor people can have access to these services and at the same time reduce the imposed requirements by various financial institutions.”
An ongoing ADB initiative called Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A), which targets the development of African financial sectors, aims to ease “barriers to access and offer appropriate financial services,” saying this “can enable households and small businesses to maximize the leverage of their savings or income to increase productivity, thereby contributing to an increase in their income, job creation and, ultimately, growth.”
Microfinance, mobile banking, targeted banking services and agricultural alternatives are some of the solutions proposed by MFW4A to strengthen financial inclusion in Africa.
According to Nalletamby, the use of these solutions is limited. But he also admitted that there have been great advances in banking services via mobile telephones.
Last April, the World Bank said in a statement that “four out of 10 people in Africa have a mobile phone,” and that an increasing number of Africans are “using mobile phones for financial transactions.”
The World Bank also said that “banking by telephone in sub-Saharan Africa in particular contributes to a rapid expansion and the rise of access to financial services.” The rate of telephone banking accounts exceeds 10 percent in 13 sub-Saharan African countries, according to the World Bank.—World Bank.
An angry mob in Ntchisi on Monday burnt the hands of 19-year-old Josaidi Jeremia on suspicion that he stole three heads of cattle belonging to Judith Chinthu.
Ntchisi Police spokesperson Gladson M’bumpha confirmed the development, saying the victim is currently admitted to Ntchisi District Hospital and the police are waiting for him to recover to answer charges of theft.
M’bumpha: He was police-friendly
He said the incident happened at Kadzionetsa Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Malenga in the district, adding the suspect had previously been police-friendly as he usually tipped the police about other suspected thieves.
M’bumpha said: “The suspect was a good citizen, as he often tipped us about other suspected thieves. For example, on August 30, Jeremia tipped us that a cattle farmer, Chimalizeni Malija, had stolen three cattle from a nearby village. We recovered the cattle and arrested Malija.
“But Jeremia later went to inform Judith Chinthu, who is wife to Malija, that he needed K100 000 to use as one of bail conditions at the court for her husband, who is on remand at Chikwatula Prison in Ntchisi, to be set free. This was not true. He got the money and went to an unknown place, instead.”
He added that after spending the money, Jeremia returned to Chinthu’s house on Monday and stole the three heads of cattle.
“Angry people caught the suspect with the cattle. They assaulted the suspect by burning both his hands when they realised that he was not cooperative,” he said.
Jeremia comes from Kafulumira Village, T/A Malenga in the district.
School pupils and other onlookers stare at the ruins of a Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle belonging to Apostle Madalitso Mbewe, founder of Calvary Family Church (CFC) International and CFC Radio and TV Station in Blantyre. The vehicle caught fire just before lunch hour about 100 metres from the church headquarters in Manja Township in Blantyre. Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was being driven by the apostle’s wife and caught fire barely a minute after starting off. “We heard a loud bang then the whole vehicle was engulfed in black smoke. We could not help because the fire was just too much. Even when two fire brigade vehicles arrived, it was too late for them to salvage the situation,” said an eyewitness only identified as Peter. Apostle Mbewe, who was recovering from the shock at the church and his son Madalitso Junior, who was at the scene, declined to say anything on the accident.—LUCKY MKANDAWIRE, Staff Reporter
Malawi Government says paramount chiefs in the country have a crucial role to play in finding lasting solutions to chieftaincy wrangles rocking the country and negatively impacting on development work.
Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila said this on Monday at the burial of the late Chief Mlolo of Nsanje.
Kasaila: Address wrangles
He asked the bereaved royal family to follow their tradition in identifying the successor to the departed Mlolo, real name Darton Anyezi.
He bemoaned increasing cases of chieftaincy wrangles flooding the country’s courts, saying this affects succession plans.
Kasaila said some development works in some areas have stalled because of lack of leadership in the communities, something he blamed on failure by the royal families to identify the rightful heir to the throne.
