Picture yourself relaxing with a partner in some confined place. You only prepared for some nice time to relax. But you find emotions getting the better of you. Regardless of not knowing the partner’s sero-status, you have unprotected sex.
You are a man and you are not circumcised. Do you know that within a short period of you reflecting on the experience or seeing off the partner the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (Aids), would get into your blood system?
According to a 2008 report, Male circumcision and risk for HIV transmission and other health conditions, which quotes several other pieces of research findings and published on the United States (US) based Centre for Disease Control (CDC) website, the foreskin provides conditions favouring the development.
“Compared with the dry external skin surface, the inner mucosa of the foreskin has less keratinisation (deposition of fibrous protein),” reads the report, quoting a 2004 report titled Neonatal circumcision: a review of the world’s oldest and most controversial operation.
“The foreskin has a higher density of target cells for HIV infection (Langerhans cells) and is more susceptible to HIV infection than other penile tissue in laboratory studies.”
In its posting on December 20, 2005, the journal Science Daily website states that researchers at Yale School of Medicine demonstrated that, contrary to what was thought that they alert the immune system about invasion by pathogens, Langerhans cells dampen the skin’s reaction to infection and inflammation.
Thus, engaging in unprotected sex with an HIV positive partner renders an uncircumcised male vulnerable to HIV infection.
Fatima Zulu, Project Coordinator for Johns Hopkins at the Malawi College of Medicine, says an uncircumcised male has the ground prepared for contracting the HIV even before penetration.
“When a man who is not circumcised experiences an erection, the tip of the foreskin stretches. That leads to cracks in the foreskin which create a highway for such a man to contract the virus,” says Zulu.
“That aside, there is a belief by most men across Africa that they are real men if they ejaculate faster. Ejaculating faster mostly goes with dry sex, and dry sex is dangerous for an uncircumcised man.”
She says with the less keratin deposits within it, the foreskin stands higher chances of suffering abrasions during dry sex. Consequently, she adds, the man with such a condition has greater chances of contracting the virus as the foreskin provides a portal of entries.
The report further states that with the foreskin on, the sac between the unretracted foreskin and the glands penis provides a conducive environment for the survival of pathogens, including HIV.
“Viruses often survive in a moisturised environment as a result they stay alive longer,” adds Zulu. “Unfortunately, the longer one keeps the viruses under their foreskin, the more they give out chances for the virus to penetrate into their body.”
She says that all this would never be the case to men who underwent male circumcision, which is defined in the report as the surgical removal of some
or all of the foreskin from the penis. But can that bring down the HIV infection rate?
According to the report on the CDC website, several research findings have pointed to circumcision as an effective way of taming the spread of the HIV.
“In these studies, men who had been randomly assigned to the circumcision group had a 60 percent (South Africa), 53 percent (Kenya) and 51 percent (Uganda) lower incidence of HIV infection compared with men assigned to the wait-list group to be circumcised at the end of the study,” adds the report.
“In all [the] three studies, a few men who had been assigned to be circumcised did not undergo the procedure, and vice versa. When the data were reanalysed to account for these occurrences, men who had been circumcised had a 76 percent (South Africa), 60 percent (Kenya) and 55 percent (Uganda) reduction in risk for HIV infection compared with those who were not circumcised.”
Unfortunately, the reduction in the infection trend is one way. Zulu says that circumcision only reduces chances of a circumcised man contracting the virus from an HIV positive woman.
“This means that if a man is HIV positive and is circumcised, he will still pass on the virus to a woman who is HIV negative,” she says.
However, the situation should still count as an effective measure of halting the spread of the HIV considering what society holds culturally. It is considered normal for a man to have many women but not vice versa.
This is what has led to several civil rights activists to blame the man for the devastating rate at which the virus has spread. Many say the man gets the virus from other women and dumps it in his own.
Going by such arguments, a man who underwent male circumcision should stand fewer chances of getting the virus from outside his marital confines and dumping it within them.
“But circumcision should not be cause for being promiscuous,” warns Dr Mary Shawa, Principal Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) responsible for Nutrition and HIV/Aids.
“Research findings indicate that circumcision only reduces chances of contracting the virus by 60 percent. There are 40 percent chances for a man who underwent male circumcision to contract the virus.
“This is why we encourage the usual means of preventing contraction of HIV; namely abstinence, being faithful and using a condom even to those who underwent male circumcision.”
While research findings have backed male circumcision to reduce chances of one contracting the virus, Zulu says there is need for related research to establish whether male circumcision can lead to reduced infections by way of satisfying the woman sexually so she does not increase her chances of getting the virus by seeking such satisfaction elsewhere as some circumcised men have claimed.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
MISA MALAWI STATEMENT ON DEATH THREATS OVER CHASOWA STORY
13th October, 2011
For Immediate Release
The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is disturbed with reports that Nation Publications Limited (NPL) Journalist Phillip Pemba is receiving death threats over an article that revealed that Robert Chasowa had dealings with the police before he was murdered.
We are also disturbed with reports that the police summoned Weekend Nation
Editor George Kasakula and Malawi News Deputy Editor Innocent Chitosi of
Blantyre Newspapers Limited – papers that carried detailed insights into Chasowa’s death and dealings with the police – for questioning over recordings of the articles.
Pemba’s article, published in Weekend Nation of October 8, gave an insight into what could have led to Chasowa’s death and exposed his dealings with police to help stop the planned August 17 protests against government.
“One of the callers said they know where I stay and another one asked why
I mentioned the name of Inspector General of Police (IG Peter Mukhito) in my story. He said I will die over the story. They said I would have been safe if I left out the names of the police officers involved,” Pemba is quoted as saying in The Nation of Wednesday, October 12.
MISA Malawi considers these threats as well as the summoning of editors
Kasakula and Chitosi as deliberate attempts to muzzle journalists and instil fear in the media sorority. As always stated in our statements, these acts instil fear and curtail meaningful dialogue and debate on pertinent issues that affect our country, the murder of student Robert Chasowa for example.
These developments are barbaric, retrogressive and superfluous in an open and democratic Malawi and require collective condemnation.
We, therefore, call upon the authorities to openly condemn and call for thorough investigations into such threats. We also call upon the police to support and work with media in uncovering the truth about Chasowa’s death and not to intimidate and gag journalists. The media helps the country expose various ills that affect our country and summoning and intimidating them over the Chasowa article will only raise suspicions than answers.
We applaud the police for launching an investigation into Chasowa’s death.
MISA Malawi is, however, calling on IG Peter Mukhito to openly denounce such barbaric acts and for the law enforcers to protect journalists and indeed members of the public who are constantly receiving threats from unknown persons.
IG Peter Mukhito and Southern Region Police Commissioner Rodney Jose, who were both mentioned in the article by Pemba and subjects of the death threats, have chosen not to comment on the threats levelled against Pemba.
The article by Pemba indicated that Commissioner Jose took late Chasowa and his colleague to Lilongwe on August 7 to meet Mukhito over the deal to foil the August 17 demonstrations. The story revealed that the IG gave them Chivas Whisky and MK50, 000 each. Jose confirmed taking the group to Lilongwe to meet Mukhito.
MISA Malawi is, thus, appealing to the IG and Commissioner Jose to openly denounce the death threats on Pemba and summoning of editors whose papers published the insightful articles. Malawi Police is supposed to protect and ensure peace and security and should, therefore, condemn and distance itself from these death threats which are most likely tarnishing the image of the service and its top brass.
Finally, we appeal to journalists to be professional, alert and to openly report threats of any nature to relevant authorities.
Signed
Anthony Kasunda
MISA MALAWI CHAIRPERSON
For Immediate Release
The Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is disturbed with reports that Nation Publications Limited (NPL) Journalist Phillip Pemba is receiving death threats over an article that revealed that Robert Chasowa had dealings with the police before he was murdered.
We are also disturbed with reports that the police summoned Weekend Nation
Editor George Kasakula and Malawi News Deputy Editor Innocent Chitosi of
Blantyre Newspapers Limited – papers that carried detailed insights into Chasowa’s death and dealings with the police – for questioning over recordings of the articles.
Pemba’s article, published in Weekend Nation of October 8, gave an insight into what could have led to Chasowa’s death and exposed his dealings with police to help stop the planned August 17 protests against government.
“One of the callers said they know where I stay and another one asked why
I mentioned the name of Inspector General of Police (IG Peter Mukhito) in my story. He said I will die over the story. They said I would have been safe if I left out the names of the police officers involved,” Pemba is quoted as saying in The Nation of Wednesday, October 12.
MISA Malawi considers these threats as well as the summoning of editors
Kasakula and Chitosi as deliberate attempts to muzzle journalists and instil fear in the media sorority. As always stated in our statements, these acts instil fear and curtail meaningful dialogue and debate on pertinent issues that affect our country, the murder of student Robert Chasowa for example.
These developments are barbaric, retrogressive and superfluous in an open and democratic Malawi and require collective condemnation.
We, therefore, call upon the authorities to openly condemn and call for thorough investigations into such threats. We also call upon the police to support and work with media in uncovering the truth about Chasowa’s death and not to intimidate and gag journalists. The media helps the country expose various ills that affect our country and summoning and intimidating them over the Chasowa article will only raise suspicions than answers.
We applaud the police for launching an investigation into Chasowa’s death.
MISA Malawi is, however, calling on IG Peter Mukhito to openly denounce such barbaric acts and for the law enforcers to protect journalists and indeed members of the public who are constantly receiving threats from unknown persons.
IG Peter Mukhito and Southern Region Police Commissioner Rodney Jose, who were both mentioned in the article by Pemba and subjects of the death threats, have chosen not to comment on the threats levelled against Pemba.
The article by Pemba indicated that Commissioner Jose took late Chasowa and his colleague to Lilongwe on August 7 to meet Mukhito over the deal to foil the August 17 demonstrations. The story revealed that the IG gave them Chivas Whisky and MK50, 000 each. Jose confirmed taking the group to Lilongwe to meet Mukhito.
MISA Malawi is, thus, appealing to the IG and Commissioner Jose to openly denounce the death threats on Pemba and summoning of editors whose papers published the insightful articles. Malawi Police is supposed to protect and ensure peace and security and should, therefore, condemn and distance itself from these death threats which are most likely tarnishing the image of the service and its top brass.
Finally, we appeal to journalists to be professional, alert and to openly report threats of any nature to relevant authorities.
Signed
Anthony Kasunda
MISA MALAWI CHAIRPERSON
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Dead Cannot Talk
By Francis Chuma
Your body was laid to rest the other day
We interred your remains:
The clothes you wore
Your shoes, the wrist watch
Still sticking to tell us endlessly
The changing of the seasons
The signs of the times
We buried your football skills
But we failed to bury your soul.
Your spirit lives on
Your passion for the wellbeing of our nation
Your zeal to stop the decomposition of our freedom
No zikwanje can hack to death
No stiletto can pierce to oblivion
No blow can hurl into the void of non-existence
The morning we found you
After the cloak of night opened up to shed light on the truth
The lie on which you lay bore no marks
No signs to shore up the official explanation
They say you left farewell notes
Yet the deed is not keeping with the strength of your spirit
Your pursuit for the truth
Your inability to suffer in silence
Threatened to derail the construction of private palaces
Shook the foundation best laid plans to keep it in family
But the Truth does not die.
They find comfort in the fact that the dead cannot talk
Cannot dispute the authenticity of farewell notes
Cannot disclose the duress under which the notes were written
It is sad the dead cannot talk
There will be no closure in this death
No end to the mourning
Each morning on the long queues of fuel
We will mourn
Each time bogus salaries are splashed on spouses for charity work
We will mourn
Each time we find no medicine in hospitals
We will mourn
Each time they threaten a journalist with death
We will mourn
Each time they set ablaze the abode of an activist
We will mourn
Each time they raze the markets
We will mourn
Each time appointments are made from one ethnic group only
We will mourn
Go well Dear Friend
We will ignore the farewell notes
They have failed to kill your spirit
These idiots.
