Nthanda Times Reporter

Atsu had been missing since the 6 February quake that caused the collapse of his apartment in the city of Hatay.

Initially, his club Hatayspor reported that he was rescued “with injuries,” but a day later, the position changed.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce to all well-wishers that sadly Christian Atsu’s body was recovered this morning. My deepest condolences go to his family and loved ones. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers and support,” his agent Nana Sechere tweeted on Saturday.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce to all well wishers that sadly Christian Atsu’s body was recovered this morning

My deepest condolences go to his family and loved ones. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their prayers and support

— Nana Sechere (@iAmNana7) February 18, 2023

Atsu joined the Turkish top-flight side Hatayspor in September 2022 and scored the winning goal in a Super Lig match on 5 February.

The news of Atsu’s death has sent shockwaves through the football community, and tributes have been pouring in from all over the world.

The quakes and aftershocks in southern Turkey and northern Syria have claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people. 

The case was brought to court by Chikhulupiloro Zidana, an employee of the department, who argues that the appointment is illegal.

Zidana contends that the appointment of the director general of the Department of Immigration falls under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Homeland Security as stipulated in Section 3 of the Immigration Act.

Additionally, Zidana argues that it was irrational and procedurally unfair for Chakwera to appoint someone who is not a member of the department or the public service in general, which goes against Section 3 of the Immigration Act.

Zidana also claims that the appointment is illegal as Kalumo is beyond the retirement age of 60, as promulgated under Section 29 of the Public Service Act.

However, the Attorney General argues that Zidana does not have sufficient interest to bring the case forward, given his grade level and lack of relevant experience for the position of Director General.

In response, Justice Tembo ruled that Zidana has standing before the court, considering his years of experience in the Department spanning over a decade, as well as holding a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) Degree.

The court has deemed Zidana’s application to have merit, and the issues he raised are fit for judicial review.

The Attorney General further contended that Zidana is raising issues of discrimination in the workplace and should have brought the case to the Industrial Relations Court instead of the High Court.

However, Justice Tembo has permitted Zidana’s application to proceed for judicial review.

The court has not suspended Kalumo’s appointment pending the hearing of the judicial review case.

 Brigadier General Charles Kalumo was appointed in August 2022.

But Chakwera was quick to assure Malawians of his government’s commitment to cushioning underprivileged households until the economic situation improves.

The Malawi leader made the remarks in the National Assembly on Friday when he delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to mark the first meeting of the 50th Session of the Parliament of Malawi and the 2023-2024 National Budget.

President Chakwera said he is aware that the economic situation is so harsh that millions are still unable to feed themselves.

He cited the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report, which estimated that in 2020, over 2.6 million people in 581,775 households were determined to be food insecure despite the successes of the Affordable Inputs Programme in 2021.

“Over 1.6 million people in 367, 395 households were still determined to be food insecure, which increased by more than double in 2022. In the past three months alone, my administration has had to support over 3.8 million Malawians in 847,421 households in all three regions of the country with food items or cash to buy food,” he said.

Chakwera assured members of Parliament (MPs) and other guests that attended the function that his government will ensure equal distribution of cash handouts and relief foodstuffs to starving families, stressing that gone are the days when the government would favor people of a certain region, based on political and electoral considerations, when distributing relief items.

He said his government is pursuing a number of interventions to increase and improve production in order to achieve food sufficiency for all.

Among others, President Chakwera said, the current administration has successfully embarked on mega-farms aimed at establishing large production units for increased agricultural production.

He said the government has already established two mega-farms in Chipoka, Salima, and Nkopola, Mangochi with 200 hectares of maize currently under cultivation in Mangochi and 80 hectares of cotton under cultivation and production in Chipoka.

Additionally, through the Agriculture Commercialisation Project (AGCOM), the government has also allocated US$6 million to the Katunga Maseya Cooperative to invest in a Mega Sugarcane Farm in Chikwawa. It is also worth mentioning that other entities such as the Malawi Prison Services and Malawi Defence Force have established their own mega-farms.

“I was saddened, Madam Speaker, when one Member of Parliament from Mulanje came to thank me for ensuring that the people in his constituency who are food insecure had received their allocation of food, for he feared that his constituency would be excluded from the relief because he sits on the opposition side and because he knows that past administrations had a habit of politicizing food and using cycles of hunger for political ends. But that is not the vision I have for the country, and that is not what Malawians want.  What Malawians want is for us to become a nation of people who can produce enough to afford to feed themselves without owing anyone here at home or abroad any thanks for it,” he assured.

Lawmakers from the opposition side – led by their Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa – are expected to start commenting on the SONA next week.

The new enhancements include; improved loan disbursement as well as loan roll-overs for customers who have successfully paid back more than 6 months of their installments.

Announcing the development on Friday, MyBucks’ Head of Department for Microfinance, Zeyn Ali said that his bank is committed to meeting the unique needs of civil servants in the country.

“Civil servants play a vital role in our society and we are dedicated to providing them with the financial support they need.

“As a bank, we understand that civil servants may face unexpected financial challenges and the new enhancements provide them with additional financial flexibility,” Ali said.

He expressed confidence that the new services would provide the best banking experience among MyBucks customers, particularly those that are civil servants.

