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POLITICS

PAC’s all inclusive meetings

A good part of the year saw reports about an All Inclusive Stakeholders Meeting organised by the Public Affairs Committee PAC. The outcome of the meetings and recommendations are what dominated part of the political coverage in the year 2016. As it is always the case there are some quarters that feel the meetings are important and good while others are of the view that these workshops are a waste of time and money.

The PAC all inclusive meetings are now becoming just like any other meetings where people discuss issues and make recommendations that look good on paper but are not taken on board. For instance the participants took time to bash the incumbent leadership and tried to offer solutions to some of the issues bothering Malawians like the many projects that each president introduces and once he or she is gone the good project comes to an end. Proposals were made that such initiatives should be continued by the next government, but this seemed a thorn in the flesh of the incumbent. There is not much that has been incorporated in any of their programmes.

For the current administration they can easily conclude that the meetings are aimed at giving a platform to those present to bash the government and take it to task but not to offer any solutions at all. Among other things participants were asking president Peter Mutharika to resign for being an ‘accidental’ president. It is such statements that make the incumbent feel he is being targeted. It is not surprising that the government and PAC on several occasion failed to meet to discuss the recommendations. For a government that won by only 34% of the votes cast to get in power there is no way they can welcome any recommendations that throw doubt on the capacity to deliver.

Mutharika’s UNGA attendance in 2016

Tradition requires the president to attend the United Nations General Assembly UNGA at the United Nations headquarters in New York United States of America. There is no excuse about it, the Malawi leader has to do this year in year out. But the 2016 trip was more scrutinised and the most talked about because of the secrecy surrounding the trip. From the word go the authorities never wanted to disclose the number of people on the trip. Coming from a year when 150 people were part of the delegation using tax payers money, Malawians were all ears wanting to know what the cost for the trip was and how many people made it on a trip

But being a party that enjoys sitting on vital information, the Democratic Progressive Party DPP has not disclosed how much was used on the trip. Being a poor nation that has almost nothing to show for, the government does not in any way think of having strict measures of using resources prudently. Instead the ruling DPP is well known for its large appetite for international travel and having a bigger than life entourage with some members that will not add value did exactly what people did not want. It seems this is what the ruling DPP is good at pleasing and appeasing its sympathisers with international trips at the expense of poor tax payers who are being squeezed left right and centre in search of revenue.

As if the secrecy over the president’s entourage to the UNGA was not enough, Mutharika prolonged his stay by 15 days raising suspicions over his health. No one can surely blame those that speculated that the president was critically ill at least going by the DPP’s trend of hiding information. The DPP is well known for being economical with the truth, going by the events surrounding the death of late professor Bingu wa Mutharika where they tried by all means to hide the late president’s death.

Political Parties performance.

If not mistaken one would think Malawi has less than five political parties, but the truth of the matter is that the country boasts of more than fifty registered parties. Looking at the performance of even the most popular four political parties in a democratic Malawi there is still room for improvement. Talk of governance within the parties, political arties are failing to abide to some of the rules they made and do not have clear succession plans.

2016 therefore revealed of the many problems the main opposition party the Malawi Congress Party MCP is facing. The intra-party problems that the party is facing spell disaster . Having problems within the party on issues of leadership is what the opponents of the MCP would want to see. While the next elections may seem to be too far away what is happening in the MCP does not reflect a party that wants to get into government.

As for the United Democratic Front UDF party it is slowly being swallowed by the ruling DPP. With the UDF president Atupele Muluzi in the cabinet some of its member automatically moved to the government side of the national assembly. All that is left of the UDF the party that was once in power are just a few loyal members. And the situation is more less the same with the former ruling party People’s Party. With the PP leader gone since she lost in the last tripartite elections a number of people have since ditched the party. One can only picture how defections will be when we get closer to 2019.

As for the ruling DPP it all seems rosy as it is benefitting from the defections from the PP and other parties. Not that the DPP has had smoothly in 2016, it has had its own fair share of issues. On several occasions some cabinet ministers were reported to have trade barbs. For a party that is in power and has plans to stay on in power the DPP needs to be surrounded with leaders who trust each other. Again rumours of a sour working relationship between the president and the vice president do not reflect well on the party that needs to be strong for the 2019 presidential elections.

Cabinet Reshuffles and appointments

President Mutharika is clinging to his word and promises he made during the campaign towards his election into the highest office. The first citizen has indeed maintained this Malawi still has 20 ministers. However looking at a number of cabinet reshuffles that have happened in 2016 one is left speechless because it is the same crop that has revolved from one ministry to the other. It is the same faces that are in the cabinet despite some being on the list of public officers that have not declared their assets. One would have expected the mentioned ministers to be shown the exit door, gut this is not the case as they continue to enjoy the positions.

One ministry that has seen numerous firing and appointments is the ministry of Information. Since 2014 the ministry has had more than five ministers. This is unlike the other ministries like the ministry of finance which has been manned by Goodall Gondwe since the DPP came to power. The changes in the ministry of Information only show that Mutharika gives his members the post of being a government spokesperson on trial basis. It goes without saying that those appointed are only on trial basis, there is simply none in the group who does the job to the satisfaction of the Malawi leader. Recently President Mutharika fires Maliseni Ndau and appointed Nicholus Dausi as the ministry of Information. Patricia Kaliati, Jaap Mhango and kondwani Nankhumwa have also been in the same office. National Assembly Meetings

2016 saw the National Assembly meeting several times to discuss business among other things the national budget. The pressure is on as Malawi still needs budgetary support. Continued poor economic governance is the order of the day and so is corruption and graft. The allocation also saw many ministries being underfunded including the most crucial education and health sectors having their allocations chopped. The State House went away with the usual good. The members of parliament National Assembly did too little to make sure that these two sectors received the what they deserve. The rate at which things operate in Malawi one would think we are all foreigners and would some day leave the country for good. There is simply no true meaning of being a representative of the constituents as MPs do the way the please even if it means being absent from deliberation. The only time that MPs would speak in one spirit and make sure they are all present is the time they are advocating for their salaries or loans. It goes without saying that the will to serve the people ends the moments they make it to parliament.

Legislator Councillors wrangles.

They were used to being the only leaders and in touch with grassroots. That is what it was with the Members of parliament they held all the powers and commanded all the respect. It was all rosy when there were no councillors in the picture. Former president Dr Bakili Muluzi removed all councillors and for more than ten years Malawi stayed without t local government leaders. And so the MPs had it all control of the funds and access to the grassroots. The coming in of councillors seems to have created some fears among MPs. Now they have to share the respect of the grassroots opposing to what was the case. Talk of development works 2016 reports revealed that some councillors are performing so well to the extent that MPs view the councillors as a threat. ECONOMY

