Nice pledges to engender voter civic education

BY MANDY PONDANI

National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) has said it is geared to conduct voter civic education which is gender responsive in order to encourage women to take part in political affairs of the country as the 2014 polls draw closer.

Program Manager for the organization Gray Kalindekafe said this on Friday in Lilongwe upon arrival from Kenya where he attended a number of meetings organized by United Nations Women Malawi in collaboration with their Kenyan counterparts.

“It comes out clear that mere lobbying for women’s involvement in politics is not enough if messages spread across to people are void of the element of gender equality,” he said.

Kalindekafe pointed out that accredited voter civic education providers have a crucial role to play in order to ensure that there is a sense of balance in the way males and females attain political positions.

“NICE is a grassroots organization, we have structures right in all rural communities and we hope to utilize them to get more women involved in issues of national interest including politics,” Kalindekafe added.

chazama

 

Chairperson for parliament’s women caucus Cecilia Chazama asked organizations lobbying for women’s participation in politics to bear in mind of the financial constraints faced by Malawian women.

“The  fact of the matter is most women in our country have the motivation to serve their communities in various portfolios but money remains a problem, you are aware that campaigns, nominations and many other requirements all need money,” she explained.

For this reason Chazama advised that Malawi as a country should pay attention to women’s economic empowerment.

“Organizations can also help in securing financial resources to drive campaigns for women. As aspirants women fail to produce materials like posters, t-shirts and brochures on their own and yet they have the potential to deliver once given the chance,” she added.

Chazama also asked stakeholders on the women political empowerment project to put retention as one of the priority agendas.

“We can all make noise on how to help women secure positions in politics as councilors and members of parliament but it would still remain a mission unaccomplished if we fail to support the already elected women return their seats,” Chazama narrated.

In the 2004 general elections 24 women made it to the national assembly but only four of them were able to make it back to the August house during the 2009 polls.

 As the country prepares for next year’s tripartite polls Chazama said Malawi can seize the opportunity by encouraging more women to contest as ward councilors in order to meet the two-thirds majority rule for decision making positions.

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Mwalwanda, Mwenifumbo feud spills to Northwest constituency

New reports indicate the boundary disagreements rocking Karonga Central and North West constituencies are emanating from the political rivalry between central parliamentarian Cornelius Mwalwanda and his predecessor Frank Mwenifumbo.

Speaking in an interview after a voter sensitization meeting he conducted at Nthola Primary School Du Mhango a parliamentary aspirant in the area said that the confusion rocking people of Kasote and neighbouring villages are an overflow of the tension in Karonga Central Constituency.

Mhango who is also in the National Executive Committee of the ruling People’s Party (PP) just like Mwalwanda and Mwenifumbo bemoaned the tension between his counterparts that it is negatively affecting the strength of the party in his area.

“Chiefs of the concerned villages have confided in me that it was not their intention to migrate to the central constituency because they are aware they belong to Karonga North-West, rather they claim that during the 2009 elections Mwenifumbo campaigned in this area and urged them to go and vote at Mwenilondo School which belongs to Karonga Central,” Mhango explained.

Testifying to the allegation, representative for Village Headman Nsadala who opted for anonymity said during the previous election Mwenifumbo who doubles as PP’s provincial chairperson for the north frequented Kasote, Mangweo and Nsadala villages with handouts in order to persuade people to go and vote for him in the neighbouring central constituency.

Mwenifumbo who represented Karonga Central in the August house for two consecutive terms before losing to Mwalwanda during the 2009 elections enjoys support in Lwesha and Mwenilondo that has fewer people as compared to Mlare and Lupembe, which are Mwalwanda’s strongholds.

During the meeting, it was revealed that due to Mwenifumbo’s downfall incumbent parliamentarian for Karonga North West Beatrice Nankhonde who is his wife has since neglected the three villages because she feels they let her husband down.

“For this reason we feel cheated and exploited, as local people we do not know who to trust that is why we might look defiant to other quarters and yet we are not,” narrated the representative.

Mhango however urged the villagers to forget the past and stick to the regulations of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) by registering and voting at their designated polling center.

He said as a son of the area he is aware of the challenges people of the area face in terms of development due to boundary misunderstandings, citing it was the reason is why he pushed for Nthola Primary School to be registered as a polling center.  

