Blantyre, Malawi - Although the political tension that has put Malawi in a queer situation of going into the second month of the financial year without an approved national budget continues to be the 'talk of the town', it was that gory accidents in some parts of the country that dominated the headlines this past week.
'Mayhem in Lilongwe' read the banner headline in The Nation which reported that a police rapid response high speed chase of a lorry ladden with charcoal led to the death of three people.
The paper reported that police spotted the vehicle in one of the high density areas of the city.
Charcoal selling being illegal in Malawi, the police officers wanted to arrest the driver who bolted and police gave chase, according to the paper.
But what begun as a routine law-enforcement turned tragic as the paper reported that the police shot at the tyres of the lorry leading to loss of control by the driver who crashed into an on-coming minibus and road-side shops killing the lorry driver, a pedestrian and a passenger in the minibus.
The Daily Times takes the story further. "3 killed in LL police fracas" was its headline where the paper alleged that the anti-riot police officers had demanded bribes amounting to 9,000 Malawi kwacha (about US$ 64) from the driver who refused to give them, according to his assistant who was quoted by the paper.
The police issued a face-saving statement, accusing the driver of his own death.
The police statement, which both dailies published but discounted, said police had shot in the air but the driver kept speeding on and crashed.
The news grew wings with both dailies publishing on their front pages the bullet-ridddled body of the driver if only to disprove the police statement.
'Police arrest three anti-riot officers' was a follow-up headline in The Guardian which quoted Inspector General of Police Oliver Kumbambe as expressing disquiet at the behaviour of his men.
Kumbambe also promised to investigate the incident further.
As if the Lilongwe incident was not enough, both dailies later in the week carried stories of yet another accident, this time in Blantyre.
'Five vehicles crash' was the headline in The Nation which reported that a truck driver was killed after his vehicle - that had developed break failure - crashed into five cars on a busy street.
'Accident claims one, seriously injures 4', read the headline for the same story in the Daily Times reporting that the 37-year-old truck driver died on the spot in the pile up.
To conclude the accident-ladden week, the Weekend Nation, under the headline 'Mzimba accident driver to face manslaughter', reported of another accident a week before where a drunken young driver allegedly caused an accident in which 24 people died in the northern district of Mzimba.
The weekly reported that the 19-year-old driver was drunk and over-speeding and was using a fake licence since the type of licence he was using was only issued to people of 24 years and above.
Saturday, 16 August 2008
St Joseph's make dream come true for Malawi kids
READY access to water, one might think, should be a birthright but for many third world children it's only a dream. And one Milngavie church has just made that dream come true for hundreds of children at a school in Malawi.
St Joseph's Parish Church recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and as a special project to mark the occasion, Mitsidi Primary School in a rural district of Malawi was adopted under the Scottish International Aid fund's Mary's Meal appeal.
However, the parish raised far in excess of the amount required for the meals and it was possible to extend the help.
Parishioner Joe Murray said: "We originally aimed to raise £4,500 as it takes £5.30 to feed a child for a year, but we raised £14,000 and were also able to set up a feeding station where children outwith the school could also go to be fed.
"Being in a deprived area there are around 170 kids to a class — 900 pupils to 12 teachers and they had no furniture, not even desks. So as well as continuing with the meals project we set about generally improving things for the school."
The cereal cooked for the children is prepared on a daily basis by volunteers who get up at 5am.
However, when the well they normally carry water from is dry, which is frequent, they have to get up at 3am to cary buckets of water on their head from a well several miles away.
Now the church has been able to fund a well at the school and it greatly reduces the burden on the volunteers.
Joe and his wife Jess were planning a special holiday this year and designed it around making a visit to the school.
Dr Jo Thorp, also a parishioner, had been assigned to lecture in the region and the three, together with parish priest, Father John McGrorry, visited the school in July.
Father John McGrorry with staff at the school in Malawi
By co-incidence the bore-hole for the well the church had funded was being drilled on the day they arrived.
Joe added: "We got a rapturous welcome. The people of the village were so grateful that on top of sending money we had taken the trouble to go and meet them — it seemed to confirm to them that they really did have friends at the other side of the world.
"For our part we learned first hand what we could best do next to help improve life for them."Joe said the visiting party were humbled at the huge difference relatively small sums of money had made.
St Joseph's Parish Church recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and as a special project to mark the occasion, Mitsidi Primary School in a rural district of Malawi was adopted under the Scottish International Aid fund's Mary's Meal appeal.
However, the parish raised far in excess of the amount required for the meals and it was possible to extend the help.
Parishioner Joe Murray said: "We originally aimed to raise £4,500 as it takes £5.30 to feed a child for a year, but we raised £14,000 and were also able to set up a feeding station where children outwith the school could also go to be fed.
"Being in a deprived area there are around 170 kids to a class — 900 pupils to 12 teachers and they had no furniture, not even desks. So as well as continuing with the meals project we set about generally improving things for the school."
The cereal cooked for the children is prepared on a daily basis by volunteers who get up at 5am.
However, when the well they normally carry water from is dry, which is frequent, they have to get up at 3am to cary buckets of water on their head from a well several miles away.
Now the church has been able to fund a well at the school and it greatly reduces the burden on the volunteers.
Joe and his wife Jess were planning a special holiday this year and designed it around making a visit to the school.
Dr Jo Thorp, also a parishioner, had been assigned to lecture in the region and the three, together with parish priest, Father John McGrorry, visited the school in July.
Father John McGrorry with staff at the school in Malawi
By co-incidence the bore-hole for the well the church had funded was being drilled on the day they arrived.
Joe added: "We got a rapturous welcome. The people of the village were so grateful that on top of sending money we had taken the trouble to go and meet them — it seemed to confirm to them that they really did have friends at the other side of the world.
