Muli bwanji from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 30th of September twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

President Peter Mutharika and Jane Ansah, the Vice President, will officially be sworn in on Saturday the 4th of October, after winning the general elections held on Tuesday the 16th.

On Tuesday the 30th, local news said the two would take their oaths at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre City in the Southern Region.

The new government is now taking shape and wearing new faces as the Malawi Electoral Commission confirmed results from sixty-six of the 229 constituencies that voted for parliament leaders. The announcement came after the Commission reviewed and fixed all the complaints it received concerning the elections.

According to the partial results shared from the National Tally Center on the evening of Monday the 29th, independent candidates are currently dominating parliamentary seats by twenty-seven. Second in line is the Malawi Congress Party with nineteen seats, and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party with seven seats.

The results for the remaining constituencies will be revealed in due time because there were complications, such as court-ordered suspensions, during the voting process.

Unfortunately, one constituency will have to vote again because its results were annulled.

On Monday the 29th, the Malawi Electoral Commission said they received two complaints from one parliamentary candidate about how the null and void votes from the Mtandire-Mtsiriza Constituency in Lilongwe in the Central Region were handled.

After careful review, the Commission said the Council Returning Officer tampered with the results because they performed tasks they did not have the authority to carry out, such as examining void votes and preparing records for the parliamentary elections and the council. As such, the Commission could not determine the results with certainty.

They said the constituency will have a by-election on a date they will announce later.

Even though almost every Malawian president shared a 100-day plan shortly after being voted into power, during his first national address held on Friday the 26th, President Mutharika said he would be taking a new approach.

He told the audience, including party members, enthusiastic supporters, among others, that he does not believe in 100 days because there are important issues that cannot wait for random timelines. He explained that his priority would be those issues: high food, fertilizer, and fuel prices.

Mutharika’s first address faced huge criticism from the media, who felt that they had been sidelined from the event. They also accused Mutharika of hosting a party rally disguised as a press briefing.

Numerous local media stories said that many media personnel were not allowed into the venue, and that the venue was instead filled with authorities and supporters of the now-ruling Democratic Progressive Party. One anonymous journalist said the press were not allowed to ask questions.

While commenting on the matter, some analysts said that the whole situation was worrisome, as it sent the message that the press would not be free, as was the case during Mutharika’s rule from twenty fourteen to twenty twenty.

Meanwhile, the latest Quarterly Financial and Economic Review by the Reserve Bank of Malawi revealed that the government spent three trillion Kwacha, which is 1.7 billion dollars, in just four months.

To make matters worse, the report revealed that the left Malawi Congress Party spent the funds on uncontrolled spending such as travel and allowances, while development expenditures took up a small portion of the funds. On Monday the 29th, experts were shocked at the government’s financial irresponsibility at a time when many locals lack essential services and goods.

People feel the new government is onto a possible corruption story following the closure of the National Economic Empowerment Fund offices in Lilongwe on Tuesday the 30th.

According to local news, armed police officers stopped employees from entering the company premises and told them to go home.

It is unclear why the offices have been shut down, but some media houses are alleging that it may be linked to corruption. For instance, the Nyasa Times newspaper said that, although the National Economic Empowerment Fund is tasked with helping small businesses with loans, there are tons of allegations of ghost beneficiaries and misuse of funds.

These alleged corruption stories come at a time when the country is experiencing a fuel shortage that will not stop soon.

On Tuesday the 30th, the National Oil Company of Malawi said that the second shipment of fuel that the executive is buying through the government-to-government deal has been delayed, and will arrive in the country in early November, instead of early September, as outgoing president Chakwera had said.

Before he left the presidential seat, Chakwera said people working within the National Oil Company were trying to sabotage the fuel deliveries to make him look bad, but in their recent statement, the Company said the fuel shipments were ordered late, which explains the late deliveries.

The country has had ongoing fuel shortages for about four years now.

Unfortunately, Malawi’s health sector is likely to take a major hit because the United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (or UNAIDS) recently shared its decision to leave Malawi and run its operations from its Zimbabwe offices instead.

UNAIDS told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it is moving because its Board proposed a new operating model for the organization. According to the letter, a small UNAIDS Secretariat will remain in Malawi.

Even though UNAIDS said it will continue supporting Malawi’s goal to end Aids as a public health threat by twenty thirty, authorities working in Malawi’s HIV and Aids response are worried that public health systems, including hospitals, will take a big hit.

UNAIDS isn’t the only one that wants to leave the country. Shoprite, one of Malawi’s biggest retailers, is getting closer to leaving the country and focusing on South Africa, where the company is from. South Africa is also its biggest market.

However, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission has put in place some safeguards to ensure that employees of Shoprite do not lose their jobs, and that Malawians still get to have a similar shopping experience with Karson Investment Trust, which will be buying and rebranding Shoprite.

On Monday the 29th, local news said that the Commission ordered Karson to retain all Shoprite employees and honor all the contractual benefits of those who choose to leave. They also ordered them to uphold Shoprite’s operational standards, including product diversity, so that customers get a similar shopping experience.

However, it is still unclear when Shoprite will leave Malawi.

The First Discount House Bank (or FDH) has made its way into the Mozambican market following its purchase of the entire shareholding of Ecobank Mozambique.

The Bank announced the news on Friday the 26th, and said they are currently working on changing the name and branding of the Mozambican bank to ensure that the bank can conduct its operations in Mozambique properly.

Earlier this year, the FDH announced its plans to expand to regional markets in Southern Africa. This is a huge win for their customers who live in Mozambique or travel there often.

And to close this edition… Organizers of the Khulubvi Arts and Cultural Heritage Festival have announced that the cultural event will take place from the 3rd to the 5th of October in Nsanje District in the Central Region.

It was initially set for the first week of August, but the organizers postponed it to pave the way for the elections.

The festival has an incredible lineup of cultural dances, foods and music performances. Organizers said people will also get to experience some cultural practices, because on the first day of the event, attendees can take part in the offering of sacrifices to M’bona, a local traditional god.

You can check out some highlights from last year’s festival with one of our links in the show notes.

There’s also another link to a news article that has more details.

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

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Pitani bwino!