“I am calling on all people of Kasote, Nsadala and Mangweu villages to utilize the new polling center because if they don’t it risks closure by the electoral body thus rendering all our efforts to get it open useless,” Mhango explained.

Mhango further told the gathering that the blame game going on cannot help matters as such he advised the people to concentrate on next year’s tripartite elections so that they elect leaders who will serve them whole-heartedly.

Lately, people of the three villages told the media that they will not take part in next years’ election should MEC insist they belong to Karonga North West Constituency because members of parliament from tghere have been a disappointment to them.

However, National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) has pledged to work in partnership with MEC officials in order to ensure that the differences existing are resolved amicably.

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Teachers skipping classes due to phone network problem

Teachers skipping classes due to phone network problem

Lack of mobile phone network coverage in the area of Group Village Headman (GHV) Mwandambo in Karonga District is posing threat to education progress in the area as teachers skip lessons in order to travel to Songwe boarder to make phone calls. 

According to GVH Mwandambo, Ngana area is covered by Tanzanian mobile phone networks whose terms of condition of service and tariffs do not favor Malawians living in the border villages.

 For this reason, the chief said civil servants living in the area find work difficult because of communication problems.

Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, the chief said of all sectors affected, the education sector is the worst hit because children are left idle when their teachers travel to the boarder to make phone calls because it is where Malawian mobile phone networks are covered.

 “I am calling on Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) and Airtel to consider extending network coverage to my area because as it stands pupils at primary schools in my area are not getting adequate education because their teachers are forced to travel to the Songwe boarder to get in touch with various people,” said Mwandambo.

He said this is affecting students’ performance in Primary Schools Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE) because teachers do not complete syllabi in time. 

The chief however said he does not blame the teachers for the conduct because he realizes that communication plays a vital role in every person’s life especially in this digital age.

“I do not stand to condemn the teachers’ conduct because I know that there are other crucial matters that indeed require them to make phone calls for example enquiries about salaries  and they have no choice but to skip classes and get to the boarder to do that,” Mwandambo explained.

The area of GVH Mwandambo has Ngisi, Ngana, Kalulu and Muwisi primary school with over 800 pupils.

Responding to the concern, the office of Director of Planning and Development (DPD) at Karonga District Council said it is aware of the challenge and requests to TNM and Airtel were sent sometime back and the office is waiting for feedback.

Speaking on behalf of the DPD Peter Nyirenda asked the villagers to be patient because taking network coverage to an area is not a single day task.

“Our office understands the pain people of Ngana are going through but they should understand that it takes a number of logistical issues to be considered before network towers are installed, so we ask them to remain calm,” Nyirenda said.

“We are sure TNM and Airtel too are not happy to be losing customers to their Tanzanian counterparts and we believe they will come back to our office shortly so that we can help our friends in Ngana,” he added.

Songwe boarder lies 20 Kilometers from the headquarters of GVH Mwandambo.

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Government faulted on poor health services

Government faulted on poor health services

most women are at health risk

People of group Village Headman Chisi in the northern district of Karonga have blamed government for neglecting their lives due to its failure to construct a health clinic in the area.

This came out during an interface meeting conducted by the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) on Thursday, where the people said the delay by government to build for them an accessible health facility shows that government does not care about their health.

“Our plea for a hospital has been long overdue. Reaching this far we are left with questions as to whether government officials ever consider us as Malawians at all,” explained Lyson Chikwera a member of the Village Development Committee.

Chikwera added that responses from government officials has always been negative as regards to when the sought for facility would be built.

Taking his turn Group Village Headman Chisi said it would do them good if government came in the open and told them it has failed to construct the facility rather than bringing empty promises to the people repeatedly.

“My people are tired of these promises so it is better for the health officials to come straight to us and explain that they have failed to help us so that we can sit back and relax instead of waiting for something which will never come to pass,” He explained.

The chief added that they feel government is treating them as if they are not legitimate Malawians.

“I want to remind government that we too are Malawians regardless that we are living in the remote areas and we deserve good health just like our colleagues in the cities and towns,” said the chief.

Responding to the concerns, assistant administrator at Karonga District Health Office (DHO) Wazingwa Munthnali said his offices is committed to providing quality health services to people of Chisi, that is why it deployed a Health Surveyor earlier this year to help fill the gap that existed in the healthy sector of the area.

