Government to use its own resources for electrification

Government says it would use its own resources to provide the country
with adequate electricity supply through short term strategies in
developing power generating projects.



Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said this in response to private sector
outcry that erratic supply of electricity was eating into the
industry’s production output.



In his presentation on 2008 Malawi Business Climate Survey, Chief
Executive for Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(MCCCI) Chancellor Kaferapanjira said for the past three years, power
failure has been the outstanding hurdle to business.



“We feel let down on electricity because the National Assembly is no
longer relevant because its members are not performing duties of
bringing forward government business as they only meet to discuss their
allowances and not matters of national interest,” said Kaferapanjira.



He made the remarks following revelation that the 18 months grace
period provided by the World Bank to Malawi parliament to approve the
Mozambique-Malawi Power Interconnection Bill had expired.



Under the bill, the World Bank was supposed to fund the power connection from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique.



However, Gondwe said government was moving in the right direction to improve electricity supply results.



“We have plans to add power generation but we will consult experts in
this field on better short term projects as we eventually seek for long
term strategy,” said Gondwe.



The chamber’s survey was conducted in several sectors that included
trading, tourism, mining, manufacturing, financial and professional
services plus transport and communications.

MCP legislator Njobvuyalema praises Bingu

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) legislator Joseph
Njobvuyalema nearly overshadowed national forestry season launch Monday
in Lilongwe when he showered praises on President Bingu wa Mutharika,
saying Malawi could have developed further if Mutharika took over the
reigns soon after former head of state Kamuzu Banda.



Njobvuyalema, MP for Lilongwe Mapuyu, is a fierce critic of Mutharika
and his government and was one of the opposition members of Parliament
who nearly rejected this year’s national budget in the National
Assembly.



Speaker of Parliament Louis Chimango, who is also an opposition MCP
legislator, attended the official launch of the season in Chief
Kalolo’s area.



As soon as he arrived at the venue of the launch, which was attended by
cabinet ministers and their deputies, members of the diplomatic corps
and Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Bright Msaka, among
other dignitaries, Njobvuyalema freely mixed with Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) officials and shared with them jokes.



When the President arrived, Njobvuyalema sat in the front row with
Mutharika, number four from the President after Minister of Health
Khumbo Kachale.



In his speech, Njobvuyalema who is also MP for the area, said Malawians
wish Mutharika ruled the country soon after Kamuzu Banda, saying the 10
year gap rule by Bakili Muluzi (whom he did not mention by name) was a
waste.



“Sometimes it makes me think that if you took over power just soon
after the first Ngwazi, things could have changed for the better. I am
sure you could have sorted out some of the challenges the country is
facing. As you might be aware, in between the rule of the first Ngwazi
and you, we had a mess, it is good that your administration is cleaning
up that mess,” said Njobvuyalema as DPP women, supporters and other
dignitaries clapped hands.



Without directly saying that he was ready to serve Mutharika, he said
in Chichewa parable that “ngati ukumpatsa galu nyama, ngakhale kuti
galuyo siwako, akusatira,” which loosely means if you give a dog meat,
even if it’s not yours, that dog is bound to follow you.



Njobvuyalema, therefore, thanked government for launching the forestry
season in his area, which “is very important as trees are part of life
and the programme is one of the developments in this area”.



He also asked for other developments like roads, potable water and bridges, among others.



Mutharika gave Njobvuyalema special recognition at the launch and wished him merry Christmas.



He described Njobvuyalema’s attendance and speech as a sign of
political maturity and urged other opposition politicians to do the
same.



“We need to leave politics away in order to further develop the
country. We should all unite, both the opposition and the government,
especially this festive season of Christmas,” said Mutharika.



Commenting on criticisms by MCP president John Tembo on why the
President accepted the honorary title of Ngwazi, which the leader of
opposition said was reserved for Kamuzu Banda only, Mutharika said he
did not apply to be given the title and did not know in advance that
the Ngoni chiefs from Mzimba wanted to honour him with the title.