In her comment one of the civil servants, Grace Banda applauded MyBucks Banking Corporation for its new enhancements.

 “I am very impressed by the new enhancements, It is great to see the bank re-dedicated to serving the financial needs of civil servants swiftly.

“To my colleagues, if you are a civil servant in need of financial support, be sure to contact MyBucks to learn more about their new enhancements,” she said.

The new enhancements are coming after the Reserve Bank of Malawi recently approved the acquisition of the MyBucks bank by Centenary Rural Development Group and the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe.

Currently, the bank has a broad network of financial services across the country, comprising 14 branches, 3 Forex Bureaus, over 100 Agency banking points, and 30 ATMs, all providing customers with a range of banking products and services, including; Bancassurance, SME loans and Microfinance loans.

Speaking on Friday when he delivered State of the Nation Address (SONA) to mark the first meeting of the 50th Session of the Parliament of Malawi and the 2023-2024 National Budget, Chakwera said this will be achieved through the National Youth Service Programme.

He disclosed that 114 young people have already graduated from the programme.

“In July 2022, we launched the National Youth Service Program to impart skills and knowledge to industry needs. It started with 114 young people who have since graduated from the pilot program, but between this coming fiscal year and 2026, the program will have created skills development opportunities for 20, 000 youths,” said Chakwera.

The President also informed the nation that his government has started construction work on the long-awaited Mzuzu Youth Centre, which an elephant project despite enjoying budgetary allocation year in year out for the past 10 years.

“You may recall that this project has been allocated funds in budget after budget since the time of the first DPP Administration, yet there was nothing on the ground. That dark era has ended now, and Mzuzu Youth Centre is on the way,” said the President.

Mzuzu Youth Caucus Chairperson Gomezgani Nkhoma has expressed excitement with the interventions the current administration is initiating to improve lives of the youth in Mzuzu.

However, Nkhoma pleaded with the Tonse Alliance government to ensure the project is completed within its timeframe.

Chakwera announced the waiver in the National Assembly on Friday when he delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to mark the first meeting of the 50th Session of the Parliament of Malawi and the 2023-2024 National Budget.

The President said the waiving, which is with immediate effect, will apply to nationals from key tourism markets such as the United Kingdom, United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Italy, France, Poland and Nordic Countries, which include Norway, Finland and Sweden.

The visa waiver also extends to future markets such as China, Russia, and Canada

Chakwera said the waiving of the visa fees is aimed at maximizing tourism potential and increase its contribution to Malawi’s gross domestic product (GDP) and forex generation.

In reaction to the development, Mwakasungula described the waiver as a good development.

He, however, asked the government to also look “at more improving regional and continental integration by waiving visa fee to SADC and African countries for more investments and trade”.

Describing the SONA as a mixed bag, the renowned human rights activist said Malawians should still have trust that thing will improve for the better.

“The SONA was a mixed bag once again with the State President trying to outline what his government is doing and planning to do to make Malawi a better place for all.  It was a mixed bag in the sense that it gave hope and uncertainty at the same time.  But I noted plans which government is embarking on for socio economic development to help uplift the wellbeing of Malawians. But all in all, the SONA gave more hope that even though we have national challenges all is not lost,” he said.

Mwakasungula, who hitherto had asked President Chakwera to utilize the event to reaffirm his government’s commitment to the fight against corruption, said he was pleased to hear the President committing his renewed resolve in the fight against corruption by pushing for the Special Court to speedy deal with corruption cases and by appealing to the courts to put this as a priority.

On education, Mwakasungula commended the government education reform program and construction of more school blocks. He added that the increase of enrollment for tertiary education is important, but emphasized the need for the government to put in place outlet measures to absorb new graduates as part of job creation.

”Government must explore and expand more on TEVETA programmes. The inclusion of Mbombela University in government plans is a welcome development and more pleasing to the people of the north who have always felt the university project was just a campaign project,” he said.

The projects include the Community Resilience Program (COMREP) phase 1, Blood Donor Recruitment, and Disaster Preparedness for Southern African Countries (DIPSAC), with the study to be conducted in the first quarter of 2023.

The study according to MRCS aims to assess the sustainability of the projects that MRCS implemented in partnership with the Danish Red Cross and other partners over the past four years.

To kickstart preparations for the study, MRCS senior management, represented by Director of Programs and Development Prisca Chisala, heads of department, and specialists, met with Danish Red Cross Country Representative Eva Jordung and other DRC delegates a few days ago.

Jordung noted the importance of such studies, saying, “While we appreciate that the Community Resilience Program, Blood Donor Recruitment, and other projects brought a positive impact on lives in the communities, it is always important to go back and check if the different innovations and gains from the projects have been sustained after the projects phased out. This will not only help as a look back study but will also help in planning sustainability of projects moving forward.”

Chisala also expressed the importance of the sustainability study, stating that it will aid program development in the long term, “Sustainability study is always crucial in any project implementation, it helps to plan, notice the gaps, successes, and the gains are notable for an effective future implementation.”

The study will be led by MRCS’s Planning Monitoring Evaluation and Reporting (PMER) section and will be conducted in the districts and project impact areas where the three projects were implemented. Chisala also thanked the COMREP partners for supporting the process.