On food and beer in Malawi

That bottle in the picture is Carlsberg Stout. I didn't even know Carlsberg made a stout. Apparently they do in Malawi. In additional to the stout, Carlsberg also came in "Green" (the one you know), "Brown", "Light" and 5.7% alc "Special Brew" (we suspect this is the Elephant beer they sell in the States) as well as a Malawi only brew called "Kuche Kuche" that came in a 500ml bottle.

The other thing? Yeah, thats an avocado. Massive, and we're told they get bigger than that. We walked down to the outdoor market in town and picked up red onions and tomatoes. Along with some kind of green citrus that was like a mix between an orange and a lemon. We swiped some garlic hot sauce (more on that later), salt and pepper from the bar and made guacamole. That one avocado alone made enough guacamole for Jenn and I, with some to spare, if we could have stopped eating it.

How cheap is Malawi you ask? That avocado was < 50 cents. The hotel/resort we stayed at was $20 a night, and that was in the nicest room they had, with a giant canopy bed and a private bathroom with a shower you could run laps in. This was at, arguably the nicest place in town, with a free boat to take you there. Every night they had massive $5 buffets, all amazing. Every meal had a huge pile of salted, sliced avocado. The owner regularly handed out free drinks, wine, beer, mojitos. However the kitchen service at lunch was terrible, so we'd often walk to town for lunch. Street vendors sold spiced rice filled samosas or oranges for 5 cents. Fried dough balls for 10 cents.

Feeling spendy? The little 'pizza' place didn't sell anything over $1. Granted, it was a far cry from pizza. A) there was no cheese on it, B) it was fried. That didn't stop us from going back 3 times, it was good. The owner would take your drink order, and then immediately walk out the front door, to the shop around the corner and buy your drink. While you waited you could watch the ingredients for your pizza march in the front door. Small boys with tomatoes, onions and fish still on a hook.

I want to go back.

Distance from Keetmans to Nhkata Bay: 2300 miles. Thats 4600 miles round trip. Over 7000km.

PS. That hot sauce is called Nali. It comes in a variety of flavors and should you ever travel to Malawi I'd advise picking up more than you think you want. Jenn and I packed 5 bottles of it all the way home. It should have been 10.

Did Muluzi swindle ADB schools money in 1995

Debate has broken in Malawi on how the former government of Bakili Muluzi managed funds from African Development Bank (ADB) and Kuwait fund meant for construction of primary schools in 1995.

A circulation suggests that in 1995 Malawi Government got a funding from the bank to construct 92 schools countrywide.

The donation which was complimented by Kuwait funds for the same cause is slowly becoming a hot debate among non partisan publics. And the former president needs to clear the air before he is suspected to have misappropriated the money.

The report says, during that time government claimed to have put the schools money to a good use by constructing almost half the schools.

But the circulation says, when government was asked to account for the funds, it listed some old training colleges as among new schools constructed with the finances. Notable were Kasungu, Karonga.

But it followed that these institutions were already there as they were constructed by the first President Hastings Kamuzu Banda and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) government. Kamuzu relinquished power at the age of 86 in 1994 through a peaceful democratic process. Muluzi has announced intention to come back and rule the country despite not being allowed by laws.

During that time Muluzi government, in trying to add weight to its claim, ordered Privatization Commission to finance printing of note books meant for distribution in the new schools.

The notebooks were shown to the representatives of the donors as evidence that the government had indeed constructed new schools whose pupils needed note books.

This was enough for the donors to believe that their money was put to good use says the circulation.

Now it was time to inspect the schools and distribute the notebooks. One of the schools which were inspected was Nsomba in TA Kapeni. When officials from Privatization drove to that area they did not find any school in that name.

Traditional leader of the area only told them that the former president (Bakili Muluzi) when he visited there, in one of his political rallies, earmarked the area for a school in that name. But the school was never constructed. Nsomba was just one of tens of schools.

Muluzi, a primary school graduate ruled Malawi from 1994 and stepped down in 2004 at the expiry of his mandatory term but is fighting constitution to allow him rule again from 2009.

The circulation says, last year 2007, Privatization Commission was still keeping bulks of notebooks which were printed to be distributed in the 'non existent schools.

Says the circulation which puts Muluzi's credibility in questions as next year's presidential candidate in Malawi.

The circulation says Muluzi had ordered some Privatization officials to destroy the notebooks in suspicion that they could be used against him.

This kind of debate shows how African people desire their leaders to be trustworthy before they take over offices.

Meanwhile, Malawi public supports the Declaration of Assets law. This policy mandates all public officers to declare what they have before assuming offices.

If Africa tolerates suspicious leaders, we risk losing all donors. No donor condones misappropriation of their money.