Govt to blame for not
implementing budget—opposition
By Emmanuel Luciano
The opposition says government failure to implement the 2006/07 budget because of poor planning and instability in the civil service.
The opposition’s comments come in the wake of Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn) revelations that government had not fully implemented the budget’s Development Account, because of what it attributed to as low absorption capacity in the government civil service, a thing that led to ministries and government departments to under-spend.
But UDF’s Economic Advisor Friday Jumbe said some government departments lacked budget implementation capacity because there was no staff to do the work.
“It’s is justifiable to say that certain departments lack implementation capacity. For instance government was supposed to build four secondary schools in areas like Dedza and Blantyre, but how can they implement projects when they keep on moving staff from one ministry to another?” Jumbe asked.
The UDF Economic Advisor also said he was not satisfied with the way the entire 2006/07 budget was implemented.
“I am not satisfied with the way we have handled this budget. We have not made available drugs in our hospitals when money was allocated. I am not talking about Nac drugs which are funded by the donors here.
“We have also not been able to provide teaching and learning materials and they only tendered for those materials last month. The University of Malawi was given money to repair its decaying infrastructure but up to now nothing has been done. True, there are administrative hiccups, donors are bureaucratic but that is no excuse” he said.
He, however, said the government should not sit on the laurels of bringing fiscal discipline but should do more for its citizens.
“They say they have brought fiscal discipline, inflation rate has gone down, debt has been cancelled but the biggest challenge this government faces is transforming that economic growth to economic well-being of its citizenry,” he said.
Peoples Progressive Movement’s vice president Mark Katsonga said civil servants’ low absorption capacity was no excuse for government’s failure to implement the budget.
“The budget is prepared by government not parliament and it should be able to implement it. Civil servants have been there ever since. But how many times have they transferred principal secretaries? How many times have they unjustifiably fired civil servants? It is the politicians in government’s fault because the few remaining performers are being transferred before they are settled and know their jobs.
“What I know is that the period for one to settle is three months for junior officers and six months for directors and Principal Secretaries yet most of the PSs have stayed there for less than three months. We need stability in the civil service. We need proper planning,” Katsonga said.
MCP vice president Nicholas Dausi said government should not put in the budget things that cannot be implemented.
“It is government that does the allocation, the tabulation and the planning of the budget. If they say they will drill 400 boreholes, build so many schools if they can’t do that then why put that in the budget,” said Dausi.
But Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba said it was wrong for the opposition to think that projects could be done within one financial year.
“The issue of developmental projects is an on going thing. To say that all projects can be implemented within one financial year is madness. This should be coming from those who have never been in government like Aford or PPM but if it is coming from UDF then it is unfortunate,” Ntaba said.
Ntaba said government has the capacity to implement the budget as evidenced in the fact that there I always an element of over-expenditure.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Billiiti's review
The case of ‘child musician’ and
Dyson Billiati’s ‘Timange Chimodzi’
Reviewed by Emmanuel Luciano
The story of the teenager musician Dyson Billiati’s rise to stardom has been written again and again. That his music is no different to that of the majority of the country’s most revered of musicians is common knowledge.
Dyson’s music career is an interesting one; it resurrected in some quarters the debate that Millela Nkhoma, a teenager who at one time played with Alleluya Band, precipitated: ‘What qualifies one to be called a musician.’ Is there a prescribed age which everyone must reach before they are called musicians? Is it the maturity with which one handles their work of art?
When some ‘concerned citizens’ chided Millela Nkhoma for ‘jeopardising her studies’ with her music exploits one thing that came out clearly from that furore was that there are different views on what should be the rightful time for one to enter into music.
But in art somebody’s age doesn’t mean anything. Being young does not necessarily mean you cannot tackle larger than life issues. In art you can be a grown up in spite of your age. Dyson would not have made a name for himself had he waited until he reached adulthood for him to launch his music career. Perhaps the drive he has for music would have wilted by the time he reached adulthood.
The teenager’s debut album Dziko was testimony that he sees the world through the eyes of somebody who has been on earth for so many years. And his latest album Timange Chimodzi demonstrates more maturity.
In David Banda he censures non government organisations that were in the forefront trying to prevent Madonna from adopting baby David: Mukanakhala inu mukadasangalala ndi donation/…David wakweza mbendela ya Malawi/…musiyeni mwana watola chikwama. Dyson is not too young not to notice the apparent political impasse present in the country. In the title-track Timange Chimodzi he calls upon the UDF, DPP, MCP and Aford to work together for the good of the nation. Departing from his usual pluck-pluck kind of reggae, in Njala Yavuta he aims his wrath at traditional chiefs, who were selling fertiliser coupons denying the deserving poor a chance.
