The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has admitted gaps on disaster preparedness, saying the focus has mostly been on response.
 
Reverend Moses Chimphepo, DoDMA Director of Response and Recovery, told Zodiak Online Thursday this has resulted in huge losses to lives and property.
 
Reverend Chimphepo said; “As a department we want to minimize such losses. Disasters in Malawi are usually weather related. The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological issues alerts of imminent disasters, as a result of normal to above normal rainfall”.  
 
“As a department we need to engage an extra gear, and all the humanitarian partners we should come together and prepare. Preparedness helps us to put everything in order, both logistically and also trying to save lives,” explained Reverend Chimphepo.
 
He added; “The setting up of early warning systems helps to save lives. It is a very critical area, but we have focused more on providing response when we are already hit. As a department, we want to prepare adequately, so that when we are hit the loss and damages, especially to lives should be very minimal”.
 
He further described the simulation exercise as critical, in preparedness processes.

Julie Vander Wiel-Hakme, WFP Head of Supply Chain, said the exercise was meant to build the national capacity for disaster preparedness and response targeting those who will respond to emergencies.
 
“We have involved government partners, NGO partners, and district council officials focusing on nitty-gritties of the core skills that they need to respond”.

He added; “We can all do better, there is always room for improvement. We have learnt a lot over the last cyclone Freddy response cycle. We had a review just last week, where we looked at tangible actions, and have been applied during the training”.

The World Food Program and the government built a Humanitarian Staging Area (HAS) at Bangula following tropical cyclone Freddy Idai in 2019.

Statistics indicate that tropical cyclone Freddy which hit the southern part of the country early this year, claimed over 1000 lives and half a million were displaced.
 

The governments of Malawi and Tanzania have high hopes that the Songwe Hydro Power Plant they intend to jointly establish at the Lower Songwe River will boost their economic activities.

The neighbouring countries signed two Memorandums of Understanding to improve their energy sectors during a recent meeting of high-profile officials who met in the Tanzanian commercial city Dar es Salaam.

First, the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) and Tanzania's electricity company TANESCO signed an inter utility agreement for power trade.

This agreement, which was signed by ESCOM’s Chief Executive Officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda and his TANESCO counterpart Maharage Chande, will see the construction of transmission lines from Nkhoma in Lilongwe to Songwe for a power interconnection between the two countries.

The other agreement, signed between Malawi's minister of energy Ibrahim Matola and his Tanzanian counterpart January Makamba, worth $761 million is on an intergovernmental pact for collaboration of the two countries on the Songwe Hydropower and Malawi Tanzania Interconnector Project.

Matola said the projects, once completed, will help attract investors since they will be assured of stable power supply, thereby creating job opportunities for the citizens of Malawi.

“More investors will be interested to open their businesses in the northern part of Malawi, this will also create jobs for our people,” said Matola.

The Malawi energy minister said signing of the deals is a follow-up to engagements by heads of state from the two nations who recently had exchange visits.

“One of the key topics at the forefront of these discussions was the construction of the momentous Songwe Dam, a multi-purpose project that holds immense potential for both nations,” added Matola.

He also said the benefits of this energy cooperation extend beyond the boundaries of the two nations and that the impact will be felt throughout the region as it will contribute to the overall stability and progress of East Africa and South Africa through the Eastern African Power and Southern African Power Pool.

Makamba said that the MoUs gives direction and clear roadmap for the projects.

“The MoUs spell out the next steps... one is the formation of joint technical teams. Within one month, each country should appoint a team to start to work on implementation,” he said.

Other than the deals in the pipeline with Tanzania, Malawi also has an agreement to tap power from Mozambique.

That deal was launched by President Lazarus Chakwera and his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi in April 2022.

By Franklin Mtambalika

The Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resource (LUANAR) students’ union -Natural Resources Campus, says it 0is overwhelmed with requests from students who are in dire need of financial bail-out to pay tuition fees and accommodation among other expenses.

The union’s president Vitumbiko Chirwa told Zodiak Thursday that over 100 students from the university are in need of about K30 Million, to carter for their school fees and accommodation, urging well-wishers to come to their aid.

Close to half of the students according to Chirwa were affected by Cyclone Freddy.

“Currently 49 students have approached us that they are victims of Cyclone Freddy and need financial assistance, and over 50 have also registered with us as needy students and that they require financial bail-out to pay for tuition fees,” said Chirwa.

Chirwa added that, the union has organized a big-walk and a clean-up campaign in Lilongwe today Saturday, August 19, 2023, and they will later be hosting a cultural event next weekend at the campus as part of the activities lined up to raise the funds.

Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe says lack of tuition fees remains a big challenge among students in the public universities. He has urged authorities to find sustainable ways of dealing with the situation.

Kondowe said; “The initiative speaks volumes of the country’s failure to have sustainable access to financial support to carter for their education, to the extent that the students are taking up the responsibility to look for alternative sources of such support”.

“It is high time universities instituted special departments to handle scholarships, loans and grants to help address such challenges, as is the case with South Africa and European countries”.  

Recently University of Malawi (UNIMA) and LUANAR increased fees from K420,000 to K600,000 per year for generic students, a development which has sparked debate in the country.

Commissioner for South East Police Region, Chikondi Chingadza has attributed the region's bi-annual 27 percent increase in crime to the people's vulnerability caused by Cyclone Freddy.