Commenting on the forestry season, Mutharika said he ordered the
extension of the season from a month to four months (from December 15
to April 15) because of the importance trees play in people’s lives.



The President said he has personally planted 6,000 trees, which include
masuku, mibawa, oranges, pawpaws and pine, among others on his private
land.



Mutharika, however, was worried that bushfires, especially in Chikangawa and Zomba, were destroying trees in the country.



“In 2009, we should ensure that bushfires are reduced. One day, on my
way to Mzuzu while I was in a helicopter, I counted 31 bushfires, this
is bad and must be stopped. Report to us those who start bushfires so
that we can counsel them,” said Mutharika.



Mutharika said bushfires do not only destroy trees but force animals to migrate and cause soil erosion if left unchecked.

Madonna's film on AIDS in Malawi airs on Sundance

NEW YORK (AP) — Madonna's awakening to the crisis in Malawi — an
impoverished African nation where one million children are orphaned by
AIDS — had many consequences.

She adopted one of those orphans, her 3-year-old son David. She is building a school there.

And
she has told Malawi's harrowing story in her documentary, "I Am Because
We Are." With an audience thus far limited to isolated theater
screenings, it will be screened for everyone with its TV premiere on
Sundance Channel at 9 p.m. EST Monday (World AIDS Day).

The
feature-length film was written, produced and narrated by Madonna
(directed by Nathan Rissman). It consults experts including President
Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

But the film's real
power is its images, which are often dismaying but, here and there,
reflect hope and a remarkable will to survive.

"I had many
goals," said Madonna during a phone conversation from her Manhattan
home a few days ago. "I did get to a point where I thought, 'I'm being
overambitious, I'm trying to say too much, I'll never accomplish it.'
But I feel proud of the fact that I did get to make all my points."

Among her points: an insistence that any crisis comes with solutions, however hard-won and piecemeal.

The film offers its audience a menu of constructive responses.

"If
all you can do is live life in YOUR world in a way that shows you are
responsible for the people around you, that's a course of action," said
Madonna. "People can be of service in large ways and small."

The
first wide exposure of "I Am Because We Are" may be coming at a
propitious time, which befits the pop superstar who made it, with her
knack for anticipating and identifying cultural trends.

On the
eve of a new presidential administration, Americans seem set on a more
idealistic path, however alarmed they may be by economic threats along
the way.

"People really are going, 'Wow! I can no longer ignore what's going on around me.' There are changes in the air," she said.

Madonna's
busy schedule continues apace. But the artistic life that drives it "is
a world you create and you inhabit, to express yourself, and to inspire
and reach out to other people," she explained. "It's also a
consolation, a place you go to to protect yourself." That's true now,
in particular, during her highly public split with Guy Ritchie, her
husband of eight years, which she described as "not easy, I'm not going
to lie."

Though on a brief New York break from her concert tour,
Madonna said the day's long to-do list called for this AP interview to
be followed by interviews she would be conducting herself: with
prospective head mistresses for the girls school she is building in
Malawi.

"We're all going there together at the end of March," she
said, referring to David, 8-year-old son Rocco and 12-year-old daughter
Lourdes.

"I'm very involved in a lot of things that are going on
there," she said, and as she makes return visits with her kids, she
wants them to gather insights into the plight of the world's
underprivileged. "And David's always going to understand where he came
from, and what his life could have been like."

Meanwhile, she hopes her film can spread the message to millions more.

"It has an impact on the people who see it," she declared. "The more people, the bigger the impact."

Malawi’s President awarded UN prize for enhancing nation’s food security

28 November 2008 –

The President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, has been honoured by the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for his efforts
in achieving food security and in transforming the economy of his
nation, among the poorest in Africa.

FAO
Director-General Jacques Diouf presented President wa Mutharika with
the Agricola Medal – the agency’s highest award – yesterday during a
ceremony in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe.