The only problem ‘child artists’ have is demonstrated when it comes to issues of believability. In this case one might ask: what authority does this child have to talk about love like in Babie Come Back, when he knows nothing about love? But the voice of reason in songs does not necessarily reflect the life of the musician himself; therefore, the artist has mandate to comment on any topic. The artist has potential to become a bigtime one but he needs somebody guide him so that his talent is properly nurtured his talent to avoid him becoming another case of promising talent never exploited. There is nothing like a child musician as such he needs to improve on his lyrics. You wouldn’t want to listen to the hush- hush kind of songs all day.
The album is available for sale at O.G. Issa
Dyson Billiati’s ‘Timange Chimodzi’
Reviewed by Emmanuel Luciano
The story of the teenager musician Dyson Billiati’s rise to stardom has been written again and again. That his music is no different to that of the majority of the country’s most revered of musicians is common knowledge.
Dyson’s music career is an interesting one; it resurrected in some quarters the debate that Millela Nkhoma, a teenager who at one time played with Alleluya Band, precipitated: ‘What qualifies one to be called a musician.’ Is there a prescribed age which everyone must reach before they are called musicians? Is it the maturity with which one handles their work of art?
When some ‘concerned citizens’ chided Millela Nkhoma for ‘jeopardising her studies’ with her music exploits one thing that came out clearly from that furore was that there are different views on what should be the rightful time for one to enter into music.
But in art somebody’s age doesn’t mean anything. Being young does not necessarily mean you cannot tackle larger than life issues. In art you can be a grown up in spite of your age. Dyson would not have made a name for himself had he waited until he reached adulthood for him to launch his music career. Perhaps the drive he has for music would have wilted by the time he reached adulthood.
The teenager’s debut album Dziko was testimony that he sees the world through the eyes of somebody who has been on earth for so many years. And his latest album Timange Chimodzi demonstrates more maturity.
In David Banda he censures non government organisations that were in the forefront trying to prevent Madonna from adopting baby David: Mukanakhala inu mukadasangalala ndi donation/…David wakweza mbendela ya Malawi/…musiyeni mwana watola chikwama. Dyson is not too young not to notice the apparent political impasse present in the country. In the title-track Timange Chimodzi he calls upon the UDF, DPP, MCP and Aford to work together for the good of the nation. Departing from his usual pluck-pluck kind of reggae, in Njala Yavuta he aims his wrath at traditional chiefs, who were selling fertiliser coupons denying the deserving poor a chance.
The only problem ‘child artists’ have is demonstrated when it comes to issues of believability. In this case one might ask: what authority does this child have to talk about love like in Babie Come Back, when he knows nothing about love? But the voice of reason in songs does not necessarily reflect the life of the musician himself; therefore, the artist has mandate to comment on any topic. The artist has potential to become a bigtime one but he needs somebody guide him so that his talent is properly nurtured his talent to avoid him becoming another case of promising talent never exploited. There is nothing like a child musician as such he needs to improve on his lyrics. You wouldn’t want to listen to the hush- hush kind of songs all day.
The album is available for sale at O.G. Issa
Skeffa Chimoto's review
Skeffa’s sings about life in ‘Nabola Moyo’
Reviewed by: Emmanuel Luciano
Lawrence Mbenjere’s Sewere is topping music sales in the country followed by Skeffa Chimoto’s Nabola Moyo. At least we know who Mbenjere is and how he has reached this far in music. But Skeffa Chimoto? I had not heard of the guy neither were I aware of his music. The only time I learnt that there was Skeffa Chimoto was when I discovered that his album was competing fairly with Mbenjere’s Sewere on the music market.
Interestingly, the ten-track Nabola Moyo is not the artist’s debut album, his first attempt to venture into music culminated in Wekha, an album, which by the artist’s own admission, was a flop. It was just as good as the album never existed at all.
Listening to Nabola Moyo, one might be tempted to say that the 25-year-old’s willpower to turn one’s failures into successes has paid dividends.
You get the impression that this time around the artist, who comes from Nkhotakota but stays in Lilongwe, got right everything he initially got wrong in Wekha. This time around he decided to concentrate on the music that would appeal to the emotions of many people; music that explores the intricacies of day to day life.