“Let me challenge the country’s paramount chiefs to devise measures of addressing issues of chieftaincy wrangles. Government values the role chiefs play in the delivery of developmental work,” said Kasaila.
Nsanje district commissioner (DC) Atanazio Chibwana echoed Kasaila’s sentiments, saying his council has been overwhelmed by cases of chieftaincy wrangles which, he admitted, have had a negative impact on the implementation of development projects.
“It is our hope that the royal families of the departed Chief Mlolo will follow the right procedures on the issue of succession so that no wrangles arise in the process,” said Chibwana.
Chief Mlolo died at his Mlolo headquarters on Saturday aged 101 after a long illness.
Mpingwe Sports Club (MSC) Silver has vowed to maintain the winning run in the Inter-Club 25-overs Cricket Tournament as they face MSC Black at MSC this Sunday.
Silver is the only unbeaten outfit in two games in the 10-team competition and according to their captain Saeed Limdawala, they have managed to keep their heads high on their hunt for consecutive triumph.
“It is our wish to win the title without losing a single match right from the preliminary stage,” he said.
Nevertheless, Black, who have already lost all their two games, including a 195-170 run defeat by Kip’s White last weekend, are confident to end Silver’s outstanding run.
“It was just unfortunate that we lost our first two matches. However, this does not mean we are the whipping boys in the competition. We have properly done our home work and we are ready to stun Silver on Sunday,” said Black’s batsman Zeeshan Ali.
Community members and police clashed at Karonga Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday evening when the court adjourned the case of Fishani Mtambo and Wamisi Kaunda who are suspected to have abducted and stabbed an 11-year- old child with albinism.
Mtambo and Kaunda were arrested by police in Karonga last week after they went to Mwambuli Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kyungu and abducted an 11-year-old boy and took him to nearby bush where they started stabbing him.
Concerned citizens block the entrance to the Karonga Magistrate’s Court
State prosecutor Peter Pilingu asked first grade magistrate Chakaka Nyirenda to suspend the case to September 17 following the request from head of State prosecution Happy Mkandawire that Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mary Kachali wanted to give further direction on the case.
Pilingu said the State wants to have the case transferred to the High Court since it is murder related, and is of public interest.
However, this did not please those listening to the case, who wondered why the DPP did not communicate earlier, adding that they wanted justice to prevail on the first day of hearing.
The community suspected the State is being soft on the suspects , and they blocked the police vehicle from leaving the court.
Police officers had to fire tear gas to contain the crowd.
Karonga Police Station spokesperson Enock Livason said the police used tear gas to maintain law and order.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) has released names of candidates selected to train as primary school teachers under the Initial Teacher Education (Ipte 11) conventional programme.
In a statement released on Thursday, MoEST says the list of selected candidates has been sent to all district education offices and public teachers training colleges (TTC).
The ministry also says all those selected should report at their respective colleges this Saturday.
“The selected candidates are also informed that they should bring their original Malawi School Certificate of Education, beddings, plates, cups, cutlery, water buckets, writing materials, dictionaries, bathing towels and soap when reporting for the training programme in the teacher training colleges,” reads the statement in part.
It further says those that will not have reported to the colleges after two weeks will have their places declared vacant.
The ministry further says the students will not be paid any upkeep during their training period but, will instead pay K5 000 tuition fees and K30 000 boarding fees on the day of registration.
Ipte was introduced to support government in improving the quality and relevance of basic education in Malawi and it aims at increasing the capacity of teachers to apply new learner-centred, gender sensitive teaching methodologies, and methods of continuous assessment of students’ performance. n
Rumphi Police Station has handled more sexual offences in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.
Rumphi Police spokesperson, Victor Khamisi said last year, the station handled 12 cases while during the same period this year the figure has doubled to 24 .
An artistic impression of a sexual crime
Khamisi has attributed the rise in reported cases to increased awareness by the public to report suspected perpetrators to the police for action.
