Updates

Resumes later today after four days of internet crash. Read about Malawi's outdated political software.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Obama, Ntaba and the long walk towards Tobacco control

Today, a heart rendering and touching ceremony was heard at the Durban Convetion centre in South Africa, 40 million people have died since 1999 from tobacco smoking deaths. The diseases are many so it denial. The Framework Convention Alliance and many Civil Society organisations, are working tirelessly to inform the public on the dangers of smoking. I felt ashamed as a Malawian to hear Malawi mentioned now and then as a country which has not signed the FCTC a World Heath organisation treaty that advocates regulation of tobacco smoking. I am not sure what Bakili Muluzi was thinking, but I am sure my President Bingu wa Mutharika is intelligent enough to read the treaty and realise that in anyway regulating smoking does it kill our tobacco sector. After all as Yussuf Saloojee and Alison Cox say, the crop has not helped Malawians much in their 100 years of growing. I see poverty, we cry poverty and for years we continue to be among the poorest despite not having wars or any sort of conflic
Read more

Protect the Poor Madame President

Finally the evil we all pretended would never come has landed. The Malawi Kwacha for long held at an artificial rate has come crumbling down to an already worn out people. Malawians have moved from position of comfort to that of uncertainty in the past one also years. The devaluation this morning, could not have been as painful as this one will be, if the kwacha was let to float and make its own value stand. Controls should only be done in economies which are stronger to sustain themselves. Today, the dollar is at K252 officially and the countries largest Commercial bank is buying at K247 and selling hard cash at K257. Good news to exporters- especially tobacco farmers. Their take home will increase considerably though we are not sure how the corresponding cost of living will  be at the moment. The cost of living is already high for an average worker in Malawi. The administration of President Joyce Banda, as she personally say running to put things in order. She says Malawi n
Read more