Nthanda Times Reporter

Being a former parliamentarian himself, on his return President Chakwea’s face radiated and the ambience had a mark of familiarity as he could remember some Parliamentarians who he shared some light moments during her 5-year stint in the August House, no wonder his approach to the questions was characterized with some moments of smiles.

The Malawi leader spared some time to exchange pleasantries with a cross section of people and he was seen talking to some members of Parliament from the opposition, notable includes Ms. Lilian Patel President of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Second Deputy Speaker Aisha Adams, Rodrick Khumbanyiwa UDF parliamentarian from Chikwawa and Mathews Ngwale a DPP Parliamentarian from Mulanje among others.

 President Chakwera is someone who is not fazed by any gathering and as usual he maintained his composure and poise throughout the question session even when it seemed there were some deliberate attempts to provoke him. One such question arose and it came from a Parliamentarian from Machinga who wanted to know if President Chakwera would reduce some of his powers like being an appointing authority of the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) as he promised during the campaign.

In his response, President Chakwera said giving up some of his powers does not depend on his (Presidential) decree but it’s an issue which would require the involvement of the Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice but importantly Parliament would have to come in and amend the said clause in the constitution.

He said: “The matter of reducing Presidential powers is not an issue of Presidential decree but an issue of a constitution. It requires the involvement of the Law Commission and the Ministry of Justice. In line with checks and balances if Parliament feels that they are also not comfortable with the section of the Constitution, they are free to amend it after all Parliament already gets involved in the confirmation of the ACB Director General.”

It would seem odd for the President to give away some of his powers but knowing President Chakwera., he would not mind doing that. In November last year, Parliament amended Section 4 of the Protected Names, Flags and Emblems Act which among other things used to criminalize insulting the President and actually the decision to decriminalize the President name came from President Chakwera himself.

The National Coordinator for the CDW, Levi Luwemba, made this call in a statement released on Monday.

In the statement, CDW has emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in the wake of the maize scandal, stating that Malawians deserve the truth.

“We, therefore, demand clear transparency and accountability on this maize scandal for most Malawians have lost trust in the utterances from their elected leaders. We further call on the administration to desist from pursuing uncivilized tricks that have the potential to worsen its already tattered image and lost public popularity,” reads part of the statement.

The statement also called on the government to cooperate with well-meaning Malawians and accountability institutions to ensure that the truth is revealed.

“We join well-meaning Malawians and accountability institutions to ensure that nothing but the whole truth comes out on this rotten maize issue,” reads the statement.

The Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale, informed parliament last week that over 10, 000 metric tons of maize at ADMARC had gone bad.

However, the CDW has raised concerns about the handling of the situation and is calling for a thorough investigation to uncover any possible wrongdoing.

The CDW’s call for transparency and accountability in this matter is critical, as the issue of food security is a key concern in Malawi.

The inspection of the maize will provide an opportunity to address any gaps in the country’s food supply chain and ensure that Malawians have access to safe and nutritious food.

Government is yet to respond on whether it will allow the inspection of the maize at ADMARC.

The erstwhile governing party has issued its own response to the SONA thus breaking the tradition, which has been there in the Malawi Parliament.

As a party that sponsored Nankhumwa to parliament, it was unexpected of the DPP to issue its own statement in response to the State of the Nation Address.

In the statement, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba assesses the current government based on a number of areas, which include macroeconmic outlook for the country, monetary policy and fiscal performance, agriculture, trade and industry, tourism, education, mining, reforms, foreign affairs, health and fight against corruption, among others.

“The President’s SONA is empty. It has failed to tackle major issues affecting the majority of poor Malawians who were looking up to the President to provide solutions and direction as to how the country will get out of its current quagmire,” said Namalomba in his statement issued on Monday evening.

“So, painfully for all Malawians, the message we share with you is that your sufferings are far from over. This president cannot be the president you voted. He is not the president you want right now. We want a president who says what he does and does what he says,” he declared.

But his statement has drawn mixed reaction from Malawians, with others questioning rationale behind the decision by the former ruling party to ignore a response by its Leader of Opposition in parliament.

An Area 26 resident in Lilongwe, Kanyangala Nkhoma, said it had never happened in the history of Malawi democracy for an opposition party, which sponsors the Leader of Opposition to issue a contrary statement in response to the State of the Nation Address.

