The Rotaract Club of Lilongwe has inducted nine new members last Saturday night, June 20^th, 2015 bringing the Club membership to a total of 35. The induction took place at a black-tie dinner function known as the End of Year Soirée, an annual event held every June to mark the closing of the rotary year.

Kondwani Kapewa, Alfred Kalumbi, Ruth Chatata, Allan Nasoro, Timothy Ntilosanje, Atanazio Chigona, Cornelius Mussa, Thandi Ngalande and Fraser Nyale were inducted into the club earning themselves the privilege of being addressed as Rotaractors. The new members were also accorded the Rotaract Club badge to symbolize their membership into the club. The badge was pinned on each of the new Rotaractors by their respective hosts, who are already members of the club, who invited and sponsored them into the club membership. The Induction ceremony was presided over by the Club’s President, Chifundo Patience Chilera.

At the same event, Rotaractor Jethro Longwe was inaugurated into the Rotaract Club of Lilongwe Hall of Fame; a list of all Rotaractors who have been a part of the membership of the Club and are due for progression into the Rotary Club. Various other awards were also given to recognize the distinguished contributions and dedication of the club members in making the club service and fellowship fun and fulfilling during the year just ended.

The End of Year Soirée was graced by the District Governor Elect for Rotary District 9210, Dean Lungu; President of Rotary Club of Lilongwe Sophie Kalinde; President Elect of Rotary Club of Lilongwe Chris Kapenda; and Past President Joseph Chavula of Rotary Club of Bwaila. Rotarian Qabaniso Malewezi, who is the deputy director of youth services at Rotary Club of Lilongwe, was the Director of Ceremonies at the event.

Rotaract is a youth arm of Rotary International for young men and women ages 18 to 30 who are dedicated to community and international service as well as professional development. The Club in Lilongwe was chartered on February 14^th, 2015 and has since carried out various community service activities including mentorship, distribution of relief to flood victims through Red Cross, distribution of teaching and learning materials to peri-urban schools in Lilongwe as well as hosted the first of many talks with distinguished persons who are accomplished in their various profession who can inspire the aspirations of young professionals in Lilongwe.

Chisomo Children Club a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) which deals with issues of street children will conduct a numeration exercise in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe in order to know the actual number of children found in the streets.

This development was revealed on Wednesday at a stakeholders meeting which the Club organised in Blantyre.

According to the Executive Director for Chisomo Children Club, Charles Gwengwe, the number of street kids is increasing therefore need for interventions.

We conducted a stakeholders meeting involving those people who are involved with children who live and work in the streets with the purpose of coming up with better intervention to deal with the increasing number of street kids.

“You may be interested to know that the government developed a strategic plan to guide the intervention for street connected kids, but the actual number of kids was not there so it has been problematic to come up proper intervention,” Gwengwe said.

Previously exercises to remove children from the streets have proved futile because there was lack of coordination among stakeholders.

“In the past we have tried to sweep the street kids off the streets but it has not helped. That’s why we have decided to involve all the stakeholders so that we may work together.

“This is the time we have to deal with the problem once and for all before it gets worse. It is sad to know that when the innocent child is on the street for a long time he becomes dangerous, “said Gwengwe.

Malawi’s renowned artist Mandela ‘Third Eye’ Mwanza, who was in Morocco attending a Arterial Network conference.

The artist attended the conference as a new president of Arterial Network Malawi.

Arterial Network is a dynamic, civil-society network of artists, cultural activists, entrepreneurs, enterprises, NGOs, institutions, and donors active in Africa’s creative and cultural sectors. Established as a member-based, non-profit organisation, Arterial Network operates as a bilingual network with French and English as its official languages.

Mandela Mwanza speaking in an interview with the Nations explained that at the conference the main discussion focused on making Arterial Network more effective than it already is.

“I cannot divulge more on that as it is mostly inside information,” said the artist.

The artist, who recently unveiled his new novel Michael Comes Home, said through his interaction with artists from other countries, he has come to learn that art is serious business.

“Unlike most Malawian artists, our friends do more and complain less.

