UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Malawi News Online (25) - 03/10/97

Malawi News Online (25) - 03/10/97

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE/MALAWI NEWS ONLINE/MALAWI NEWS ONLINE

A fortnightly update of news from Malawi

Edition # 25 10 March 1997

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE is written by Malawian journalists in Malawi and brings you the news from their point of view. It is assembled and edited in Denmark by South Africa Contact, the former anti-apartheid movement, publishers of i'Afrika, a quarterly magazine on Southern Africa.

The fortnightly news updates from Malawi are provided by our established network of journalists in Southern Africa. ZAMBIA NEWS ONLINE and TANZANIA NEWS ONLINE are our latest newsletters and they will be followed, in the not too distant future, by individual news updates covering other Southern African countries,.

MALAWI NEWS ONLINE is brought to you by a co-operation between South Africa Contact and Inform, the leading alternative information network in Denmark.

In this week's edition:

Feature:

DEVESTATION IN THE SHIRE VALLEY

Stories:

1. FROZEN BANDA BANK ACCOUNTS CONDEMNED BY MCP

2. JAPANESE GOVERNMENT DONATES TO FLOOD VICTIMS

3. DOCTORS PROPOSE WARD CLOSURES AT BLANTYRE HOSPITAL

4. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION FOR AUGUST

5. HIGH COURT BAN ON NEWSPAPERS

6. NO LIGHT ON SAGA OF DEPORTED ZAMBIANS

7. MALAWI-MOZAMBIQUE LAKE TRANSPORT ON THE CARDS

8. BOY INJURED BY GRENADE

9. MALAWI BEATS BOTSWANA

Feature:

DEVESTATION IN THE SHIRE VALLEY

The story of Joseni Alufazema, 56, and his family of seven seemed like a fairy tale.

The last growing season was among the best for the Alufazemas. They realised a bumper harvest from almost all their cash and food crops. "Cotton was the most rewarding, followed by sorghum, then rice. From all my farming activities, I managed to raise in excess of K50 000 (US$3,340)," said Alufazema. Spurred on by last year's successes, he re-invested about K30 000 into his farming business in the hope that this year, he would get even more.

Today, each passing day is less of a fairy tale and more of a nightmare as he now agonises over how he is going to fend for his family up to the next harvest.

The Alufazemas have lost all their cotton, sorghum and rice fields following heavy flooding that occurred in their area. "What is more painful is that the floods have also left us homeless after damaging our two beautiful houses and all our property," he lamented.

The Alufazemas are among the 80,000 people who have been rendered destitute due to heavy flooding following the incessant rains in February. This affected the Shire valley area in Nsanje and Chikwawa districts, south Malawi. In addition to the 80,000, the floods have also affected some 20,000 Mozambicans who crossed over into Malawi in search of immediate assistance.

Before the government moved in with tents, the victims were crammed in classrooms and church buildings in upland areas that had survived the floods. The Ministry of Health has reported a serious diarrhoea outbreak in the two districts due to the lack of sanitation. The victims' immediate needs are food, drinking water, shelter and health facilities.

Commissioner for Disaster and Relief, Lucius Chikuni, told a delegation of the United Nations System in Malawi that the government needs K199 million (US$14 million) to cater for the flood victims. President Bakili Muluzi, who visited the area soon after the flooding took place, has since declared the two districts disaster areas. Also, in the wake of the flooding, the government has appealed to the donor community and other well-wishers for urgent assistance. Several donor organisations and countries, as well as local well-wishers, have already started responding to this call for assistance. Government and non-governmental organisations have been airlifting food and other relief items to the victims by helicopter from Blantyre, some 80 to 100 kilometres away.

The UN Systems in Malawi, however, has demanded that the government should furnish them with exact statistics, as to the victims and their requirements, as a condition for their assistance. Chikuni insisted that their working figure was 80,000 people, adding that there was a possibility that more people could become affected by the floods since the rainy season was not over.

For what they consider would be a permanent solution to the problem, government has announced that it would be setting aside land upstream for people willing to settle in less flood-prone areas. The government says flooding along the Shire River had become a perennial phenomenon and the best solution was to look elsewhere for land for the victims. Minister of Lands and Evaluation, Peter Fachi, said the government had decided to resettle the victims upstream where they would not be affected by the periodic flooding. He said, however, that the resettlement exercise would be voluntary.

While welcoming the suggestion, the majority of the people have said they would not leave their ancestral lands. Estere Ofesi, 44, who said she owns two hectares of fertile land along the Shire River, has vowed never to abandon the land where her mother and father are buried. "When I die, I want to be buried next to my mother," she said. Most of the people cite economic reasons. They say the river, which is the outlet from Lake Malawi and Malawi's largest and longest river, was their source of income from the fish it provides.

Fostino, Estere's husband, speaking for many said, "Our life has been good here, along the Shire."

1. FROZEN BANDA BANK ACCOUNTS CONDEMNED BY MCP

The Malawi Congress Party has condemned the government's move of 21 February to freeze the foreign bank accounts of former president Kamuzu Banda Cecilia and Mary Kadzamira.

A statement released February 21 by the MCP said the move ìgives the impression these accounts were opened with stolen money ì. The statement said Dr Banda had never made a secret of his UK bank accounts that included accounts for all his closest relatives, including the late Nelson Mwale, Mrs Kumangirana and Ms Chendawaka Mwale. All were opened in the 70s.

