Peter Ngwenyama

Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET) Authority has provided K40 million to National Statistics Office (NSO) for the 2023 Malawi Labour Market Force Survey (MLFS).

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TEVETA Executive Director Elwin Sichiola said the funds will enable NSO to conduct the survey, supervise field data collection to provide technical support on TEVET specific areas.

“This survey will generate information for Malawi’s labour market in general and specifically for TEVET sector,” he said.

Sichiola further said that the results of the survey will ensure evidence based programming in TEVET which is key in addressing skills gaps that exist in the sector adding that through the results, the sector will be able to contribute significantly to the development of the nation.

He said the Institution will highly benefit from the survey as it will inform stakeholders of the real situation on the ground in as far as skills development is concerned.

NSO Commissioner of Statistics, Lizzie Chikoti expressed gratitude for the support rendered to NSO.

“The support is timely as it is the first time NSO has included a module in TEVET questions on labour,” she said.

Chikoti added that statistics are very important for policy information, decision making as well as monitoring and evaluation. 

The main objective of the survey includes assessing skill levels and experience of the labour force, estimating the size of the labour force by demographic characteristics, including area distribution and estimated number of employed persons by occupation, industry and employment status.

Dedza District TB and Leprosy Coordinator, Tennson Kaunda, has expressed worry over high default rate of TB patients from treatment mainly due to crossing of border to Mozambique.

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Kaunda disclosed this when a group of Journalists under National TB and Leprosy Elimination Program (NTLEP) network visited the district to appreciate the fight against the disease.

He noted that there are a number of people who come from Mozambique seeking medical attention at the hospital but do not adhere to treatment.

“In line with taking their TB  treatment, others decide to return to their homes and do not come back to finish the prescription,” he said.

Kaunda further explained that those on Malawi side are easy to follow, but those who have crossed to the neighbouring country are difficult to be traced.

Dedza District TB and Leprosy Coordinator revealed that the hospital has so far reached their counterparts in Mozambique on how they can work together to fight the vice.

On interventions, Kaunda elaborated that, “We want to sensitize the public around the borders together with our Mozambique counterparts on the negativity of defaulting TB treatment.” 

Under the World Bank’s Southern Africa TB and Health Systems Support project (SATBSS), Kaunda explained, the two sides managed to conduct a cross-border meeting to find the way forward on how to fight the disease together in the borders.

Dedza District Hospital is currently using a mobile van to intensify screening and diagnosis of TB in the border areas of Malawi.

UN Women Country Resident Coordinator Letty Chiwala has encouraged women and girls to embrace technology and innovations through education in Malawi. 

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Chiwala made the remarks on Monday during the launch of a four-year Malawi Girls can Code Too’ project in Lilongwe.

A K2 billion project targets 7,500 school learners in selected areas with tablets and mini solars for enhancing ICT education in rural communities. 

“This project project component focuses on promoting job and wealth creation through skills development, promoting women led Enterprises to be profitable and grow,” explained Chiwala.

She said: “Malawi lags behind on technology and innovations not only for women but it is the general statistics, and we should do better from that background.” 

In order to ensure gender sensitivity, 6,000 girls will be targeted representing 80 percent and remaining 1,500, which is 20 percent are boys. 

Research by Malawi Multiple Indicator Survey Cluster of 2019 to 2020 shows dire picture of girls and women in technology and innovations in the country. It indicated that 18 percent of men use internet while seven percent are women.

Men are three times more likely to possess computer skills than women which is at 7 and 2 percent respectively. 

The UN Women Country Resident Coordinator further expressed concern over tracking and monitoring mechanism of the project, saying there is need for more and collective efforts to be done. 

The Malawi Girls can Code Too project will work with already decentralized public structures to ensure sustainability. 

In his remarks, Ambassador for Ireland expressed gratitute over the project that it will help to bridge up the gap of inequality in the country. 

“Women and girls are under-represented as fewer have smart phones in Malawi. This will also help girls attain expertise in the areas of Information, Communication and Technology,” he said.

Principal Secretary for Basic Education in the Ministry of Education, Rachel Chibwete Phiri, said technology is the engine that propel education hence the need to embrace it. 