Published under The Sunday Times Column: Mouthpiece on October 2, 2011.
Your body was laid to rest the other day
We interred your remains:
The clothes you wore
Your shoes, the wrist watch
Still sticking to tell us endlessly
The changing of the seasons
The signs of the times
We buried your football skills
But we failed to bury your soul.
Your spirit lives on
Your passion for the wellbeing of our nation
Your zeal to stop the decomposition of our freedom
No zikwanje can hack to death
No stiletto can pierce to oblivion
No blow can hurl into the void of non-existence
The morning we found you
After the cloak of night opened up to shed light on the truth
The lie on which you lay bore no marks
No signs to shore up the official explanation
They say you left farewell notes
Yet the deed is not keeping with the strength of your spirit
Your pursuit for the truth
Your inability to suffer in silence
Threatened to derail the construction of private palaces
Shook the foundation best laid plans to keep it in family
But the Truth does not die.
They find comfort in the fact that the dead cannot talk
Cannot dispute the authenticity of farewell notes
Cannot disclose the duress under which the notes were written
It is sad the dead cannot talk
There will be no closure in this death
No end to the mourning
Each morning on the long queues of fuel
We will mourn
Each time bogus salaries are splashed on spouses for charity work
We will mourn
Each time we find no medicine in hospitals
We will mourn
Each time they threaten a journalist with death
We will mourn
Each time they set ablaze the abode of an activist
We will mourn
Each time they raze the markets
We will mourn
Each time appointments are made from one ethnic group only
We will mourn
Go well Dear Friend
We will ignore the farewell notes
They have failed to kill your spirit
These idiots.
Published under The Sunday Times Column: Mouthpiece on October 2, 2011.
Friday, May 20, 2011
International Development, Andrew Mitchell, to Malawi president, Bingu wa Mutharika.
Dear Mr President
We recently agreed that Malawi should be one of 27 priority countries for future UK development support. Stephen O’Brien discussed our future plans with you in January, and confirmed them in his letter of 24 February to your Finance Minister. But as you know, following your expulsion of our High Commissioner, we’re reviewing the wider relationship with Malawi. Before I make decisions on the future of the aid programme, I would welcome your views on the concerns set out in this letter. Until I have completed my consideration of these issues, following your response, I will not be making any budget commitments to Malawi.
Our partnership is based on a commitment to poverty reduction, respect for human rights and accountability and sound public financial management. Malawi’s economy has grown well in recent years, and good progress has been made on maize production and against some of the MDGs. But major development challenges remain and I am concerned that some of the policies of your government may jeopardise progress in reducing poverty.
First, there are growing risks to the Malawi economy, which if not urgently addressed will seriously limit progress in reducing poverty. Malawi’s chronic foreign exchange shortages are having a very serious impact on the private sector, which should be driving future growth. Declining global demand for tobacco combined with rising fuel and fertiliser prices also suggest a serious terms of trade shock for Malawi. In the short term this requires some changes to economic policy agreed with the IMF. In the short term export competitiveness, power shortages, high transport and finance costs and skills gaps need to be addressed. These issues are all covered by joint work between your government and the development partners, but I’m unclear what action you propose to take. As a relatively small and landlocked country, there are opportunities to take advantage of regional integration of transport and power. Again I am not sure of your government’s intentions.
Second, on human rights and domestic accountability, I welcome the greater transparency and accountability around the national budget and consultations to inform the new Malawi Growth and Development Strategy. But there have been a number of worrying developments over the last eighteen months. Reports that demonstrations have been suppressed and civil society organisations intimidated indicate that space for normal democratic debate is narrowing and that tolerance for opposition voices, and for organisations that can help to hold the government to account, is declining. Stephen O’Brien raised with you in January our concerns about the implications of the revised Penal Code for freedom of expression and minority rights. We are extremely disappointed to learn that this Bill was signed into law shortly afterwards and that homosexuality between women will be criminalised. I hope also that we can work together to ensure that institutions, such as the National Audit Office, the Anti Corruption Bureau, the Ombudsman and the Malawi Human Rights Commission, are given the necessary independence and financial support to do their jobs and provide a formal avenue for Malawians seeking redress.
Third, on public financial management, I remain concerned about the use of scarce public resources for luxury items, including the $22 million plane in 2009 and continued purchase of expensive cars. As you will recall, the UK deducted 3 million pounds of general budget support in 2009 and recently reclaimed 500,000 pounds following evidence of poor value procurements in the health sector. I understand that reviews of fertiliser and road procurement highlight opportunities for major savings. At a time of austerity in the UK when the Coalition Government has agreed to continue increasing the aid budget, I need to be able to assure British taxpayers that partner governments are using our resources, and theirs to deliver better results in reducing poverty. I would welcome reassurance on your commitment to value for money and details of your next steps.
Fourth, I was disappointed with the Government’s slow and limited response to the hunger faced by many families in Southern Malawi, following localised droughts in 2009/10, especially given the assurances I received last November. This weak response undermines the Government’s very positive record in improving food security at the national level.
I look forward to your response on all of these issues, which are fundamental to our future partnership. I would like to reassure you that we respect Malawi’s right to shape its own policies. But you will understand that I also have responsibilities to the British taxpayer to ensure that their money is used to reduce poverty in the most effective way. I will be making decisions on the UK’s development programme in Malawi by the end of June. I would like to take account of your answer to this letter and would be happy to discuss the concerns in this letter with you. I also intend to consult Malawi’s other development partners. The Foreign Secretary, the Right Hon William Hague, will be interested in your reply as he considers other aspects of the UK’s relationship with Malawi.
With best regards
Yours sincerely
ANDREW MITCHELL
SECRETARY OF STATE, DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CC
Hon Prof Etta Banda MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hon Ken Kandodo MP, Minister of Finance
Hon Abbie Shawa MP, Minister of Development Planning and Cooperation
We recently agreed that Malawi should be one of 27 priority countries for future UK development support. Stephen O’Brien discussed our future plans with you in January, and confirmed them in his letter of 24 February to your Finance Minister. But as you know, following your expulsion of our High Commissioner, we’re reviewing the wider relationship with Malawi. Before I make decisions on the future of the aid programme, I would welcome your views on the concerns set out in this letter. Until I have completed my consideration of these issues, following your response, I will not be making any budget commitments to Malawi.
Our partnership is based on a commitment to poverty reduction, respect for human rights and accountability and sound public financial management. Malawi’s economy has grown well in recent years, and good progress has been made on maize production and against some of the MDGs. But major development challenges remain and I am concerned that some of the policies of your government may jeopardise progress in reducing poverty.
First, there are growing risks to the Malawi economy, which if not urgently addressed will seriously limit progress in reducing poverty. Malawi’s chronic foreign exchange shortages are having a very serious impact on the private sector, which should be driving future growth. Declining global demand for tobacco combined with rising fuel and fertiliser prices also suggest a serious terms of trade shock for Malawi. In the short term this requires some changes to economic policy agreed with the IMF. In the short term export competitiveness, power shortages, high transport and finance costs and skills gaps need to be addressed. These issues are all covered by joint work between your government and the development partners, but I’m unclear what action you propose to take. As a relatively small and landlocked country, there are opportunities to take advantage of regional integration of transport and power. Again I am not sure of your government’s intentions.
Second, on human rights and domestic accountability, I welcome the greater transparency and accountability around the national budget and consultations to inform the new Malawi Growth and Development Strategy. But there have been a number of worrying developments over the last eighteen months. Reports that demonstrations have been suppressed and civil society organisations intimidated indicate that space for normal democratic debate is narrowing and that tolerance for opposition voices, and for organisations that can help to hold the government to account, is declining. Stephen O’Brien raised with you in January our concerns about the implications of the revised Penal Code for freedom of expression and minority rights. We are extremely disappointed to learn that this Bill was signed into law shortly afterwards and that homosexuality between women will be criminalised. I hope also that we can work together to ensure that institutions, such as the National Audit Office, the Anti Corruption Bureau, the Ombudsman and the Malawi Human Rights Commission, are given the necessary independence and financial support to do their jobs and provide a formal avenue for Malawians seeking redress.
Third, on public financial management, I remain concerned about the use of scarce public resources for luxury items, including the $22 million plane in 2009 and continued purchase of expensive cars. As you will recall, the UK deducted 3 million pounds of general budget support in 2009 and recently reclaimed 500,000 pounds following evidence of poor value procurements in the health sector. I understand that reviews of fertiliser and road procurement highlight opportunities for major savings. At a time of austerity in the UK when the Coalition Government has agreed to continue increasing the aid budget, I need to be able to assure British taxpayers that partner governments are using our resources, and theirs to deliver better results in reducing poverty. I would welcome reassurance on your commitment to value for money and details of your next steps.
Fourth, I was disappointed with the Government’s slow and limited response to the hunger faced by many families in Southern Malawi, following localised droughts in 2009/10, especially given the assurances I received last November. This weak response undermines the Government’s very positive record in improving food security at the national level.
I look forward to your response on all of these issues, which are fundamental to our future partnership. I would like to reassure you that we respect Malawi’s right to shape its own policies. But you will understand that I also have responsibilities to the British taxpayer to ensure that their money is used to reduce poverty in the most effective way. I will be making decisions on the UK’s development programme in Malawi by the end of June. I would like to take account of your answer to this letter and would be happy to discuss the concerns in this letter with you. I also intend to consult Malawi’s other development partners. The Foreign Secretary, the Right Hon William Hague, will be interested in your reply as he considers other aspects of the UK’s relationship with Malawi.
With best regards
Yours sincerely
ANDREW MITCHELL
SECRETARY OF STATE, DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CC
Hon Prof Etta Banda MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hon Ken Kandodo MP, Minister of Finance
Hon Abbie Shawa MP, Minister of Development Planning and Cooperation
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The return of floods in Karonga
April Fools’ Day, that was it: Friday April 1 2011. I would say it was very early in the morning. I say very early in the morning because it was around 3am. I was still in bed half sleeping and half awake and listening to the BBC World Service.
I have told myself to take it as awkward to get a phone call around that time unless my phone rings more than three times or it is that most peculiar tone which means the fiancée is calling. She’s among the few that possess visas to call anytime.
But the one I got on that April Fools’ Day was nowhere near the peculiar tone. They were the traditional tones I set to my handsets. First, it was the handset with the TNM line. It briefly rang on two occasions. Flashers, I told myself.
Then, before I cured myself from that disturbance, the second happened. It was the handset with the Airtel line. It briefly rang twice as well. I quickly told myself that it should be someone who knew the two of my numbers – a relative, maybe, and my immediate elder brother came to mind. What could it be, I asked myself.
I woke up, fished out the handsets and it was not the brother. It was someone from Karonga whom I have known since I transferred to Mzuzu. We talk often, less on a personal note and more on a business one.
Hypotheses went around my head. It must be fire at a shop, I told myself. No, it should be another devastating earthquake. No, but eeeeh! Hey, you are not sure – I told myself. Call! Yes, call! I called and the guy sounded so devastated that I quickly shed off the half-sleep.
The man was rusty but I clearly heard ‘Fargo’ and ‘floods’. I quickly thought something belonging to Fargo Limited has been washed away. But I fell short of asking myself what that could be as I have never heard of Fargo in Karonga.
Was it an April Fools’ Day? I never thought so because I convinced myself this guy knows nothing about it. Again, it appears we both know what issues we can personally discuss and to which limits.