Malawi’s economy remains static for several years now, which has seen many people languishing in dire poverty. Only a small section of the country seems insulated from the economic hardships tossing Malawi from pillar to post. The rest are victims of lopsided priorities, unsustainable expenditures to change things for the better. Economically, in 2016 as streamed and reported by major dailies; Daily Times, Malawi News and Sunday Times of Times Group, and The Nation, The Weekend Nation and Nation on Sunday, more than half of the population remains impoverished as effects of the buying power erosion robbed them all hopes for the future. This year review will look into how government policies trickled down economic growth, the performance of the energy sector and tobacco marketing season as it remains the country major forex and revenue collection. Practically, economic policies the Ministry of Finance traded on, did not yield anything for the people of this nation though public reforms were feared to reduce the number of civil servants, which is hovering at 178,000 getting the 2015/2016 national budget allocation of MK198 billion close to 10% of the total. Some economic experts argued that the public human work force was too heavy for the country to move forward as the wage bill attracted large sums of money to cater for salaries, arrears among others; hence the need to retrench some staff which was an unwelcome development that would see others losing jobs in a sort of domino effect. The country made tentative steps to improve a delicate food situation while its inflation remained the highest in the Sadc region hovering at 23 percent. As the country was nursing economic hardships, the press was awash with reports of Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) on fuel increases, from the beginning of the year to the end, as the current pump prices for petrol is MK824.70, diesel MK815.80 and paraffin at MK648.70 per litre respectively. This has pushed transportation costs leading to soaring prices for goods and services, which continues impeding Malawians to achieve decent levels of income. Inconsistences in the fiscal and monetary policies coupled with corruption and over expenditures, saw President Peter Mutharika pleading with donors such as the African Development Bank (AFDB) to resume direct budgetary support to which they have not fully responded yet. However, with International Monitory Fund (IMF) unlocking Extended Credit Facility, was a relief for the Ministry of Finance and trickled down donor support into the developmental budget components. The Tobacco marketing season was another nightmare for the nation to fetch much needed revenue and forex as the green gold proceeds was an insult to already stricken farmers. Heavy rejection and poor prices of the green gold earned the nation US$ 275.7 million in 2016 in forex recording an 18.1% drop from the previous year’, (2015) US$337 million. In 2016, the Kwacha lost value by 7.1% against the US dollar in the first eight months of 2016 alone. The fall was attributed to the strengthening of the dollar against other curries as well as low tobacco prices that had negatively affected inflow of foreign currency to the country. No wonder, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) introduced the MK2, 000 banknotes at the end of the year. The introduction of the new banknote on the market was received with mixed reactions saying it showed that the local currency lost value completely while some hinted that it was a good move to reduce heavy cash one was carrying for shopping. The 2016/2017 national budget of MK1.3 trillion in June last year was unveiled amid a financial deficit and a time the nation had, and still has substantial budgetary support with nearly half of its population facing hunger. The fiscal plan was largely premised on wrong assumptions that the economy would grow by 5.1% in 2016, a rebound from 3.1% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded the preceding year. Only until September 2016 did the government concedes to have instilled false hopes in the private sector and Malawians at large. Eventually, the treasury swallowed its pride and revised the real GDP growth rate by 2.2% points to 2.9%. A rise in allocations to the state residences, the Office of President and Cabinet and the Greenbelt with little control on expenses raised opposition Members of Parliament (MPs)’ eyebrows that some animals may be more equal than others. Still, there was no tangible outline of strategies towards a growth path, probably an indication that the Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe was running out of ideas; unemployment levels particularly for the youth remain high in the year. No wonder the public greeted with stunning the Value Added Taxes (VAT) on basic food items including bread, water, milk, and soap among others. VAT introduction was done outside the national budget tax collection base. This impacted on the already impoverished Malawians who lived a hand to mouth regime of survival. 2016 will go into the country’s history on how energy sector suffered due to shameless and painful electricity blackouts. The blackouts were experienced all most half the year paralyzing all sectors of life as most of its operations rely on electricity. Electricity blackouts resulted in the loss of millions of kwacha in business as extra cost was incurred in purchasing diesel or petrol to run generators. Media reports even went further exposing how blackouts cost people’s lives in public hospitals in some parts of the country where as surgical operations and maternity work could not be done well due to insufficient power. This development comes again and again in year in and year out despite the fact that only 10 percent of the country’s population (17 million people) have access to electricity. The country’s utility body, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) attributed blackouts to lowering levels of water in Lake Malawi that pours into Shire River and generates hydro electrical power to the entire country. This explanation wasn’t enough to convince Malawians considering that Lake Malawi has enough water to flow into Shire River to generate electricity by just working on falls flow designs. Consequently, it forced government through President Mutharika’ State of the Nation address to announce short term solutions to avert electricity blackouts including procurement of 46 Mega Watts’s diesel peaking generators, which will be ready for use in Lilongwe and Mzuzu, acquiring 78 Mega Watts of Emergency Power by ESCOM on lease basis for an initial estimated period of 18 months. While long term solutions include generation, Transmission and Distribution Expansion and Reinforcement. The carrying capacity of the Transmission Lines will increase to about 1,150MW by 2018 and a 400kV Transmission Line is currently being constructed from Phombeya (Balaka) to Nkhoma. The Line is expected to be completed by September 2018. The Phombeya Sub-Station will be the landing point for the Malawi-Mozambique Interconnector. Not all is rosy as Malawi Investment Forum (MIF) hosted last year (2016); it was an outstanding gamble to pursue considering huge public and privates investment deals have been made that will foster the nation’s economic growth. In its MIF 2016 summary report released, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) lauded the success of the forum, which has sealed 10 public and 20 private sector investment deals. The forum helped the nation to amass US$ 26,305,000 through products base exhibition showcased locally and internationally. The forum overshot target by signing 11 public sectors Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) to work together toward the implementation of the respective project, and defined the possible parameters of their working relationship including development of a 1,500 m3 storage facility for LPG gases; a 100,000 m3 storage facility for Petroleum products; Nedebe to construct four Government office buildings at Capital Hill in Lilongwe on a turn-key basis; construction of 2,500 houses spread across Mzuzu, Lilongwe, Zomba and Blantyre. The project will be implemented through Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC). Other public investment deals are MOTA Engil desires to establish a coal-fired plant for electricity production in Malawi; the Lake Malawi water piping project to Lilongwe and Innosoft Solutions is interested in investing in e-government solutions in Malawi in the areas of National Data Center, Smart City System, ICT Consultancy, E-Government, E-judiciary, E-procurement, E-health, E-education, E-parliament and Cyber Security. While private sector deals included CDH International Bank met with Shire Cotton Spinners who are established in the cotton value-adding subsector that wishes to develop a factory to produce yarn from cotton lint.

National Association of Small Farmers (NASFAM) and Sir Hackson Processors met with an international company and agreed to collaborate on an agro-processing project. The two agreed to build a partnership in the areas of raw supply materials for processing livestock feeds - sunflower, soya beans, cooking oil, peanut butter and groundnut, honey among others.

An appreciation of this would accord Malawi an opportunity to explore fresh and vibrant ideas towards national development in the New Year, 2017. FOOD SECURITY

In January 2016, Nyika Media club called government and other stakeholders to consider paying equal attention to starving Malawians in the northern region just as they do to people in the shire valley and other parts in the southern and central regions. The club had secured 100 bags on maize flour weighing 5Kg each from Gift of Givers to be given out to soon-to-be identified group of beneficiaries.

The report by Oxfam estimated that at least 2 million people would struggle to find enough food for their survival at household level. The Oxfam report comes about 3 months after President Arthur Peter Mutharika appealed to development partners, local and international well-wishers to assist government in mobilizing resources to feed 2.8 million Malawians facing starvation. The November report titled ‘entering unchartered waters: El Nino and the Threat of Food security reads’ ‘’Floods followed by drought had cut maize production by more than quarter. Between 2 and 3 million people might face food security crises by February. Reacting to Oxfam report, Min of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Management Dr. Allan Chiyembekeza, while acknowledging that he was yet to see the report, said the hunger situation was a national problem and ought to be dealt with in a collective manner.

CfSC said that the price of maize, the country’s staple grain, had more than doubled in one year (year 2015 and 2016 putting pressure on household expenditure and inflation. According to various reports, a 50Kg bag of maize was selling at an average price of K4,300 in 2015 and was selling at the price of K11,000 in 2016 in some markets.

CCAP Blantyre Synod urged President Peter Mutharika to prioritize the attainment of food security as one of the strategies of addressing poverty in the country. The General Secretary of the Synod Rev. Maulana advised Mutharika that government needed to concentrate in 3 key areas if Malawi was to attain food security and these are: Small and Medium Enterprises, Green Belt Initiative and strategic food reserves.

