Some Area 3 market shops for demolition, land sold to businessman

Shops outside the main market area belongs to
plot title number Bwaila 4/343

A lot of business operators outside the main Area 3 market in Lilongwe have been ordered to vacate the land which they have been operating for many years following the sale of the land to a businessman by the Lilongwe City Council.

MultiChoice Malawi in Antipiracy Drive

Emma Gichonge

The MultiChoice Malawi has propped up its antipiracy campaign through initiative called Partners Against Piracy (PAP) which seeks to help fight piracy which currently presents a threat to the sustainability of the creative industry including broadcasting industry within Malawi.

On Friday night the company hosted a PAP symposium in the capital city, Lilongwe, which attracted various stakeholder to discuss ways to fight piracy and popularize awareness of domestic laws that criminalize the practice.

Emma Gichonge, Managing Director of MultiChoice Malawi emphasized that piracy is remains a serious crime that has a negative effect on economy hence engaging key industry stakeholders to collectively clamp down on content piracy and create awareness against content theft.

“Piracy harms investor confidence and tax revenue, and may also affect trade opportunities if Malawi is seen as a country where intellectual property is not respected and protected.” She said

Diesel, Paraffin Prices Reduced; Petrol Price Maintained

Fuel pump station 

The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) has reduced prices of Diesel and paraffin while maintaining the pump price for petrol.

According to MERA, a litre of Petrol pump price remains at K930.00 while the recommended pump prices for Diesel is K887.00 per litre from a ruling pump price of K924.00. Paraffin is now at K693.60 per litre from K710.50.

British Council Brings Digital Solutions Among Children From Mtandire

Traffick lights
prototype

Children trained by British Council on basic computer coding skills from peri urban area of Mtandire in Lilongwe, have created different digital based solutions to perennial problems facing their community. 

The children used a BBC micro:bit -a pocket-sized programmable computer designed to help children learn the basics of computer coding.

Tourism Month 2016: Malawians Urged To Eat, Wear, Buy Local Products

Malawians encouraged to dress these local brands

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism has appealed to Malawians to observe the months of tourism which falls in September with eating local foods and buying of locally manufactured products.

Accelerating the Digitization of Malawi to Build a Better Connected World

Today, cutting-edge technology is changing the way we conduct our lives and the way connectivity reaches even the far ends of the world, moving towards amazing advances with infinite possibilities. Soon, connectivity will be everywhere and this will mean connections not just between people, but also between people and machines, and between machines and machines, and not just connections, but smart connections, which will enable smart applications, smart homes, smart cities, and even smart nations. A Better Connected World is therefore at hand, the digital and physical worlds are truly becoming deeply integrated, and given this increasing demand all industries will be facing the pressures and opportunities of digital transformation.

Mw Govt To Strengthen Partnership With Women Organizations: Hosts WUCWO Conference

Dr. Mary Shawa

Malawi Government says will continue to strengthen is partnership with church and its women organizations in order to address socio-economic challenges facing women and children in the country.

Soya Milk Making Supports Nutrition of Kalumo Village Families

Agnes making milk from
soya beans 

Before 2015, the family of Agnes Kaliati from Kalumo village of Traditional Authority  Kalumo in Ntchisi could not afford milk. It was too expensive and the family could only manage to drink milk once or twice in a year.

JTI Intensify Farmer Awareness On Dangers Of Non-Tobacco Related Material In Tobacco Bales

The Japanese Tobacco Company JTI, has expressed hope that it will manage to eradicate problems related to the presence of Non Tobacco Related Materials (NTRM) found in the bales of tobacco among its contracted farmers following intensive awareness to farmers of the dangers associated with presence of such materials in tobacco. 

‘As It Is Happening’ WhatsApp Group Reaches Out To Struggling Single Mother In Lumbadzi

As It Is Happening WhatsApp Group delegates
Chatting with Eunice Joseph at her home
In Lumbadzi

A current affair WhatsApp Group ‘As It Is Happening’ has donated various items and a business start-up amounting K30 thousand to a 23 year old mother of four, following touching story of her daily life struggles after her husband vanished from home almost a year now. 

Pres. Mutharika Order UNIMA Tuition Fees Reduction By K50,000

President Peter Mutharika has ordered University of Malawi to reduce the tuition fees by K50,000 after meeting with the University of Malawi Students Union (UMSU) at Kamuzu Palace on Thursday.