They know being an artist is a job like any other and in fact better paying than most jobs available to African youth,” said Third Eye.

Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM) will today be offering free vasectomy services as of the commemoration of the World Vasectomy Day.

FaceofMalawi speaking to BLM’s Director of Health Services Operations Mary Mitochi in an interview said the services will be offered at their main clinics in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

“Engaging men in family planning is the right thing to do for the family and the future,” said Mitochi.

She further said that they also want to use this day to sensitise men about vasectomy which she said is the most underutilised method.

Vasectomy increases the quality of life, eliminates the quality of life, eliminates the fear of unintended pregnancy and can improve sex life, added Mitochi.

European Union has disclosed that it will hold to its budget support due to the public looting of funds also known as cashgate at capitol hill in Lilongwe.

The remarks were made just after EU ambassador Marchel Germann, was giving his letters of credence to President Peter Mutharika on Monday in Lilongwe at the Kamuzu Palace.

“In terms of budget support, we are having a dialogue with the government of Malawi. I think as far EU is concerned the option of budget support remains on the table. We just need see restoration of confidence in public finance management systems of the country. There will only be budget support if the circumstances are there,” he said.

Commenting on the recent cashgate report which names suspects, Germann said it is a good thing that progress is being made and that those who looted the public coffers are being brought to the book.

“It is a good thing because this issue is of interest to all Malawians. I believe it’s very important that government and development partners work together to restore confidence in the public finance management system. We are working closely with the Minister of Finance to achieve this and we will continue to do so,” Germann said.

He said the EU is Malawi’s largest trading partner as nearly a quarter of Malawi’s exports find their way to Europe besides being one of the country’s largest donors.

“In 2013 the EU contribution to Malawi was €80 million. For 2014-2020, the overall envelope available for Malawi is projected to be close to €800 million,” he said.

President Mutharika also received letters of credence from ambassador from Norway Kikkan Haugen, ambassador from Ireland Aine Hearns and ambassador from Egypt Mohamed Maher, who expressed the zeal to work with the government for the betterment of the country.

Days after The Nation revealed massive irregularities that have rocked the 2014/15 Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp) we also divulge that donors have written government, demanding explanations on several issues around the scheme’s management.

In a letter dated October 17 2014 addressed to the former secretary to the Treasury Newby Kumwembe and copied to secretary to the Treasury-designate Ronald Mangani, principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Erica Maganga and other senior government officials in the ministries of Finance and Agriculture, country manager for Malawi Africa Region, Luara Kullenberg, representing the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), is demanding urgent information regarding the total estimated costs of the 2014/15 Fisp.

Government announced this year that it will discontinue the Fertiliser Input Loan Programme (Filp) due to lack of funds and Kullenberg, in her letter, has further asked government to also include in the costs the transferred fertiliser.

More especially, we understand that government is transferring to this year’s Fisp, the fertiliser acquired last year under Filp. The exact costs of the fertiliser is, therefore, indispensable to estimate the overall costs of the Fisp fertiliser component and to give us clear indications of the potential sources of savings, if any, in other components of the Fisp, that could cover the seed budget gap, reads the letter.

This year’s Fisp estimated to cost K50 billion from last year’s K60 billion is already marred by high logistical hiccups, including transportation and distribution delays.

Asked to comment on the donors’ demands, Mangani referred the matter to the ministry’s spokesperson Nations Msowoya, who was not immediately available.

The Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) has initiated a campaign to sensitize and empower women to use female condoms as an effective way of reducing cervical cancer.

female condoms on display

FaceofMalawi speaking to Family Planning Association District Manager for Lilongwe, Olivetta Mupara Soko at Kang’oma Trading Centre in the area of Traditional Authority Tsabango last week revealed that though more women had the information on the advantages of the female condom, myths and misconceptions still remained.

“Therefore am urging all women to please consider using the condoms as they help prevent unprecedented pregnancies and reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer,” said Soko.

sample female condom

GENEVA (18 September 2014) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Thursday that the State has a moral and legal responsibility to take measures to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, preventable mortality and morbidity of children under the age of five.