The strength of the album dwells in the creatively woven and consummate vocals. But that does not mean the sounds are badly mixed. In Chabodza, he tackles the vanity of love that is stirred by money in a rhythm that is more of Mozambican Passada but in vocals that would also remind one of Albert Khoza rendition of Akunenepa Nako.
In Musiyeni, he employs a Balaka reggae beat though in the manner that one would suggest it is Gift Fumulani of Chileka who is behind the microphone not Skeffa. Musiyeni is also the song that carries the message that would make those in misery happy. It stresses the fact that God does not segregate against anyone whether rich or poor, leader or follower.
The ultimate reggae song Chikondi was ordinarily handled. The song brings some kind of imbalance as it reduces the strength of the lyrics that make the album outstanding. The artist should have done better other than coming up with a song that every Jim and Jack would have conceived. But when all is said and done, those who are rushing for the copies of Nabola Moyo must have noted how good the artist is for them to fork out their money for a copy or two.
Other tracks in the album include a love song Usamasowe, Nabola Moyo the title-track, wedding song Tiye Darling and Ulesi.
Recorded and mixed at Studio Eclypse in Lilongwe, the album is available at O.G. Issa and other music outlets in the country.
Reviewed by: Emmanuel Luciano
Lawrence Mbenjere’s Sewere is topping music sales in the country followed by Skeffa Chimoto’s Nabola Moyo. At least we know who Mbenjere is and how he has reached this far in music. But Skeffa Chimoto? I had not heard of the guy neither were I aware of his music. The only time I learnt that there was Skeffa Chimoto was when I discovered that his album was competing fairly with Mbenjere’s Sewere on the music market.
Interestingly, the ten-track Nabola Moyo is not the artist’s debut album, his first attempt to venture into music culminated in Wekha, an album, which by the artist’s own admission, was a flop. It was just as good as the album never existed at all.
Listening to Nabola Moyo, one might be tempted to say that the 25-year-old’s willpower to turn one’s failures into successes has paid dividends.
You get the impression that this time around the artist, who comes from Nkhotakota but stays in Lilongwe, got right everything he initially got wrong in Wekha. This time around he decided to concentrate on the music that would appeal to the emotions of many people; music that explores the intricacies of day to day life.
The strength of the album dwells in the creatively woven and consummate vocals. But that does not mean the sounds are badly mixed. In Chabodza, he tackles the vanity of love that is stirred by money in a rhythm that is more of Mozambican Passada but in vocals that would also remind one of Albert Khoza rendition of Akunenepa Nako.
In Musiyeni, he employs a Balaka reggae beat though in the manner that one would suggest it is Gift Fumulani of Chileka who is behind the microphone not Skeffa. Musiyeni is also the song that carries the message that would make those in misery happy. It stresses the fact that God does not segregate against anyone whether rich or poor, leader or follower.
The ultimate reggae song Chikondi was ordinarily handled. The song brings some kind of imbalance as it reduces the strength of the lyrics that make the album outstanding. The artist should have done better other than coming up with a song that every Jim and Jack would have conceived. But when all is said and done, those who are rushing for the copies of Nabola Moyo must have noted how good the artist is for them to fork out their money for a copy or two.
Other tracks in the album include a love song Usamasowe, Nabola Moyo the title-track, wedding song Tiye Darling and Ulesi.
Recorded and mixed at Studio Eclypse in Lilongwe, the album is available at O.G. Issa and other music outlets in the country.
Review of Mumaganiza bwanji
When everyone turns to music:
A look at ‘Mumaganiza Bwanji?’
Reviewed by Emmanuel Luciano
Every time a new artist is born, the artistic world rejoices because is also signifies the growth of the artistic realm in which the ‘fresh faces’ would be playing their trade. Of all the artistic fields one might catalogue, it is only the music field that is being flooded by the so-called ‘raw talent’.
Almost every Jim and Jack would want to become a musician because they saw their neighbour, friend, and brother, who had hitherto not played any instrument let alone have any background in music, making fortunes in music after cutting an album or two.
While it is for the good of the music industry that now and again there are new people who want to make it big joining the music industry, it becomes worrying to the same industry when it is always experimental artists--- who just want to make quick bucks----that are seen joining the industry other than people who have the passion for music.
The qualities of experimental artists are all there for everybody to see. They have nothing new to offer, they come up with a kind of music that you are likely to liken to some already established artist, thematically they have no substance and above all they do a substandard and hushed job just to get on to the market.