In February, despite president Mutharika’s state of the Nation address, he warned ADMARC officials against selling maize to vendors, a spot check The Daily Times conducted a survey in different areas established thatthe scarcity of the staple grain still persisted.

DPP officials took control of Mangochi ADMARC depot following Mutharika’s warning. The situation went out of hand after some DPP officials and police officers went to Mangochi ADMARC to monitor maize sales where they eventually ordered the closure of the market 2 hours before its official’s time, in order to control sales,

It was reported that Government had procured over 41,000 metric tons of maize on top of the 9,221 tons that ADMARC had in its system, Min of Agric Dr. Allan Chiyembekeza announced. This came amid concerns from different stakeholders that government was failing to properly manage the hunger situation which had left over 2 million Malawians in dire need of it.

In March, The Centre for Social Concern reported that the price of maize on the local market was still beyond the reach of many poor households as the cost of a 50Kg bag of maize averaged K13,333. This development had led to low income households seeking a way out from depots of state owned produce trader, ADMARC, where the grain was going atK5,500 per 50Kg bag representing 41.25% of the local market price.

The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) had said the soaring prices of maize could not be controlled because Malawi’s liberalized market system. CFTC Executive Director, Charlotte Malonda said neither the commission nor any other body was mandate to regulate or control prices under a liberalized economy.

It was learnt that desperate farmers in some districts were selling their partially dry maize to vendors, a situation that put ADMARC at risk of finding little or no maize if it delayed to open its markets.During the same month of March, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Dr. Allan Chiyembekeza had since warned that Malawi risked facing the worst food crisis in 2017 if the practice was not checked. Spot checks by The Nation in Dowa established that private traders are offering between K80 and K90 for a Kg of a partially dry maize. At Nkhamenya Trading Centre in Kasungu, a 20 liter bucket of maize was reportedly going at K1,200 while some farmers at Kapopo Trading Centre in Mzimba were selling the same quantity at K950.

Despite Malawi procuring additional 10,000 metric tonsof maize stock the previous month from neighboring Zambia, the latest report in March from FEWSNET indicated that the grain stocks would only last the nation up to end of March, about one month before the harvest was expected to begin. It was reported that about 70 trucks importing maize that government had bought through ADMARC had spent more than 2 weeks at Mwami border in Zambia waiting to be cleared. However 44 trucks carrying 500mt had already arrived in the country. Government announced that it would purchase 30,000mt of maize from Zambia to avert the current food crisis in Malawi. Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe also told Parliament that government had authorized ADMARC to purchase another 50 mt from Tanzania.

Hunger and desperation were said to be forcing communities around Nayuchi and Nkaya in Machinga to attack Central East African Railways (CEAR) trains carrying wheat from Nacala port in Mozambique.

In April, the country’s maize prices had begun to soften, falling by 33% from an all-time high of K15,000 to around K10,000, the Daily Times had established. The fall of maize prices was mainly due to the start of harvesting in a number of Southern Region districts. A visit to produce markets in the commercial city of Blantyre revealed that vendors were selling the commodity at an average price of K200 per Kg down from K300 per kilogram.

Reports by FEWSNET had predicted severe food shortage in Malawi and southern Africa at large during the 2016/2017 consumption year.

It was also reported that 30 trucks carrying about 900 mt of maize for hunger-stricken Malawi had seen detained by the Zambian government over export permit queries weekend nation had learnt.

Experts faulted the FISP saying in its present format it cannot stimulate agriculture productivity but perpetuate poverty. African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership Vice President Richard Mkandawire said that the present programpatronizedpoverty. He said ‘with FISP, on board, resources were being diverted to areas not productive and leaving out those who could efficiently deliver out of the system.

Two days after president Peter Mutharika had declared that Malawi was in a state of disaster caused by prolonged rainfall shortage, FEWSNET predicted that vulnerable households particularly in the southern region would face a food crisis as early as June.

International NGOs had welcomed the President declaration of Malawi as a state of National Disaster saying it was a ‘Much needed acknowledgement of the scale of the problem’. In May, conflicting issues from President Arthur Peter Mutharika and Ministry of Agriculture Dr. George Chaponda on number of food insecure families were confusing and might affect humanitarian response planning, a commentator had said. Cisanet Director Tamani Nkhono advised government to be consistent and quickly come out clearly on the same.

FAO had cautioned Malawi against putting its full hope on neighboring countries as a source from where it can procure supplementary maize stalks. The warning comes as the government as well as local and international aid agencies awaited the release of a consolidated Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report food situation. FAO said Malawi and other countries in Sub-Sahara were losing agricultural produce due to poor storage facilities.

Karonga ADD had warned that unless farmers in Karonga adopt irrigation farming, people in the district will be food insecure this year

In June, authorities in Mangochi district had called for a quick action to find a solution towards a solution towards saving at least 670,000 poor people who the MVAC report says were in need of food aid immediately after harvesting their crops. MVAC convened a meeting for district executing members to validate the findings of food situation assessment which the committee conducted in the district in the month of April.

Smallholder farmers from Jumabunguzi Farmer Organization in the area of T/A Maganga in Salima hailed the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative by WFP as a big opportunity for them to turn farming into a profitable business. P4P is an initiative which links smallholder farmer’s organizations to agriculture produce markets while helping them to develop business and harvesting skills.

In July, 12.4% maize deficit relative to last year which was causing prices to rise continued to push up year-on-year inflation rate as measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI). The NSO statement said food inflation of which maize had the largest weight, went up by 2% point to 27.7% in June from the previous month’s 25.7%. In the CPI, an aggregate basket for computing inflation, food, which in Malawian context is maize, had a weight of 50.1%. This meant that any slight movement in the prices either way had a bearing on inflation rate.

It was reported that Malawians who were facing hunger had to brace themselves for yellow maize as most countries in Sub-Saharan countries did not have white maize, the Sunday Times had learnt. In its projections, FEWSNET said Malawians were set to be subjected to another period of significantly higher national food prices.

In August, a new report estimated that although food, including maize and pulses would be readily available in the last few months of 2016, Malawians would need more resources to make purchases as prices were expected to steadily rise going forward. The rising food prices were expected to weigh heavily or overall inflation, a situation which would make the prices of goods and services even more expensive in the last half of the year.

United States of America Ambassador Virginia Palmer announced a new US donation of $47.5 million (K35 billion) to Malawi to assist people in need of humanitarian food assistance. The donation was a response to MVAC report that 6.5 million Malawians need humanitarian food assistance to alleviate hunger.

ADMARC had silently engaged some companies to set as their agents to procure maize from traders and farmers.

In September, barely a fortnight after donors raised eyebrows over a K7.5 billion government’s maize deal, treasury said they were pulling out of the deal with foreign intermediary company amid fears of overpricing. The decision to purchase about 100,000mt maize came after government announced that 6.5 million people would face hunger in the year due to low maize harvests in the 2015/2016 as a result of the prolonged dry spell which reduced maize yields by 39%.

The delay to open more than 1000 ADMARC markets nationwide had attracted the wrath of the Agriculture and Irrigation Committee of Parliament, which had given the state grain trader until September 30 to open the markets. This meant that ADMARC had only 7 days by then to open the markets.

During the same month of September, CfSC urged government to promote smallholder farmers as they hold the key to the country’s food security, CfSC commended World Farmers Organization (WFO) which warned that if there were people who madecountries move, then farmers were number 1. We cannot talk about Malawi’s economy without talking about agriculture. Agriculture contributes 37% of the national GDP and employs 50% of the total workforce. In October, state produce trader ADMARC said it had spent K22.4 billion to locally source about 100,000mt of maize which it had dispatched to its deposits.