He said: “The rise in reported sexual offence cases should not be a cause for concern to the public. The increase is a result of the public being aware of their rights.
“They are opening up to police and each time they detect a crime of such nature in their locality they report to us for appropriate action.”
Khamisi also disclosed that non-governmental organisations fighting gender-based crimes in the district have assisted through public awareness campaigns, provision of mobility to police in times of transport hiccups and in the rehabilitation of victims of the crime.
He cited organisations such as Life Concern Organisation (Lico), Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco) and Rumphi Women’s Forum, saying they have assisted police in pursuing cases of this nature.
Police in the district recently managed to free a seven-year-old girl from unidentified suspect, currently on the run, who abducted her in Lilongwe and took her to Chinyoro area in the district where he repeatedly sexually abused for almost two months.
The girl was abducted while playing with her friends at her home area at Nsalu in Lilongwe.
Director of Standards in the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) Fred Sikwese says there is need to train food handlers on issues of hygiene because poorly prepared food can cause illness and in some instances death.
Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day training session in Lilongwe last week, Sikwese said after conducting a needs assessment, it was discovered that there are knowledge gaps in most food manufacturers, as they are not aware of the contents of MS 21.
Meat products such as these need to be processed with care
MS 21 of 2002 is an MBS code of conduct or code of hygiene for food and food processing units.
He said: “This training came about because the food handlers, themselves, demanded it. What goes into the body of an individual must meet all the necessary set standards because food, if not well handled, can cause illness or, in some instances, death.”
The training attracted about 35 participants, including bakers, butchers, workers from super markets and bottled water-producing companies.
Sikwese said he expects improved standards following the training session and that those trained will share the knowledge with others in their various workplaces.
One of the participants, Afzal Ahmed of Royal Butchers, said providing quality meat to customers is a must because it is food that helps build healthy nations.
According to the MBS some of the food hazards are biological, physical as well as chemical.
Chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs, Richard Chimwendo-Banda, has asked communities in Mchinji district to eliminate all forms of child labour and ensure that children do not drop out of school.
Child labourers such as these normally drop out of school
Banda said this on Tuesday when he, together with 14 other committee members, visited Child Labour Elimination Action for Real Change (Clear) project funded by Save the Children International at Chamwankhuku at Kapiri in Mchinji.
He said child labour was one of the detrimental factors affecting children’s education in tobacco growing districts such as Mchinji, saying employing children affects their future.
Said Chimwendo-Banda: “Poverty will not be eradicated if you continue employing the children in tobacco estates, the children will not be educated, as a result, they will be jobless as adults with nothing to do.”
He appealed to the communities to be in the forefront of ending child labour when the project phases out.
Banda also warned parents and guardians against sending children to gulewamkulu during school season.
He then commended Save the Children International, Creccom, Yoneco and Total Land Care for implementing the Clear project in the district which has seen 92 children withdrawn from tobacco estates .
Blantyre City Council (BCC) says it will in March next year start demolishing substandard buildings in the city as part of Operation Red Star.
In February this year, President Peter Mutharika revived the Operation Red Star campaign which founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda introduced in the mid-1990s to demolish substandard and archaic buildings in the country’s major cities and towns.
Targetted: Limbe central business district
Mutharika issued the order after a tour of Limbe central business district (CBD) where he inspected dilapidated buildings and Malawi Police Service (MPS) residential houses.
BCC spokesperson Anthony Kasunda said on Tuesday the council will start demolishing the houses on March 1 next year.
He said: “The commencement of formal demolition exercise will take place on 1st March 2016 and the actual construction [of buildings in areas that have been demolished] will start on 1st June 2016. But by October 30 2015, all buildings earmarked for demolition will have been painted with red stars.”
There are about 160 buildings earmarked for demolition, 85 structures for maintenance, 79 buildings that need new coat while 55 were certified to be in good condition in both Blantyre and Limbe, according to Kasunda.