Lemuson Matemba’s debut 10-track album Mumaganiza Bwanji would help extrapolate the experimental-passionate artists’ dichotomy. Here is an artist who has released an album whose subject-matter is just too familiar. Basically the message in the album censures the society on infidelity, reminding it of the dangers of Aids. Kusasukwa kwa Mudzi with its beautiful instrumentation, is a song that paints a picture of the devastating nature of the disease: Matendawa a fika pa chimake/ ku school a phunzitsi kulibe.
The title-track Mumaganiza Bwanji is stylistically closer to Charles Nsaku while Tisakangane would be seen as another rendition of Chibade though with poor vocals. Zisinthe, a song whose title alone would raise the hopes of UDF supporters before disappointing them after listening to the entire song, has all the attributes of a well-rendered song with an empty message.
Done in local reggae, the album’s perceivable greatest weakness is its lack of cohesion. You have one song that is on high and all over sudden you encounter a song that is very much on low. The artist should have taken his time to polish his songs before rushing to the studio with them. He might not be an experimental artist but you get the impression that he belongs to that category if you follow his music. But good artists always prove critics wrong and this should spur the artist to improve both thematically and stylistically.
Realistically not all promising artists who delve into music come to realise their potential. Others, promising as they were, fade and stagnate with the passage of time while others go on to shake the world by making themselves real stars. Hopefully Matemba would one day become a big artist after all we are always learning daily.
A look at ‘Mumaganiza Bwanji?’
Reviewed by Emmanuel Luciano
Every time a new artist is born, the artistic world rejoices because is also signifies the growth of the artistic realm in which the ‘fresh faces’ would be playing their trade. Of all the artistic fields one might catalogue, it is only the music field that is being flooded by the so-called ‘raw talent’.
Almost every Jim and Jack would want to become a musician because they saw their neighbour, friend, and brother, who had hitherto not played any instrument let alone have any background in music, making fortunes in music after cutting an album or two.
While it is for the good of the music industry that now and again there are new people who want to make it big joining the music industry, it becomes worrying to the same industry when it is always experimental artists--- who just want to make quick bucks----that are seen joining the industry other than people who have the passion for music.
The qualities of experimental artists are all there for everybody to see. They have nothing new to offer, they come up with a kind of music that you are likely to liken to some already established artist, thematically they have no substance and above all they do a substandard and hushed job just to get on to the market.
Lemuson Matemba’s debut 10-track album Mumaganiza Bwanji would help extrapolate the experimental-passionate artists’ dichotomy. Here is an artist who has released an album whose subject-matter is just too familiar. Basically the message in the album censures the society on infidelity, reminding it of the dangers of Aids. Kusasukwa kwa Mudzi with its beautiful instrumentation, is a song that paints a picture of the devastating nature of the disease: Matendawa a fika pa chimake/ ku school a phunzitsi kulibe.
The title-track Mumaganiza Bwanji is stylistically closer to Charles Nsaku while Tisakangane would be seen as another rendition of Chibade though with poor vocals. Zisinthe, a song whose title alone would raise the hopes of UDF supporters before disappointing them after listening to the entire song, has all the attributes of a well-rendered song with an empty message.
Done in local reggae, the album’s perceivable greatest weakness is its lack of cohesion. You have one song that is on high and all over sudden you encounter a song that is very much on low. The artist should have taken his time to polish his songs before rushing to the studio with them. He might not be an experimental artist but you get the impression that he belongs to that category if you follow his music. But good artists always prove critics wrong and this should spur the artist to improve both thematically and stylistically.
Realistically not all promising artists who delve into music come to realise their potential. Others, promising as they were, fade and stagnate with the passage of time while others go on to shake the world by making themselves real stars. Hopefully Matemba would one day become a big artist after all we are always learning daily.
Review of Favoured Sisters
Favoured Sisters’s praise songs in Kulambila 1
Reviewed by Emmanuel Luciano
The name Favoured Sisters would anger those who subscribe to the notion that God is all loving. The all loving God does not discriminate against anybody as He treats everyone equally. The case of having the selected few, therefore, does not exist in the concept of the ‘all loving God’.
But the Gospel Duo of Mwai Kalokesya and Martha Pingasa would tell you that their settling for the name of Favoured Sisters does not imply that the message in their music is also meant for the selected few. In their debut 10-ten track album Kulambila 1, the duo propagates a message of love, unquestioned faith and the need for people to be morally upright. These are also themes that the Bible accentuates.
Listening to Munandidziwa one gets the impression that the artists derived their name from this praise song, which gives reasons why God’s name ought to be exalted: …mutamandike mbuye ndinu nokha/.. mwandikondera mosayenera… .
