Nthanda Times Reporter

Chihana – viewed as a troublemaker by his constituents – announced in the National Assembly on Monday afternoon that he was ready to endorse Mutharika as 2025 presidential candidate of the people, suggesting that President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has failed to deliver; hence, the need for Mutharika return.

Ironically, the Mzimba North lawmaker has been pressing President Chakwera to appoint him as a minister, even if it means being a three-month minister.

Hence, his endorsement for Mutharika could be seen as a sign of desperation for Chihana whose term of office in the National Assembly has been riddled by controversy after controversy. It could also mean that the lawmaker is making calculated move to secure the support of the former governing DPP in the next elections.

Soon after making the announcement about his love for APM, his constituents pooled onto social media where they rebuked him. They vowed to disown him if he continues advancing APM candidature for 2025.

“Whose opinion is he expressing? Is he speaking on our behalf or his own greedy interests?” asked one of the constituents on Mzimba North Development Forum where Chihana is a member.

The constituents vowed that they would give him a boot in 2025, stressing that ‘Chihana has demonstrated lack of maturity’.

Meanwhile, DPP National Governing Council member Ken Msonda has warned Chihana against ‘poking his nose’ into the affairs of the party.

“How do you talk about another party’s presidential candidate and yet you have your own party president also aspiring for presidency? Do you mean you don’t trust your own party president?” asked Msonda.

“Kusokonekeratu uku! Akuyetsa DPP ingawatenge to be DPP VP North. Takwanako ku DPP vying for position of DPP VP North. Besides, ku DPP sitifunanso kupatsa chipani alendo. Tinapatsa chipani mlendo, anatichotsetsa m’boma pano tili pa shamba tikumva kutentha ku opposition chifukwa cha mlendo. Truth pains, but it sets me free and it’s in my DNA,” concluded Msonda.

The poem it titled ‘No one left behind’. In a brief interview on Tuesday, Shaba said the audiovisual of the poem will be released worldwide on various streaming platforms on March 1, 2023.

In the poem, Dr. Joyce Banda narrates a speech while Shaba recites the poem. The poem was published at Pachulu Publishing.

Shaba said the poem emphasizes the need for every Malawian to take responsibility for addressing gender gaps.

“Special efforts are still required for us to see meaningful change. There are still critical gaps in equality that have left millions of women and girls behind,” he said.

In her remarks, Dr. Banda said it is important for Malawians to observe the gender landscape and ensure that the gender gaps are being closed.

The Big Brainstorm is an opportunity for young thinkers and activists to design their future.

The initiative brings together young leaders from around the world to embark on a two-week design sprint to explore, prototype, and launch initiatives to tackle some of humanity’s greatest challenges.

Speaking in an interview, Manyozo said he is overjoyed and thrilled to hear that his project has been selected for the Big Brainstorm.

“It is an honor to compete at an international level with fellow young leaders from around the world. It is now or never, we are the generation that must bring about transformation and change the course of the planet while safeguarding the needs of the next generation.
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“It is a big win to have our project considered since there were 3000 applications from other young leaders from all over the world,” said Manyozo.

Manyozo further explained about his project Clean Cities saying it is a project which seeks to contribute to Climate and Sustainability in Malawi and abroad.

“Our project aims at contributing to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), and SDG 12 (Improved Consumption and Production). 

“This is a significant project that we hope will transform the value chain for waste management in Malawi and around the world,” he explained.

He revealed that his future plan is to expand his project’s operations model into Waste collection in all the cities in Malawi and recycling both inorganic waste and organic waste materials.

“The inorganic waste (plastic waste) will be recycled into eco-building materials such as eco-bricks, tiles, and concrete and the organic waste will be recycled to produce eco-friendly Charcoal briquettes and organic fertilizer (manure) and we hope to contribute to the social economic growth in Malawi and contribute to the climate and Sustainability in Malawi and the sub Saharan Africa,” he said.

Manyozo said he will use the skills he will gain from the Big Brainstorm initiative for Networking , skills in project management, mentorship and monetary support.