The campaign has a committee which includes BCC, commissioner for Lands (South), commissioner for Physical Planning (South), Surveyor General’s office (South), Ministry of Trade and Industry, Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI), Malawi Institution of Engineers (MIE), among others.
Concerned with rampant withdrawal of gender-based violence (GBV) cases due to long distances to court, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in conjunction with the Judiciary, is set to provide mobile court sessions in remote areas of Chikwawa.
An artistic impression of gender-based violence
Chikwawa CCJP diocesan secretary Lewis Msiyadungu said on Friday that the mobile court clinics, initiated through the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (Gewe) Project, will first be implemented in the areas of chiefs Ngabu and Makhuwira.
He said: “We are implementing these mobile court clinics to reach out to vulnerable people.
“Due to the long distances, victims and witnesses have found it difficult to report their cases so we want to help.”
Msiyadungu further said his office has agreed with court officials in the district to take up the issue of mobile courts.
He said the initiative will solve the distance problem as court officials will be going into communities to conduct court sessions so that perpetrators of crimes are dealt with.
Said Msiyadungu: “We hope this will protect women and children from abuse and that there will be no case withdrawals.”
On his part, Chikwawa First Grade Magistrate Gladstone Chirundu said the initiative will motivate people, especially women and children to report cases of gender based violence to authorities.
Meanwhile, CCJP has rehabilitated Makande and Makhuwira court rooms and bought furniture for the courts to improve justice delivery. n
The Lake of Stars (LoS) Festival has called on artists listed to perform at this year’s event to manage their music as a business if they are to reap dividends from the event.
LoS, in partnership with M-hub and Master Your Ability, is running a series of workshops for artists in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu.
Some of the artists who attended the training in Mzuzu
Speaking in Mzuzu on Wednesday, Master Your Ability director Annelies de Bruine said artists can make a living out of music if they are trained in music business.
“If one wants to make a living out of music, one has to treat it as a business. With Internet facilities, it’s easy to run music as business. One can sell music, contact organisers or promoters. It looks easy to do this, but in actual sense it is not.
“So, through the workshops, we want artists to have that knowledge and be able to market themselves before and during the festival,” said Bruine.
She said some of the topics to help artists market themselves include networking, social media, biography writing, photography and website making.
“The talent of people is amazing here [in Malawi]. But the challenge is that, unlike in UK, Malawian artists are not 24 hours online. This makes it difficult for them to conduct business. We want artists to have accounts on internet and be able to manage them 24 hours a day,” she added.
Artists trained in Mzuzu were Lusubilo Band, Body, Mind and Soul, Gasper Nali, Michael Mountain and The Moods Malawi.
Nkhata Bay-based Michael Mountain, who is managed by UK-based Spare Dog Records, admitted that most artists in Malawi do not run music as a business.
He said the challenge is that most of them lack knowledge in information and communication to conduct business online.
“This workshop has helped me learn things about the computer and be able to advertise myself,” he said.
LoS is scheduled to take place between September 25 and 27 at Sunbird Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi.
Lilongwe’s Club Casaulina International, situated in Area 25, became a centre of attraction by hosting the first ever disc jockey (DJ) show in the area.
Dubbed ‘L City DJs All Star,’ the performance saw DJ Scapper, DJ Maya of Chez Ntemba, DJ Starnanuz, DJ Tawa, DJ Roadman, DJ Brian and DJ Mwini, among others, showing off their spinning dexterity and prowess.
Casper: We want all DJs to be organised
It was a night which Area 25 residents and all patrons shall live to remember as they embraced a rare treat during the night, dancing and listening to various music, be it old and new and of every kind.
But it was, however, a night for DJ Scapper who was unanimously voted the best, followed by DJ Maya.
DJ Scapper, who plays on Galaxy FM Radio, rocked the night by playing a wide spectrum of music to the excitement of a jam-packed classic club.