“Each year, 6 million children lose their lives before their fifth birthday – equivalent to the entire population of Nicaragua, Norway or New Zealand, every year,” Zeid said.

“A harsh reality makes a calamity of this tragedy – the reality that, in our hands, we have the ways and means to prevent at least 50 percent of these deaths and more. That we fail to take the steps necessary to protect our children from the devastating consequences of these conditions constitutes grave violations of the child’s rights to life, survival, development, and the highest attainable standard of health.”

Zeid stressed that when the State is not doing what it can to prevent such deaths, it is defaulting on its legal and moral obligations to its own people.

“State officials are answerable to the public when children die of preventable causes. If local officials, relevant ministers, heads of government or heads of State are not doing what they should to uphold the rights of these – the smallest, most vulnerable of their people – then such omissions may well amount to criminal negligence,” he said.

“For human rights not only connect us all. In this instance, they implicate us all. If a country is committed to all reasonable steps to prevent infant mortality, having established the right set of priorities, but is lacking the basic resources needed to take those steps, then the burden of public duty and gaze of public scrutiny must be on the international community.”

Zeid stressed that critical inequalities are at the root of preventable child deaths. The issue thus must be addressed through its root causes such as: gender inequality; harmful traditional practices including genital mutilation; forced, early and child marriage; gender-based violence; stigma; discrimination; unsafe households and environments; denial of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation; denial of the right to health; and women’s enjoyment of human rights.

High Commissioner Zeid was speaking at the launch of a UN Human Rights Office technical guidance note which lists tangible, concrete measures that States can take, using a human rights-based approach, to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under five years of age. The note contains advice on legislation, coordination, planning, budgeting, implementation and international cooperation related to the issue.

“Through the human rights lens, transformative policy solutions emerge clearly,” he said.

The human rights-based approach requires States to invest in the health, education and empowerment of women and children, particularly in the poorest and most marginalized communities. The High Commissioner said this means “re-calibrating public investment so that it swings in behind the protection, preservation and personhood of the child.”

The High Commissioner also emphasised that parents are entitled to participate meaningfully as partners in prevention. The human rights-based approach also requires that aggrieved individuals should have access to transparent processes to hold accountable public officials and private sector actors for the quality, accessilbity and acceptability of the services they provide.

“Children are our most valuable resource,” Zeid said. “We cannot accept that, through our commission and omission, they should be left to be our most vulnerable resource, too.”

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have cautioned President Peter Mutharika to be careful when communicating to people to avoid provoking distrust.

The CSOs were reacting to the President’s remarks made during his political rally at Masintha Ground in Lilongwe last Sunday with regard to the involvement of retired judge Elton Singini, former solicitor general and attorney general and former Malawi Defence Force (MDF) commander general Henry Odillo in the commission of inquiry following the death of former president Bingu wa Mutharika.

In his speech, Mutharika intimated that the treason charges levelled against him and 11 others were a concoction and “stupid” and that they were influenced by tribal politics.

But the CSOs, under the banner of Civil and Political Space Platform (CSP Platform), have expressed disappointment and disapproval of the remarks, which they consider unfortunate.

CSP Platform is a loose network of governance and human rights faith-based organisations (FBOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are supported and coordinated by Danish Church Aid (DCA).

Some of the network members are Public Affairs Committee (PAC), CCAP Church and Society Programmes of Livingstonia, Nkhoma and Blantyre synods; Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) of Chikwawa, Dedza, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Karonga dioceses; Christian Service Committee (CSC) and Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM).

Others are Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Women’s Legal Resources Centre, Association for Progressive Women (APW) and Maziko Radio.

The CSOs’ censure comes barely a few days after Malawi Law Society (MLS) also condemned Mutharika’s claims and described them as nepotistic and unacceptable.

In a statement issued over the weekend, the CSOs say it was naive for Mutharika to insinuate that the commission’s conclusions were on the basis of tribal origins.

They also condemn the President for calling the former MDF head “a cheat”, saying the remarks were slanderous and defamatory.

“Such speculative thoughts are divisive and can only be construed as fear-mongering as they easily provoke distrust and conflict between political parties, tribes and regions in the country,” says the statement signed by CSP Platform chairperson Moses Mkandawire.

