Muli bwanji from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 7th of October twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

Peter Mutharika and Justice Dr Jane Ansah were officially sworn in as President and Vice President on Saturday the 4th.

During his address, Mutharika said the country belongs to all Malawians, and not just one political party. This was a powerful statement made during a time when many people became extremely partisan, raising tensions during the elections.

Former president Bakili Muluzi and former Vice President Michael Usi attended the ceremony, but the outgoing president, Lazarus Chakwera, did not, despite saying he would. The Malawi Congress Party, which he leads, released a statement saying Chakwera did not attend the ceremony because the official program for the event did not include him. It also said Chakwera wished Mutharika good blessings during his presidency.

The audience could have booed Chakwera if he had attended the ceremony because of a fuel price hike that was implemented during the government transition period. The increase might have looked like Chakwera gave a rude goodbye.

The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority said fuel prices were overdue for a review because they had been revised in November twenty twenty-three, and the international market had changed since then.

Petrol is now selling at about 3,500 Kwacha, which is two dollars per liter, up from about 2,500 Kwacha, one dollar and forty cents, indicating a thirty-eight percent price increase. Diesel is now at 3,500 Kwacha, up from a little over 2,700 Kwacha, which is one dollar and fifty-six cents - a jump of twenty-eight percent.

On Sunday the 5th, Mutharika shared a partial list of his cabinet, making people question a statement made during his inaugural address, where he warned that corrupt officials would be fired immediately.

The new appointees include George Chaponda as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Joseph Mwanamvekha as the new Minister of Finance, although the two have ongoing corruption cases tied to the misuse of public funds between twenty fourteen and twenty twenty, when Mutharika was president.

Mutharika also introduced new, unclear cabinet roles, like Second Vice President and the Minister of State. The Minister of State is Alfred Gangata, who has been in and out of court this year for fraud allegations.

Speaking of corruption, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties is making sure that the Democratic Progressive Party and the Malawi Congress Party did not misuse over 860 million Kwacha, which is about 500 thousand dollars, meant for state funding between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty-four.

The two parties were supposed to submit their reports either twenty-one days before the elections or fourteen days after the elections, but they missed both deadlines, saying they were busy with election activities.

Now, the Registrar demanded that both parties submit audited reports of state funding and a declaration of their sources for the money they used for the election campaigns by the 30th of October.

However, the two told local media that they want more time.

Meanwhile, George Kasakula, the Director General of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (or MBC), told his top management team to ignore President Mutharika and the Democratic Progressive Party at all costs.

Local media noted that, although MBC livestreamed the presidential swearing-in ceremony, it did not rebroadcast it, although it has always done so as a state broadcaster. Anonymous insiders said Emmanuel Thuwala, the MBC Controller of Programs and a huge supporter of former president Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party, instructed his staff not to repeat the program.

On Sunday the 5th, local media said MBC staff want to demonstrate against their management for unprofessionalism.

MBC is moving forward with other shows and has a new program coming your way.

On Tuesday the 7th, MBC revealed that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Max and Sherry Restaurant to produce a reality show called Max and Sherry Moments.

MBC said the show will showcase surprise visits that the restaurant does for some of its customers on special days like their birthdays. But, there’s a slight twist: Max and Sherry’s surprises will focus on people with inspirational stories and have an outreach feel to it.

It will start airing on the 1st of November.

Meanwhile, The African Growth and Opportunity Act, which was established in two thousand, expired on Tuesday the 30th of September. The US government Act allowed African countries like Malawi to export goods into US markets duty-free. The US recently changed its trade policies, so Malawi now has to pay seventeen percent tariffs.

A local trade economist said the tariffs might make Malawian goods less competitive in US markets, but advised traders to focus on regional markets like the Southern African Development Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The government seems to be thinking along similar lines, as the Ministry of Trade and Industry said they will focus on continental integration while negotiating better trade terms with European markets.

Still on trade… A new study called Assessing The Participation Of Women Led Businesses In Public Procurement In Malawi revealed that women-led businesses receive less than one percent of public sector contracts. This revealed a huge gender gap since the National Statistical Office says women form fifty-two percent of Malawi’s population.

The study said the reason behind the gap is that women do not know how to participate in bidding processes, and women-led businesses do not qualify for government contracts, which account for seventy-five percent of the country’s National Budget.

On Monday the 6th, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare said they empower women entrepreneurs, but admitted that they do not have enough resources to reach people at community and national levels.

On to health news, as The Ministry of Health said Lilongwe in the Central Region recorded 104 of the country’s 126 Mpox cases, making it the most affected district in Malawi. The data, released on Friday the 3rd, said most of the cases are imported and concentrated in highly populated places like Area 25 and Kawale.

The Lilongwe District Health believes the cases are high in the district because it is a transit hub with a lot of traffic, and where many business activities take place.

The Ministry of Health and other health authorities have since increased their surveillance of Mpox, and are also working on isolating and containing patients.

The government shut down operations at Salima Sugar Company on Monday the 6th. The news shocked people, since it is unclear which ministry, department or official ordered the shutdown and why.

Salima Sugar was established as a public-private partnership between the government and private investors, making the move even more questionable. It employs hundreds of locals, supports farmers, and contributes a lot to the economies of the Salima, Dwangwa and Nkhotakota districts, all located in the Central Region.

Experts have warned that there could be serious economic and social consequences since many people depend on the company’s factories for their livelihoods.

Don’t worry if you don’t see any updates from the US Embassy on social media. They released a statement saying they will not be updating their website as often as usual because of “a lapse in the US government budget”.

On Wednesday the 1st, the Embassy shared that they would only share security and urgent safety information if it comes up. They said this would go on until they resume their full operations, but they did not say when this would be.

Still, the Embassy said they would continue their scheduled passport and visa services at their Lilongwe offices.

Finishing off this edition, The Copyright Society of Malawi said there are over 100 musicians who are yet to collect their Blank Media Levy royalties.

The Society distributed the funds two months ago, but said they have had trouble reaching out to some musicians. They assume it is because the artists changed their phone numbers and forgot to update the copyright system, or because some used stage names, making it hard to trace them.

Lucky enough, the Society told local media that they have no timeframe for when members or musicians should claim their royalties, so they will continue to keep the funds until the owners claim them.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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Pitani bwino!