Mr. Diouf noted that in 2005, thanks in a large part to the adoption of
an Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme piloted by the Government of
President wa Mutharika, Malawi was able to restore national food
security by increasing access to fertilizers and improved seeds by poor
farmers and other vulnerable population groups.

In addition, despite sharply rising food and energy prices earlier in
the year, and the negative impact of climate change, Malawi has been
able to contain food prices to the extent that economic growth for this
year is expected to be around 8 per cent.

Malawi was also one of the few countries to have surpassed the
agreement reached among ministers at the 2003 Maputo African heads of
State and government conference for a minimum budget allocation of 10
per cent for agriculture, by allocating as much as 16 per cent to the
sector, said the Director-General.

Agriculture is crucial to the population of 13.2 million in Malawi, a
largely rural and landlocked country in Southern Africa, where some 35
per cent of the population was undernourished in 2004.

Previous recipients of the Agricola Medal include Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, former French
president Jacques Chirac, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Pope John Paul
II, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, former Spanish prime minister
José María Aznar, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
German ex-president Johannes Rau of Germany.

Why is Bakili Muluzi afraid of being questioned by the Authorities?

Lawyers representing former president Bakili
Muluzi yesterday presented four grounds of appeal in a case where the
former president wants the Supreme Court to overturn a High Court
decision to vacate an injunction he earlier obtained against the
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)––restraining the bureau from questioning
him on K1.4 billion donor money he allegedly diverted to his personal
account.
Before presenting the grounds before Chief Justice
Lovemore Munlo, Justice Duncan Tambala and Justice Elton Singini, the
four Muluzi lawyers ––Fahad Assani, David Kanyenda, Gift Mwakhwawa and
Jai Banda––wanted to bring fresh evidence to the court which would have
a bearing on their appeal against the vacation of the High Court
injunction.
This was, however, withdrawn after the three judges
pointed out that the hearing was not a fresh case but rather an appeal
against the earlier ruling of the lower court with which the appellant
(Muluzi) was dissatisfied.
In the first ground, Muluzi argues “the
learned judge erred in law by holding that it was open to the appellant
to commence proceedings either by way of judicial review or originating
summons”. The lawyers further argued that having found that Muluzi was
entitled to commence proceedings by way of expedited originating
summons, the lower court erred in holding that he should have proceeded
through judicial review.
On the second ground, Muluzi argues that
the judge erred in law and fact in holding that he was supposed to give
notice as required by Section 4 of the Civil Procedure Act Cap 6:01 of
the Laws of Malawi before commencement of the High Court case.
The
third ground is against the presiding judge’s statement that
maintaining the injunction would mean suspending the business of the
ACB in that people who are not public officers such as presidents,
ministers, deputy ministers and Members of Parliament would simply
follow suit and obtain injunctions should they find themselves in
similar situations.
According to Muluzi’s team, the injunction order
did not prevent ACB from continuing its investigations as it
interrogated, among others, Muluzi’s former and serving secretaries or
personal assistants.
“The learned judge erred in law in holding that
the balance of convenience lies in favour of vacating the ex-partes
injunction order,” the ground reads.
“The decision of the learned
judge in vacating the ex partes injunction order and striking out the
originating summons is misconceived and wrongful in law,” reads the
fourth ground.
Hearing of the case continues this morning with the ACB presenting its response to the application.
In
2005, the ACB summoned Muluzi to interrogate him on the K1.4 billion
that allegedly ended up in his personal account when he was in power.
Muluzi obtained an injunction from the High Court restraining the
bureau from questioning him.
Later, the ACB filed another
application in the same court to vacate the injunction. The court
removed the injunction and refused Muluzi’s application for an order
staying the execution of notices from ACB summoning Muluzi.
Muluzi
then lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court and applied for a stay in
the notices. The upper court granted an order of stay until
determination of the appeal, overturning the High Court’s decision that
the injunction be vacated.
In July 2006, the ACB arrested Muluzi and
charged him with 42 counts on allegations of corruption, theft by
public servant and breach of trust. Muluzi chose to remain silent and
was later released on bail without conditions