This is across the board reduction for all students on generic and mature programs at the University. For generic students paying the minimum fees this means a 12.5% reduction while for mature students paying minimum ranges of fees this is a 5.4 % reduction.

UNIMA Council Firm On Fee Hike Stance

Stakeholders who participated for
the briefing for the UNIMA Council 

Council of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) says it will not overturn tuition fees raise in order to return the strength and recognition of its Degrees in Europe and America as well as home companies. 

The Council told stakeholder’s in Lilongwe on Tuesday evening when briefing them on developments related to the rise of tuition fees in the UNIMA that the revised fees are necessary to improve quality of education which at the moment has gone down.

Madame Mutharika Says New Roundabouts To Beautify LL City, Appeal For Care Of Environment

The First Lady of the Republic of Malawi, Madame Gertrude Mutharika says the capital city, Lilongwe, will soon wear a new beautiful look with two roundabouts under construction near Parliament building and Capital Hotel.

Beautify Malawi (BEAM) Trust has embarked on the project of constructing two state of art roundabouts in the city and more other such roundabouts will be constructed in all cities across the country.

WILSA-Malawi In Sensitisation Campaign On Gender Laws

Women and Law in Southern Africa-Malawi (WLSA), has rolled out an initiative of promoting gender related laws in all constituencies represented by female legislator to allow more Malawians understands those legislations.

Mzati Mbeko, National Director for WLSA-Malawi said the three gender related laws which are: Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act; Gender Equality Act and on Trafficking in Persons Act, are not well understood by many Malawians.

Invest In Large Scale Farmers - Opposition Parties

Opposition Parties in the National Assembly says Malawi can eradicate its perennial food shortages if Agricultural programs and resources are invested to large-scale farmers and not resource poor farmers.

The observation follows US$60 million loan authorization bill on International Fund for Agriculture Development Programme for Rural Irrigation Development which has been passed by Parliament on Tuesday evening where the main beneficiaries in the loan are 19, 500 poor households from number of districts across the country particularly in most areas affected by drought and 12, 300 hectares will be under irrigation through the project.

Malawi Communications Law Now Responds To New Developments

Kaliati: this will lead to communication improvement 

The National Assembly on Tuesday has repealed Communications Act of 1998 and replaced it with Bill No. 24 of 2015: Communications which responds to vast changes, upgrades and development in the Communications Sector which rendered the repealed law somehow irrelevant.

New bill has been passed after several consultations and lengthy scrutiny by the Committee on Media, Information and Communications, in which the bill was referred to following its debate in the House on March 1, 2016 after it was brought by the Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Civic Education.  

Malawians Now Protected On Electronic Transactions, Cyber Crimes

Government says passing of the Electronic Transaction Bill into law by the National Assembly on Monday, will open up the E-Commerce businesses in the country and protect people from various forms of harassment on internet.

Malawi National Assembly on Monday evening passed the bill with new title “Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act 2015.”

The bill seeks to enable to people to transact various services electronically with full protection of the law and also ensure that people are protected from computer related harassments like viruses, hacks and all cyber crimes.

House Approves US$ 23.5M Loan To Improve Water Supply For Blantyre City

No more dry taps

Problems of intermittent water supply facing Blantyre City will soon come to an end with the passing of US$ 23. 5 million loan for the purpose of putting water infrastructure at Mulanje Mountain to supply water to Blantyre city residents.

On Monday afternoon, the National Assembly approved Bill No. 15 of 2016: Export-Import Bank of India Loan Authorisation authorizing Government to get money for improving water provision in Blantyre city including some rural areas in Mulanje and Thyolo.

Catholic Church Echo Appeal For Food Assistance In Malawi

Most Rev. Msusa signed the statement 

The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has appealed to people of goodwill to quickly assist thousands of Malawians facing hunger during this 2016/2017 consumption year as the magnitude of the food shortage threatens lives of many Malawians.

Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee Report (MVAC, 2016) indicates 6.5 million Malawians require humanitarian assistance.

World Bank Tips Malawi On Economic Recovery Through Agriculture Resilience

The third Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) by World Bank has underline that development of a better system to mitigate agricultural shocks while continuing fiscal discipline will set Malawi on an economic growth recovery path in 2017. 

MEM titled Absorbing Shocks, Building Resilience released on Wednesday in Lilongwe notes that Agriculture which is the country's backbone continues to face risks associated with the drought, flooding, disease, price volatility, and low levels of on-farm adoption of risk management practices and technologies and that these have all contributed to volatile and often negative rates of agricultural GDP growth.