From the general South African gospel beat in Moyo Wanga, and Munadziwa, the artists switch to reggae in I got the Reason and Chitileni Chifundo before shifting again to Rhumba of DRC in Yesu ndi Wanga.
The wavering of the artists from reggae to Rhumba is an indication that they are still experimenting on the sounds that should accompany their songs. They are yet to find their identity.
Thanthwe, the popular song that is lifted from the hymn book, is rendered in swinging rhythms of Jazz that beautifully pronounces the flute and percussions. But it is the vocals that betray the beauty of the instrumentation. The vocals do not match the pace of the seeming smooth Jazz beat. The artists should have done better on the vocals considering that the song is popular and has been done by various artists before.
Gospel might appear an easier genre to tackle because its themes are not as complex as those of secular. But the apparent simplicity of gospel subject-matter also makes it a difficult genre for artists who want to be different from the rest.
It is not easy to come up with lyrics that go beyond mere praise worshipping and chorusing. Most artist in gospel tend to give their listeners songs that were either lifted from the hymn book or were derived from the Bible, which explains why artists appear to repeat each other. The Favoured Sisters as new gospel entrants have a huge task of composing songs that would stand the test of time. Otherwise being ‘new kids on the block’ they have done fairly well to produce an album that has compelling sounds. They have potential to do well, hopefully their potentiality would be realised.
The album that was recorded at PC Studios is available for sale in all music outlets throughout the country.
Reviewed by Emmanuel Luciano
The name Favoured Sisters would anger those who subscribe to the notion that God is all loving. The all loving God does not discriminate against anybody as He treats everyone equally. The case of having the selected few, therefore, does not exist in the concept of the ‘all loving God’.
But the Gospel Duo of Mwai Kalokesya and Martha Pingasa would tell you that their settling for the name of Favoured Sisters does not imply that the message in their music is also meant for the selected few. In their debut 10-ten track album Kulambila 1, the duo propagates a message of love, unquestioned faith and the need for people to be morally upright. These are also themes that the Bible accentuates.
Listening to Munandidziwa one gets the impression that the artists derived their name from this praise song, which gives reasons why God’s name ought to be exalted: …mutamandike mbuye ndinu nokha/.. mwandikondera mosayenera… .
From the general South African gospel beat in Moyo Wanga, and Munadziwa, the artists switch to reggae in I got the Reason and Chitileni Chifundo before shifting again to Rhumba of DRC in Yesu ndi Wanga.
The wavering of the artists from reggae to Rhumba is an indication that they are still experimenting on the sounds that should accompany their songs. They are yet to find their identity.
Thanthwe, the popular song that is lifted from the hymn book, is rendered in swinging rhythms of Jazz that beautifully pronounces the flute and percussions. But it is the vocals that betray the beauty of the instrumentation. The vocals do not match the pace of the seeming smooth Jazz beat. The artists should have done better on the vocals considering that the song is popular and has been done by various artists before.
Gospel might appear an easier genre to tackle because its themes are not as complex as those of secular. But the apparent simplicity of gospel subject-matter also makes it a difficult genre for artists who want to be different from the rest.
It is not easy to come up with lyrics that go beyond mere praise worshipping and chorusing. Most artist in gospel tend to give their listeners songs that were either lifted from the hymn book or were derived from the Bible, which explains why artists appear to repeat each other. The Favoured Sisters as new gospel entrants have a huge task of composing songs that would stand the test of time. Otherwise being ‘new kids on the block’ they have done fairly well to produce an album that has compelling sounds. They have potential to do well, hopefully their potentiality would be realised.
The album that was recorded at PC Studios is available for sale in all music outlets throughout the country.
From deforestation to nourishment: The tale of Bernard Madeya
By Emmanuel Luciano
THIS zoologist is very unlike most of his zoologist friends. He is not bothered about trying to discover new information about living things. He doesn’t conduct research on animals and you won’t see him dissecting animals either.
He doesn’t work in the zoo though he raises some chickens, rabbits and breeds some fish, too. You are likely to bump into him at Chibuku taverns collecting packets of the opaque beer when he is not tending plants in his orchard. He uses the packets to plant seeds of fruits he collects.
Ndirande-based Bernard Madeya is an India trained zoologist, who says he wants to make a difference with the seedlings from his orchard.
Madeya says he wants to change both the landscape of the country and the health of the orphans with the project he has embarked on.
He wants to help willing schools and orphanages to be food self-sufficient by establishing orchards at no cost at all.
This, according to Madeya, would not only make the children learn how to grow plants and raise food but also make them like their environment and see the need to conserve it.