Scapper also had a competitive edge when he repeatedly engaged the audience with some informal talks and in some instances brief jokes.
In an interview after the show, one of the managers at Club Casaulina International and also Lilongwe’s renowned Deejay, DJ Casper said they organised the show to offer a platform for DJ’s to share skills and ideas.
“By the end of it all, we want all DJs to be organised. Not every jim and jack can be a DJ as others think. A DJ needs to know the beat, temple, pitch control and many more,” said Casper.
Poetry, stand-up comedy and music are set to meet on stage tomorrow when Wakawaka Hotel in Lilongwe hosts Chiphwando Chandakatulo.
Poets such as Nyamalikiti Nthiwatiwa, Joseph Madzedze, Sylvester Kalizang’oma, Robert Chiwamba and Raphael Sitima will come face to face with local musicians Lulu and Mathumela Band, Innocent Chitimbe, contemporary musician Sangwani Munthali and celebrated artist Zambian Dali Soul.
Chiphwando Chandakatulo events, such as this one in Blantyre, are guaranteed crowd-pullers
“People will also be entertained by local comedians Mr Malawi, Aunt Geti and Atcheya who are famous in mimicking former Malawi presidents the late Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, Dr Joyce Banda and Dr. Bakili Muluzi respectively,” said Gift Khabuwa, spokesperson of Chia Productions, organisers of the show.
Khabuwa said the combination of music, poetry and comedy was made to treat people with different tastes of art under one roof but in a special way.
“We want this event to be a family show, where people of all walks of life can come together and entertain together. We want everyone to have something to enjoy.
“We decided to include Dali Soul from Zambia for that simple reason, a lot of people enjoy his music in Malawi and because it has been a long time since he last performed in the country, we thought it wise that his fans should have a taste of his new songs,” said Khabuwa.n
Nkhotakota District Executive Committee (DEC) says it is annoyed with donor funded projects that are solely dictated by the benefactors, especially on selection of project implementation sites.
The DEC feels there has to be a dialogue between the committee and the project implementers or donors to enlighten each other on the benefits of the project.
Committees want to be consulted before projects such as these
The reaction came during a meeting which World Vision area programme manager for Nkhata Bay, Prince Nkhata, failed to provide concrete reasons behind their selection of traditional authorities Kanyenda and Kafuzira as beneficiaries of proposed Action for Adolescents Project to be executed in the district.
Nkhotakota district director of planning and development (DPD) Griffin Mhango said it was a pity that there were traditional authorities that were more vulnerable than the proposed sites, but were not considered.
He said: “I feel World Vision chose these areas because they are close to Nkhata Bay [where project implementers are based] so that they easily access them. This does not mean that the proposed sites have no gaps, but I believe implementers left out more vulnerable areas. The council believes that projects exist to eradicate vulnerability.”
On his part, Nkhata explained that they chose the sites because United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) was already working in the locations.
Women’s Legal Resource Centre (Wolrec) capacity building trainer Davie Chikoti says good communication between councillors and the secretariat is important for decentralisation to succeed in the country.
Chikoti said this on Wednesday at Zomba City Council (ZCC) chambers during a two-day local government capacity building workshop, aimed at drilling councillors and the secretariat on how to complement each other’s efforts to fulfil the city’s aspirations.
A cross-section of Zomba councillors at the workshop
The training covered the local government system in Malawi, urban development system, budgeting and financial management in local authorities as well as integrity in conducting council business.
Chikoti said government established local government authorities to foster decentralisation ,in districts and cities, hence, decentralisation will be ineffective if councillors and the council’s secretariat work in isolation.
Said Chikoti: “We are optimistic that weak local level development structures that existed in the council due to capacity gaps will be filled and give birth to a vibrant council aware of its roles and manage its development resources prudently.”