“Everyone should benefit. It is high time that we remove all barriers on digital access and adoption for women and girls in the country,” she said. 

Chibwete Phiri explained that the core objective of the project supports a national goal of enhancing technological skills in schools and emphasized that every girl in Malawi has a chance to succeed regardless of where are coming from. 

She therefore called upon all stakeholders to collaborate in an effort to uplift education in Malawi.

Government has assured the nation that fuel situation will normalize starting from today, Friday, across the country.

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Minister of Information and Digitalization Moses Kunkuyu, accompanied by Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola, and National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) Chief Executive, Clement Chinyama, made assurance during a press conference in Lilongwe that the country is expecting huge amount of fuel especially petrol.

Nkukuyu said by Monday next week, the country should be moving towards stabilizing the supplies of fuel mainly petrol.

“We do have cover for diesel but petrol we have really hit the bottom but the assurance is that there are imports that are coming in during the weekend and hoping by Monday motorists should be able to draw from tanks without any problems,” he said.

This is the beginning of stabilization from the situation although there are still some challenges but government is looking for a number of avenues through which can ensure that there is a stable supply of fuel in the country, he said.

Kunkuyu said one of the solutions is the way they handle logistics, transportation because the country needs 50 tankers to adequately supply for a day consumption.

“When using a rail, the capacity of those tankers can be handled by one haulage of rail,” he explained.

Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola, said there will be a change of fuel supply as government is committed to address the fuel situation through short, medium and long term solutions.

“The most important thing is availability, accessibility and reliability of fuel,” he said.

Nocma CEO, Clement Kanyama said Malawi is living in a situation described as hand to mouth because when fuel comes from Beira it goes straight to consumers coupled with global economic crisis, scarcity of foreign currency.

“We have now resorted to open credit facility with our suppliers and from Monday people will be able to see availability of fuel,” he said.

Kanyama disclosed that a volume of 2.2million litres from Beira is expected in the country by Monday, 4.5m litres from Dar es salaam while 2.8million litres from Nacala.

Minister of Education Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima has called upon various stakeholders and partners to consider pumping in more support in the education sector.

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Wirima made these remarks on Tuesday during the launch of the Back to School Campaign at Kalima Primary School in Chikwawa district.

She said Cyclone Freddy caused huge damage to education infrastructure in the country.

According to Wirima, 72 Classrooms, 87 teachers houses and over 980 WASH facilities were fully destroyed, while 460 classrooms, 423 teachers houses, 542 WASH facilities were partially destroyed, requiring reconstruction and rehabilitation respectively.

“For instance, schools hosted Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result, there was too much pressure on the already constrained WASH facilities in schools,” adding that other services that were compromised included, but not least to child protection; and school feeding. 

She said these, among others, are the barriers that prevent teachers and learners the right to deliver and receive education in a safe and conducive environment.

Wirima said: “We therefore need to work together to ensure that all learners are back to school.”

She added that in the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report of 2023, the total value of the effects (damages and losses) in the education sector is estimated at US$ 42,087,535.26. 

In order to recover from these effects, she said, there is a need for more than US$80,296,573.91.

Wirima  called upon for unity and solidarity in sharing the cost of recovery saying no single entity will be able to meet this need.

The minister therefore thanked UNICEF and the Norwegian Government for being a friend indeed, in time of need.

She said the education supplies received will make the lives of learners and teachers better. 

“This is not the only support that the Ministry has received through UNICEF. The Ministry appreciates a number of interventions in the Education-in-Emergency, such as education Cluster technical support; Joint assessment and monitoring visits to cyclone affected schools; District capacity building in Disaster Risk Management among others.

Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi, Ingrid Mikelsen said her government is committed to supporting the education sector.

“The government of Norway is very ready to continue supporting the people of Malawi through the education sector. This is why we immediately took a step when a call to assist the education sector was made after being hit hard by the devastating Cyclone Freddy,” she said.

UNICEF through the Royal Norwegian Embassy has donated 45,000 school bags consisting of 5 notebooks, 2 pens, 2 pencils and a ruler.

UNICEF Malawi Deputy Representative responsible for Programmes, Gerrit Maritz,  re-affirmed the agency’s commitment in supporting Malawi in various sectors including the education sector.