The Platform further says the President’s claims implied that the former Army commander misrepresented the truth during the course of his employment, which they said is a “serious accusation” in light of the exemplary reputation and professionalism of the MDF throughout its history.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it is preparing to assist thousands of Malawians due to the poor harvests in the country and high food prices.

“The situation is very serious – our field staff have observed that households in parts of the country have harvested almost nothing,” said WFP Country Director Abdoulaye Diop. “Our first priority will be to make sure that vulnerable people have enough food to sustain themselves through this lean season. At the same time, we must invest in more long-term solutions to build resilience and break the cycle of hunger.”

According to a recent report jointly produced by the Government, UN agencies, and academic and non-governmental organizations, more than 1.6 million people will need food assistance in the coming months, a substantial increase from earlier this year when 202,000 people were in need of food assistance.

While the lean season in Malawi is usually between December and March, a late onset of rain and prolonged dry spells resulted in a decrease of maize production by as much as 40 per cent in some areas. The effects will be felt the most in the southern part of the country.

In addition, the recent devaluation of the national currency by 49 per cent, coupled with soaring inflation at 17.3 per cent, has produced sharp increases in the prices of basic goods and services, pushing the cost of living to unsustainable levels for many Malawians.

Retail maize prices have already increased by 50 per cent compared to the same time last year, and are expected to increase in the lean season.

WFP, along with the Government and other partners, will distribute locally produced maize, pulses and blended food. Cash transfers may also be made available to the most vulnerable to enable them to buy food in areas where market conditions allow.

The agency is urging donors to provide rapid funding support to assist more than one million people starting from August, covering the period until March 2013.

In a news release WFP said its emergency intervention will be implemented in tandem with medium- and longer-term assistance, including school meals, programmes to boost the nutrition of malnourished children and mothers, and resilience-building activities to address chronic food insecurity and disaster risk reduction.

The former president of the republic of Malawi, Joyce Banda, on Saturday called upon Starkey Hearing Foundation to expand its mission in Malawi to help people with hearing impairment and other problem particularly in rural areas.

Banda, who is well known with charity works, proposed the initiative when she was presenting her speech at the Starkey Hearing Foundation Founders’ Day in Minnesota, USA.

The Starkey Hearing Foundation which partners with Joyce Banda Foundation as a local partner in Malawi helps to restore hearing to people with hearing impairment and problems through ear treatment and providing free hearing aids.

The 2014 Starkey Hearing Foundation Malawi mission launch officially took place in February this year at the Statehouse at the invitation of the Former President Dr. Joyce Banda.

“There are lot of people in rural areas, some of which can not afford to travel to urban hospitals to get proper care, and such people need to be reached,” said Banda.

Hearing impairment is one of the most serious challenges in mankind and that people with hearing impairment are most disadvantaged and marginalized in our societies, said Banda in her speech.

“Compared with other children, children with hearing impairment are more at greater risk of illiteracy and poverty. They are the ones who will most likely never go to school due to lack of necessary facilities and systems”, Banda was quoted as saying in the international media.

She, however, commended the Starkey Foundation arguing that the Foundation has given hope to the hopeless as the Foundation makes it possible for people with hearing impairment to hear again.

“Thanks to Starkey: that person in the village with hearing impairment can now hear and that child who couldn’t go to school because of hearing impairment can now go to school because he/she can hear”, said Banda.

The Founder’s Day is an annual gathering which brings together Starkey Hearing Foundations’ Partners from all over the world. These include Governments, the private sector and non government organizations.

This year’s event was among others attended by Hilary Clinton, Former US Secretary of State, South African Anti-apartheid icon and Nobel peace laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, Forest Whitaker, Health Experts and Former Heads of States.

The Joyce Banda government was criticized when it refused to give music diva, Madonna, the VIP treatment she craved for when she visited Malawi earlier this year. However, as revelations indicate, the JB government couldn’t have been wrong in totality especially in view of the fact that Madonna might be riding on the Malawi tag to make money for her label. Details below: