Kondwani Munthali -Malawi

I knew Madame Ethel Mutharika just like many ordinary Malawians did. She was wife to the then United Party President Bingu wa Mutharika. Though she never directly participated in politics. Later, we saw her in Area 18 at here relations and funerals and various church events. Just like her Husband Bingu, Malawi's First Lady was a dedicated Christian. She was a woman of faith, strong one for that matter. In her pain and suffering, she smiled, reached out to her women empowerment projects, did her farming and everyday from my City Centre office could see her four vehicle motorcade passing. Yet she smiled and her family opted to spare Malawians that pain and remained strong in discharging their duties. President Bingu wa Mutharika has carried his own family burden and that of the State without affecting the other. In many cases he sacrificed the love of his life for the burderns of the State. As I became privileged to cover the President, the more I realised how the President relied on...

Thandeka Mkandawire ranks among very few Malawians that have achieved much far and greater things that as a country we should have been proud and used their achievements for greater good. Recently the prestigious Rhodes University awarded him an honorary doctorate degree in recognizing his work and achievements. We have a young Malawian Joe Mlenga who will be joining the Rhodes community and this cannot be considered something that is expected. I wish to congratulate Prof. Mkandawire and Mlenga for the Rhodes Honours. This comes to mind how quickly our great poets and academics such as Jack Mapanje and David Rubadiri whom I have heard from so many people here at Harvard and beyond asking. Wole Sonyinka and others have become symbols of their nations and ambassadors promoting good. Apart from the two, people like Goodall Gondwe made an impact at the IMF, early May 2007 when I visited the institution I heard fascinating stories on how he used to move from office to office meeting his jun...

Fare thee well Jafalie Mussa I am a youth worker to the core. As I write, My tenure as Country Representative to the Commonwealth was lessened by a year due to my Harvard Fellowship. I still retain for some mysterious reasons the title Country Coordinator for Malawi . Apart from that, I moderate the think-tank- Malawi National Youth Dialogue. I am still Chairman of the Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development Board of Trustees. My good former Secretary General Rex Nyalugwe is a board member and acting Chairman in my absence. My term of office for Counselling of Adolescent Youth Organisation-CAYO just started and I am not sure when I will be removed. The same for the Presidential appointment as a Board Director at the National Youth Council of Malawi. That is the long list of my involvement in youth work in Malawi . With the incoming Deputy Minister of Transport and Housing Honourable Gift Mwamondwe, together we w...

Malaria, DDT and the case of poverty Kondwani Munthali The recent reaction from Tobacco Association of Malawi on the use of DDT in houses as a malaria control measure cans least be described as shocking. Malaria remains the number one killer and cause of morbidity (illnesses) among Malawians. Contrary to popular opinion, it is Malaria and not Aids which is the number one killer both in Malawi and Africa. Up to one million Africans die each year from malaria. In Malawi, malaria is endemic meaning that everyone is at risk of suffering from malaria. Closer to seventy –percent of our hospital beds are occupied by malaria patients. It has dire socio-economic consequences than any other disease. Malaria has become regarded as both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty, as it accounts for a large loss of labor productivity. Local and international political commitments have been made to address the challenges that African nations must overcome to control epidemic and endemic malaria. Th...

A Critical, Independent and Investigative Press The Media in Malawi and Southern Africa Boston University, April 3, 2007 Introduction The use of media or its existence in Africa, started in earnest in the late 1800, after missionaries from Portugal, Britain, Italy and Belgium had set up schools and educated a umber of Africans in basic reading and writing. Though there was some trading, like Diamond and Gold in Rhodesia, South Africa and other parts, reading and writing in Sub-Saharan Africa was mainly used for preaching and distributing the word of God. Later between 1880-1899, Africa was partitioned in what became to be known as “the scramble of Africa.” The five major colonial powers that would influence both history and the future of the media in the next century were United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, France and Italy. The split of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa ended up dividing much of the region in the following order: United Kingdom ...

July 1, 2005, Nelson Mandela, Africa’s most revered statesman of this generation announced that his only surviving son Makgatho Mandela, 54, died in a Johannesburg clinic where he had been receiving treatment for more than a month. "I announce that my son has died of AIDS," the 86-year-old Nobel Peace laureate told a news conference, urging a redoubled fight against the disease. "Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because the only way to make it appear like a normal illness like TB, like cancer, is always to come out and to say somebody has died because of HIV/AIDS. And people will stop regarding it as something extraordinary," said a frail-looking Mandela, surrounded by his grandchildren and other family members. Mandela's courageous announcement of his personal AIDS tragedy challenged the widespread taboo which keeps many Africans from discussing a pandemic which now infects more than 25 million people across the continent. Was this enough to b...

Welcome to Malawi. I mean my space and wonderful internet experience, where one can spend time explore various issues as they come up in relation to my country. I have other three other blogs but they are not frequently updated as my other two or three sites-guess right, My space, Face book and Taking It Global. I am currently a Fellow at Harvard University and on the edge of embarking on a 4 month Field work trip to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Guess right, my home Malawi and re-look at the issue of Health and how we are doing. The Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University is the oldest and the most prestigious Journalism fellowship and we will explore the issues that come from it later in the year. However, my writing and focus has always remained on this Southern Africa Beuatiful nation. The Land of smiling faces. The Land of hard working and humble people. It is more than the story of poverty, hopelessness and dispair. Visiting Ntchisi Trading area, loud music, dancing men and women...