Category: Government Policy

Hundreds of people in Malawi held protests Tuesday in the commercial capital Blantyre against the high cost of living and unemployment saying both have become unbearable during the current administration.

The civil society group known as Human Rights Ambassadors led the protests that attracted a heavy police presence.

Among other issues, the protesters accused current President Lazarus Chakwera of failing to fulfill promises he made during the campaign period last year.

Steve Chimwaza led the protests.

“They promised a lot; they promised rule of law, they promised democracy, they promised 1 million jobs,” Chimwaza said. “They promised cheap driving licenses and passports, nothing is there.”

People in Malawi have been extremely frustrated because of the skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services.

Last month, the government increased the price of fuel by more than 20%, which then caused price hikes for other commodities.

The government blamed the price hikes on the impact of COVID-19 and also the global increase in fuel prices.

But Chimwaza says Malawians will not accept any excuses.

“I would like to take you back. It is Mr. President himself who told Malawians in vernacular language [during the campaign period] that if he fails in two years he will resign,” Chimwaza said. “He gave a time frame, but [to this] date, even 100,000 people have not even [been] employed.”

Mary Nkhata was among the women who joined the protests.

She said she already receives a low monthly salary and the recent price hikes in goods and services have led to her failing to pay school fees for her children. She said even buying soap now is becoming a problem.

However, President Chakwera said recently that it is not realistic to expect his administration to fulfill all campaign promises within one year.

Mustapha Hussein is a political science lecturer at the University of Malawi.

He says the protesters’ grievances are justified.

“There is a limit to which the situation can be blamed to COVID, because COVID is a global pandemic,” Hussein said. “And there are some countries that seem to be progressing amidst COVID. So, government must take the responsibility on unfulfilled promises.”

In their petition, the protesters are calling for the resignation of President Chakwera, his Vice President Saulos Chilima, National Assembly Speaker Gotani Hara, and leader of opposition, Kondwani Nankhumwa, if they fail to address their grievances.

Blantyre City Authorities received the petition from the protesters and promised to deliver it to the authorities for feedback.

Source: Voice of America

ARUSHA (Tanzania), The African Tourism Board (ATB) has honoured Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan with the Continental Tourism Award for her contribution to the country’s tourism sector.

ATB, mandated to promote and facilitate tourism growth and development across the continent, said it was impressed by President Hassan’s unwavering commitment to the promotion of tourism in Tanzania.

Speaking at the opening of the first East African Community (EAC) regional tourism expo (EARTE) in the northern city of Arusha, Cuthbert Ncube, the ATB Executive Chairman, said the Tanzanian leader ensured that the tourism industry rebounded amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tanzania becomes the first country within the EAC region to host the East African regional tourism expo. The expo aims at creating awareness on tourism investment opportunities and promoting EAC as a single tourism destination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

MORE than 130 Ethiopian migrants have been repatriated from Malawi after failed attempts to reach South Africa this year.

They had been in detention for being in Malawi illegally as they waited sought to proceed to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional economic powerhouse.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) facilitated the return of 12 of these individuals this week.

Among the returnees were boys and men aged between 15 and 45.

Authorities in Malawi intercepted them in October 2020 and March 2021.

The first batch of migrants arrived back in Ethiopia on September 8, consisting of 122 migrants.

Malawi is on what is called the Southern Migration Route.

Mainly Ethiopian migrants use it to travel to Southern Africa to find improved economic opportunities.

This overland route takes them through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe or Mozambique and eventually South Africa, for many.

IOM reports that arrest by the authorities is among the risks faced by migrants on this route.

Those detained may stand months, and even years in detention, on allegations of breaching immigration regulations.

Mpilo Nkomo, Chief of Mission of IOM in Malawi, said movement restrictions and border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic were forcing migrants to utilize the services of smugglers.

The 134 returnees have been provided with post-arrival support in the form of psycho-social and orientation counselling as well onward transportation to their communities of origin.

Social workers from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs has assisted the children track their families.

Reintegration support in the form of assistance in enrolling for vocational educational or the allocation of a grant to establish a small business will be offered.

Children qualify for assistance enabling them to return to school. Their families are to be assisted with livelihoods support.

Source: CAJ News Agency

On Wednesday, 7 October, 2021 the Malawi Electoral Commission presented reports for the Tripartite Elections held on 21 May 2019 and Fresh Presidential Elections held on 23 June, 2020 to the State President, Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.

In his presentation remarks, MEC Chairman, Justice Dr Chifundo Kachale said although the Commission was an independent institution, it had a duty to be accountable on how it conducted or discharged its functions.

“The reports that the Commission is presenting to you, Your Excellency, give details and an account on the management of the entire process of two elections starting from voter registration up to results management and announcement,” he said.

Justice Kachale reaffirmed the commitment of the Commission towards holding elections that are free, fair and credible to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

“The Commission will remain impartial, nonpartisan and professional in the execution of its mandate,” he stated.

The MEC Chairman said there have been by-elections in 13 constituencies and five wards since May 2019 and none of these by-elections have been successfully challenged in court.

The MEC chairman also expressed gratefulness to the government for being responsive and providing financial support timely for running electoral activities.