Paramount Chief Lundu said the handover of back to school campaign education supplies is timely and will go a long way towards helping learners affected by Cyclone Freddy.

The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) has appointed the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) Vice Chancellor, Professor Emmanuel Kaunda, to its Advisory Board effective from 1st September 2023.

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A three-year term will end up to August 31, 2025.

According to a press statement from LUANAR available to Nthanda Times on Monday,  Kaunda’s appointment to the advisory board represents a powerful addition to the team, ensuring that AAP continues to thrive and excel in its pursuit of higher education excellence and sustainable development.

“AAP management and staff are confident that Professor Kaunda’s expertise will greatly benefit AAP’s mission,” it said.

The statement said his appointment to the Board follows his remarkable contributions to the African continent, particularly within the fisheries and higher education sectors. 

“His extensive experience and outstanding achievements make him an exceptional candidate for this significant role,” it said.

 As a respected leader and scholar, it said, Professor Kaunda possesses invaluable insights and perspectives that can provide AAP with strategic guidance of the highest calibre, 

Adding that Professor Kaunda’s dedication to advancing education and his commitment to transformative change align perfectly with AAP’s mission to create a lasting impact and improve the lives of people across Africa and beyond. 

 AAP and LUANAR congratulated him on his well-deserved appointment, and wished him all the best during his tenure on the advisory board.

Professor Emmanuel Kaunda is a professor in fisheries science, having worked for over 30 years in fisheries ecology, fish trade, fisheries policy and development of aquaculture in Africa, and he was accorded the Aqua-culturist of the Year award by the Aquaculture Association of Southern Africa (AASA) in 2011.

 He currently serves on the board of the Africa Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE) and is the immediate past president of the Pan-Africa Fish and Fisheries Association (PAFFA).

Professor Kaunda also serves as a board chair for the National Commission of Science and Technology (NCST) in Malawi.

The Tobacco Commission (TC) has announced the extension of tobacco farmers’ registration and licencing exercise to October 31, 2023.

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The exercise was supposed to close on September 30, 2031.

TC Chief Executive Officer Joseph Chidanti Malunga told Journalists in Lilongwe on Friday during an interface meeting with the Media Network on Tobacco (MNT) that various stakeholders and growers have requested for an extension to give them more time register and licence for the crop.

“We have decided to extend the exercise by one month giving enough period to them without charging any fee or penalty to them,” he said.

Malunga said they want to produce as much crop as possible because there are many traditional and international buyers who want more volumes of tobacco.

He further said that they expect that the extension will enable more farmers produce tobacco legally as it is illegal for anyone in Malawi to grow the leaf without license.

Malawi also said that with more farmers getting licenced to grow this year, saying they are assured of great progress towards attaining an annual production of 200million kilograms by 2028.

MNT Chairperson, Alfred Chauwa, commended TC for engaging journalists on current trends in the tobacco industry. 

“We need more of such interface meetings so that there are more stories coming out from the industry,” he said.

Chauwa therefore urged Journalists in the network for accuracy reporting in tobacco issues.

Tobacco is the country’s major forex earner and a strategic crop for Malawi.

Kasungu district has recorded six cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in a short period of time.

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Director of Health Services at the District Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Golombe, revealed to a network of journalists under National TB and Leprosy Elimination Program (NTLEP) who were on a tour to Kasungu on Thursday that the hospital has identified more MDR-TB cases than before.

“Out of six cases two who were receiving their treatment have finished and cured. We are remaining with four currently on treatment,” he said.

Golombe disclosed that they have not recorded any default cases or death in MDR-TB cases as of now.

Ex MDR-TB patient at Chinkhoma Rose Jailosi explained that she was diagnosed with TB in 2018 and finished her medication in 2020.

“I’m cured to the disease because of following the prescription of drugs from the hospital,” she said.

Jailosi said TB is treatable and curable as many people including her who followed what she was told at the hospital.

She said those on TB drugs should continue adhering to hospital instructions until they finish their treatment. 

However, Jailosi said she has two sons, Innocent (25) and Steve (32) who were also diagnosed with MDR- TB because they were looking after her.

The two contracted the disease the time they were looking after her but they are currently on treatment.