Chakwera Accuse Govt of Cashgate Report manipulation, politicizing Cashgate Prosecution Process

Chakwera Accuse Govt of Cashgate Report manipulation, politicizing Cashgate Prosecution Process

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Hon. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera says government “manipulated” a Baker Tilly Cashgate Audit Report now in the public hands and that the process of prosecution of people involved has been politicized.

A Baker Tilly cashgate Audit report was made public and Minister of Justice and Constitution Affairs Hon. Samuel Tembenu when presenting the report to Minister of Information last month indicated that the report was intact as was presented to the Auditor General by Baker Tilly itself.

But when interacting with the media in Lilongwe on Wednesday evening, the MCP leader Dr. Lazarus Chakwera said Cashagete report was manipulated and that government is not properly handling the cashgate cases.

Though he did not come so clear to specify by citing where the report is indicating any discrepancy from the original Baker Tilly Cashgate Audit report and the report in circulation, he said in Chichewa that “Ngati tifuna chilungamo chenicheni chazinthu zonse, panafunika kuti ndondomeko yonse yofunika pazinthu izi, ngakhale a Malawi akuti tipatseni zakuti, tiuzeni zakuti, zizikhala zotsatidwa bwino molingana ndi malamulo adzikolino. Tonse timafuna atiuze zidayenda bwanji maina adakhala bwanji, koma zimaonetsa poyera kuti ukawerenga Script ija zimene zakhala highlighted ndizinthu zimene zikukhudzana ndi wakuti wakuti” meaning (For the truth of the matter to be known, proper process and laws of this country were supposed to be followed though there was demand and growing interest of every Malawian to know contents of the report. We all wanted to know who are involved and what happened but this report is only highlighting things that are associated with some individuals)

 “We all want the truth and it does not matter whether the person involved belongs to MCP or not, this is because we are interested in the public money which was stolen and MCP cannot back anyone even if that person was associated with MCP” said Chakwera

On how government is handling Cashgate prosecution process he said although government has stepped up prosecution of Cashgate cases following the release of the Cahsgate report, the process “seems extremely slow and heavily politicized.”

He therefore demanded “Justice of color blind” as government is pursuing the matter, commit to conduct the audit from 2005- 2012 to ensure that all cases of corruption are prosecuted and stepping up of efforts to curb on-going corruption in government institutions.

Chakera also raised number of issues that are affecting Malawi and how his party intends to move forward after losing elections this year.

He noted with concern that it is now four month into new financial year of 2014/2015 without implementation of FISP programme which he said the delay is likely to affect the productivity in the agricultural sector. He added that this might be worsened by Kwacha depreciation as farm inputs will be costly high.

“If we miss agriculture, we are deliberately extending the lean periods we normally experience.” He warned, while calling government to commence FISP programme immediately and address problems usually associated with FISP.

Chakwera also mentioned that he is disappointed as the President of Malawi Congress Party and Leader of Opposition in Parliament that the pace of implementing government programmes targeting poor is too slow, and heavily biased towards the already privileged.

He urged government to serious address issues of increased cost of living, Lack of financial prudence due to political appointments of “army of presidential advisors and members into parastatal boards,” security breakdown, need to offer reasonable pay hike to junior staff members and resolve the industrial strikes in judiciary and Ministry of Education are.

However, Chakwera said MCP has put aside issues and grievances surrounding tripartite elections and chose to put interest of people first for Malawi to move forward.

ASM Symposium Offer Hope to Malawi economy

ASM Symposium Offer Hope to Malawi economy

The recent Artisanal and Small scale Mining (ASM) Policy Consultation Symposium in Lilongwe has agreed on number of critical issues that if properly implemented would expose ASM into International markets.

The results from the two day conference on Wednesday and Thursday last week has also proposed for further research on stumbling blocks and ways to promote ASM subsector.

The conference has empowered an international organization Pact to work with government in spearheading the research in areas of access to market, finance and information among others.

In order to realize the dream of organizing the ASM subsector so that it moves from informal to formal footing in a view of maximizing their earnings hence contributing to the country’s GDP, the conference has in its first recommendation resolved that there is need to further engage with law makers, law enforcement agencies, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).

The other five agreements are empowering an international Organisation PACT to do baseline study, needs assessment, quantify and consolidate other policy plans discussed in the conference on how every point will be achieved.

Such studies will be in areas of market analysis to find out where and who has been a buyer for these ASM and to go further on identifying where and who can be the recommended buyer or markets for ASM products.

To ensure that access to finance is “no more far-fetched dream” every business has been urged to be formalized by getting registered and licensed and must be in groups for easy access to financial institutional loans and some financial literacy will be provided to these ASM.