“The country is facing challenges especially with the Covid-19 pandemic which has put so much stress to the economy. However, despite the pressure that has been exerted on the economy the government has always gleaned resources to ensure that electoral activities are implemented on time. We are very grateful for this,” he said.

In his remarks, State President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera assured the Commission of the government support in terms of finances and resources for it to continue discharging its mandate.

The State President also commended the Commission for its efforts in the past 18 months in correcting constitutional irregularities experienced in past elections.

“When an institution acts independently, follows the law to deliver its mandate, Malawians will start to develop trust in it and that does not only consolidate our democracy but also institutional trust.

The President urged the Commission to follow up on its officers that neglect or abuse their mandate in the course of duty.

Section 6(1) of the Electoral Commission Act says “Every individual member and employee of the Commission shall perform the functions and exercise the powers provided for in this Act independently of the direction or interference of:

• any public office;

• any organ of the Government;

• any political party;

• any candidate; or

• any person whosoever or organization whatsoever:

Provided that for the purpose only of accountability the Commission shall be answerable, and report directly, to the President on the overall fulfilment of the functions and powers of the Commission.

Source: Malawi Electoral Commission

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered sign language to be used on all television stations and at official functions, and to be recognized as a national language.

Chakwera said he was concerned with challenges deaf people in the country face largely because of a lack of sign language interpreters.

“We must stop thinking of sign language as a favor to deaf people,” he said. “That kind of condescension has no place in this new Malawi. We need a re-education of our minds to regard sign language as a human right.”

Chakwera said every person has a right to acquire language from the moment of birth, including sign language for people born with hearing impairments.

“In this new Malawi, we want the use of sign language to be adopted everywhere for every function and by every institution,” he said.

Chakwera said his administration will work with the Malawi National Association of the Deaf, MANAD, to make life easier for the country’s 400,000 sign language users.

“It is because of this commitment that we are supporting the reproduction of the first ever Malawian sign language dictionary developed by MANAD to help harmonize the existing sign languages in Malawi into one sign language,” he said.

Chimwemwe Kamkwamba, a partially deaf student at Exploits University in Lilongwe, said youths with hearing difficulties are denied loans to start their businesses.

“We are excluded because they feel like we cannot pay back, which is not a right thing because we are also persons,” she said. “We are also people with needs. We are also people who need to be somewhere. And to be denied that, we (are) being denied our right to do what we believe we can do.”

Stephano Maneya, chairperson for the Malawi National Association of the Deaf, said another challenge is there is only one secondary school for deaf learners in Malawi.

“So, our plea is that government should help us with special secondary schools for the deaf so that after these learners who do better from primary school, they should also get specialized support in special secondary schools and be able to excel with their education,” he said through an interpreter.

Chakwera said his government will look into that, but will first focus on training more people who can use sign language in government offices. Malawi currently has five professional sign language interpreters.

Source: Voice of America

WASHINGTON – U.S. warnings to Russian President Vladimir Putin over shielding cybercriminals holed up in Russia appear to have made little impact, according to top U.S. law enforcement and cyber officials.

“There is no indication that the Russian government has taken action to crack down on ransomware actors that are operating in the permissive environment that they’ve created there,” Paul Abbate, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Tuesday at an intelligence summit just outside Washington.

“We’ve asked for help and cooperation with those who we know are in Russia, who we have indictments against, and we’ve seen no action,” Abbate said. “So, I would say that nothing’s changed in that regard.”

U.S. President Joe Biden has twice called on the Russian leader to take action against cybercriminals operating out of Russia — first at a summit in June in Geneva and again in a phone call a month later.

“I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it’s not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is,” Biden told reporters following the July phone call.

Since the initial talks, senior White House officials have noted a decrease in ransomware attacks, though they have been hesitant to attribute the change to any action by Moscow.

“The present absence of criminal activity should not be confused with solid policing,” U.S. National Cyber Director Chris Inglis told an audience later Tuesday.

“There’s still a monetary incentive and possibly a geopolitical incentive to allow that to come back,” he said, pushing back against calls for the U.S. to go on the offensive.

“There is a sense that we can perhaps fire some cyber bullets and kind of shoot our way out of this. That will be useful in certain circumstances if we have a clear shot at a cyber aggressor and it could take them offline,” Inglis said. “That’s not going to affect the leadership that allows this to happen.”

“We have to figure out what is it that matters to Putin and the oligarchs and how do we change their decision calculus,” he added.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any role in a series of ransomware and cyberattacks against U.S. companies and infrastructure.

And following the Biden-Putin call in July, it issued a statement supporting collaboration on cybersecurity, calling for such efforts to “be permanent, professional and nonpoliticized and should be conducted via special communication channels … and with respect to international law.”

The U.S. blames Russia or Russian-based cyber actors for a series of high-profile hacks and ransomware attacks, including the December 2020 hack of SolarWinds, a U.S.-based software management company, and for the May 7 ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline operator in the U.S. 

U.S. officials have blamed the GRU for targeting the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 elections and the pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines against the coronavirus. 

Asked Tuesday whether the U.S. has reached the point where it is ready to take action against Russia, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command deferred to the White House.

“That’s obviously for the president to decide,” CYBERCOM’s General Paul Nakasone said. “But those options certainly will be provided for his consideration.”

Source: Voice of America