"For our part we learned first hand what we could best do next to help improve life for them."Joe said the visiting party were humbled at the huge difference relatively small sums of money had made.
28th SADC summit opens with launch of FTA high on agenda
The 28th summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) opened here on Saturday with launching of the Free Trade Area (FTA) and review of political situation in the region high on the agenda.
FTA will be officially launched on the second day of the two-day summit, marking a historic event that will usher in a new era of economic integration in the region.
The political situation in the region has remained relatively calm although some of the member states are currently facing some challenges in the area of peace and security, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe, SADC said in a recent briefing.
The regional bloc, headquartered SADC in Gaborone, Botswana, was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration.
The member states are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
FTA will be officially launched on the second day of the two-day summit, marking a historic event that will usher in a new era of economic integration in the region.
The political situation in the region has remained relatively calm although some of the member states are currently facing some challenges in the area of peace and security, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe, SADC said in a recent briefing.
The regional bloc, headquartered SADC in Gaborone, Botswana, was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration.
The member states are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Malawi President suspends parliamentary budget session
Blantyre, Malawi - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika Friday ordered the immediate closure of the current budget session of the Parliament for what he called opposition members of parliament's irresponsible behaviour.
"I hereby order the immediate closure of parliament because the opposition is acting irresponsibly," said a fuming Mutharika at the Kamuzu International Airport in the capital, Lilongwe, before leaving for South Africa where he will attend the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) heads of state and government summit in Johannesburg at the weekend.
The Malawi financial year is supposed to end 30 June with the new one beginning 1 July but President Mutharika suspended the original budget session 20 June when it was clear the budget was not going to pass.
He recalled Parliament a fortnight ago but warned that he would suspend it again if the budget was not passed Friday.
But the opposition scoffed at the threat, saying it was only the Speaker's office that could determine how long a parliamentary session would run.
However, President Mutharika stuck to his guns, ordering the army to seal the New state House - where Parliament meets - from Friday.
"I will only recall Parliament if the opposition assures me that they will pass the budget without conditions and within a specific period," he said.
The opposition has since called the president order "traits of dictatorship".
United Democratic Front (UDF) Leader in Parliament George Nga Mtafu said Mutharika was interfering with Parliament.
"The president is acting like a headmaster trying to dictate everything; these are traits of a dictator," he said, adding "This is an irrational decision which will affect the running of his own government."
Main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) parliamentary spokesman Ishamel Chaf ukira said the opposition was on course to pass the budget.
"Nobody said they will reject the budget," he said. "We only demanded that laws be respected."
Effects of the delayed budget have already started being felt.
Some operations in government have stalled while donors have threatened they will not release their budgetary support in the absence of the budget.
The much-touted farm-input subsidy programme, which was credited for Malawi's surplus production of the staple food - maize - during the last growing season, will be affected since government cannot find money to procure fertilizer.
There has been bad blood between the Mutharika administration and the opposition-dominated Parliament since the president dumped the former ruling UDF party which ironically ushered him into power after a bitter fall-out with his predecessor, former President Bakili Muluzi.
He founded his own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), accusing his former party of resisting his tough anti-corruption posture.
Since then his minority government has had problems pushing its agenda in Parliament. The 193-member opposition-dominated Parliament has put its foot down that it cannot discuss and pass the budget unless the Speaker of Parliament expels from the House all MPs who quit opposition parties to join President Mutharika's new ly-founded DPP.
"I hereby order the immediate closure of parliament because the opposition is acting irresponsibly," said a fuming Mutharika at the Kamuzu International Airport in the capital, Lilongwe, before leaving for South Africa where he will attend the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) heads of state and government summit in Johannesburg at the weekend.
The Malawi financial year is supposed to end 30 June with the new one beginning 1 July but President Mutharika suspended the original budget session 20 June when it was clear the budget was not going to pass.
He recalled Parliament a fortnight ago but warned that he would suspend it again if the budget was not passed Friday.
But the opposition scoffed at the threat, saying it was only the Speaker's office that could determine how long a parliamentary session would run.
However, President Mutharika stuck to his guns, ordering the army to seal the New state House - where Parliament meets - from Friday.
"I will only recall Parliament if the opposition assures me that they will pass the budget without conditions and within a specific period," he said.
The opposition has since called the president order "traits of dictatorship".
United Democratic Front (UDF) Leader in Parliament George Nga Mtafu said Mutharika was interfering with Parliament.
"The president is acting like a headmaster trying to dictate everything; these are traits of a dictator," he said, adding "This is an irrational decision which will affect the running of his own government."
Main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) parliamentary spokesman Ishamel Chaf ukira said the opposition was on course to pass the budget.
"Nobody said they will reject the budget," he said. "We only demanded that laws be respected."
Effects of the delayed budget have already started being felt.
Some operations in government have stalled while donors have threatened they will not release their budgetary support in the absence of the budget.
The much-touted farm-input subsidy programme, which was credited for Malawi's surplus production of the staple food - maize - during the last growing season, will be affected since government cannot find money to procure fertilizer.
There has been bad blood between the Mutharika administration and the opposition-dominated Parliament since the president dumped the former ruling UDF party which ironically ushered him into power after a bitter fall-out with his predecessor, former President Bakili Muluzi.
He founded his own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), accusing his former party of resisting his tough anti-corruption posture.
Since then his minority government has had problems pushing its agenda in Parliament. The 193-member opposition-dominated Parliament has put its foot down that it cannot discuss and pass the budget unless the Speaker of Parliament expels from the House all MPs who quit opposition parties to join President Mutharika's new ly-founded DPP.
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