“Children must be taught to love their environment and with this kind of project they will have a mentality to preserve trees. It does not end at producing food only,” says Madeya.
Feed The Children Malawi, formerly Cheshire Homes, is just a kilometre from Madeya’s orchard and home. The organisation that rehabilitates disabled children has already benefited from Madeya’s orchard.
The institution received an assortment of banana, paw-paw, Mexican apple, avocado pear, and mango fruit trees.
An orphanage in Chiwembe in the city of Blantyre has already expressed desire to have an orchard just as Feed the Children Malawi have done.
Born in 1961, Madeya left Malawi for Zimbabwe to live with his grand parents when he was just five years old because his parents had divorced. He was once conscripted in the army of a British colonial government of Ian Smith.
He got a scholarship to study zoology from India where he stayed for three years. He returned to Malawi in 2005 after the demise of his father to take over the control of Sigidi Art Technical School.
” When my father died in 2004, he left an art- oriented technical school where he was training youngsters to manufacture artifacts like curios. He would sell them in large quantities to countries like Botswana and South Africa. But that was encouraging deforestation.”
Bernard did not appreciate his father’s project and he decided to do something instead.
“I know the dangers of deforestation because, my father was not environment conscious and was illiterate but I want to be different and supportive,” says Madeya.
“The best gift one would give to orphans and school- going children is nutritious food, which would enable them to concentrate in whatever they do and also develop into productive citizens”
And to turn orphans into productive healthy citizens, Madeya says, he does not need to spend a lot.
“I can sort out the plants for my nursery. All what is required is that the school or an orphanage has to look after the plants. If they need tools or chemicals I can always assist.”
The scholarship he got to study zoology opened his eyes and motivated him to develop orchards, he says.
“My three years of training as a professional zoologist made me realise that you can’t talk about animals without talking about the environment they live in.”
The establishment of orchards in orphanages and schools would be a stepping stone towards the diversification of his initiative. This, he says, would generate the institutions revenue.
“If people can like the plants they will be able to support animals. This is a project that can be diversified into other related projects like vegetable farming, fish ponds, and poultry for institutions that are keen,”
Bernard wants to erect a greenhouse that would readily supply seedlings to orphanages and schools.
“This greenhouse, which I am going to build behind my house, will be important in my project. It would enable me supply the orphanages with plants.”
Billy Dingaliro, Livelihood Projects Officer of Feed the Children Malawi says the orchard they started with the help of Bernard would help them reduce costs on fruits.
“Rehabilitation process of disabled children includes making sure that they are not malnourished. Therefore, we buy fruits daily but they are expensive. But this fruit trees will eventually reduce those costs.”
The projects officer says his organisation did not consider opening an orchard as an option before Madeya brought his idea forward.
“We received other trees from the Wildlife Society of Malawi which we planted on the land we have. But when he [Madeya] came and sold us his idea we liked it because it will benefit us a lot,” he says.
THIS zoologist is very unlike most of his zoologist friends. He is not bothered about trying to discover new information about living things. He doesn’t conduct research on animals and you won’t see him dissecting animals either.
He doesn’t work in the zoo though he raises some chickens, rabbits and breeds some fish, too. You are likely to bump into him at Chibuku taverns collecting packets of the opaque beer when he is not tending plants in his orchard. He uses the packets to plant seeds of fruits he collects.
Ndirande-based Bernard Madeya is an India trained zoologist, who says he wants to make a difference with the seedlings from his orchard.
Madeya says he wants to change both the landscape of the country and the health of the orphans with the project he has embarked on.
He wants to help willing schools and orphanages to be food self-sufficient by establishing orchards at no cost at all.
This, according to Madeya, would not only make the children learn how to grow plants and raise food but also make them like their environment and see the need to conserve it.
“Children must be taught to love their environment and with this kind of project they will have a mentality to preserve trees. It does not end at producing food only,” says Madeya.
Feed The Children Malawi, formerly Cheshire Homes, is just a kilometre from Madeya’s orchard and home. The organisation that rehabilitates disabled children has already benefited from Madeya’s orchard.
The institution received an assortment of banana, paw-paw, Mexican apple, avocado pear, and mango fruit trees.
An orphanage in Chiwembe in the city of Blantyre has already expressed desire to have an orchard just as Feed the Children Malawi have done.
Born in 1961, Madeya left Malawi for Zimbabwe to live with his grand parents when he was just five years old because his parents had divorced. He was once conscripted in the army of a British colonial government of Ian Smith.