The conference has noted annual events in Arusha, Capetown and identified countries like Srilanka, Thailand, Rwanda and DRC to be areas that ASM’s needs to regularly visit to learn and access information on markets for their products.

Martha Malumba an ASM who was in the conference said agreements made in the conference will greatly support her once the modified policy is enforced.

“Am excited that I was part of this process. We were missed out several conferences. Am also happy that FDH Bank has pledged a continued commitment to support us” She said

Director for Finance and Administration in Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Gusto Patrick Mabvuto at the end of the conference said the agreements in this conference will go a long way to transform ASM and will increase government revenue.

He promised that government will endeavour to apply these agreements to ensure their success.

The next conference of the same nature to look at what has been achieved will be in 2015.

Currently, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining activities employ over 20 Thousand people in the country. And the just ended conference has modified some mining policy in order to organize the ASM subsector by moving from informal to formal footing in a view to maximize earnings and revenue to contribute to the country’s GDP.

COPUA releases Amayi Akuferanji Music Album; Launch Saturday This Week

COPUA releases Amayi Akuferanji Music Album; Launch Saturday This Week

The Coalition for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (COPUA) is set to release 11 track music album entitled ‘Amayi Akuferanji’ highlighting problems of unsafe abortions and advocating for change of current abortion laws

The album has different genres of music featuring eleven artists among them a famous poet Joseph Mazeze who are in their message highlighting the problems of unsafe abortions which affects the health and lives of women and girls in Malawi.

The Malawi Ministry of Health recorded in 2009 that the magnitude of unsafe abortions was over 70,000 women and girls who induce abortions every year. Out of these, over 30,000 women and girls end up with complications that require to be treated at the hospital and all this is happening since abortion remains a criminal act.

As a Special Law Commission is in the process of reviewing the current Abortion laws, COPUA hopes this to be a right time to come up with ‘Amayi Akuferanji’ music album to raise awareness and educate the public about the need for laws that will promote reproductive health of women.

“We hope to gain support for law reform, through music,” said Godfrey Kangaude and continued “Music is a mode of communication that is effective in spreading messages to large audience.”

He added “COPUA thought that it could use this channel of communication to engage as many Malawians as possible with messages supporting reproductive health and rights of girls and women.”

“We urge all Malawians, through the music in this album to reflect on the lives of girls and women that we lose every day due to complications of unsafe abortions, and those that are living with its negative consequences. We call upon all Malawians to unite and support the reform of abortion laws in order to save the lives and protect the health of our mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, relatives and friends” pleaded Kangaude

The free show for album launch of Amayi Akuferanji is on 22 November afternoon at Airstrip in Mangochi district and COPUA says the album will be free.

COPUA is a network of over 40 Civil Society Organisations and Individuals in partnership with various government institutions and partners to find lasting solutions to the challenge of unsafe abortions in Malawi.

The underlying cause of unsafe abortions is in Malawi is failure to access safe abortion since current laws restrict access to abortion only to conditions where the life of the pregnant women is in danger. This forces women and girls to terminate their pregnancy through unsafe methods which sometimes results in permanent disability or death.

Studies have estimated that 17% of maternal deaths are a result of unsafe abortions. And the most marginalized girls and women bear the greatest burden of unsafe abortion as those who are more privileged can afford relatively safe abortions.

There is hope that where girls and women are allowed to access safe abortion, the incidence of unsafe abortion is very low.

Govt not dormant in the ongoing differences between Local Councillors, MPs

Govt not dormant in the ongoing differences between Local Councillors, MPs

Government says efforts are being done to facilitate effective integration of Councillors in their respective Councils in order to end the ongoing wrangle between them and Members of Parliament (MPs) regarding their roles and responsibilities.

Honorable Tarsizio Gowelo Minister of Local Government and Rural Development made the remarks at a media conference in Lilongwe on Monday, on how the Ministry is progressing on the ushering in of newly elected Councillors into office in all councils to ensure that they are providing better service in their communities.

The Minister acknowledged that there are ongoing misunderstanding between MPs and Councillors surrounding their roles saying the development has been exacerbated by the fact that Councils operated without Councillors in the past 9 years.

He said currently his Ministry together with its cooperating partners among them Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN), National Democratic Institute (NDI), have been training Councillors in all the regions across the country.

And in order to assist Councillors discharge their responsibilities effectively, clarify roles of the various members of the Council and foster harmony in their relationship with other stakeholders, the Ministry has developed number of documents including a Guidebook on Local Government System in Malawi; A Guide for Conducting Local Authority Business in Malawi; and a Handbook for Councillors and other Council Members in Malawi.

