Muli bwanji from BA! This is the Rorshok Malawi Update from the 27th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Malawi.

The Malawi Revenue Authority has urged people to comply with the new tax on rental income, which requires landlords to pay a 20% tax on rent collected from all their residential or commercial properties.

On Tuesday the 27th, the Authority released a statement saying the law demands that all landlords register with the Authority via its online portal, get a Taxpayer Identification Number, and then declare their rental income to the Authority in their annual tax return.

They said all property owners should follow this rule before the Authority finds them, as they will be punished in such an instance.

In previous weeks, we mentioned that the government increased various taxes like the Pay As You Earn and the Value Added Tax, and that commodity prices like fuel had gone up as a result.

Illovo Sugar is now the latest hit commodity, with the price of a package of one kilogram (around two pounds) of sugar rising from 3,500 Kwacha (two dollars) to 4,600 Kwacha (two dollars and sixty US cents) as of Saturday the 24th. Social activists, including the Centre for Social Concern, have said the move will burden consumers, who are already dealing with rising costs of living.

However, another major sugar player, Salima Sugar, told local news that they would stick to their old prices.

Perhaps, the new salaries and wages that the government is working on will make the price surges more bearable for some people.

On Thursday the 22nd, the Ministry of Labor, Skills, and Innovation told local media that they are consulting with various stakeholders in Malawi’s labor market to review the country’s minimum wages.

They said they are specifically targeting the general minimum wage, which is 126 thousand Kwacha per month, which is seventy-two dollars, for truck drivers. The minimum wage also affects employees in shops, domestic workers, those in the manufacturing sector, and those in micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Meanwhile, President Peter Mutharika has been making major moves, with the recent appointment of a new Governor for the Reserve Bank. On Saturday the 24th, a letter signed by the Chief Secretary confirmed that George Patridge was the new Reserve Bank Governor, coming in to replace McDonald Mafuta Mwale.

Before this appointment, Patridge was Malawi’s Trade Minister, so the President now has to find a new person for this role.

The Bankers Association of Malawi has since applauded the President, saying the move shows he is serious about fixing Malawi’s economic issues. It could be Patridge’s huge experience - such as his positions as the CEO of the National Bank and Director of the Reserve Bank - that makes the Association so optimistic about the appointment.

President Mutharika also ordered that his office would manage the Department of Public Sector Reforms instead of the Office of the Vice President.

According to a statement by the Chief Secretary, the President wanted to make the Department’s functions stronger and unify reforms taking place in various ministries.

However, the move has raised eyebrows, since it comes a few weeks after the President also stripped the Vice President’s Office of overseeing the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, and put that power in his office.

The Nyasa Times newspaper delved deeper into Mutharika’s recent moves towards Vice President Jane Ansah in an article written in English, arguing that they undermine her power and her ability to step in as President, should something happen to eighty-five-year-old Mutharika.

The article, published on Saturday the 24th, also said the removal of the two Departments from Ansah’s office takes her political credibility away, since people no longer look to her office for relief in disaster-related issues.

It highlighted that, while Ansah’s roles are being taken from her, non-governmental players, like the First Lady’s Beautify Malawi foundation, have become people’s hope for relief from fossil fuel-induced disasters, especially with their recent support for 500 people affected by floods.

In other news, Malawi’s health sector will now have fewer resources to work with, given the US’s recent withdrawal from the World Health Organization (or WHO). The US also recalled its staff from various countries, ended partnerships that it had funded, and said it would work directly with countries moving forward.

The WHO admitted that the US’s departure was a global blow, since the country was one of its biggest donors. The WHO had to cut jobs and its funding to multiple countries after the US refused to pay its membership fees in twenty twenty-three and twenty twenty-four, but now, local news says the impact will be much worse for countries like Malawi, whose health programs for issues like maternal health will have less funding.

Malawi is already dealing with the loss of major funding from international donors, with the government ordering all district public hospitals to open finance departments that will handle patients’ payments for medical services. However, this payment is not mandatory.

Public hospitals have always given free health services to locals, but now, the government said they want to give people the option to pay for services (they won’t be forced to do so). The idea is that the Ministry of Health can raise funds with this money to run the hospitals in this economically difficult time.

However, some people feel the government will end up making the paying option mandatory.

To make matters worse, the Ministry has been dealing with multiple flood-related injuries over the past few weeks, stemming from the rainy season and the floods it has caused.

Most recently, on Sunday the 25th, ninety-seven people in Lilongwe in the Central Region lost their homes to heavy rains. Local news said the Department of Disaster Management Affairs is currently keeping the victims at a nearby secondary school.

On Saturday the 24th, a similar incident happened in Dedza District, also in the Central Region. Some people, animals, fields and roads were washed away by flash floods, locally known as Napolo. Residents told the news that it has been three years since a Napolo last hit.

Napolo is tied to a mythical story about a giant snake with many heads. To know more about it, check out the link in the show notes!

In education news… A new study said that school-related violence is very high in Malawi and is affecting children’s ability to learn and function properly at school. The Center for Global Development collaborated with the University of Malawi to measure the prevalence of violence against children in and around schools, and they found that six thousand children between eight and twelve experienced physical, emotional, and sexual violence at school in 251 schools across Malawi’s three regions.

Unfortunately, the researchers were not able to nail down why this abuse was happening, but said they found it had been normalized in most cases. They suggest minimizing certain behaviors like corporal punishment, as they make students think abuse is normal.

If you’re failing to buy electricity tokens, you’re not the only one.

On Tuesday the 27th, the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi released a statement saying that, from the early hours of that day, their vending system had been experiencing intermittent service. This means that their customers are having a hard time purchasing electricity across all of the Corporation’s vending systems, including their banking and mobile money platforms.

They said their team is working hard to fix the issue, but did not specify when customers can expect to access their services properly again.

Finishing off this edition with some sports news: Netball fans should expect to see less of Joyce Mvula, one of Malawi’s top netball players, on their TV screens.

On Sunday the 25th, she announced that she would be taking a short break to focus on her pregnancy and family.

While people understand why she has to go, some are concerned since the national netball team is meant to compete in major games this year, such as the Commonwealth Games and the Africa qualifiers for the World Cup.

Still, Mvula promised to return to the Malawi team as well as the NIC Leeds Rhinos in the UK, which she also plays for.

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

Pitani bwino!