He got a scholarship to study zoology from India where he stayed for three years. He returned to Malawi in 2005 after the demise of his father to take over the control of Sigidi Art Technical School.
” When my father died in 2004, he left an art- oriented technical school where he was training youngsters to manufacture artifacts like curios. He would sell them in large quantities to countries like Botswana and South Africa. But that was encouraging deforestation.”
Bernard did not appreciate his father’s project and he decided to do something instead.
“I know the dangers of deforestation because, my father was not environment conscious and was illiterate but I want to be different and supportive,” says Madeya.
“The best gift one would give to orphans and school- going children is nutritious food, which would enable them to concentrate in whatever they do and also develop into productive citizens”
And to turn orphans into productive healthy citizens, Madeya says, he does not need to spend a lot.
“I can sort out the plants for my nursery. All what is required is that the school or an orphanage has to look after the plants. If they need tools or chemicals I can always assist.”
The scholarship he got to study zoology opened his eyes and motivated him to develop orchards, he says.
“My three years of training as a professional zoologist made me realise that you can’t talk about animals without talking about the environment they live in.”
The establishment of orchards in orphanages and schools would be a stepping stone towards the diversification of his initiative. This, he says, would generate the institutions revenue.
“If people can like the plants they will be able to support animals. This is a project that can be diversified into other related projects like vegetable farming, fish ponds, and poultry for institutions that are keen,”
Bernard wants to erect a greenhouse that would readily supply seedlings to orphanages and schools.
“This greenhouse, which I am going to build behind my house, will be important in my project. It would enable me supply the orphanages with plants.”
Billy Dingaliro, Livelihood Projects Officer of Feed the Children Malawi says the orchard they started with the help of Bernard would help them reduce costs on fruits.
“Rehabilitation process of disabled children includes making sure that they are not malnourished. Therefore, we buy fruits daily but they are expensive. But this fruit trees will eventually reduce those costs.”
The projects officer says his organisation did not consider opening an orchard as an option before Madeya brought his idea forward.
“We received other trees from the Wildlife Society of Malawi which we planted on the land we have. But when he [Madeya] came and sold us his idea we liked it because it will benefit us a lot,” he says.
CBOs blame Nac for stalling fight against HIV/Aids
CBOs blame Nac for stalling fight against HIV/Aids
By Emmanuel Luciano
Some Community based organisations (CBOs) in the country say National Aids Commission (Nac) is putting lives of thousands of people at risk by either delaying funding or for not funding them at all.
The CBOs say they are losing the battle to combat HIV/Aids in their areas because they do not have resources to operate with.
Malawi News random survey showed that several Community based organisations in the country stopped operating last year because Nac has not funded them.
In Nkhotakota, for instance, Nac has not honoured the District Implementation Plan, despite being in the last quarter of the 2006/07 fiscal year. This has resulted in over 40 CBOs in Nkhotakota staying over a year without carrying out any activity.
Vice board chair of Chanzi CBO Kennedy Njakama said their clients felt stigmatised because they no longer receive home-based care.
“The goals, which we set to fight HIV / Aids, cannot be achieved if we are failing to provide nutritious food to over 818 clients. Even if they receive ARVs they need to have proper food which we used to provide.
“There is totally no home-based care, we cannot conduct HIV/ Aids awareness and we cannot even take care of the orphans,” said Njakama.
Njakama said they abandoned a project, which assisted over 1000 children due to lack of funding. He, however, said the problem has not affected Chanzi CBO alone in the district.
Public relations officer of Nkhotakota Youth Alive Support Organisation, Victor Mwalule said his organisation, which was last funded in 2005, could no longer cater for over 1000 people they used to serve.
“We had an orphanage where we supported about 300 orphans. We were conducting peer education but we stopped. We also had a drama group for our awareness campaign that is now dead. But when we write proposals for funding they take their time to respond,” said Mwalule.
Nkhotakota District Social Welfare Officer Goodwell Kalimanjira said his assembly is still waiting to receive K84 million from Nac to enable over 40 CBOs carry out their activities.
“We are in the last quarter of the 2006/07 fiscal year but our District Implementation Plan has not yet been honoured despite its approval last year. It’s like the Assembly is deliberately frustrating these CBOs but it is not our fault because we solely rely on NAC,” Kalimanjira said.
Nkhotakota District Aids Coordinator Cedrick Kwizombwe said the funding problem has also slowed down the implementation of the HIV/Aids functions in the public sector.
Chiradzulu District Social Welfare Officer Mike Maulidi said over 30 CBOs had not yet received funding in the district.