President Peter Mutharika directed ADMARC to increase the price of maize from the then current price of K5,500 per 50Kg bag to K12,500 per bag representing an increase of 127%. The president announced the new maize price when he held press briefing following his return from USA. The maizeprice increase was probably a response to the IMF advice in the September review mission report that urged government to be careful on subsidizing maize in the country.

ADMARC was expecting to procure an extra 30,000mt of the stock from Zambia while the rest was expected to be purchased from Brazil, Romania and Mexico. ADMARC chief Executive Officer Foster Mlumbe confirmed that the country had enough stock to meet the demand.

Government also reported that traders were free to import GMO maize into the country for food or feed processing. This came amid widespread fears that the importation of GMO maize might bring in strange maize varieties if some recipients use the maize for seed.

On another hand, MPs questioned the reliability of figures released by MVAC which government was using in the provision of food assistance to affected areas. Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture raised the concern in Lilongwe when officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development appeared before the committee.

In November, government had admitted that the number of people requiring food assistance until the start of the next harvest had risen to 6.7 million. Minister of Agriculture Dr. George Chaponda told journalists in Lilongwe during a press briefing.

The 2016/17 FISP coverage had raised concerns over whether the country would harvest enough the following year considering the reduced number of beneficiaries and a cut in its budget. In its food security outlook report, Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) had said the redesigned programme raised concerns over its contribution in the 2016-17 growing season.

During the same year, MPs had asked government to speed up implementation of a long-term solutions towards attaining food security in the country to avoid a recurrence of food shortages. The MPs were contributing to a motion moved by Nkhotakota South East MP Everson Makowa- Mwale, MCP MP.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. George Chaponda had a bit of torrid time in parliament when MPs from the opposition benches asked several questions on the government response to current food insecurity.Leader of opposition Dr. Lazarus Chakwera led the onslaught just after the Minister presented a ministerial statement on the food situation in the country. Chakwera asked Chaponda to comment on the reports that he personally struck a deal in Brazil and received some kickbacks for the government to import maize from that country.

On another note, ADMARC, said it expected to increase maize supplies to its depots following the importation of 500 mt of the grain from Zambia. The ADMARC Chief reported that the grain was expected to increase maize stocks at ADMARC depots which opened on 24th October.

In the same month, part of 100,000 metric of maize which government had imported started to arrive in the country and while according to ADMARC, the consignment from Romania said it would arrive soon through Nacala corridor.

Talking about another alternative food crop, government reiterated that cassava was increasingly becoming an important crop in achieving food security both at household and national level in the face of climate change.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

The year just ended was full of concerns expressed by civil society and religious groups who spoke with determination to make a difference. The analysis of their views is based on the 2016 media coverage.

Human life and family under attack

Following their prophetic role to speak without fear or favour, religious groups in the name of the Episcopal Conference (ECM) Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), Quadriya Muslim Association of Malawi (QMAM) and other concerned faith groups made the first ever most civilized and peaceful demonstration in the recent past which created a platform for all Malawians regardless of their religious or political affiliation to celebrate the value of family life. The groups demonstrated against all direct abortions as proposed in the “Termination of Pregnancy Bill, which, they believe are evil and immoral because it is deliberate killing of innocent and defenseless human beings. Created in the image of God life is sacred and thus it has to be protected, preserved and defended with extreme care from conception.

Apart from the Termination of Pregnancy Bill which was termed as one of the manifestations of a culture of darkness, the groups expressed concern over the promotion of same sex marriages which is being championed through the following slogan: “children by choice and not by chance.” As the conscience and moral compass of the society the groups reminded all Malawians to stick to their cultural norms which value marriage between man and woman. Even the republican constitution criminalizes homosexuality practices, although recently the nation signaled a softening of its stand after the treaties to moderate the stance largely influenced by international stakeholders, including some donors. The law of the land and the Bible support marriage between man and woman which must be defended and promoted. The Church tradition further stipulates that through marriage man and woman become one body and are no longer two but one (Ephesians 5.31)

It was further argued that gay rights (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender intersex matters) are alien to the Malawian culture in general and are being championed by foreigners.

That is why following their doctrinal and moral mandate the groups saw it imperative to challenge those harbouring interest private or otherwise to desist from participating in the obvious sin by going against God’ will – direct abortions gay or lesbian unions and practices which are described as gravely evil and immoral. They further urged the state president to resist pressure over the controversial issue of homosexuality in the name of minority rights by abiding by the constitutional guidelines in the running the affairs of the country. Government wanted to reaffirm a moratorium issued by the Joyce Banda led government on suspension of anti-homosexuality laws as demonstrated by the pardoning of a gay couple recently arrested in Lilongwe.

In conclusion the match was described as a mouth piece and a success story in which all Malawians expressed their ardent desire to save life from harmful practices. The social teaching of the church guided the groups to fight against these foreign ideologies

Presidential dialogue a talk show

While dialogue means a conversation, a process of communication, a reciprocal relationship in which two or more parties endeavour to express accurately what they mean and listen to and respect what the other person says, “presidential dialogue” is essentially monologue and dysfunctional where one party dominates the other and is more powerful to decide when, where, how and who should be involved in discussion on issues at hand.

The dialogue between government and the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) remained bleak, hazy and illusive and there was no clear direction for the future. Through its all inclusive annual indabas, PAC has been raising issues of public concern through a communiqués to government but to no avail. Last year’s government’s heavy presence did not intimidate PAC discussion focused on numerous socio-economic and governance issues.

The dysfunctional state of dialogue was further manifested in the president’s refusal to act on proposed deadlines which the media described as unfortunate and undemocratic.

On another note, the media registered an ugly incident of interfaith intolerance in Rumhpi where the chief was beaten up for embracing Islam and willing to give land for building a mosque. Why? This incident shows how a lack of tolerance among religious groups who claim specific geographical or territorial boundaries. In this case, the popular perception is that Islam is not for the north, let alone Rumphi district which does not have a concise history of Islam.

This incident is a reminder of the 1999 voting patterns which took the ethno-religious lines whose aftermath saw selected minority Muslim communities in the northern region of Malawi persecuted at the hands of radical elements of the majority Christian community because of the re-election of President Muluzi who was a Muslim. The UDF in particular was perceived and branded as the solace for Muslims. When this party won the elections, people in the northern region demonstrated and vented their frustration on people from the southern region, especially Muslims by forcing them out of the region because selected Christian groups and the opposition feared and accused the then leadership of trying to force Islam on the country. Several mosques were burned down and these incidents became the first recorded in recent times that Christians carried out violent acts against Muslims in Malawi.

Reported threat and killing of people with albinism

The threat and killing of people with albinism attracted a much wider publicity. The development posed a major challenge to many communities to the extent that children with these features were not safe even in the hands of their mothers and family members. It is believed that the flesh and bones of Albinos are charms or recipes for getting rich quickly.

The media described it as a human right issue where one’s right to life is threatened. The social teaching of various groups saw the practice as gross violation of one’s right to life, a threat to human dignity as created in the image of God. This stance prompted the Muslim community to suggest a death penalty for people caught in this practice, which unfortunately did not go down well with human right defenders who sometimes defend criminals in the name of the same human rights.

In the wake of this development, the Church of the Nkhoma Synod wrote a pastoral letter to condemn the practice of threatening and killing of Albinos and urged government to do more to curb the practice.