“From 24 to 30 June, 2014 my Ministry together with our cooperating partners organized concurrent  regional orientation sessions that were carried in all the regions of the country. These orientation sessions were aimed at enlightening Councillors about their roles and responsibilities in the Councils as they had just been ushered in into the Councils”He said

Gowelo also said he made some follow ups to these trainings, by hold meetings with Councillors across the country where himself and senior officers from his Ministry had an opportunity to interact and share a “few principles on how to generate a legacy” in the Councils which is associated with quality service delivery and accelerated socio-economic development.

He indicated that with support from UNDP the remaining members of the Councils including, elected Councillors, MPs, Chiefs and Council Secretariat will be oriented within December this year.

He said very soon the Ministry will enter into a partnership with the National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Trust to embark on massive public education in the local government system as a whole, so that people understands roles of various members of the Councils, channel their demands to the right duty bearers and hold them service delivery accountability.

But on Conditions of Service for Coucillors, the minister mentioned that during these meetings, Councillors were taken through their Conditions of Service as approved by Government after thorough consultations within Government and with key stakeholders in decentralisation and Integrated Rural Development.

The Minister said it was made clear to the Councillors that their Conditions of Service are meant to facilitate their operations, and that these Conditions of Service were not meant for full time employment. “After all, the work of Councillors is voluntary” he said. 

But Hon. Gowelo was quick to note that since most of the Councils still need some assistance from the central Government, therefore support will continue to be given to Councils until such a time they are able to stand on their own as it should be.

He said issues of transport for Mayors and Deputy Mayors in Cities and Municipal Councils his Ministry “would try to see how best it could assist.” But he also said his Ministry will initiate consultations within Government and with Cooperating Partners to chart the way forward on proposals made by Councillors most of which bordered on policy, including some improvements in their Conditions of Service, the loan sum and administration of Motorcycle loans.

According to the Minister with support from MEJN, the Ministry has trained Councillors in 20 districts whilst Councillors from 3 Councils have been trained with support from NDI.  He said the ongoing trainings are covering specific areas such as Financial Management, Procurement, Auditing, Planning and Development, Project Management and Ethics in Local Governance.

Inde Bank in Charity Work

Inde Bank supports Visual impaired families in Salima with farm inputs

Inde Bank on Friday afternoon brought joy among visual impaired farmers of Chinguluwe Settlement Scheme in Salima when the bank supported them with fertilizer and maize seeds.

The donation is worth MK600 thousand, to benefit up to 80 families blind families of the Scheme.

George Namandwa the Inde Bank Deputy Chief Executive Officer when presenting the donation in Salima at Chinguluwe, said the bank was overwhelmed with hard working spirit shown by these farmers and that the donation is meant to uplift their efforts so that this farming season they should realize more benefits farming.

“Inde Bank selected this area because it is concerned with the blind. We have a focus in our Corporate and Social Responsibility policy to target the underprivileged especially those to do with the blind.” He said

“Part of our mission statement we say that we want to be relevant to the communities in which we serve, relevance does not only imply making profits but uplifting the lives of people in which we serve. We believe that once we uplift those lives we build relationships that will then help us grow.” Said Namandwa

He said the bank would in future support these farmers depending on the availability of resources.

Boniface Calvin, a Chairperson for Malawi Union of Blind in Salima district shares his excitement towards this donation

“Am gratefully happy with the gift from Inde Bank because we are going to achieve what the blind people were lacking. For example we have here fertilizer and maize seeds this means we have a start.”

He noted that the support from Inde bank is a boost to the families of visual impaired farmers in the district who are currently not benefiting much from the government programme ‘Fertiliser Subsidy Programme (FISP)’ due to the limited number of beneficiaries per village since number of families including the blind are forced to share the contents that are meant for a single family coupon.

“Inde Bank has added more soup to the blind” he said adding “and as we have received the Inde Bank fertilizer it means that, plus the portion we are going to get from fertilizer subsidy the improvement of production will be very high next year”

CHRR, Cedep applaud Malawi govt for acceptance to attend African Commission on Human Rights Session

CHRR, Cedep applaud Malawi govt for acceptance to attend African Commission on Human Rights Session

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and Centre for Development of People (Cedep), has welcomed decision by Malawi government to appear before the 56th session of African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.

The decision to attend African commission Session, Malawi will make another milestone in promotion of Hunan Rights issues following a positive background of Malawi’s similar maiden historical appearance at the 111^th session of United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva recently.

According to a Press Statement dated 12^th November 2014 co-signed by Executive Directors Timothy Mtambo and Gift Trapence for CHRR and Cedep respectively says by resolving to appear before the 56^th Session of African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights the Malawi government has not only demonstrated its willingness towards adherence to her international obligations but also commitment towards the promotion and protection of human rights for all.