“I believe it’s a sign that cracks are deepening in the DPP. Otherwise, there is no wisdom in the party to release its own statement when the Leader of Opposition comes from its own member,” said Nkhoma.

Renowned governance and human rights advocate Undule Mwakasungula asked for more time to analyze the DPP statement before commenting.

Project Officer for Kasungu Peter Jiya made the call at Chisemphere in Kasungu on Thursday during an orientation of primary school teachers and primary education advisors on the United Nations Joint Programme on Girls Education (JPGE) dubbed kankha maphunziro programme.

Jiya said learners, especially girls, opt to drop out of school due to the many challenges that they face both at school and in homes.

“Many pupils in rural areas drop out of school because they cannot cope with the many challenges that they encounter such as gender-based violence. Equally, they also face problems in schools as some teachers do not know how they can properly handle learners.

“This orientation is a response to that gap. We want to train teachers and patrons on how they can create a conducive environment for learners so that they work hard and achieve their goals,” he said.

Apart from teachers, Story Workshop is also training school governance structures and Area Development Committees on the rights of learners and learner handling approaches that would encourage pupils to remain in school.

Primary Education Advisor for Mkanda Zone Catherine Lodzeni said the training will not only help improve learner retention in schools but also pass rates in national examinations. 

Said Lodzeni: “Story Workshop has challenged us to improve our results and that there will be prizes for high-performing schools. The ball is in our hands as school managers and teachers to see to it that our learners are protected and supported so that we get the best out of them.”

JPGE aims at improving access and quality education for girls and reducing poverty through improved quality education and basic life skills for in and out of school adolescents.

The programme also provides complementary basic education literacy support to out of school children who have potential to go back to school and a functional literacy arrangement for adolescents who cannot go back to school.

Due to incidences of hunger, general poverty, early marriages among other factors, school dropout rate in Malawi remains high resulting in low primary school completion rates.

According to Director of Education, Youth and Sports for Kasungu Dorothy Masudi, at least 500 teachers in the district have so far been trained in inclusive education and gender responsive pedagogy through the JPGE intervention.

Writing on his social media pages such as Facebook and WhatsApp, Msonda argued that Chakwera does not need to be blamed for the economic crisis, stressing that the whole world is facing similar problems.

The DPP National Governing Council member wondered why some Malawians, especially DPP supporters, have chosen to pay a blind eye to the current administration’s efforts and interventions to alleviate the suffering.

“Comrades, let’s be honest to shame the devil. It is undeniable fact that anthu akuvutika dziko lonse la pansi. The fact that anthu tikubvutika doesn’t mean palibe chabwino chomwe State President HE Rev Dr. LMC and his MCP administration akuchita,” said Msonda.

He added, “Our situation is not beyond correction, it’s not as worse as other countries on earth. Anthu akuvutika mdziko lapansi kuposa ife kuno. When did some of us on this forum last travel outside the country to see how people are suffering?”

Msonda challenged critics to go to South Africa to see for themselves how people are struggling to make ends meet in the rainbow nation.

“Go pompa pa RSA mukawone how people are suffering. Go ku Turkey mukawone momwe anthu afera ndi chibvomerezi, natural disaster – over 45,000 people dead. This disease of unnecessarily murmuring and grumbling against our leaders is murmuring and grumbling against God. The Israelites murmured and grumbled against God through Moses and Aaron, forgetting the good things God Did for them in the past; the battles God Fought for them as they were leaving Egypt under that Pharos torture. (read Exodus 16:1-16),” he argued in defense of Chakwera.

“Chonde a MALAWI, tamakambaniko zabwino za dziko lanu ndi zabwino zomwe atsogoleri anu akuchita; nthawi zonse NEGATIVITY, DISGRUNTLEMENTS, FRUSTRATIONS AND ANGER BASI; ZIMENEZO SIZITITHANDIZA NKONA ENA AKUMAFIKA MPAKA POKAWOTCHA CHIPATALA KUYIWALA AKADWALA AFUNA CHIPATALA CHOMWECHO; KUKAWOTCHA POLICE STATION KUYIWALA AKABVUTIKA, AKAWABELA AFUNA POLICE STATION YOMWEYO KUTI YIWATHANDIZE.

“NDALE TIPANGA 2024/2025, KA NTHAWI KASALA KOCHEPAKA TIYENI TIGWIRANE MANJA NDI STATE PRESIDENT HE REV DR LMC KUTI MABVUTOWA TITHANE NAWO,” he concluded.