Relevance of political parties questioned

The political parties in Malawi have had a negative history of governance on their affiliates. As ever before, the parties concentrated on the one-man syndrome and the top leadership at the expense of the majority followers. Because of this development some political scientists have described them as irrelevant and dysfunctional as far as intra and inter party democracies were concerned. The old names have often preventing new members from joining citing fears of the founder syndrome who continued to rule from the back even if they were retired. What is more critical is that funding to these parties has remained the best kept secret where only leaders knew what came in and what went out. The lack of transparency and accountability in finances and other governance issues resulted in intra party wrangles. Some prominent members of some parties were disciplined, suspended or indeed stopped from speaking on behalf of their parties. How then can undemocratic institutions dialogue with other parties? If parties do not promote dialogue and the rule of law then they should cease to exist and be replaced by new names which will be more attractive to the wider public. In other countries parties have changed in order to gain and maintain popular support and opinion.

The year registered inter-political party clashes which were described by the National Initiative for Civic Education as scrambling for political supremacy and geographical dominance. The media further noted that lack of tolerance between parties leads to lack of peace which was tantamount to retard development.

Access to Information remained a nightmare

One of the things that featured highly during the year under review was access to information bill which remained a nightmare. Earlier in the year while the rest of the world celebrated world press freedom day, Malawi had unfortunately not passed the Access to Information bill which civil society organizations and religious groups had been advocating for its tabling. The bill had been one of carry-over pieces of legislation expected to be tabled many times passed and the delay in its passing had been described against going against democratic values which Malawi embraced in 1994. The popular slogan “mphamvu” (power to the people) remains a joke if people have no information on their finger tips. The media described information as a pre-requisite for any a development at all levels because people need to know what is happening and that only happens if they have access to information. Access to information is one of the fundamental rights and the lack of it locks millions of people out of the development agenda.

During the year under review media reports highlighted a controversial land bill which parliament passed in July. The bill has since created a spirit of uncertainty among chiefs who think it undermines their power as far as land management was concerned. The creation of small committees to work with chiefs was seen as a ploy to reduce the powers of the chiefs because they would no longer be free to distribute or sell land dubiously. On their part, the chiefs complained that they were not fully consulted on the matter and hence asked the president not to assent to the bill. The maize gate-an ice-berg of continued cash gate

The maize gate has demonstrated how selfish and unpatriotic our leaders are. The protracted reporting by the media shows a serious lack of transparency, accountability and responsiveness to the people of Malawi. The media further saw a lack of sense of duty in public officers who did not mind the plight of the poor around them. The option for the poor remained a farfetched dream while the daily accumulation of wealth pre-occupied their minds. The maize saga is criminal in nature for it threatens the very survival of over seven million Malawians. They have been denied access and right to food which is a fundamental human right to which Malawi is a party according to the United Nations Charter.

The religious groups and civil society organizations played their prophetic role by questioning and obtaining injunctions to restrain responsible officers from performing their official duties until the issue was resolved. Government immediately set up a commission of inquiry to probe the issue but it is public knowledge that commissions of inquiry in Malawi have not worked; they are a waste of resources and time. They are safe-value and a justification by authorities to be seen to being something on the matter. Some issues such as the maize scandal do not need big commissions but an independent audit to expose the malpractice and act on suspects. The delay and implicit fear to act on certain individuals has created a culture of impunity and selective application of the law by those in authority. The injunction obtained by CSOs was an indication that government delayed in suspending those trapped in the maize scam.

The year ended with expectations from the commission of inquiry, who knows something may come out it or commissions have remained the best kept secret weapon by government.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE

Albino Attacks

In 2016 the media was awash with reports of albino killings and abductions. Not only was the local media reporting about the killings but the international media also joined. Albino killings have been reported in the press in the past but the climax was reached in 2016. Lives of people with albinism were danger because they were being targeted. In a country where people are so superstitious it was reported that people were in need of body parts and bones of albinos believing they would bring riches. For a nation that is lagging behind in terms of development a ready market for albino bones seemed one of the ways of getting out of poverty.

The first citizen’s support against albino killings did not however stop the killings and abductions. Reports continued to show increased number of cases of abductions and killings. As one post on social ,media noted that Malawians are a bunch of lazy people who feel taking someone’s life would make them, rich. Resolving to give the culprits a life sentence is what loos like the only sensible thing that government can do to scrap off this but is it a lasting solution. With high levels of poverty there always a loophole as some families may willingly sell off their albino relation.

The ‘hyena’ that humiliated Malawi internationally

Although Malawi is known for being a God fearing nation, there are lot of things happening this nation that fall short of being godly all the time. It had to take the BBC some minute of broadcast on the human hyena and comments on social media from the world for Malawians and the leadership to realise that this cultural practice is an infringement on young girl’ lives. Before that parents who are expected to guard and look after the girls were sleeping on the information on an uncivilised culture that put their children at risk.

And so the when the story of one Erick Aniva was aired on the BBC it was an eye opener for not only the international audience but for many more Malawians. Aniva openly admitted that he is hired to do cultural sexual cleansing on young adolescent girls despite being HIV positive. He admitted to have done the duties as a hyena with 150 young adolescent girls. If this is not a self inflicting crisis in the name of culture, then nothing is. Innocent with the knowledge and consent of all the elders who in normal circumstances are expected to protect the youngster, young girls are exposed to such acts of human rights violation. How could Malawians sit on this information for so long at the expense of so many innocent children, nobody knows.

There are many more other cultural practices that are a shame to Malawi. And these do not go in line with the fight against HIV Aids. While Malawi has made progress in administration of ARVs there are still many more new infections reported every other week. It goes without saying that the efforts to minimise new infections are being hindered by among other things these practices. Just when those doing awareness campaigns on elimination of dangerous cultural practices feel they are almost there, it is a drawback to have human hyenas happening in a new Malawi. If the two year sentence for Aniva did not sent shockwaves to all that are involved in the practice , then Malawi still has a long way to go in this battle.

Effects of unemployment

There is nothing to show for in terms of job creation as far as 2016 is concerned. There was no records of any improvement on unemployment. Going by the trends Malawi surely has nothing to show for in making sure Malawian adults and the youths have jobs. Coupled with high levels poverty and exorbitant cost of living there only way out seems to be migration to other nations that promise a better life. But like they say not all that glitters is gold!

Malawian women who migrated to Kuwait faced the toughest situation in the history of labour exports according to 2016 reports. Although it all started with promises of a better life with good pay for individuals, the government had to step in to repatriate some stranded Malawians who were living in inhuman conditions and receiving peanuts contrary to what was promised. 2016 also saw a number of Malawians who were affected by the xenophobic attacks in South Africa. All these are signs of a desperate group of people who are hoping to make ends meet in a foreign land. No one can blame Malawians who seek what is seen as greener pasture in the foreign countries, there are simply no jobs locally.

2016 reports show that even the efforts to end child labour by a number of stakeholders are not doing enough. Due to poverty and shortage of income many children are forced back into child labour. In tobacco estates the situation is bad because children work without protective gear. Sadly some of the children that have been taken off the tobacco farms go back with the blessing of their parents. This defeats the whole purpose of having child labour campaigns. Customary land Act

Tabling and passing of some land related laws dominated a good part of 2016. Divided opinion is what can sum it all. From the public to the legislators who were part and parcel of the tabling and passing of the bill there is still not that mutual understanding and agreement on the Act. A number of people openly showed that they never wanted the bill to be passed in its current form as many people were not consulted though the authorities feel they did widely consult.