The 2023 Big Brainstorm will take place virtually between February 16-28 under the theme “A Year of Action for the SDGs,”.

It will provide an opportunity to accelerate action to solve the world’s most urgent problems ahead of the second Sustainable Development Goals Summit, with young people at the forefront of change.

Chaima has argued that the action taken by DPP legislators shows that DPP lawmakers do not understand their roles and responsibilities in the august House.

The analyst, who made the sentiments during the Kulinji Programme aired on Times Radio Malawi on Monday morning, seemed to agree with social issues commentator Wati Mkandawire who described the dressing in sack clothes by MPs as a mockery to the poor.

Mkandawire argued that the beautifully-tailored sack suits that the honourable men and women in parliament wore did not represent a true reflection of poverty.

“The irony! Please don’t mock the poor. There are better ways of protesting against wrong policies and be on the side of the poor rather than using allowances to show you can afford throwing away taxpayers’ money,” he argued.

But in Kulinji Programme on Monday, one of the DPP lawmakers, Yusuf Nthenda, defended their action, saying it was a sign of displeasure and dissatisfaction with President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera’s administration.

Nthenda said there was no other better to present their grievances than to dress in sackcloth to signify the suffering among their constituents.

However, some Malawians have condemned the action, describing it as a joke. They argued that such garments are paired with ashes and worn as an act of penance.

“So calling such dressing a protest is a bit of misnomer since such dressing has a different meaning and sense. All in one, the dressing misled,” said one of the social media commentators on News and Reports Forum.

On his part, Chaima said what the DPP members of Parliament did was a misnomer and an act of desperation to pretend to the world that they do care about the suffering of poor Malawians.

He said he expected the aggrieved lawmakers to present their issues through various committees in parliament instead of putting on sack clothes way before President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“This only tells us that the caliber of MPs we have in the august House do not understand their roles and responsibilities. It also tells us that most of the MPs in parliament do not have adequate education to read and understand their Standing Orders, which, unfortunately, do not allow them to dress in such attire while in the chamber,” he said.

Biblically, clothing in sack-cloth and rolling in ashes represented mourning over evils and falsities, it also represented humiliation, and likewise repentance; for the primary thing in humiliation is to acknowledge that of himself one is nothing but evil and falsity.

The same is true of repentance, which is effected solely through humiliation, and this through the confession of the heart that of himself one is of such a nature.

The concern was made Sunday when the Department of Disaster Management Affairs through the Karonga District Council (KDC) aided with relief items to over 600 households affected by flash floods and heavy winds in the area of Traditional Authority Kyungu and Wasambo. 

In an interview, Alby Sichali, narrated how her family and relatives have been struggling to access basic necessities such as food since her home was destroyed in the floods that occurred on the night of December 30, 2022.

“While we appreciate the assistance that Government has rendered to us but we feel the support has come late as we have been suffering for about seven weeks hence our appeal for speedy response and action to aid flood victim sufferers,” she said.

Concurring with Sichali, Advocate Mbale, said the delays in the provision of relief items to flood victims have left a lot of bitterness in Government and partners from the victims as they felt alone and helpless since the floods.

On his part Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace under the Karonga Diocis Desk Officer Lewis Nkhata, observed that there was a need for  Government to decentralize issues of disaster management affairs by giving more power to local government levels.

“Issues of floods and other disasters are emergency issues that must be dealt with swiftly by decision-makers in the districts otherwise when reports of disasters have to be sent to the central government the issues no longer become emergencies as in most cases government is slow to act and respond to the problems,” NKhata explained.

However reacting to the concerns Shepard Jeri Relief and Rehabilitation Officer for Karonga District Council, while acknowledging the late response in the provision of relief items disclosed that the Council was in the process of securing a warehouse to keep commodities for a fast response to aid households affected by disasters in the district.

Adding that the process had reached an advanced stage that will see the delays of late responses to victims hit by such disasters become a thing of the past.

Among other items that were distributed included a 50-kilogram bag of the maze, plastic sheets, blankets, and jerry cans.