2. JAPANESE GOVERNMENT DONATES TO FLOOD VICTIMS

The Japanese government announced on February 22 it had donated US$266,00 to the Malawi government for victims of floods in the Shire valley, south Malawi. The donation will be channeled through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Some US$100,000 of the donation is in cash while the rest will be given in blankets, food, clothing and tents.

3. DOCTORS PROPOSE WARD CLOSURES AT BLANTYRE HOSPITAL

Medical staff at the Queen Elizabeth referral hospital in Blantyre have said, that unless the administration at the hospital is able to get more staff for fee paying wards, the best solution would be to close them.

Head of Department of Medicine at the College of Medicine, Professor John Murray, said Wards 2A and 2B face a critical shortage of staff. Professor Murray said that the staffing situation was so bad that this was resulting in inadequate patient care and if it did not improve the wards would have to close.

QECH is a teaching hospital for the Malawi College of Medicine.

4. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION FOR AUGUST

The government has announced that the long-awaited local government elections will be held in August this year.

Local Government and Rula Development Minister Dr Matembo Nzunda said he had been assured by the Electoral Commission that the long overdue elections will take place this year.

The Public Affairs Committee had accused government of delaying the elections for political interests. They had called on NGOs to pressure government saying the failure to hold elections two years ago had contributed to the stagnation of democratic structures in the country. The government had countered saying the main hindrance had been finding the K350 million (US$23.34 million) needed to hold the elections.

5. HIGH COURT BAN ON NEWSPAPERS

The High Court in Blantyre has banned Blantyre Newspapers, Daily Times and Malawi News, and their printers, Blantyre Print and Packaging Limited, from publishing and printing any stories mentioning Information, Broadcasting, Posts and Telecomís Minister, Brown Mpinganjira in connection with the Employment Bureau of Africa (Teba).

Mpinganjira had last year sued owners of the two papers for defamation. This followed the publishing of statements by opposition MCP Vice President Gwanda Chakuamba alleging that he had misappropriated Teba funds from the South African government to the government of Malawi. The funds were meant to be paid to former mine workers. The minister also applied to the High Court to order the newspapers to stop publishing the stories until the matter was resolved in open court.

In his ruling, Justice William Hanjahanja said that since an audit report alleging the Teba money had been misappropriated mentioned the involvement of many other public figures and government departments in the misuse of the money, it was unfair to single out only one individual.

Hanjahanja also said the copy of the report, presented in court together with the affidavit from the lawyer representing BP&P, was not an original one. It was a photocopy and there were no signatures, raising serious doubts about its authenticity. 6. NO LIGHT ON SAGA OF DEPORTED ZAMBIANS

There would appear to be no light spread as yet on the saga of two Zambians deported to Malawi in August 1994.

James Chinula and William Banda were deported to Malawi by order of the Zambian government. The Zambian government said the two men were Malawians who had been embroiled in Zambian politics. However, the High Court in Malawi ruled March 13, 1995, that the two were Zambians, were wrongfully deported to Malawi and were free to return to Zambia.

When asked if the two men were welcome in Zambia following the High Court's ruling, Zambia High Commissioner to Malawi, Colonel Lawrence Haamaundu said his government had not even been advised by Malawi that Chinula and Banda were free to return to Zambia. He said if the Malawi government had ruled them to be Zambians, it should have given them 90 days to prepare for their return to Zambia. He said the fact that they had managed to stay in Malawi for such a long time meant to him that they were where they belong.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation tried but failed to make an appointment with Zambian President Frederick Chiluba to discuss the issue when he paid a four-day visit to Malawi recently.

Chinula and Banda who left their families and property in Zambia say they are suffering in Malawi because they have no proper means of earning a living. They said that they now depend on well-wishers and relatives for their survival.

7. MALAWI-MOZAMBIQUE LAKE TRANSPORT ON THE CARDS

Malawi wants to introduce lake services on Lake Malawi between its ports and those on the Mozambican side.

If an agreement is signed between Malawi Lake Services Limited and its Mozambican counterpart, vessels owned by the two companies will be able to call at the other countryís ports on a reciprocal basis. MLS Director, Austin Msowoya, said the move to introduce the service was first mooted by the Malawi government about three years ago when Malawi signed a similar agreement with Tanzania Lake Service Corporation.

The same idea was suggested to the Mozambican government and their Minister of Transport expressed interest. Mozambique has, however, not provided feedback as to its latest position on the issue.

Msowoya said Mozambique does not presently have a single ship on the lake so, should the deal be signed, it will initially be to Malawi's advantage.

8. BOY INJURED BY GRENADE

An eight year old boy from Makheta, a poor neighbourhood in Blantyre, escaped death on March 5 when a hand grenade he was playing with exploded in his hands, severely injuring him. Lamison Gama, who was later admitted to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital is being treated for multiple injuries.

Relatives said the boy had found the grenade and was playing with it with friends. They said the grenade exploded when he pulled the safety pin. Fortunately for the others, they were some distance from Gama when the accident took place and were not injured.

It is not known from where the grenade came.

9. MALAWI BEATS BOTSWANA

Malawi national soccer team has beaten Botswana 4-1 in their Africa Cup Group Seven encounter in Gaborone. With this win, Malawi now has 6 points, one point behind Zambia who are leading in the group.

Both Malawi and Zambia have three games on hand. Malawi has one away game against Zambia while the other two will be played in Blantyre. Zambia was recently held to a barren draw with unfancied Mauritius in the latter's backyard.

************************************************************************** From: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk (Africa_news Network) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 10:14:23 +0100 Subject: MALAWI NEWS ONLINE #25 Message-ID: <1262350302.20004438@inform-bbs.dk>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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