“According to the proposals we put forward, there are remaining trenches of funding to be received. For instance we haven’t yet paid school fees for many students despite submitting the proposal last year,” he said.
But Nac’s executive director Dr. Bizwick Mwale said there are several processes that have to be followed before CBOs receive funding.
“Some CBOs have problems to account for money. So, if they delay to account, I will also delay because I have to account for that money to the donors, who also have to account for it to their respective parliaments.
“The number of CBOs has also grown. When this programme started we had less than 1000 CBOs. But you have to look at the availability of the money itself. You also have to carry out a verification process which means that you have to visit the group village headmen to see whether that CBO really exists. Once the verification process, the proposal review and justification process has been made we speed up the process of releasing funding,” Mwale said.
The executive director said his organisation had simplified the proposal to speed the process of funding CBOs.
“Some CBOs want money as soon as yesterday. I wish I had money that I could throw but we are trying our best, the assemblies are trying their best, and they [CBOs] should also try their best. They need to be accountable themselves,” he said.
Nac suspended funding to several CBOs in the country for allegedly failing to properly account for the money they received from it.
By Emmanuel Luciano
Some Community based organisations (CBOs) in the country say National Aids Commission (Nac) is putting lives of thousands of people at risk by either delaying funding or for not funding them at all.
The CBOs say they are losing the battle to combat HIV/Aids in their areas because they do not have resources to operate with.
Malawi News random survey showed that several Community based organisations in the country stopped operating last year because Nac has not funded them.
In Nkhotakota, for instance, Nac has not honoured the District Implementation Plan, despite being in the last quarter of the 2006/07 fiscal year. This has resulted in over 40 CBOs in Nkhotakota staying over a year without carrying out any activity.
Vice board chair of Chanzi CBO Kennedy Njakama said their clients felt stigmatised because they no longer receive home-based care.
“The goals, which we set to fight HIV / Aids, cannot be achieved if we are failing to provide nutritious food to over 818 clients. Even if they receive ARVs they need to have proper food which we used to provide.
“There is totally no home-based care, we cannot conduct HIV/ Aids awareness and we cannot even take care of the orphans,” said Njakama.
Njakama said they abandoned a project, which assisted over 1000 children due to lack of funding. He, however, said the problem has not affected Chanzi CBO alone in the district.
Public relations officer of Nkhotakota Youth Alive Support Organisation, Victor Mwalule said his organisation, which was last funded in 2005, could no longer cater for over 1000 people they used to serve.
“We had an orphanage where we supported about 300 orphans. We were conducting peer education but we stopped. We also had a drama group for our awareness campaign that is now dead. But when we write proposals for funding they take their time to respond,” said Mwalule.
Nkhotakota District Social Welfare Officer Goodwell Kalimanjira said his assembly is still waiting to receive K84 million from Nac to enable over 40 CBOs carry out their activities.
“We are in the last quarter of the 2006/07 fiscal year but our District Implementation Plan has not yet been honoured despite its approval last year. It’s like the Assembly is deliberately frustrating these CBOs but it is not our fault because we solely rely on NAC,” Kalimanjira said.
Nkhotakota District Aids Coordinator Cedrick Kwizombwe said the funding problem has also slowed down the implementation of the HIV/Aids functions in the public sector.
Chiradzulu District Social Welfare Officer Mike Maulidi said over 30 CBOs had not yet received funding in the district.
“According to the proposals we put forward, there are remaining trenches of funding to be received. For instance we haven’t yet paid school fees for many students despite submitting the proposal last year,” he said.
But Nac’s executive director Dr. Bizwick Mwale said there are several processes that have to be followed before CBOs receive funding.
“Some CBOs have problems to account for money. So, if they delay to account, I will also delay because I have to account for that money to the donors, who also have to account for it to their respective parliaments.
“The number of CBOs has also grown. When this programme started we had less than 1000 CBOs. But you have to look at the availability of the money itself. You also have to carry out a verification process which means that you have to visit the group village headmen to see whether that CBO really exists. Once the verification process, the proposal review and justification process has been made we speed up the process of releasing funding,” Mwale said.
The executive director said his organisation had simplified the proposal to speed the process of funding CBOs.
“Some CBOs want money as soon as yesterday. I wish I had money that I could throw but we are trying our best, the assemblies are trying their best, and they [CBOs] should also try their best. They need to be accountable themselves,” he said.
Nac suspended funding to several CBOs in the country for allegedly failing to properly account for the money they received from it.
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