Traditional leaders are also divided on the law to do with customary land. The introduction of village land committees has been viewed like a threat for some traditional leaders. Some feel the village land committees have taken up the chief’s jobs thereby diluting their powers. It goes without saying that the chiefs have always been the custodian of all customary land and therefore held absolute powers over this. It however is not surprising that certain quarters are not too happy about the Land Act

The CSOs that are campaigning for government to legalise abortion are leaving no stone unturned as they seemed to have engaged another gear in the fight. A number of awareness campaigns were slated in 2016. Looking at this is a new concept for many Malawians. Culturally it is unacceptable to carry out an aborting and again religious leaders also say it is spiritually wrong. But still more people still do it any way. Against a background of unsafe abortions that have led to the deaths of many women, the CSOs are advocating for safe abortion. Malawi as the saying goes is said to be a God fearing nation and as such abortion does not go with the values of religion. In opposing the pro safe abortion CSOs religious leaders organised march against this called March for life that was well attended by people from all walks of life.

Prisons

The food shortage spilled to the prison in 2016. With exorbitant prices of goods and services the prisons also felt it because normally they operate with minimal resources. This is even worse because already the prisons are congested making the situation very difficult to control. It is not a secrete that due to poverty and unemployment level crime rate has gone up meaning too many convicts in prisons. Surprisingly these are the same old prisons that were built some time back and are only meant for a smaller number of inmates as opposed to what they cells are holding now. On several occasions both local and international human rights and civil society groups have spoken about conditions in Malawi prisons. It is so bad that prisons no longer serve the purpose of reforming the convicts. Instead they are more less of a death trap. There is literally no space for one to stretch at night. Contagious diseases like Scabies are the order of the day and so are airborne diseases like Tuberculosis. EDUCATION

2016 has been a challenging year for Malawi particularly in the education sector. We've seen colleges/schools being closed due to strikes and teachers threatening to go on strike just to mention a few. As per say, education is fundamental human right to which every person should have access to advance their human dignity. In our case, can we say that this right is being exercised? Despite the hiccups in the sector, there were also some positive developments that took place along the way that acted as a cushion to the current reproaching endurances.

Examinations

Exam administration

Ministry of education, science and technology commendedMalawi National Examinations Board(MANEB) for the utmost professionalism portrayed in the way they have been handlingJunior Certificate of Education (JCE) and Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations for the past two years. In the year just ended, reports indicate that there was no leakage and only two cases were reported for cheating. This is a breakthrough in history as there have been several cases of exam leakage in the past. This development has mended MANEB’s reputation and has also given people hope that the exam results reflect candidates’ capabilities.The just ended year also registered the highest pass rate of MSCE exams of 58.32% which is a great improvement as compared to previous years’ results.On the other hand, MANEB complained that it has been experiencing logistical problems especially in rural areas when administering exams due to Poor road network.

Abolition of JCE examinations

After conducting JCE examinations for so many years, the government, with the approval of President Peter Mutharika, decided to abolish them despite the objections from the masses. Many people felt that JCE should not be scrapped as it acted as a checkpoint for children as they were preparing for MSCE examinations. Having JCE in place acted like one way of assessing the students and the issuance of certificates was also a motivating factor for students to wok even harder. Now that JCE has been scrapped off there is a fear that students may proceed to form four without having a feel of how Maneb examinations are. Demonstrations

The year 2016 witnessed the most regular and massive demonstrations by civil servants (teachers) and students from secondary schools and colleges. These demonstrations were due to poor working and living conditions for teachers and fees hikes for students.The most rocking of them all was the “UNIMA fees must fall” campaign which rendered the government to close some universities up to now.

In January, there were cases of secondary school students striking because of fees increment. Ministry of education had to intervene in stopping the strike which pleased many stakeholders as they felt that poor Malawians should not be denied access to education. As if that was not enough, in June College students also started a strike which they named “UNIMA fees must fall” campaign. This was as a result of government’s decision to increase University college fees for both normal entry and mature students. Students argued that already 50% of students in public universities drop out of school for failure to pay the present fees of 275 000 which was deemed by government to be low and others seek financial aid to pay that same amount, was the increase helping in solving the problem or worsening the situation?It was understandable that the government was facing economic constraints but increasing fees was denying poor Malawians access to education which in so doing contributes to the diminishing standards of education in Malawi.The campaign reached its climax in august and students held demonstrations that led to the closure of colleges.

Despite president Mutharika’s order to remove 50 000 kwacha from the proposed fees and open up schools, students still found it had to remain in school.It was also reported that Students at college of medicine were also still paying high fees despite the 50 000 cut. Some education analysts commented that education in Malawi only favours those that are rich and not the poor.

Furthermore, it is a hustle for one to get a place in the University of Malawi and for students to lose the spot because of fees must be really painful. In an attempt to solve this matter, Mutharika urged the treasury to release more funds inorder to keep more students in school and this had not happened yet.

On the same note of demonstrations, Teachers complained that they had not been promoted ever since they started teaching and for those who were promoted, there had been no salary increment for the past two years. In other instances, teachers received salaries very late. Teachers union of Malawi said that if government did not take their concerns into consideration, they would start a national wide strike. This posed a threat to MANEB saying that if teachers were to go ahead with the strike, more than 40 000 students who were supposed to sit for exams would have been affected. Despite the threats and calls for peaceful talks by TUM government did nothing in response hence the continued threats by TUM.

Regardless of the strikes in education sector, the government made a move to trim the proposed education budget of 114.75 billion to 114.3. Some opposition leaders were against the move but their efforts yielded nothing.

Inclusive education

There have been some propositions that Malawi government should consider introducing inclusive education system to help students with special needs. Mulanje chiefs suggested the inclusion of sign language in school curriculum. In order for this to happen, teachers must be well trained. Efforts to implement this were to no avail as there are not enough teaching and learning materials. Without the skills and enough teaching and learning materials, it is not easy forteachers todeliver lessons effectively. The other challenge is that, there are few teachers hence students with special needs are left out.

Shortage of teachers/ unemployed teachers

The ministry announced that it was planning to employ 20 000 teachers in response to the outcry for teachers in the country. It was reported that the student-teacher ratio was 1 to 75 instead of the normal 1 to 60 ratio. In some rural areas, it was reported to have gone beyond 75 up to 100. It is worse in rural areas because teachers refuse to be posted there. If the student-teacher ratio is high, the load for teachers also becomes more hence work cannot be done properly.

It is surprising though that the country is experiencing such kind of shortage when there are thousands of teachers staying idle in their homes because the government has not yet posted them. After spending millions just to train these teachers now the government is bound to lose since some may decide to leave the public education sector to join the private sector or change fields where necessary. HEALTH

The health sector has seen it all in 2016, from chopped funding allocation to shortages of almost everything. Anything that would have made service delivery in the public health sector is almost not available. It goes without saying that working the public hospital is a hustle. For sure one cannot blame those that are leaving the public health sector to the private sector. Nothing simply works! A tourist once said it is unbelievable how Malawians make it through each passing year because looking at the hospitals, there are no medical equipment, personnel and drugs are also not available. Is it by mere grace that the nation is still up and running even though the health sector is in a mess?

Food Shortage

As if the shortage of medical personnel and equipment is not enough, public hospitals were also hit by food shortage. It is common knowledge that public hospitals mainly get funding allocation from the government and so due to minimal funds some hospitals were forced to cut down on meals. Despite the fact that at national level there was a food crisis; hospitals are expected to have food for inpatients all the time. However this was not the case as some hospitals trimmed down the number of meals to one and eventually stopped giving out meals altogether.

Looking at the financial status of people who go to public hospitals, it is easy to notice that the majority are the power who cannot afford private clinics. These surely may also not be able to buy food but as it was the case no food was provided at Bottom Hospital for some time. Looking back at the medication that patients get it is too strong that instructions stipulate that it should be taken with food or after eating. Now comes the bigger question how will such medication effectively work if it is taken without food? Such was the case in 2016 will 2017 be any different?