It is an obligation of State parties to the African Charter on human and peoples’ rights to submit reports every two years updating the commission on their promotion and protection mandate of human and peoples' rights in their respective countries. But according to CHHR and Cedep statement “Malawi submitted its maiden report in 2012 after 25 years of non-compliance to her obligations to the commission.”

“In the absence of such state party reports, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation since 1998 [when it acquired the observer status to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights] had been presenting and submitting human rights brief reports to the African Commission highlighting the progress, challenges and recommendations to the Malawi government on issues of human rights and good governance.”

The statement further states “The Civil Society, through Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and Centre for Development of People (Cedep), also submitted their shadow report in 2012, concurrently with Malawi government, which included a number of recommendations of the human rights situation in the country”

Among the recommendations the statement included;

1.       The state party to take steps and measures to comply with the Francis Kafantayen vs. The Attorney General decisions by ensuring that all murder convicts are re-sentenced as a matter of urgency

2.       The state Party to ensure that Dr. Kalonga Stambuli Commission of Inquiry Report is released and action should be taken against any person or persons who played a hand in his death

3.       The State Party to allocate a minimum of 15% of its national budget towards health in line with the Abuja Declaration

4.       The State Party as a matter of urgency compensate victims of 2O July demonstrations, investigate and prosecute the perpetrators

5.       The State Party as a matter of urgency to bring to justice those responsible for the brutal murder of a Polytechnic student activist Robert Chasowa and compensate late Robert Chasowa’s family

6.       The State Party to safeguard the independence of the Judiciary and desist from making bad comments in public against judicial officers and also ensure that judicial officers are properly remunerated and protected

The forthcoming session of the African commission in Gambia will hence provide the platform for Malawi government to give the status quo of protection and promotion of human rights in the country, the progress on implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples rights, and also update the commission on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations made in the 2012 civil society shadow report.

The 56^th Session will commence from the 1^st December to 17^th December 2014 in Banjul Gambia where Malawi government’s initial report is due for review on 7^th, 8^th and 9^th December 2014.

A 34 year old rapist infects STDs to a 13 year old girl in Lilongwe

A 34 year old rapist infects STDs to a 13 year old girl in Lilongwe

A 34 year old man in Lilongwe has passed on a Sexual Transmitted Disease (STDs) to a young girl aged 13. The man whose name is Owen Mkambeni is in police custody for defilement charge.

Kanengo Police Station Public Relations Officer Sergeant Esther Mkwanda has confirmed that the young girl was defiled on 2 November but kept silence the matter until her parents on 11^th November noticed some unusual limp movements of the girl and when checked they realized that her private parts were passing pus which caused smell.

According to Sergeant Mkwanda when the Kamuzu Central Hospital examined the victim confirmed in the medical report that the girl has one of the sexually transmitted diseases.

The officer said both the man and the victim lives in area 25 where the incident took place. Sergeant Mkwanda said the rapist defiled the girl when she was on her way to buy airtime at some groceries shop.

The rapist hails from Njolomole village T/A Njolomole in Ncheu and he has failed to appear in court this week due to the ongoing strike by some Court workers.

Reacting to the incident, one of the NGOs operating in Area 25 ‘Nditsogolo Langa’, has condemned the act by calling it ‘unfortunate’ development disturbing girls, and an incident happening in the area barely few days after the organization had a community sensitization campaigns at Kalambo Primary School, a place happens to be the victims school where people were warned of demerits of harassing girls.

“We are pleading with men in the country who have similar evil motives to stop this act and start to respect and protect girls. Sexual abuse is offensive act and is a annoying development which is disturbing the psychological, health and education of girls in this country and we commend police for immediately arresting this man when the matter was reported to them” Said Joyce Chitsulo Executive Director for Nditsogolo Langa

While applauding the parents of the child for their quick reaction by taking the matter to police and plea to other parents to follow suit by not hiding such matters, Chitsulo also views the reaction taken by the victims parents and the girl’s reflection by revealing to her parents about what happened though it took some days, as a positive signal that the community is now utilizing the messages that Nditsogolo Langa has been giving to the community and pupils learning in the schools surrounding area 25.

“Otherwise they would have not reported the matter to police” she said, and explained “May be if it were not for our sensitization campaigns encouraging them to report such kind of abuse cases we would have not known, or parents would have kept this silence and say this is our internal issue lets resolve it internally and in the process violating the rights of the girl.”

Chitsulo has pledged commitment that her organizations will continue making sensitization messages of empowering girls and women in the area particularly on the importance of reporting to police or any relevant authority any incidences of rape or harassment in order to end such malpractice.