Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 11th of May 2023 A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

It’s now close to a month since the fuel shortage hit Malawi. On Friday the 5th, the government held a press conference saying the fuel supply may normalize from Wednesday the 10th.

Moses Kunkuyu, the Government Spokesperson, said some government officials had visited Tanzania and negotiated with some suppliers to get fuel on credit. He also highlighted the foreign exchange shortage, which has haunted Malawi for over a year now, as a huge contributing factor to the fuel shortage.

On Wednesday the 10th, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority did not give any updates on the status of the fuel supply. Instead, they shared fuel supply schedules – a huge sign that the shortage is persisting.

The Malawi Revenue Authority (or MRA) has been looking for ways to keep or bring foreign exchange into the country ever since the shortage started.

On Wednesday the 10th, the MRA revealed that they had amended the Customs Controlled Warehouse for Export Law, which enables people to export farm produce to other countries using structured markets. MRA officials will control export smuggling, since exporters would under-declare their goods, leading to loss of forex.

The government has been keeping an eye on State Owned Enterprises (or SOEs). On Monday the 8th, Sosten Gwengwe, the Minister of Finance, named the worst and best-performing SOEs in 2022.

According to Gwengwe, Admarc – the country’s official buyer and seller of smallholder produce – tops the worst-performing list in the trading sector, followed by the Blantyre Water Board and the National Economic Empowerment Fund. The Tobacco Commission was named the worst-performing regulator in the regulatory sector.

Gwengwe named the country’s electricity supplier, Egenco, as the best-performing SOE, followed by the Lilongwe Water Board and Airport Development Limited. The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority was named the best-performing regulator.

Gwengwe said the government is looking into the relevance of all seventy-two SOEs and may close or merge them.

Speaking of SOEs, Egenco shared a positive development concerning one of their power plants. Recall that a majority of Egenco’s Power Stations got damaged in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Ana, causing most of them to shut down, and consequently reduce power supply in Malawi. This led to long, persistent power outages.

On Wednesday the 10th, Egenco shared that they had restored the biggest power plant, Kapichira Power Station. They said they had fixed all four units, meaning the power supply would be stabilized in most parts of the country.

The rehabilitation was supposed to have been completed last December, however, Egenco failed to meet this deadline.

Unfortunately, Malawi has not been able to recover from all the environmental shocks that Tropical Cyclones Ana, Gombe and FREDDY brought. Just recently, President Chakwera revealed that the damage and loss of Cyclone FREDDY exceeds 500 million US dollars.

On Monday the 8th, a 2023 Global Report on Food Crises revealed that the extreme weather conditions have disrupted food security in Malawi, exposing over three million people to hunger. It also said that 19% of the country’s population will face hunger due to poor harvest, high food prices and low household purchasing power.

Other reports also revealed devastating statistics. For instance, the World Bank’s report on Food Security projected increased food prices, just weeks after local media reported that maize prices have increased by about 300% since last January.

Despite this, the government has approved a water tariff hike. Three months ago, the country’s five water boards requested a tariff increase, but the government put the issue on hold due to the ongoing cholera situation at the time.

On Wednesday the 3rd, Emma Mbalame, the Director of Water Supply Services, confirmed that the government had approved their hike. She said the implementation of the new figures will be known probably during the first quarter of this financial year.

By Monday the 8th, economists, social commentators and health experts said they backed the decision as it was long overdue and will help the water boards operate efficiently.

They revealed that all five water boards lose thirty billion kwacha annually – about twenty-nine million dollars – to their low charges.

A long battle between local schools and the local Rastafarian community has finally been put to rest.

In 2010 and 2016, two Rastafarian students were denied admission to public schools for growing dreadlocks. This is because the Ministry of Education’s policies forbids enrolling children with dreadlocks in public primary schools, forcing their guardians to resort to private primary schools, which are expensive.

In 2017, the families of the two children sued the government over the policy, saying it was discriminatory. However, in February this year, the government through Attorney General Chakaka Nyirenda called on the presiding Judge Ntaba to discontinue the case, arguing that the policy didn’t exist and that the schools had acted on their own accord. Instead, Judge Ntaba dismissed the government’s application.

On Wednesday the 10th, the Rastafarian community gathered outside the High Court in Zomba in anticipation of Judge Ntaba’s ruling. About two hours later, Judge Ntaba ordered the Ministry of Education to abolish the Malawi Education Act of 2012 which, among others, has provisions which bar Rastafarian children from attending school in dreadlocks. She further ordered the Ministry to issue a circular announcing the removal of the restrictions barring Rastafarian learners from attending public schools by the 30th of June.

Human rights groups have hailed the ruling, saying it promotes education among all Malawians.

Standard Eight students started writing their Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations (or PSLCE) on Wednesday the 10th. They are expected to finish their exams on Friday the 12th. Over 270 thousand students are writing the exams, however, this number doesn’t account for all students.

On Wednesday the 10th, local media revealed that over ninety students across Malawi were not allowed to sit for their exams because officials from their schools embezzled the students’ examination fees. Over forty students in Dedza and Dowa districts were affected, and in Mangochi, fifty-two students also had their money stolen.

Police in Mangochi have since arrested two men – Timothy Maputu and Paul Kumwenda – both of whom were School Directors, on allegations of fraudulently obtaining the examination fees from Standard Eight pupils in their respective schools. They are facing charges of theft and will appear before court soon.

Last year, Hip Hop artist Martse died in a house fire in Mangochi while on holiday.

On Friday the 5th, his family announced that they would be organizing a memorial show dubbed the Martse Memorial Show through the Martse Foundation – a charity organization they opened in his memory.

The Martse Memorial Show will take place at Cape Maclear, Mangochi, on the 23rd of May – which is when Martse died. Some of the performing artists include Krazie G, Hyphen and Waxy K.

Some music lovers noticed that some of Martse’s close artist-friends did not make the performance list. They’re assuming that this happened because his family accused some artists of having killed Martse through satanic rituals. They feel the exclusion only exacerbates those rumors.

Many people celebrated a twenty-six-year-old actor, Owen Chaponda, for landing a role in The Lion King Musical. Chaponda starred as Simba in the play which was performed on Tuesday the 9th at West End in London, UK.

The Lion King Musical is arguably the world’s biggest theatrical show run by Disney World. It has been running for twenty-four years.

Chaponda told local media that he is excited to have landed the role and that he has always dreamt of playing it.

Aaaand that's it for this week! Have you checked our website? Over there you can find more about us, how to contact us, and support us. Link to it in the show notes!

Pitani bwino!