Shortage of medical personnel

The problem of shortage of trained medical personnel is an ongoing issue and the year 2016 had a fair share of this. There are simply no doctors in public hospitals. Although Malawi has trained many doctors locally since the inception of the Malawi College o Medicine, the country is far from reaching the World Health Organisation WHO recommended ratio. The situation on the ground however does not reflect on this because there are only a few dedicated doctors left in the public sector. Basically the situation on the ground is not that attractive to keep the doctors in the pubic sector. There is simply no job satisfaction at least looking at the environment they work in. They work for long hours, and have not equipment and drugs. All this contributes to the brain drain in the health sector. In recent years people have opted to leave Malawi in search of greener pastures.

As the shortage of doctors was happening there were some junior doctors whom government was failing to employ due to financial constraints. The same doctors the Malawi government trained, government was failing to get them employed in the public health sector. In a nation that already has a shortage of medical failing to employ the trained junior doctors would have been a loss. There are always fears that the government may be put at risk of losing these doctors if they stay for a long time without employment there is a risk of losing these for good. However government came out to the rescue and employed 124 junior doctors.

Unavailability of Drugs

Of all the shortages that the health sector is facing, unavailability of drugs is what is always in the public domain in 2016. If its not staff that are stealing and selling drugs to private hospitals and individuals, it is the hospitals failing to have them in stock because their requests did not reach authorities in good time. All the same there are simply no drugs despite allocation being given to the purchase of drugs. Stories are told of patients who are only given panodols for ailments that need stronger drugs than this painkiller. As if this is not enough some patients have to pay through the nose at pharmacies for drugs that doctors have prescribed simply because there are none in public hospitals. The continued shortage of drugs in hospital are tales of a health systems that needs resuscitation. Government is aware of all this and it is for this reason that it gagged District Health Officers from speaking to the media on any issues related to drug shortages.

TBAs

Looking back at the current trend of events, it is clear that Malawi is still stuck with Traditional Birth Attendants even though they were banned some years ago. The ban did not stop some TBAs to ply their trade because expectant women still come for consultation and to give birth. Situations in some areas has forced expectant women to get services form the TBAscontrary to the ban. Imagine in Makanjira in Mangochi where the next public hospitals is many kilometres away and a woman is in labour! The simplest way is to get to a TBA. The women are placed between a rock and a hard place as they have nowhere to run to for delivery.This is what is happening not only in Makanjira in Mangochi but in some areas also. So many cases of people giving birth at TBAs go unreported making it difficult to know the number, but the thing is many women deliver at TBAs.These women seem to have no other option , they simply have no other choice nut to patronise the TBAs which are closer to home. Reports show that in Mangochi only the ratio of midwives to expectant women is 1:175. This alone speaks volumes of the need for more midwives hence people’s choices to visit the TBAs

Although there is this ban there is no clear policy on the issue. It was announced that TBAs should cease operation but not much was said. Those that defy the order by continuing to give service to expectant mothers have no idea what penalties are in place. Mai Khanda a non governmental organisation that also deals with safe motherhood noted that without clear guidelines It is going to be an uphill task to deal away with TBAs especially for women who live not so close to hospitals.

Blood Shortage

Public hospitals in 2016 also lacked bed in the hospital blood banks. Unfortunately this has been the trend in the past years as well. There sees to be no improvement on this. The fact that there is this shortage has resulted in some hospital workers to charge for the blood used. Reports had shown that patients at times had to cue to get blood. Looking around and going deeper into the issue of blood shortage it is clear that not too many people donate blood. Some have funny beliefs about blood donations. In a country where people live on superstations anything to do with blood is looked at critically . This has greatly contributed to the shortage of blood in the public hospitals. For others it is just a matter of awareness because they may not be aware of where to donate blood and how the whole process goes about.

Hospital User Fees.

The ongoing public sector reforms have not spared the ministry of health. Will all the rot that at times takes place in the health sector, reforms for sure should be the way to go. If the reform in general are adopted fully and work it would be a plus for the DPP led government since this is one of their promises in the party’s manifesto. Like all the other government ministries and department, the health sector faced its won proposals in the form process and one of which is the hospital user fees. The government and the civil society organisations have never agreed on the proposal to introduce hospital user fees. On one hand the government feels the hospitals would be able to generate some funds from the collections, on the other hand the CSOs are against this proposal.

Arguing that most Malawians are low income earners and some are very poor with no income at all, any cost at a public hospital means they will not be bale to pay. This in a way is like putting a barrier on this group from accessing the facilities. This is Malawi where the majority of the population live in the rural areas where there are no private hospitals and they rely on public hospitals. Effecting the hospital user fees in other words means barring this group. So in 2016 the battle went on and on until the government announced it would not effect the hospital user fees to the relief of the CSOs. Government on its part said they were not too clear on what the money collected in the hospitals in form of hospital user fees would be used. ENVIRONMENMT

Environmental and natural resources sectors media reporting remain critical in any country Malawi as it economic growth is derived from the same. With great role the sector plays on people’s lives through access to water, trees, oil, energies among others, tangible legal and policy framework are the key to the sector’s survival.

In 2016 on environmental front reporting through major dailies; Daily Times, Malawi News and Sunday Times of Times Group, and The Nation, The Weekend Nation and Nation on Sunday was a year characterized with so many hiccups ranging from water, energy, vegetation, disaster to food sectors.

The country is still having uphill task of addressing numerous challenges originated from human activities, policy and legal shortfalls that need to be looked into seriously.

The 2010 Malawi State and Environmental and Outlook Report which predicted extreme weather patterns including floods, dry spells, hailstorms remains a blue print for the nation to work on as the country still experiences natural and man made disasters including, energy, food and water crisis.

The year in review, will look into some environmental sectors; water, wildlife, energy, food, sanitation, disaster, vegetation among others on how were fared as we greet the New Year, 2017 with hope and aspiration of vision 2020.

Ivory burning

The most notable environmental front that attracted the country’s media in the just ended year, earlier was on the Malawi government burning about 781 pieces of Ivory worthy MK4 billion which some economic experts rough off the decision arguing that it was wasting resources for nothing that funds generated from its proceeds could have helped the country in other sectors of need such as health.

Environmentally, the decision to burn Ivory aimed at hindering some misguided poachers of wildlife that take such business a profitable business. Even international organization lauded Malawi for making such a drastic measure despite its economic misfortunes.In support of the wildlife crime prevention, the country’s head of state and government Peter Mutharika launched a video clip that civic educate the general public on how best wild animals specifically the endangered elephants. Floods

In 2016, the media also covered a lot on the department of disaster management working tactically in raising awareness on how best to mitigate natural phenomenon including floods, dry spells, and hailstorms due to effects of climate change.With the department intervention, some communities in some parts of the country including disaster prone districts of Phalombe, Zomba, Mangochi, and Balaka are into climate change mitigation measures through construction of weirs and dykes.

2016 will go into the country’s history on how energy sector suffered due to shameless and painful electricity blackouts. The black out was experienced all most half the year paralyzing all sectors of lives as most of its operations rely on electricity.Electricity blackout resulted into loss of millions of kwacha in business as extra money was incurred in purchasing diesel or petrol to run generators.

Media reports even went further exposing how blackouts cost people’s lives in public hospitals in some parts of the country where as surgical operations and maternity work could not be done well due to insufficient of power.The development comes again and again in year in and year out despite that only 10 percent of the country’s population (17 million people) access to electricity.

The country’s utility body, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) attributed blackouts to lowering waters level in Lake Malawi that pours running waters into Shire River that generates hydro electrical power to the entire country.This explanation wasn’t enough to convince Malawians considering that the Lake Malawi has enough water to flow into Shire River to generate electricity by just working on falls flow designs.

Consequently, forced government through President Mutharika’ state national addressannouncing short solutions to avert electricity blackouts including procurement of 46 Mega Watts’sdiesel peaking generatorswhich will be ready for use in Lilongwe and Mzuzu,acquiring of 78 Mega Watts of Emergency Power Plant by ESCOM on lease basis for an initial estimated period of 18 months.While long term solutions include generation, Transmission and Distribution Expansion and Reinforcement, the carrying capacity of the Transmission Lines will increased to about 1,150MW by 2018 and a 400kV Transmission Line is currently being constructed from Phombeya (Balaka) to Nkhoma. The Line is expected to be completed by September 2018. The Phombeya Sub-Station will be the landing point for the Malawi-Mozambique Interconnector.

Oil drilling on Lake Malawi

Prospects of oil drilling in Lake Malawi also attracted the country’s media where by some civil society organizations (CSOs) demanded full explanation on that as the nation was fed with lies that government would go further with its initial plans for the exercise.

This even prompted World Heritage Center warning Malawi government that oil drilling on Lake Malawi could resulting into loosing “World Heritage Status of Lake Malawi”.This world body noted that oil drilling would compromise aquatic life through pollution hence availability of the special species of Tilapia Saka (Chambo) will be endangered further. As the nation was kissing bye 2016, the ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines has not yet responded on both queries which gives more questions on the matter that something fishy was happening on the ground.

Charcoal Making

Another interesting area that attracted the media in 2016, was continual of use of charcoal that led into wanton cutting of trees in protect areas. The demand for charcoal was high in the year due to shameless electricity blackouts. Although authorities are in the verge of intensifying afforestation exercise to regenerate vegetation cover, nothing is popping up considering the late at which trees surviving rate is being sustained that serious and tactical measures need to be employed on the matter.

National Climate Change Policy launched

Due to effects of climate change, in the past year, the media witnessed government launching the much awaited national climate change policy coupled with biodiversity strategy and action plan to offset resilience.The policy is expected to create an enabling legal frame work and documents for a pragmatic, coordinated and harmonized approach to climate change management.

The document affirms government’s commitment to fully addressing of climate change issues in order to reduce the people’s vulnerability, ecosystems and socio-economic development to the effects of climate change through adaptation and mitigation, technology transfer and capacity building.The policy also complements the country’s commitment to 1992’ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which obligates Malawi to take various actions to address climate challenges.The policy was a response to the 2015 unprecedented devastating floods affected 1.1 million people, displaced 230,000 and claimed 106 lives in the country.

The flood further caused widespread damage to crops, livestock, homes, roads and bridges costing the country’s General Domestic Product (GDP) about 1.7%.Malawi is ranked third amongst most vulnerable countries to climate risk as more than 84 percent of its population depend on rain-fed agriculture. Therefore, urgent and ambitious strategies including climate change intervention were dearly needed to offset resilience among locals hence the launch of the policy.

Implementation, monitoring and monitoring of the national biodiversity strategy and Action Plan II will require about MK20 billion in the next five years.On deforestation in protected area, the media was awash with reports on dwindling of forest reserves that prompted the department of forestry contracting Malawi Defense Force (MDF)soldiers to bring order.

But the use of MDF soldiers has always attracted mixed reactions among the general public considering how humane soldiers are to local communities when executing their duties.

Land Bill Act

Malawi made another landmark in passing of the critical land bill and its related bills into law includingBill No.2 of 2016: Land Bill, Bill No.3 of 2016: Physical Planning, Bill No.6 of 2016: Land Survey and Bill No.9 of 2016: Customary Land.The Malawi Parliament went further in passing the remaining six land related bill into including Registered, Land Acquisitions (Amendment), Local Government (Amendment), Malawi Housing (Amendment), Forestry (Amendment) and Public Roads.

But the passing of these bills didn’t go without controversy particularly on Principle Land Act and Customary land Act where as the nation feared that leasehold wasn’t tackled well while on the other side, paying fees for land transactions was seen as daunting task for rural people on where would get such costs to meet the exercise.

MET equipment

Another notable thing the media captured in last year was weather focus by Metrological Service Department which keeps on using old and archaic equipment when working a development that gives out a compromised weather outlook.The department still receives low funding despite being critical government agency that gives what comes ahead amid effects of climate change. GENDER

Women Empowerment

President Peter Mutharika’s ruling DPP promised to promote omen in decision making positions where necessary. And so in 2016 Mutharika appointed Ms Sophie Kalemba as a Clerk of Parliament and Mrs Jane Ansa as the chairperson of Malawi Electoral Commission these are some of the high offices in the land and having women at the helm of these entities is evidence that the Mutharika government is trying to do what it signed in the Gender Equality Act of 2013. Although Malawi still have a huge gap to fill in as far as having more women in decision positions there is hope that things are going into the right direction

Months into an election that is when Malawi witnesses a blossom in activities on promoting and empowering of women. It is like promotion of women is only important when we have an election. All the funding and energies are focused and pointed towards a presidential and parliamentary election like it is the only place that will show an outcome of the empowerment work. Talk of timing it is already too late because all the campaign and trainings are done with just a few month to an election. It is therefore difficult to fully equip those that want to compete in an election with all the skills and what it takes to reach their goals. No wonder 2016 reports disclosed that women empowerment campaign is dead. Nobody can blame such writers because this is a true reflection of what is on the ground. If there is something that is being done to empower women so that they get into decision making positions it is done at a small scale and not at national level. The trends have shown that it is only in politics where more emphasis is given on women empowerment while the other sectors are not given that much attention.

Media Coverage.

Looking into media coverage on women in 2016, Not too many women made it to the front page of newspapers with positive news. The media has always portrayed women as a victim in the way they reported on issues in 2016. Screaming headlines like Man kills wife in Zingwangwa! Woman kill her 3 children before killing herself in Mchinji and many more of that kind are the ones that infested the print media. The social media is worse. Mostly it is all negative reporting painting a picture that not much comes from women. This is the trend year in year out , however does not portray a good picture to the youngsters who read the papers because they feel they do not have role models to look up to. The fact that there are rarely not many women receiving positive publicity does not mean there are no women who are making news and deserve headlines and font page, there are some right here in Malawi.

Economic Empowerment

Women have finally come to terms with the fact that no one will automatically empower them financial without their own effort. It is against this background that Malawi has witnessed an increase in village banks. Both in the rural and in towns the trend is the same. Women seem to have found the missing link in promoting each other financially through village banking. A number of women are benefiting from these and have uplifted their businesses. But while this is the case women have also suffered severely from exorbitant interest rates when they want to use the banks to get loans for their small-scale businesses. It is a hassle already to access the loans because of the conditions and processes that one has to go through. Now the actual interest rates are too high that those who dare to get such loans repay through the nose. It is like on one side there is progress in making women more financially independent and on the other there are some hindrances.

Early marriages and women empowerment One cannot deny the fact that Malawi is being troubled by early marriage mainly because of poverty. The sad thing is that early marriages affect girls and women more than the other sex. The moment a girl goes into early marriage it means she is going to be dependent on the husband forever. Chances of such a girl attaining an education so that she can be empowered become very slim. In such marriages it becomes very easy for the husband to abuse the wife in various homes and at times the girl feel they are trapped and have nowhere to go hence their prolonged stay in abusive marriages. The future of girls always looks gloomy thereby jeopardising all efforts by stakeholders to effectively deliver in any women empowerment programmes. This is why various stakeholders are into the battle of ending child marriages.

However 2016 media reports show that some parents are frustrating these efforts by marrying off their daughters as a means of running away from poverty. This is happening in many districts although it is not reported. Despite the fact that legally some of the children are not yet at the marriage age they still get into marriage anyway because they are being forced to.

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