He also reminded the people that there are issues that his office can handle and others that need approval from Capital Hill, as such he asked them to exercise a little more patience because a proposal for a clinic was sent to Ministry of Health headquarters long time ago.

With a population of more than 10,000 Chisi catchment area has Chikutu Health post, which currently carries out under-five clinic only with adults left to seek medical help from Kaporo or Msumbe Health Centers which are 33 and 20 kilometers away from Chisi respectively.

During the meeting it was revealed that in the last three months ten people have died on the way to either of the two health centers.

Evangelical Association of Malawi’s  HIV-Program Officer for the north Matchona Phiri said his organization has the welfare of people at heart as such it strives to create a platform where local communities can interact with decision makers in various government departments so that people are able to assess progress on issues affecting them.

The organization is carrying out a three-year project, which aims at promoting improved access to adequate social and health care services of 4,200 vulnerable households in the areas of Paramount Chief Kyungu, Traditional Authority Kilipula and Mwakawoko in Karonga district.

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Political parties should not breed HIV/AIDS

Kachali addressing party zealots

State Vice President Khumbo Kachali has warned against party functions including rallies, which end late in the evening saying they are a catalyst for high spread of HIV and AIDS among men and women.

In a series of rallies he conducted in the Northern Region over the weekend, the second citizen said when party functions fail to end in good time; it is a temptation to party loyalists who might indulge in unprotected sexual behavior, which might lead them into contracting the deadly virus.

“It is an open secret that HIV is spreading at an alarming rate and I am afraid that political activities might be that other vehicle contributing to that, so I want us all including opposition parties to be on the lookout,” said Kachali.

He advised party authorities to be cautious of the manner in which party activities are conducted so that moral values among party followers continue to be upheld.

“To all Malawians let us be responsible citizens, we should show our loyalty to our various political parties while keeping in mind of the responsibilities lying ahead of us at our families, communities as well as the nation at large,” Kachali advised.

During the political rallies, he addressed consecutively in Karonga and Chitipa the second citizen asked women and girls to develop a tendency to move in groups of three or more when returning from political party activities saying this might in a way reduce cases of rape and defilement in the country.

CHRR to sensitize communities to endorse citizen manifestos

MANDY PONDANI
MEC STRINGER
Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) has said as part of its voter and civic education tasks it plans to sensitize community members to endorse what it is calling ‘citizen manifestos’ which should be presented to shadow candidates prior to tripartite polls to be held next year.

According to CHRR’s Information and Communications Officer Luke Tembo, in a citizen manifesto community members will lay down development projects they are looking for in their areas in return they will engage aspirants on how they intend to implement such projects if voted into power.
“We are implementing what we are calling issue based voter civic education and citizen manifestos are one of the approaches we are employing so far,” Tembo explained.

Speaking during a training workshop for Community Based Educators in Karonga, Tembo said after scrutinizing the projects wished for by people in the citizen manifesto, aspiring councilors and members of parliament will be signing a Memorandum of Undertaking (MOU) with the people if they feel they have the ability to facilitate the development work for the people once in office.

“Through this arrangement we wish to empower citizens so that they will be able to follow up with elected office bearers in cases where they are failing to deliver on issues agreed upon in the MOUs,” Tembo elaborated.

On the other hand, Tembo was quick to say that issue based voter civic education will enable voters to distinguish development-oriented aspirants from mere orators.

As an accredited civic and voter education provider CHRR says it will also conduct political debates where political candidates will face it off in tackling issues affecting people on the ground.
Through such activities, the organization says it will be able to champion for violence free campaigns since candidates will be compelled to focus on issues when selling their manifestos to the people rather than attacking personalities as it has been in the past.

One of the participants at the training Lucy Sibangwe said the training would go a long way in easing her work of schooling people on the forthcoming tripartite polls.

“We have also been enlightened on better ways of campaigning which we will champion in our respective duty stations above all we are better equipped with skills on how to engage people with aspirants in their areas,” Sibangwe explained.

With funding from National Development institute, (NDI) CHRR will run the issue based civic and voter civic education project for a year and will be implemented in Karonga, Mangochi and Dedza districts.
The project seeks to address voter apathy, election related violence and minimize null and void votes during the forthcoming tripartite polls among others.

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