Mpira Ward councillor Christopher Jana said the workshop helped the participants recognise their functions, relationships and restrictions, to enable them critique different issues that affect the city’s operations. He further appealed to capacity building stakeholders to include parliamentarians as they are also crucial players in the development of the country.
Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has alerted its customers that Walkers Ferry Pumping Station will operate at half load on Sunday, September 20 from 7am to 5pm.
The board said on Thursday that Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) will be carrying out maintenance works at the station.
BWB engineers working on the water treatment plant at Walker’s Ferry at Nkula in Blantyre
In a published statement, BWB said customers in all areas will experience low pressure or no water at all on Sunday.
The board has since encouraged its customers to store enough water as restoration of supply may vary according to residential areas.
“Customers are also requested to close their water taps during this period as supply may be restored earlier than expected after the works are completed,” read part of the published statement.n
It does not rain but pours for former Flames goalkeeper Simplex Nthala, who apart from serving a two-year-long ban, is now fighting a lawsuit in Mozambique civil court for assaulting referee Antonio Munguambe.
The Flames goalkeeper and his Mozambican side Maxaquene teammate, Aurthur Muianga popularly known as Zabula, allegedly assaulted referee Munguambe during a Mocambola game against Desportivo de Nacala in July.
Nthala: I don’t know how it went that far
Nthala and his defender, Zabula, were outraged by the referee for awarding a goal which the two claimed was scored using a hand.
Although Nthala was banned for two years and fined by the Mozambique Football Association disciplinary committee, the referee has dragged Nthala and his club to court for compensation.
Nthala confirmed in an interview on Thursday that he was fighting on two fronts- the FA’s disciplinary ban and a lawsuit.
“I appeared before the disciplinary hearing which came up with the two-year ban. The club appealed and the ban was indeed slashed to one year,” Nthala said.
“We are still fighting that the ban should be reduced. But in the recent development, I just found out that the case is now in court of law.”
He said the club’s lawyers were also handling the court case.
“I have not yet been summoned to testify in court,” Nthala said.
The former Mighty Wanderers goalkeeper also conceded that he was not conversant with the country’s laws; hence, he was in the dark over the court proceedings.
“At first, I thought the issue would be handled by the Mozambique FA, but what has transpired now is that it is indeed in court. Honestly, I don’t know how it went that far. I am yet to be briefed by the club’s officials,” Nthala said.
The referee was subsequently suspended for three months and finished his sentence last month.
However, Nthala remained optimistic that he would win the case.
“I know I am innocent. I am not worried because justice will now be done,” he said.
Nthala also clarified that he had not yet started playing competitive games.
“The game that I played last week was just a mini tournament,” he said. “I cannot say that I have started playing as such because the case is not over yet.”
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda said he was aware that Nthala was sued by the Mozambican referee.
“I have been following the case. I was informed by the Mozambique FA general secretary about his [Simplex] predicament,” Nyirenda said.
“I am told the referee wants to use the video footage from the television as evidence against Nthala.”
The GS said FAM would wait for the outcome of the case before summoning Nthala to hear his side of the story.
“Right now it’s difficult for us to do anything because the case is in court while Mozambique FA is handling the appeal.” Nyirenda said.
Nthala, who had a clean sheet before the incident, was included in Flames’ squad for July 6 2015 international friendly against Uganda, but failed to report due to club commitments.
He was also set to be called for Malawi’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Zimbabwe, but the Flames coach Ernest Mtawali, changed his mind after learning that he was not playing due to the ban.
Nthala’s alleged action is contrary to a code of conduct FAM put in place in 2013 for all national team players after they misbehaved at the 2013 Cosafa Cup in Zambia.
In the code of conduct, players pledge to behave in a manner that would not put the game of football in disrepute both at their clubs and national team or face disciplinary action if they fail to do so.
Nthala trekked to Mozambican in 2011 to join Liga Muculman. A season later he moved to Vilanculo FC before joining Ferroviario de Nampula in 2013 where he was named Mocambola goalkeeper of the season.