Floods? Yes! Just a few weeks before this I saw floods around Malungo area in the district and just after the North Rukuru roadblock. I remember a hawker plying his trade near the roadblock challenging that the floods could not bring down his stall because it is strong. He sold me a packet of biscuits while standing in water flowing through his shop.
I called the guy first thing in the morning and we understood each other this time around. A dyke constructed in 1985 to block water from North Rukuru River from flooding a number of areas around the boma had collapsed.
As is the case in many areas, people there called the dyke Fargo because it was constructed by Fargo Limited. It is the collapsing of the dyke that resulted in the flooding. The issues were connected now.
We talked about the state of the affairs there and I quickly thought I should verify the details with the office of the District Commissioner. I called the DC, Gasten Macheka, and he sounded a worried man.
He said Baka area around the boma was in danger of being completely submerged. The dyke that collapsed had shielded this low lying area from fluctuating water levels in North Rukuru River since 1985.
True to his fears, the worst was to come a week later. It was on Thursday, April 7. I had just sank in bed at around 10pm. The same man called again this time sounding more devastated than before.
“It has rained heavily and is still raining here. Floods are everywhere. I don’t know where I should take my property because the water is knee high inside the house now. There is water everywhere outside the house,” said the man.
Before I completely digested his story, another one called. It was from the Karonga main market, one of the only reasonably higher areas around the boma. He told me that water was everywhere and business in the market had completely grounded.
I tried to put together the bits and get a wider picture. I talked to a few people who confirmed that the situation was horrible. But I failed to confirm the situation.
The DC was already locked in a crisis meeting as early as 7am on Friday. Karonga police spokesperson Enock Livasoni was more concerned himself. His colleagues at Kaporo police post were swimming because there was water all over the place.
Livasoni was there. He told me four people had been confirmed dead and one of them died while trying to save his cattle from the floods.
I waited for the DC and when I got him I knew the floods had returned to Karonga. He told me that 60 villages were affected, up to 348 houses had collapsed and 3,287 people were destitute. All these were from Traditional Authorities Kilupula, Mwakaboko and Kyungu.
Most of the affected had camped on the M1 tarmac road to Songwe border post. But this was not the complete picture. The assessment was continuing and there were other areas in the southern part of the district that had been affected by the floods as well.
I had never heard of such degrees of flooding in Karonga with the only closer picture being around 2005. Hence, having had the current picture, I knew an old monster had come to haunt again.
And I remain concerned for the welfare of those affected just as I am concerned about the disaster recovery programme put in place because of the devastating effects of earthquakes that hit mainly the district and Chitipa at the end of 2009.
I have told myself to take it as awkward to get a phone call around that time unless my phone rings more than three times or it is that most peculiar tone which means the fiancée is calling. She’s among the few that possess visas to call anytime.
But the one I got on that April Fools’ Day was nowhere near the peculiar tone. They were the traditional tones I set to my handsets. First, it was the handset with the TNM line. It briefly rang on two occasions. Flashers, I told myself.
Then, before I cured myself from that disturbance, the second happened. It was the handset with the Airtel line. It briefly rang twice as well. I quickly told myself that it should be someone who knew the two of my numbers – a relative, maybe, and my immediate elder brother came to mind. What could it be, I asked myself.
I woke up, fished out the handsets and it was not the brother. It was someone from Karonga whom I have known since I transferred to Mzuzu. We talk often, less on a personal note and more on a business one.
Hypotheses went around my head. It must be fire at a shop, I told myself. No, it should be another devastating earthquake. No, but eeeeh! Hey, you are not sure – I told myself. Call! Yes, call! I called and the guy sounded so devastated that I quickly shed off the half-sleep.
The man was rusty but I clearly heard ‘Fargo’ and ‘floods’. I quickly thought something belonging to Fargo Limited has been washed away. But I fell short of asking myself what that could be as I have never heard of Fargo in Karonga.
Was it an April Fools’ Day? I never thought so because I convinced myself this guy knows nothing about it. Again, it appears we both know what issues we can personally discuss and to which limits.
Floods? Yes! Just a few weeks before this I saw floods around Malungo area in the district and just after the North Rukuru roadblock. I remember a hawker plying his trade near the roadblock challenging that the floods could not bring down his stall because it is strong. He sold me a packet of biscuits while standing in water flowing through his shop.
I called the guy first thing in the morning and we understood each other this time around. A dyke constructed in 1985 to block water from North Rukuru River from flooding a number of areas around the boma had collapsed.
As is the case in many areas, people there called the dyke Fargo because it was constructed by Fargo Limited. It is the collapsing of the dyke that resulted in the flooding. The issues were connected now.
We talked about the state of the affairs there and I quickly thought I should verify the details with the office of the District Commissioner. I called the DC, Gasten Macheka, and he sounded a worried man.
He said Baka area around the boma was in danger of being completely submerged. The dyke that collapsed had shielded this low lying area from fluctuating water levels in North Rukuru River since 1985.
True to his fears, the worst was to come a week later. It was on Thursday, April 7. I had just sank in bed at around 10pm. The same man called again this time sounding more devastated than before.
“It has rained heavily and is still raining here. Floods are everywhere. I don’t know where I should take my property because the water is knee high inside the house now. There is water everywhere outside the house,” said the man.
Before I completely digested his story, another one called. It was from the Karonga main market, one of the only reasonably higher areas around the boma. He told me that water was everywhere and business in the market had completely grounded.
I tried to put together the bits and get a wider picture. I talked to a few people who confirmed that the situation was horrible. But I failed to confirm the situation.
The DC was already locked in a crisis meeting as early as 7am on Friday. Karonga police spokesperson Enock Livasoni was more concerned himself. His colleagues at Kaporo police post were swimming because there was water all over the place.
Livasoni was there. He told me four people had been confirmed dead and one of them died while trying to save his cattle from the floods.
I waited for the DC and when I got him I knew the floods had returned to Karonga. He told me that 60 villages were affected, up to 348 houses had collapsed and 3,287 people were destitute. All these were from Traditional Authorities Kilupula, Mwakaboko and Kyungu.
Most of the affected had camped on the M1 tarmac road to Songwe border post. But this was not the complete picture. The assessment was continuing and there were other areas in the southern part of the district that had been affected by the floods as well.
I had never heard of such degrees of flooding in Karonga with the only closer picture being around 2005. Hence, having had the current picture, I knew an old monster had come to haunt again.
And I remain concerned for the welfare of those affected just as I am concerned about the disaster recovery programme put in place because of the devastating effects of earthquakes that hit mainly the district and Chitipa at the end of 2009.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Business in the face of poor sanitation
As she sits between her bags of maize just outside the Karonga district market, Bertha Nyondo has to strive to deal with three things: an offensive smell from a drain lying nearby, scorching heat and customers.
One hand stands still under the pressure of an umbrella; another keeps flying across her face from side to side. She has to fan off the offensive smell and wipe the sweat dripping down her face. As all this happens, her mind has to focus on the customer.
Nyondo and other, mainly, female businesspersons and their bags of maize sit just above a drain full of stagnant water. A look at this water cannot be sustained. So you can concentrate on negotiating the price of a tin of maize with Nyondo or others. But the smell from this water quickly aborts such negotiations.
“This stinking is how the situation is like here. We have complained to the district council about this situation but we cannot force them to come and improve it. So I just have to concentrate on my business,” says Nyondo.
“I leave everything to the people from the council. After all, we pay something to them every day for us to sell our maize here. So they have to come and clean this place every day.”
Nyondo’s sentiments can easily fuel debate as regards who is responsible for ensuring that the environment like where she sits every day is free from any disturbing developments like the stench from nearby.
However, she attests that one thing is exact: the more the sanitation is poor around her, the more people shun her business.
About 100 metres from where Nyondo plies her trade, 30-year-old Mercy Gondwe testifies to how poor sanitation has left her struggling to pin down customers.
With her baby on her back, she sits on a bench just outside a small room. She stares at a small hill of trash just in front of her, stagnant water all around it. She has prepared a variety of meals and her being out here is to woo customers to buy the meals.
“I struggle everyday to get a customer into my restaurant because they say they do not enjoy their meals while seeing trash just outside the restaurant,” she said while pointing at the collection of stinking trash that included leftover foods.
“There was a bin there in which people were throwing waste matters. But although the bin is no longer there, people are still dumping their wastes there. And our businesses are what suffer because of this.”
The collection of trash she referred to produces a strong smell, and it is this smell that makes one feel uncomfortable when in Gondwe’s restaurant.
The trash gets wet during night downpours and although it is often very hot during the day, this trash maintains moisture thereby keeping the environment around it wet.
Poor drainage also worsens the situation. Even if it rained days ago, stagnant water remains all around Gondwe’s place.
She lacks comparative figures for each of the corresponding seasons, but Gondwe remains sure that poor sanitation causes business misfortunes in her restaurant because such misfortunes are not there in the dry season.
“All these things were not there when I was doing the same business within the bus depot complex even during the rainy season. The situation there is a little bit clean,” said Gondwe.
“So many people were coming to eat from my restaurant and I did not even have problems to get them into there.”
Like in many urban and suburban locations in the country, waste management in Karonga is a problem. Trash litters almost everywhere around the boma area and collecting it to dumping sites is usually a problem.
A report prepared by the Environmental District Officer (EDO) late last year indicates that there is only one vehicle to collect and ferry the trash to the dumping site. Unfortunately, the vehicle is old.
“Apart from the district council, not many members of the civil society or private sector are taking part in waste management in the district,” says the report.
It adds that only the only organisation coming closer to ensuring proper sanitation in the district is the Malawi Red Cross which is undertaking a sanitation project involving construction of sanitation facilities in some of the rural areas. The facilities only include hand washing facilities, urinals and pit latrines.
This means that there is no private sector involvement in the collection and dumping of wastes like that in front of Gondwe’s restaurant. Hence such a responsibility remains the district council’s.
“The presence of only one vehicle makes the town council fail to implement the collection of the refuse from the households to the dumping site,” says the report of the 3-tonne tractor.
“Workers in the markets [also] complain about shortage of financial resources, human resources, working materials and safety gear. Working materials include: shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes, bins; and safety wear includes gumboots, overalls and many other tools.
“These are really in short supply and they defuse the morale of the cleaners to perform effectively. The town section has ever supplied some of these items but vandalism has been a discouraging factor.”
According to the report, there are currently no strategic plans in place to improve the status of waste management in the district. There are only proposals and suggestions on how the situation can be improved.
As such, for now, people like Nyondo and Gondwe are doomed to doing their business in this poorly sanitised environment. And this means fewer customers coming to buy from them.
One hand stands still under the pressure of an umbrella; another keeps flying across her face from side to side. She has to fan off the offensive smell and wipe the sweat dripping down her face. As all this happens, her mind has to focus on the customer.
Nyondo and other, mainly, female businesspersons and their bags of maize sit just above a drain full of stagnant water. A look at this water cannot be sustained. So you can concentrate on negotiating the price of a tin of maize with Nyondo or others. But the smell from this water quickly aborts such negotiations.
“This stinking is how the situation is like here. We have complained to the district council about this situation but we cannot force them to come and improve it. So I just have to concentrate on my business,” says Nyondo.
“I leave everything to the people from the council. After all, we pay something to them every day for us to sell our maize here. So they have to come and clean this place every day.”
Nyondo’s sentiments can easily fuel debate as regards who is responsible for ensuring that the environment like where she sits every day is free from any disturbing developments like the stench from nearby.
However, she attests that one thing is exact: the more the sanitation is poor around her, the more people shun her business.
About 100 metres from where Nyondo plies her trade, 30-year-old Mercy Gondwe testifies to how poor sanitation has left her struggling to pin down customers.
With her baby on her back, she sits on a bench just outside a small room. She stares at a small hill of trash just in front of her, stagnant water all around it. She has prepared a variety of meals and her being out here is to woo customers to buy the meals.
“I struggle everyday to get a customer into my restaurant because they say they do not enjoy their meals while seeing trash just outside the restaurant,” she said while pointing at the collection of stinking trash that included leftover foods.
“There was a bin there in which people were throwing waste matters. But although the bin is no longer there, people are still dumping their wastes there. And our businesses are what suffer because of this.”
The collection of trash she referred to produces a strong smell, and it is this smell that makes one feel uncomfortable when in Gondwe’s restaurant.
The trash gets wet during night downpours and although it is often very hot during the day, this trash maintains moisture thereby keeping the environment around it wet.
Poor drainage also worsens the situation. Even if it rained days ago, stagnant water remains all around Gondwe’s place.
She lacks comparative figures for each of the corresponding seasons, but Gondwe remains sure that poor sanitation causes business misfortunes in her restaurant because such misfortunes are not there in the dry season.
“All these things were not there when I was doing the same business within the bus depot complex even during the rainy season. The situation there is a little bit clean,” said Gondwe.
“So many people were coming to eat from my restaurant and I did not even have problems to get them into there.”
Like in many urban and suburban locations in the country, waste management in Karonga is a problem. Trash litters almost everywhere around the boma area and collecting it to dumping sites is usually a problem.
A report prepared by the Environmental District Officer (EDO) late last year indicates that there is only one vehicle to collect and ferry the trash to the dumping site. Unfortunately, the vehicle is old.
“Apart from the district council, not many members of the civil society or private sector are taking part in waste management in the district,” says the report.
It adds that only the only organisation coming closer to ensuring proper sanitation in the district is the Malawi Red Cross which is undertaking a sanitation project involving construction of sanitation facilities in some of the rural areas. The facilities only include hand washing facilities, urinals and pit latrines.
This means that there is no private sector involvement in the collection and dumping of wastes like that in front of Gondwe’s restaurant. Hence such a responsibility remains the district council’s.
“The presence of only one vehicle makes the town council fail to implement the collection of the refuse from the households to the dumping site,” says the report of the 3-tonne tractor.
“Workers in the markets [also] complain about shortage of financial resources, human resources, working materials and safety gear. Working materials include: shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes, bins; and safety wear includes gumboots, overalls and many other tools.
“These are really in short supply and they defuse the morale of the cleaners to perform effectively. The town section has ever supplied some of these items but vandalism has been a discouraging factor.”
According to the report, there are currently no strategic plans in place to improve the status of waste management in the district. There are only proposals and suggestions on how the situation can be improved.
As such, for now, people like Nyondo and Gondwe are doomed to doing their business in this poorly sanitised environment. And this means fewer customers coming to buy from them.
Mysterious cattle that don’t have the mystery
One who has travelled down the Livingstonia escarpments from the location of the Mchenga coal grading machine down to Chiweta – or down Boliwoli – especially during the rainy season will live to remember a common sight henceforth.
You may just hear a bell ringing as you get engulfed in fear because of the steep slopes that leave you shaking in your seat. Or, you will see cattle dung in the middle of the road – testimony that the cattle turned the tarmac into bed. Or, mainly at night, you will find the cattle lying in the middle of the road.
I have had this captivating experience more often. And, often, I have failed miserably to convince people that the cattle that ring their bells, or dump their dung or lay stubbornly in the middle of the road are not mysterious as many think.
So mysterious have many people believed these cattle are that when you travel on a ride up or down the escarpments, you will hear neighbours sharing stories about the ‘mystery’ these cattle boast.
Magic at work
One will say the owner of these cattle died a long time ago – maybe before you were born – but these cattle have remained a fixture in the escarpments and all they have done is to multiply and keep filling the road with their dung.
Another will say that the fact that these cattle roam the bush in the escarpments even at night without being stolen or killed shows that they are fortified with magic.
Yet others will say that the fact that these cattle do not run away from the middle of the road even when loaded trucks approach them is testimony that the magic with which they are fortified is so potent that it forces drivers to, usually, stop or travel at snail speed and ably pass them without killing one.
In the line of duty
The latest I heard people debate this was last week. After finishing my business on Thursday I thought I should spend my time doing some feature stories around Chilumba in Karonga.
We passed through the area infested with the ‘mysterious’ cattle at around 10:20pm. We saw two groups about 10 metres apart. One group occupied a lane and another was grazing by the road side. It is common for cattle to graze at night especially when the moon is shining.
I heard a male passenger telling his female seat mate in front of me that the cattle we had seen are fortified with magic and the owner died a long time ago.
He said one cannot kill the cattle which is why they kept multiplying and never got stolen. He claimed that even if one killed the cattle, they would not eat the meat because it can’t be cooked.
One season phenomenon
I asked the man if he had seen all this by himself. Seemingly not ready to give in, he repeated exactly what he had told the lady passenger. I felt the impetus run around my body telling me that this time around I would defeat the claimant.
I started by telling him what happens around the area and why the cattle are not stolen. I told him I came from near the place we were passing through and personally knew the owners of the ‘mysterious’ cattle.
Having been involved in such a practice back in those days, I told the man that it was common for people to ‘abandon’ their cattle in the bush like this. The practice was particularly common in the rainy season when all land close to the homes was used for growing crops.
The man never bought it and only succumbed after I dealt him a lethal blow. I let him argue his cause. And when he seemed finished, I posed two questions to him. First, I asked whether he has ever lived close to where we saw the ‘mysterious’ cattle. Second, I asked whether he had seen the cattle we saw in the same area in the dry season.
Naked evidence
The man succumbed and never spoke again. In the dry season the cattle are grazed on the land used for crops.
Evidence of what I had said presented itself in total nakedness on Saturday afternoon. I had joined some media colleagues on the way back to Mzuzu and there were four of us the ride.
As we neared the top end of the escarpments, we saw four cattle grazing by the road side. I asked the colleague that was driving to slow down a bit so I could take a photo.
I fished my phone and snapped the cattle, telling my colleagues what I was up to. About half a kilometre later, we heard the bell and later saw someone driving the cattle towards the location of the coal grading machine.
We could not hesitate but stop. We pounded the man who identified himself as Sangwani Chisambo with questions. He confirmed what I had told the people some two days earlier. People dump their cattle here during the rainy season because they cultivate the land near their homes.
The cattle are taken back home in the evening. He said they only sleep in the area when nobody goes to get them. This happens when people are tired with their jobs. Chisambo is a driver and that is what keeps him busy during the day.
You may just hear a bell ringing as you get engulfed in fear because of the steep slopes that leave you shaking in your seat. Or, you will see cattle dung in the middle of the road – testimony that the cattle turned the tarmac into bed. Or, mainly at night, you will find the cattle lying in the middle of the road.
I have had this captivating experience more often. And, often, I have failed miserably to convince people that the cattle that ring their bells, or dump their dung or lay stubbornly in the middle of the road are not mysterious as many think.
So mysterious have many people believed these cattle are that when you travel on a ride up or down the escarpments, you will hear neighbours sharing stories about the ‘mystery’ these cattle boast.
Magic at work
One will say the owner of these cattle died a long time ago – maybe before you were born – but these cattle have remained a fixture in the escarpments and all they have done is to multiply and keep filling the road with their dung.
Another will say that the fact that these cattle roam the bush in the escarpments even at night without being stolen or killed shows that they are fortified with magic.
Yet others will say that the fact that these cattle do not run away from the middle of the road even when loaded trucks approach them is testimony that the magic with which they are fortified is so potent that it forces drivers to, usually, stop or travel at snail speed and ably pass them without killing one.
In the line of duty
The latest I heard people debate this was last week. After finishing my business on Thursday I thought I should spend my time doing some feature stories around Chilumba in Karonga.
We passed through the area infested with the ‘mysterious’ cattle at around 10:20pm. We saw two groups about 10 metres apart. One group occupied a lane and another was grazing by the road side. It is common for cattle to graze at night especially when the moon is shining.
I heard a male passenger telling his female seat mate in front of me that the cattle we had seen are fortified with magic and the owner died a long time ago.
He said one cannot kill the cattle which is why they kept multiplying and never got stolen. He claimed that even if one killed the cattle, they would not eat the meat because it can’t be cooked.
One season phenomenon
I asked the man if he had seen all this by himself. Seemingly not ready to give in, he repeated exactly what he had told the lady passenger. I felt the impetus run around my body telling me that this time around I would defeat the claimant.
I started by telling him what happens around the area and why the cattle are not stolen. I told him I came from near the place we were passing through and personally knew the owners of the ‘mysterious’ cattle.
Having been involved in such a practice back in those days, I told the man that it was common for people to ‘abandon’ their cattle in the bush like this. The practice was particularly common in the rainy season when all land close to the homes was used for growing crops.
The man never bought it and only succumbed after I dealt him a lethal blow. I let him argue his cause. And when he seemed finished, I posed two questions to him. First, I asked whether he has ever lived close to where we saw the ‘mysterious’ cattle. Second, I asked whether he had seen the cattle we saw in the same area in the dry season.
Naked evidence
The man succumbed and never spoke again. In the dry season the cattle are grazed on the land used for crops.
Evidence of what I had said presented itself in total nakedness on Saturday afternoon. I had joined some media colleagues on the way back to Mzuzu and there were four of us the ride.
As we neared the top end of the escarpments, we saw four cattle grazing by the road side. I asked the colleague that was driving to slow down a bit so I could take a photo.
I fished my phone and snapped the cattle, telling my colleagues what I was up to. About half a kilometre later, we heard the bell and later saw someone driving the cattle towards the location of the coal grading machine.
We could not hesitate but stop. We pounded the man who identified himself as Sangwani Chisambo with questions. He confirmed what I had told the people some two days earlier. People dump their cattle here during the rainy season because they cultivate the land near their homes.
The cattle are taken back home in the evening. He said they only sleep in the area when nobody goes to get them. This happens when people are tired with their jobs. Chisambo is a driver and that is what keeps him busy during the day.
Friday, January 21, 2011
A beast who became a husband again
When she married him, thought that he would one day become an enemy in her bedroom never crossed her mind. For Brenda Kumwenda her involvement with Ronnex Nkhonjera was wrapped in love and nothing else.
They got married and enjoyed their union. They were poor. So when Ronnex was selected to Domasi College of Education to train as a primary school teacher in 1988 Brenda thought happy times lay ahead. But did they?
“He never allowed me to use his money. Each time I asked for money to buy things for the house, he shouted at me. He said I was not there at the college when he ate beans that smelt paraffin,” said Brenda in an interview at Rukuru in Mzimba north.
“He failed even to attend to the needs of our children. What he was good at was spending his money on beer and coming home late and kick around plates containing his food each time he noted that the relish was not good or without salt. He found no problems with sitting on the floor.”
Such are some of the forms of gender based violence (GBV) that Brenda went through at the hands of the man she thought would be king of her heart but suddenly turned into a beast in her home.
A number of such cases have been documented. However, still many more have not yet been documented. This is because those sailing through situations mired in gender-related abuses like Brenda’s feel scared to open up and talk about them.
They often feel their marriages would break up when they talk about the abuses they go through. And culture plays a greater role in causing this silence. Women are always encouraged to persevere in marriage regardless of whatever they meet. And Brenda was told the same.
“I complained to relatives and parents-in-law. But each time I did so I was told to go back to my husband and endure whatever happened because marriage was endurance. I was told to live with whatever I experienced,” added the mother of four.
“I tried virtually everything but he could not just abandon his behaviour.”
Today, Brenda can stand tall in front of people and tell them what she went through. The problems that rocked her life are no longer there. But it is not that she has absorbed them up. People who saw her suffering helped solve these problems for her.
Agnes Vileme Msiska, Primary Education Adviser (PEA) for the Rukuru education zone in Mzimba north, is one of the people who helped change Brenda’s abusive husband. Sitting in that position means Msiska is empowered. And being an empowered person, she commands influence in the society and this influence enables her to convince people like Ronnex to abandon their violent conduct.
And in Ronnex’s situation, Msiska found herself with additional influence. Ronnex is her junior. He is a teacher at Kasuma primary school which falls under Msiska’s jurisdiction.
“We trained him and the other men who behaved the way he did but it was very clear at the beginning that he was not ready to change his behaviour just overnight,” said Msiska of Nkhonjera.
“However, he started coming up after frequent visits by the Village Action Groups and the Mother Groups. Now he is a completely changed man. And the situation is the same with the other men who behaved like him.”
The Village Action Groups and the Mother Groups which Msiska credited for changing the behaviour of people like Nkhonjera comprised people who were trained to convince those that perpetrated the acts of GBV to change.
They were trained under a project implemented in the area by the Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation (Creccom) with funding from the European Union (EU). The project was called Violence Against Women and Girls – an Enemy to Development (Vawogede).
Together with the Peer Outreach Workers (POWs), these groups have spread messages against gender based violence. And since inception of the project in January 2007, a lot has changed.
Men have realised their responsibility. Those parents who rushed their young girls into marriage have stopped. In fact, most of the girls that were rushed into marriages are back in school.
But most of all, the new dawn as regards GBV sits on top of everything. Listen to what he says and watch what he does. You will be convinced that the beast Ronnex has transformed into a husband again.
“Yes, I used to beat my wife and deny her access to my salary. But now the situation is different. She knows how much I get and she is the custodian of the salary,” said Nkhonjera in an interview as Brenda nodded in agreement.
“Some might think that my wife charmed me. But to me the strongest charm are the lessons that these people took me through. I have been a changed man ever since I attended their first class. I stopped drinking beer.”
He added that his family now worked together to provide for their household needs. They have good furniture in their house. Three of their four children are well supported in secondary school. They also have a grocery shop which supplements their household needs.
Some time ago, Ronnex saw the love from his wife fly away very quickly. And he was scared his wife was going.
But being what he is now, he feels gone are those possibilities. The situation is back to normal. The love he saw flying away has come back. And the two can walk together side by side and share experiences about their turbulent past with other people including those gathered at public rallies.
And Msiska feels there is no going back for Ronnex and the other men that were in a situation like his. The villagers have adopted the approach and they are running the show. They have even started village lending institutions to help the needy.
Whichever the case, one thing stands. Ronnex Nkhonjera is a husband that turned into a beast. But now he has become a husband again.
They got married and enjoyed their union. They were poor. So when Ronnex was selected to Domasi College of Education to train as a primary school teacher in 1988 Brenda thought happy times lay ahead. But did they?
“He never allowed me to use his money. Each time I asked for money to buy things for the house, he shouted at me. He said I was not there at the college when he ate beans that smelt paraffin,” said Brenda in an interview at Rukuru in Mzimba north.
“He failed even to attend to the needs of our children. What he was good at was spending his money on beer and coming home late and kick around plates containing his food each time he noted that the relish was not good or without salt. He found no problems with sitting on the floor.”
Such are some of the forms of gender based violence (GBV) that Brenda went through at the hands of the man she thought would be king of her heart but suddenly turned into a beast in her home.
A number of such cases have been documented. However, still many more have not yet been documented. This is because those sailing through situations mired in gender-related abuses like Brenda’s feel scared to open up and talk about them.
They often feel their marriages would break up when they talk about the abuses they go through. And culture plays a greater role in causing this silence. Women are always encouraged to persevere in marriage regardless of whatever they meet. And Brenda was told the same.
“I complained to relatives and parents-in-law. But each time I did so I was told to go back to my husband and endure whatever happened because marriage was endurance. I was told to live with whatever I experienced,” added the mother of four.
“I tried virtually everything but he could not just abandon his behaviour.”
Today, Brenda can stand tall in front of people and tell them what she went through. The problems that rocked her life are no longer there. But it is not that she has absorbed them up. People who saw her suffering helped solve these problems for her.
Agnes Vileme Msiska, Primary Education Adviser (PEA) for the Rukuru education zone in Mzimba north, is one of the people who helped change Brenda’s abusive husband. Sitting in that position means Msiska is empowered. And being an empowered person, she commands influence in the society and this influence enables her to convince people like Ronnex to abandon their violent conduct.
And in Ronnex’s situation, Msiska found herself with additional influence. Ronnex is her junior. He is a teacher at Kasuma primary school which falls under Msiska’s jurisdiction.
“We trained him and the other men who behaved the way he did but it was very clear at the beginning that he was not ready to change his behaviour just overnight,” said Msiska of Nkhonjera.
“However, he started coming up after frequent visits by the Village Action Groups and the Mother Groups. Now he is a completely changed man. And the situation is the same with the other men who behaved like him.”
The Village Action Groups and the Mother Groups which Msiska credited for changing the behaviour of people like Nkhonjera comprised people who were trained to convince those that perpetrated the acts of GBV to change.
They were trained under a project implemented in the area by the Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation (Creccom) with funding from the European Union (EU). The project was called Violence Against Women and Girls – an Enemy to Development (Vawogede).
Together with the Peer Outreach Workers (POWs), these groups have spread messages against gender based violence. And since inception of the project in January 2007, a lot has changed.
Men have realised their responsibility. Those parents who rushed their young girls into marriage have stopped. In fact, most of the girls that were rushed into marriages are back in school.
But most of all, the new dawn as regards GBV sits on top of everything. Listen to what he says and watch what he does. You will be convinced that the beast Ronnex has transformed into a husband again.
“Yes, I used to beat my wife and deny her access to my salary. But now the situation is different. She knows how much I get and she is the custodian of the salary,” said Nkhonjera in an interview as Brenda nodded in agreement.
“Some might think that my wife charmed me. But to me the strongest charm are the lessons that these people took me through. I have been a changed man ever since I attended their first class. I stopped drinking beer.”
He added that his family now worked together to provide for their household needs. They have good furniture in their house. Three of their four children are well supported in secondary school. They also have a grocery shop which supplements their household needs.
Some time ago, Ronnex saw the love from his wife fly away very quickly. And he was scared his wife was going.
But being what he is now, he feels gone are those possibilities. The situation is back to normal. The love he saw flying away has come back. And the two can walk together side by side and share experiences about their turbulent past with other people including those gathered at public rallies.
And Msiska feels there is no going back for Ronnex and the other men that were in a situation like his. The villagers have adopted the approach and they are running the show. They have even started village lending institutions to help the needy.
Whichever the case, one thing stands. Ronnex Nkhonjera is a husband that turned into a beast. But now he has become a husband again.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Certified rice seeds restore pride in Hara scheme farmers
After a long time of toiling in their rice fields only to realise miserable and less quality rice yields, some rice farmers at the Hara rice scheme in Karonga are breathing a new lease of life thanks to certified rice varieties they are growing.
The rice varieties are multiplied by some selected farmers in the area with the help of the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) and sold to the farmers around Karonga and in other areas for growing.
“The returns realised after using the certified rice varieties are unimaginable,” said Alick Msuku, Secretary for the Chigomezgo club, one of the certified rice growers, during a field day held in the area on Friday.
“When we plant 3kg of the certified PUSA 33 rice seeds we realise between 12 and 15 bags of rice each weighing 50kg. This means that the 3kg give us between 600 and 750kg.”
Icrisat started implementing the seed multiplication programme under the Malawi Seed Industry Development Project with funding from the Irish government after continued complaints against pollution of the romantic Kilombero rice with other varieties.
Since the implementation of the project started, groups of farmers have multiplied the certified seeds which are later sold to farmers helping them realise quality and bumper rice harvests in the wake of changing weather patterns.
“When we plant the Kilombero variety, we realise between 10 and 12 bags of rice each weighing 50kgs. This means that the same 3kg give us between 500 and 600kg of rice,” added Msuku.
“This was hard to realise the time we used part of the rice we harvested as seeds for the next growing season. The maximum we could go to was only five bags each weighing 50kg.”
He added that those multiplying the seeds are advised to leave 5-metre wide breaks between the gardens on which the multiplied rice varieties are grown and those on which the other varieties, mainly for consumption, are grown.
This, added Msuku, prevents pollen grains from the other varieties fertilising the certified rice thereby defeating the idea of coming up with a pure crop at the end of the project.
“We are very serious about it and we always certify that the multiplied seeds are not contaminated or mixed with the other varieties before we start distributing,” said Felix Sichali, Icrisat Project Manager, in an interview after the field day.
“Customers across the country have been complaining that they don’t get the real Kilombero rice these days and what they get is a mixture of different rice varieties at a high price charged on pure Kilombero rice.”
He warned farmers from being carried away by vendors who often buy the rice in buckets stressing that the farmers lose. He said since the harvest from the certified seeds is heavy, farmers would gain more if they measure what they sell on scales.
Traditional Authority Wasambo, who was guest of honour at the event, urged his subjects to have desire to do better saying they could change their livelihood if they embarked on farming as business.
“Good farmers who listen to advice from the Agricultural Extension Officers have built good houses and stocked it with excellent property beating most graduates who do not have houses,” he said.
“The trick is simple. Just follow the modern farming techniques and you will always do better. When you see problems, sit down and see how they could be solved. Otherwise, no one will be laughed at if they have food in their homes.”
Meanwhile, Sichali encouraged farmers to exploit contract farming saying this enables them to have a picture of how much they would get at the end of the day.
He added that there was a lot of demand for the certified rice seeds stressing that some customers were even demanding tonnage that the groups would not realise just in a year.
The rice varieties are multiplied by some selected farmers in the area with the help of the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) and sold to the farmers around Karonga and in other areas for growing.
“The returns realised after using the certified rice varieties are unimaginable,” said Alick Msuku, Secretary for the Chigomezgo club, one of the certified rice growers, during a field day held in the area on Friday.
“When we plant 3kg of the certified PUSA 33 rice seeds we realise between 12 and 15 bags of rice each weighing 50kg. This means that the 3kg give us between 600 and 750kg.”
Icrisat started implementing the seed multiplication programme under the Malawi Seed Industry Development Project with funding from the Irish government after continued complaints against pollution of the romantic Kilombero rice with other varieties.
Since the implementation of the project started, groups of farmers have multiplied the certified seeds which are later sold to farmers helping them realise quality and bumper rice harvests in the wake of changing weather patterns.
“When we plant the Kilombero variety, we realise between 10 and 12 bags of rice each weighing 50kgs. This means that the same 3kg give us between 500 and 600kg of rice,” added Msuku.
“This was hard to realise the time we used part of the rice we harvested as seeds for the next growing season. The maximum we could go to was only five bags each weighing 50kg.”
He added that those multiplying the seeds are advised to leave 5-metre wide breaks between the gardens on which the multiplied rice varieties are grown and those on which the other varieties, mainly for consumption, are grown.
This, added Msuku, prevents pollen grains from the other varieties fertilising the certified rice thereby defeating the idea of coming up with a pure crop at the end of the project.
“We are very serious about it and we always certify that the multiplied seeds are not contaminated or mixed with the other varieties before we start distributing,” said Felix Sichali, Icrisat Project Manager, in an interview after the field day.
“Customers across the country have been complaining that they don’t get the real Kilombero rice these days and what they get is a mixture of different rice varieties at a high price charged on pure Kilombero rice.”
He warned farmers from being carried away by vendors who often buy the rice in buckets stressing that the farmers lose. He said since the harvest from the certified seeds is heavy, farmers would gain more if they measure what they sell on scales.
Traditional Authority Wasambo, who was guest of honour at the event, urged his subjects to have desire to do better saying they could change their livelihood if they embarked on farming as business.
“Good farmers who listen to advice from the Agricultural Extension Officers have built good houses and stocked it with excellent property beating most graduates who do not have houses,” he said.
“The trick is simple. Just follow the modern farming techniques and you will always do better. When you see problems, sit down and see how they could be solved. Otherwise, no one will be laughed at if they have food in their homes.”
Meanwhile, Sichali encouraged farmers to exploit contract farming saying this enables them to have a picture of how much they would get at the end of the day.
He added that there was a lot of demand for the certified rice seeds stressing that some customers were even demanding tonnage that the groups would not realise just in a year.
Holding food on the table as rains keep going
The sun has slightly moved away from the hills on the east. From where Amina Ndisale kneels, it is about 30 centimetres between the sun and the hills.
It is already blistering hot. But Amina stays where she has knelt for more than half an hour. A big mango tree standing a few metres from where she kneels could give her excellent shelter from this heat. However, she will not go under it.
She throws a lump of wet clay at a small hill of trash. She throws another lump. She will continue with this until the hill – almost as tall as herself – is thoroughly covered in the wet clay.
Like all people in this part of Karonga in northern Malawi, Amina has seen the length of the period rains take to stop falling shorten over the years. The pattern of the rains within this shortened period is also erratic. And the end result is that people’s yields have leaned.
“The harvest is no longer as much as what we used to get,” says Amina, 63, and mother of six.
As a woman, Amina has more trouble to suffer than her husband in the wake of this changing rainfall pattern which scientists say is one of the direct effects of climate change.
Culture accepts that Amina’s husband, like all husbands, is the bread winner. Yet, it has all reasons to spare him the shame when his family has nothing on the table.
Instead, it will be people like Amina that will labour to come to terms with pressure from the children and the bread winner himself because there is no food.
Across the country, this picture mirrors a situation over 4 million women are in. According to the 2008 population and housing census, there are about 3,861,971 females between the ages of 14 and 49.
The 14-49 years age bracket comprises the most sexually active age group and most women within this age group are mothers.
In the wake of such unfairness in what is expected to be a shared responsibility, it would not be surprising to see Amina toiling in the sun all day in an attempt to hold food on the table.
And as the rains keep going, Amina has found gathering trash and burying it in small mounds for a while and applying it to her maize field later as perfect means of keeping food for her children and husband on the table.
“It is very simple,” she boasts. “It will take you anything that can rot except bluegum, mango and gmelina leaves to make this manure. Bluegum, mango and gmelina leaves are less nutritious.”
She calls what she is preparing chimatu manure, probably because the trash that graduates into manure is smeared around with wet clay, an action called kumata in chiTumbuka.
“You can even use fresh leaves to make this manure,” says Sheri Kayuni, another woman who has adopted the concept. She comes from Kaswera II village in TA Mwilang’ombe’s area in the district.
“These leaves could be mixed with fresh cow dung, maize bran or ash. A layer of such leaves is separated from another by either the dung, bran or ash. Within three months, the manure is ripe and ready to be applied to the garden.”
Kayuni is not sure of how much of such manure she should exactly produce for a particular size of a garden. However, she is stark sure that 16 such mounds are enough for a garden measuring up to an acre.
On average, each mound is roughly around a metre in diameter and 1.5 metres tall.
The manure is applied into the gardens before the rains and between planting holes. In there, the manure holds the little water it gathers when rains fall. This ensures that plants are always in a moistened environment even when rains do not fall for some time.
That aside, the manure gradually releases the nutrients leading to a robust crop that cannot be realised even with chemical fertilisers.
With this manure, communities in Karonga have held food onto their tables despite seeing the rains run away from them.
It was not raining there early in January during the hustle and bustle necessitated by the earthquakes that hit the district late last year. And the rains had bid goodbye by late in March, meaning that the rainfall season lasted for less than three months.
However, one going around villages in the district now will see traditional granaries fully filled with maize. What caused this magic?
“This manure is so good. I have never suffered from hunger ever since I started using this manure about three years ago,” says Sara Ngobola, wife to Mwangobola, a traditional leader in the district.
“The amount of my harvest has always been increasing since I started using the manure.”
No wonder, the communities in the district have firmly adopted the concept of using such manure. And the grip is tightened by the Karonga Agricultural Development Division (Kradd).
With its jurisdiction spreading over Karonga and Chitipa, Kradd is championing production and use of such manure as means of ensuring that food remains on the people’s tables even when the rainfall season keeps waning.
Paramount chief Kyungu is impressed that his subjects have adopted this adaptive concept in the wake of climate change. And he is pleased with the agricultural development officers there too.
“I am very much impressed,” says Kyungu. “This system has brought about improved harvests although the rains have not been enough to warrant a good crop harvest.”
“I am particularly impressed because it is women that have taken a leading role in making use of the concept. I know that this is because they are the ones who suffer most when there is no food on the table.”
But the paramount chief wants things to change.
He says: “I will talk to all my subjects and ask them to embrace this. And I know we will win because the [agricultural] advisers are there. They have always made people aware of the roles they are supposed to play in things like these.”
Malawi and many other southern African countries have seen the worst as a result of harsh weather patterns resulting from climate change. Harvests have leaned because rains no longer fall reliably. Floods have also provided another version of torment as the rains are sometimes just too heavy.
But while most people can hunger because of floods, there is no excuse for them to suffer because of inadequate rains. Organic manure is a proven treatment for weather patterns that lead to lean harvests.
It is already blistering hot. But Amina stays where she has knelt for more than half an hour. A big mango tree standing a few metres from where she kneels could give her excellent shelter from this heat. However, she will not go under it.
She throws a lump of wet clay at a small hill of trash. She throws another lump. She will continue with this until the hill – almost as tall as herself – is thoroughly covered in the wet clay.
Like all people in this part of Karonga in northern Malawi, Amina has seen the length of the period rains take to stop falling shorten over the years. The pattern of the rains within this shortened period is also erratic. And the end result is that people’s yields have leaned.
“The harvest is no longer as much as what we used to get,” says Amina, 63, and mother of six.
As a woman, Amina has more trouble to suffer than her husband in the wake of this changing rainfall pattern which scientists say is one of the direct effects of climate change.
Culture accepts that Amina’s husband, like all husbands, is the bread winner. Yet, it has all reasons to spare him the shame when his family has nothing on the table.
Instead, it will be people like Amina that will labour to come to terms with pressure from the children and the bread winner himself because there is no food.
Across the country, this picture mirrors a situation over 4 million women are in. According to the 2008 population and housing census, there are about 3,861,971 females between the ages of 14 and 49.
The 14-49 years age bracket comprises the most sexually active age group and most women within this age group are mothers.
In the wake of such unfairness in what is expected to be a shared responsibility, it would not be surprising to see Amina toiling in the sun all day in an attempt to hold food on the table.
And as the rains keep going, Amina has found gathering trash and burying it in small mounds for a while and applying it to her maize field later as perfect means of keeping food for her children and husband on the table.
“It is very simple,” she boasts. “It will take you anything that can rot except bluegum, mango and gmelina leaves to make this manure. Bluegum, mango and gmelina leaves are less nutritious.”
She calls what she is preparing chimatu manure, probably because the trash that graduates into manure is smeared around with wet clay, an action called kumata in chiTumbuka.
“You can even use fresh leaves to make this manure,” says Sheri Kayuni, another woman who has adopted the concept. She comes from Kaswera II village in TA Mwilang’ombe’s area in the district.
“These leaves could be mixed with fresh cow dung, maize bran or ash. A layer of such leaves is separated from another by either the dung, bran or ash. Within three months, the manure is ripe and ready to be applied to the garden.”
Kayuni is not sure of how much of such manure she should exactly produce for a particular size of a garden. However, she is stark sure that 16 such mounds are enough for a garden measuring up to an acre.
On average, each mound is roughly around a metre in diameter and 1.5 metres tall.
The manure is applied into the gardens before the rains and between planting holes. In there, the manure holds the little water it gathers when rains fall. This ensures that plants are always in a moistened environment even when rains do not fall for some time.
That aside, the manure gradually releases the nutrients leading to a robust crop that cannot be realised even with chemical fertilisers.
With this manure, communities in Karonga have held food onto their tables despite seeing the rains run away from them.
It was not raining there early in January during the hustle and bustle necessitated by the earthquakes that hit the district late last year. And the rains had bid goodbye by late in March, meaning that the rainfall season lasted for less than three months.
However, one going around villages in the district now will see traditional granaries fully filled with maize. What caused this magic?
“This manure is so good. I have never suffered from hunger ever since I started using this manure about three years ago,” says Sara Ngobola, wife to Mwangobola, a traditional leader in the district.
“The amount of my harvest has always been increasing since I started using the manure.”
No wonder, the communities in the district have firmly adopted the concept of using such manure. And the grip is tightened by the Karonga Agricultural Development Division (Kradd).
With its jurisdiction spreading over Karonga and Chitipa, Kradd is championing production and use of such manure as means of ensuring that food remains on the people’s tables even when the rainfall season keeps waning.
Paramount chief Kyungu is impressed that his subjects have adopted this adaptive concept in the wake of climate change. And he is pleased with the agricultural development officers there too.
“I am very much impressed,” says Kyungu. “This system has brought about improved harvests although the rains have not been enough to warrant a good crop harvest.”
“I am particularly impressed because it is women that have taken a leading role in making use of the concept. I know that this is because they are the ones who suffer most when there is no food on the table.”
But the paramount chief wants things to change.
He says: “I will talk to all my subjects and ask them to embrace this. And I know we will win because the [agricultural] advisers are there. They have always made people aware of the roles they are supposed to play in things like these.”
Malawi and many other southern African countries have seen the worst as a result of harsh weather patterns resulting from climate change. Harvests have leaned because rains no longer fall reliably. Floods have also provided another version of torment as the rains are sometimes just too heavy.
But while most people can hunger because of floods, there is no excuse for them to suffer because of inadequate rains. Organic manure is a proven treatment for weather patterns that lead to lean harvests.
Human rights marry sports to improve education
It is something that might have happened to all of us at some point in our education but we could be deliberately pretending that it never happened. Think about the day you were punished for coming to school late. Did your teacher ask why you got to school late before punishing you?
The situation is mostly like this. A rainstorm blows part of the roof of your house in the middle of the night. In the morning, you take part in moving household items to drier areas before going to school. Your teacher will rarely listen to your story before punishing you.
Catalysts for positive change as they might appear, such punishments have rarely yielded in stopping coming to school late. Instead, they have performed exceptionally well in ensuring that pupils do not come to school at all when late.
“In the end the pupil suffers and the pupil’s suffering impacts very negatively on the quality of education. It is very simple: a pupil who does not attend all lessons does not complete the syllabus. As such, they fail in examinations,” says Joseph Nyondo, Desk Officer responsible for primary schools in Karonga.
Punishing a pupil on the basis of their coming to school late is a national issue. And the fact that it succeeds in denying a pupil an opportunity to quality education makes it a human rights issue.
Elsewhere, such an issue might walk alone. But, in Karonga the vice is further lifted aloft by equally perilous human rights issues. They include sending children into business at a tender age and thrusting them into a booming fishing business. This makes the situation worse there.
Gracian Mbewe, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) District Coordinator for Karonga, says the district’s location heavily worsens child rights.
“The northern part is close to the border where a lot of hazardous things that include child trafficking happen to children; the boma at the centre is conducive for all sorts of business and the southern part has a booming fishing business,” says Mbewe.
In one way or the other, says Mbewe, everything has led to the pupil getting to school late. And getting to school late has affected the pupils’ education. The punishments that come with late coming to school scare the pupils instead of correcting their situation, he adds.
From this background must, therefore, come ways of dealing with this situation. Education qualities have to remain high at all costs. After all, education is the only investment that can never be snatched away.
The people of Karonga are fighting the vice in a peculiar way. CHRR has brought a very strange marriage to the area. In this marriage that is the Learn Without Fear programme, human rights and sports tied the knot and the two expect just one child – quality education.
It is believed that human rights violations lead to pupils getting to school late. As a result, they get punishments that only worsen the situations as they are kept out of class.
“Pupils themselves will take a leading role. As they involve themselves in sporting events, notably football and netball, they will display messages against various forms of human rights abuses,” says CHRR Executive Director Undule Mwakasungula.
“Similarly, as they watch the sporting events, members of the community will learn about human rights abuses. The messages regarding children’s rights and responsibilities will, thus, be passed on.”
In the end, he says, communities will create a friendly environment for children; one that is free from human rights abuses. Such an environment will see pupils concentrate on education rather than things that would compromise their education.
Currently, the programme runs in Traditional Authority (TA) Mwakaboko’s area in the northern part of Karonga where the infamous Kupimbira is very rampant. Kupimbira is a traditional practice by which older males make arrangements to marry girls of their choice with the girls’ parents.
The practice infringes on the girls’ rights as such marriages are often arranged without their consent and knowledge. Consequently, they are forced to be in a union they did nothing to be part of.
The same programme also ran in the areas of TA Mwilang’ombe and Kilupula.
In TA Mwilang’ombe, boys often spend their time on Lake Malawi fishing. Girls are often forced into early marriages with businessmen who dangle their money at them when they come to buy fish mainly at Ngara. In TA Kilupula, both boys and girls are forced into business.
Mwakasungula says this marriage – which CHRR implements with funding from Plan Malawi – targets three components, namely the communities, teachers and pupils.
“Teachers must understand that much as punishments are something that will always be there, they must be pregnant with lessons. And these punishments must be handed after engaging the pupil on why they came to school late,” said Nyondo, a teacher by profession.
“Since pupils are likely to tell teachers what their parents do to them, the teachers can in turn engage parents on the pupils’ rights and responsibilities. As such, the parents will not send their children into something that will affect their education. In the end, the quality of education will improve.”
He says teachers should realise that they sometimes wrong the pupils, and adds that once they appreciate this, teachers shall only give punishments whose size corresponds with the affected pupils’ age and not otherwise.
Children that are less occupied with household chores at home, Nyondo says, will likely come to school early. When they come to school early, they will avoid punishments. And they will complete the syllabi leading to them passing their examinations well, hence improving the quality of education, when they avoid punishment.
Sending children to perform duties that violate their rights and punishing them merely for coming to school late is a combination so deadly for quality education. But when human rights marry sports, quality education becomes the offspring.
The situation is mostly like this. A rainstorm blows part of the roof of your house in the middle of the night. In the morning, you take part in moving household items to drier areas before going to school. Your teacher will rarely listen to your story before punishing you.
Catalysts for positive change as they might appear, such punishments have rarely yielded in stopping coming to school late. Instead, they have performed exceptionally well in ensuring that pupils do not come to school at all when late.
“In the end the pupil suffers and the pupil’s suffering impacts very negatively on the quality of education. It is very simple: a pupil who does not attend all lessons does not complete the syllabus. As such, they fail in examinations,” says Joseph Nyondo, Desk Officer responsible for primary schools in Karonga.
Punishing a pupil on the basis of their coming to school late is a national issue. And the fact that it succeeds in denying a pupil an opportunity to quality education makes it a human rights issue.
Elsewhere, such an issue might walk alone. But, in Karonga the vice is further lifted aloft by equally perilous human rights issues. They include sending children into business at a tender age and thrusting them into a booming fishing business. This makes the situation worse there.
Gracian Mbewe, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) District Coordinator for Karonga, says the district’s location heavily worsens child rights.
“The northern part is close to the border where a lot of hazardous things that include child trafficking happen to children; the boma at the centre is conducive for all sorts of business and the southern part has a booming fishing business,” says Mbewe.
In one way or the other, says Mbewe, everything has led to the pupil getting to school late. And getting to school late has affected the pupils’ education. The punishments that come with late coming to school scare the pupils instead of correcting their situation, he adds.
From this background must, therefore, come ways of dealing with this situation. Education qualities have to remain high at all costs. After all, education is the only investment that can never be snatched away.
The people of Karonga are fighting the vice in a peculiar way. CHRR has brought a very strange marriage to the area. In this marriage that is the Learn Without Fear programme, human rights and sports tied the knot and the two expect just one child – quality education.
It is believed that human rights violations lead to pupils getting to school late. As a result, they get punishments that only worsen the situations as they are kept out of class.
“Pupils themselves will take a leading role. As they involve themselves in sporting events, notably football and netball, they will display messages against various forms of human rights abuses,” says CHRR Executive Director Undule Mwakasungula.
“Similarly, as they watch the sporting events, members of the community will learn about human rights abuses. The messages regarding children’s rights and responsibilities will, thus, be passed on.”
In the end, he says, communities will create a friendly environment for children; one that is free from human rights abuses. Such an environment will see pupils concentrate on education rather than things that would compromise their education.
Currently, the programme runs in Traditional Authority (TA) Mwakaboko’s area in the northern part of Karonga where the infamous Kupimbira is very rampant. Kupimbira is a traditional practice by which older males make arrangements to marry girls of their choice with the girls’ parents.
The practice infringes on the girls’ rights as such marriages are often arranged without their consent and knowledge. Consequently, they are forced to be in a union they did nothing to be part of.
The same programme also ran in the areas of TA Mwilang’ombe and Kilupula.
In TA Mwilang’ombe, boys often spend their time on Lake Malawi fishing. Girls are often forced into early marriages with businessmen who dangle their money at them when they come to buy fish mainly at Ngara. In TA Kilupula, both boys and girls are forced into business.
Mwakasungula says this marriage – which CHRR implements with funding from Plan Malawi – targets three components, namely the communities, teachers and pupils.
“Teachers must understand that much as punishments are something that will always be there, they must be pregnant with lessons. And these punishments must be handed after engaging the pupil on why they came to school late,” said Nyondo, a teacher by profession.
“Since pupils are likely to tell teachers what their parents do to them, the teachers can in turn engage parents on the pupils’ rights and responsibilities. As such, the parents will not send their children into something that will affect their education. In the end, the quality of education will improve.”
He says teachers should realise that they sometimes wrong the pupils, and adds that once they appreciate this, teachers shall only give punishments whose size corresponds with the affected pupils’ age and not otherwise.
Children that are less occupied with household chores at home, Nyondo says, will likely come to school early. When they come to school early, they will avoid punishments. And they will complete the syllabi leading to them passing their examinations well, hence improving the quality of education, when they avoid punishment.
Sending children to perform duties that violate their rights and punishing them merely for coming to school late is a combination so deadly for quality education. But when human rights marry sports, quality education becomes the offspring.
Certified seeds thrust hope through changing weather
For a long time, Rachel Nyamphotwa gradually but sustainably saw her rice harvests get miserable. Being someone from a remote setting and not so much there education wise, she remained ignorant of the causes of the dwindling harvests.
If she consulted Felix Sichali, Project Manager for the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), as early as possible, she might have quickly realised that weather changes had enveloped her and led to the misfortune.
Unfortunately, since the ignorance remained, Nyamphotwa could only watch as the quality of her rice harvest also followed the route taken by the amount of harvest. She completely lost hope and all she got each time she wanted to sell her rice were insults.
“I tried everything to maximise the harvest but I did not succeed,” says Nyamphotwa. “People even thought we wanted to dupe them when we sold them such rice.”
Nyamphotwa referred to the Kilombero rice variety. This is a highly revered rice variety whose aroma catapults it well over the other rice varieties and helps it attract customers.
But, courtesy of a changing weather pattern – a result of climate change – and use of recycled seeds, this variety gradually but continuously lost all the attributes that helped it dwarf the other rice varieties.
The aroma went, and possibly faster than it came. And when people like Nyamphotwa wanted to sell a little of such, potential buyers thought they had mixed miserable varieties and wanted to dupe.
“It is very impossible to realise the same quality of rice and get the same amount of harvest in these times of climate change. But that is something we can’t live with because people need quality,” says Sichali.
“There is need to introduce certified varieties which quickly adapt to these climatic changes and maintain the quality that recycled seeds lose quickly.”
And Icrisat, with financial support from the Irish Aid, extended the Malawi Seed Industry Development to Karonga. Its mission was very simple: produce certified Kilombero seeds and allow it to thrust hope through the climatic changes back to Nyamphotwa and other farmers in the area.
Through the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (Nasfam) Karonga branch, the certified seeds landed in Mwenewisi Village in TA Kilupula’s area in the district. This was at the beginning of the just ended growing season.
Forward came eight farmers’ clubs encompassing 58 marketing action centres (Macs). Each farmer got 20 kilogrammes of the certified seeds and away they went into their gardens.
“I planted early in the season and I applied manure to the field,” says Hastings Sinkhutwa, lead farmer in the Peter Marketing Action Centre (Peter Mac). As lead farmer, his role is to show others how to grow the rice.
“The results were stunning. People kept asking me what variety I had planted in the field. They could not even believe that I just applied manure and nothing else to the rice.”
When harvest time came he bagged 20 bags each weighing 100 kilogrammes. This was a record breaker. Before jumping to certified seeds, he says, he harvested between nine and 10 bags – not more.
He adds that he sold 10 bags and realised a record K58,000. He chose to sell after weighing on the scales and got K58 per kilogramme.
Nyamphotwa, chairperson for the Chitukuko club in the area, also got the miracle from the certified seeds.
She says: “I planted one seedling per hole. As the paddy grew, I realised that these seeds are very different from what we had been planting. The rice just grew vigorously and never fell down.
“It grew just very well. Cooking this rice is also very simple. And it is just very tasty and aromatic.”
She adds that the harvest realised from the certified seeds has changed the farmers’ enemies. With the harvests from uncertified seeds, buyers were the enemies. But now, buyers are friends and those still using the uncertified seeds are the enemies.
“The rice from the certified seeds sells very well. Buyers come for it and people hate us because of the way this rice attracts customers,” she adds.
Sichali says the clubs in the area were handed the seeds on trial basis. He says after multiplying at Wovwe and Hara in the district, the seeds needed to be tested on suitability in the wake of the changing climatic patterns.
“After noting how people were struggling to realise bumper rice harvests we said what needed to be done. We came up with the idea of multiplying the certified seeds,” he says.
“Clubs were established and the certified seeds were multiplied. Then it was time to look at getting the certified seeds to the farmer and Karonga Nasfam [branch] was brought in.
“We are pleased that the farmers got the certified seeds and tested them. Lucky enough, government policy towards the initiative is positive. There is political will through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to promote use of certified seeds.”
He says having been impressed with the success the certified seeds registered, the seeds will be availed to farmers through Nasfam.
Karonga Nasfam board chair Howard Msukwa says there is more reason to embrace the certified seeds because they bring more hope than just returning the aroma. He says the crop harvest is heavier than one realised after using the uncertified seeds.
He says this has stopped farmers from selling through buckets. The farmers realised that they can get more from their produce if they weighed it before selling.
“And Karonga Nasfam has broken its record on buying the produce as well,” he says. “We bought 700 metric tons in seven weeks. In the past, we were hovering around 500 tons after buying for over three months.”
People like Nyamphotwa might have struggled to get the best from their rice plantations because of recycled varieties and changing weather patterns. But there should be jubilation now because the certified seeds can thrust hope back to them through the weather changes.
If she consulted Felix Sichali, Project Manager for the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), as early as possible, she might have quickly realised that weather changes had enveloped her and led to the misfortune.
Unfortunately, since the ignorance remained, Nyamphotwa could only watch as the quality of her rice harvest also followed the route taken by the amount of harvest. She completely lost hope and all she got each time she wanted to sell her rice were insults.
“I tried everything to maximise the harvest but I did not succeed,” says Nyamphotwa. “People even thought we wanted to dupe them when we sold them such rice.”
Nyamphotwa referred to the Kilombero rice variety. This is a highly revered rice variety whose aroma catapults it well over the other rice varieties and helps it attract customers.
But, courtesy of a changing weather pattern – a result of climate change – and use of recycled seeds, this variety gradually but continuously lost all the attributes that helped it dwarf the other rice varieties.
The aroma went, and possibly faster than it came. And when people like Nyamphotwa wanted to sell a little of such, potential buyers thought they had mixed miserable varieties and wanted to dupe.
“It is very impossible to realise the same quality of rice and get the same amount of harvest in these times of climate change. But that is something we can’t live with because people need quality,” says Sichali.
“There is need to introduce certified varieties which quickly adapt to these climatic changes and maintain the quality that recycled seeds lose quickly.”
And Icrisat, with financial support from the Irish Aid, extended the Malawi Seed Industry Development to Karonga. Its mission was very simple: produce certified Kilombero seeds and allow it to thrust hope through the climatic changes back to Nyamphotwa and other farmers in the area.
Through the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (Nasfam) Karonga branch, the certified seeds landed in Mwenewisi Village in TA Kilupula’s area in the district. This was at the beginning of the just ended growing season.
Forward came eight farmers’ clubs encompassing 58 marketing action centres (Macs). Each farmer got 20 kilogrammes of the certified seeds and away they went into their gardens.
“I planted early in the season and I applied manure to the field,” says Hastings Sinkhutwa, lead farmer in the Peter Marketing Action Centre (Peter Mac). As lead farmer, his role is to show others how to grow the rice.
“The results were stunning. People kept asking me what variety I had planted in the field. They could not even believe that I just applied manure and nothing else to the rice.”
When harvest time came he bagged 20 bags each weighing 100 kilogrammes. This was a record breaker. Before jumping to certified seeds, he says, he harvested between nine and 10 bags – not more.
He adds that he sold 10 bags and realised a record K58,000. He chose to sell after weighing on the scales and got K58 per kilogramme.
Nyamphotwa, chairperson for the Chitukuko club in the area, also got the miracle from the certified seeds.
She says: “I planted one seedling per hole. As the paddy grew, I realised that these seeds are very different from what we had been planting. The rice just grew vigorously and never fell down.
“It grew just very well. Cooking this rice is also very simple. And it is just very tasty and aromatic.”
She adds that the harvest realised from the certified seeds has changed the farmers’ enemies. With the harvests from uncertified seeds, buyers were the enemies. But now, buyers are friends and those still using the uncertified seeds are the enemies.
“The rice from the certified seeds sells very well. Buyers come for it and people hate us because of the way this rice attracts customers,” she adds.
Sichali says the clubs in the area were handed the seeds on trial basis. He says after multiplying at Wovwe and Hara in the district, the seeds needed to be tested on suitability in the wake of the changing climatic patterns.
“After noting how people were struggling to realise bumper rice harvests we said what needed to be done. We came up with the idea of multiplying the certified seeds,” he says.
“Clubs were established and the certified seeds were multiplied. Then it was time to look at getting the certified seeds to the farmer and Karonga Nasfam [branch] was brought in.
“We are pleased that the farmers got the certified seeds and tested them. Lucky enough, government policy towards the initiative is positive. There is political will through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to promote use of certified seeds.”
He says having been impressed with the success the certified seeds registered, the seeds will be availed to farmers through Nasfam.
Karonga Nasfam board chair Howard Msukwa says there is more reason to embrace the certified seeds because they bring more hope than just returning the aroma. He says the crop harvest is heavier than one realised after using the uncertified seeds.
He says this has stopped farmers from selling through buckets. The farmers realised that they can get more from their produce if they weighed it before selling.
“And Karonga Nasfam has broken its record on buying the produce as well,” he says. “We bought 700 metric tons in seven weeks. In the past, we were hovering around 500 tons after buying for over three months.”
People like Nyamphotwa might have struggled to get the best from their rice plantations because of recycled varieties and changing weather patterns. But there should be jubilation now because the certified seeds can thrust hope back to them through the weather changes.
Man a problem, its own solution
The story of 42-year-old Nolida Silumbu is probably the best yardstick to measure how much of a problem a man – as part of the male folk – is. She says when rumour goes around that she has an extramarital affair, her husband beats her up.
One would think the husband knows the dangers of engaging in extramarital affairs in these days of the deadly HIV and Aids to the family. But nay! Hear this.
“When I hear reports that he engages in extramarital affairs and dare ask and advise him against the practice, he quickly turns on me as if he is not the person who does not want me to engage in extramarital affairs,” says the mother of eight.
“He beats me up the way he likes. I have just remained quiet because I don’t know where to complain. I never thought someone who beats me when he hears rumours of me getting involved in extramarital affairs would beat me when I present evidence of such conduct on his part.”
Brought into perspective, the story of this woman who comes from Nixon Munkhondya Village in T/A Mwenemisuku’s area in Chitipa would just be a drop in the ocean.
And one would quickly think that Nolida is facing such a situation because her husband paid something to her parents when he went into marriage with her – don’t forget that Chitipa follows patrilineal descent.
However, you need to think twice before arriving at the conclusion. Man is generally a problem when it comes to marital issues.
True to Nolida’s situation, a man will – to a large extent – always fight to be in the right. Do you remember Dowa’s Herbert Mankhwala who broke up with Marietta Samuel only to return and permanently maim her immediately he realised that she was going out with another man?
“Several researches have shown that man is most of the times the problem when it comes to perpetrating issues of domestic violence,” said First Grade Magistrate Julius Kalambo of the Chitipa Magistrate’s Court.
“Most of the issues brought to court involve man inflicting a number of problems on the woman. You can name them: assaults, involvement in extramarital affairs and economic problems.”
He says most of the times men leave their wives in economic turmoil only to return home and cause havoc if they don’t find things that would have only been availed had there been money to buy them.
But why does the situation unfold like this?
“Everything boils down to the ego. Men feel they should be the most authoritative, they feel they are the most intelligent and they feel they are superior to the women,” adds Kalambo.
“But we have women who are intelligent hence superior.”
Domestic violence is a problem many want to do away with. Locally, the Malawi Government designed the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act 2006 to guide in the fight against the vice. And courts have used the Act to hand stiffer punishments to offenders with the aim of deterring offenders in waiting.
The Act has also been used to help placate couples mired in problems revolving around the practice.
Internationally, the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit held in September 2000 formulated the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 which aims at promoting gender equality and empowering women.
With particular interest in eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education preferably by 2015, the goal looks at ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education; share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector; and proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments.
Generally, it is believed that if women were empowered whichever way, men would find it difficult to prove how much of a problem they are when it comes to such issues as domestic violence.
But in a country where illiteracy levels among women are staggering high, the best solution might not be in MDG 3 or in the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. It should certainly be in the problem itself.
“We have generally believed that you have to send a thief if you want to catch a thief,” adds Kalambo.
“Equally, we can change the situation if we engaged men who have realised that domestic violence is evil to convince their fellow perpetrators of the problem who have not yet come out to appreciate that this is evil.”
Surely, the man who engages in extramarital affairs or assaults his wife or inflicts on the wife so many economic problems would be an excellent solution to such problems rather than the victim.
Currently, the Men for Gender Equality Now (Megen) have borne the yoke and launched a campaign to end problems of such nature to their fellow men. And positive results are already showing.
“The results are so encouraging. So many men are committed to ending gender based violence by targeting their fellow men,” says Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) responsible for operations in the northern region, Isaac Maluwa – also a member of Megen – in an interview.
“The perpetrators of domestic violence are men from our communities so the problem could easily be rooted out if they were targeted. Yes there are other men who are victims of gender based violence but to a larger extent men are the perpetrators.”
Nolida’s husband might be a problem to his wife now. But the solution to himself as a problem has not yet been exposed.
But it is simple: sit him down, talk to him on the dangers of domestic violence to his better half and he will stop the evil practices on his woman. In this case, isn’t man a problem that is a solution in itself?
One would think the husband knows the dangers of engaging in extramarital affairs in these days of the deadly HIV and Aids to the family. But nay! Hear this.
“When I hear reports that he engages in extramarital affairs and dare ask and advise him against the practice, he quickly turns on me as if he is not the person who does not want me to engage in extramarital affairs,” says the mother of eight.
“He beats me up the way he likes. I have just remained quiet because I don’t know where to complain. I never thought someone who beats me when he hears rumours of me getting involved in extramarital affairs would beat me when I present evidence of such conduct on his part.”
Brought into perspective, the story of this woman who comes from Nixon Munkhondya Village in T/A Mwenemisuku’s area in Chitipa would just be a drop in the ocean.
And one would quickly think that Nolida is facing such a situation because her husband paid something to her parents when he went into marriage with her – don’t forget that Chitipa follows patrilineal descent.
However, you need to think twice before arriving at the conclusion. Man is generally a problem when it comes to marital issues.
True to Nolida’s situation, a man will – to a large extent – always fight to be in the right. Do you remember Dowa’s Herbert Mankhwala who broke up with Marietta Samuel only to return and permanently maim her immediately he realised that she was going out with another man?
“Several researches have shown that man is most of the times the problem when it comes to perpetrating issues of domestic violence,” said First Grade Magistrate Julius Kalambo of the Chitipa Magistrate’s Court.
“Most of the issues brought to court involve man inflicting a number of problems on the woman. You can name them: assaults, involvement in extramarital affairs and economic problems.”
He says most of the times men leave their wives in economic turmoil only to return home and cause havoc if they don’t find things that would have only been availed had there been money to buy them.
But why does the situation unfold like this?
“Everything boils down to the ego. Men feel they should be the most authoritative, they feel they are the most intelligent and they feel they are superior to the women,” adds Kalambo.
“But we have women who are intelligent hence superior.”
Domestic violence is a problem many want to do away with. Locally, the Malawi Government designed the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act 2006 to guide in the fight against the vice. And courts have used the Act to hand stiffer punishments to offenders with the aim of deterring offenders in waiting.
The Act has also been used to help placate couples mired in problems revolving around the practice.
Internationally, the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit held in September 2000 formulated the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 which aims at promoting gender equality and empowering women.
With particular interest in eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education preferably by 2015, the goal looks at ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education; share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector; and proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments.
Generally, it is believed that if women were empowered whichever way, men would find it difficult to prove how much of a problem they are when it comes to such issues as domestic violence.
But in a country where illiteracy levels among women are staggering high, the best solution might not be in MDG 3 or in the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. It should certainly be in the problem itself.
“We have generally believed that you have to send a thief if you want to catch a thief,” adds Kalambo.
“Equally, we can change the situation if we engaged men who have realised that domestic violence is evil to convince their fellow perpetrators of the problem who have not yet come out to appreciate that this is evil.”
Surely, the man who engages in extramarital affairs or assaults his wife or inflicts on the wife so many economic problems would be an excellent solution to such problems rather than the victim.
Currently, the Men for Gender Equality Now (Megen) have borne the yoke and launched a campaign to end problems of such nature to their fellow men. And positive results are already showing.
“The results are so encouraging. So many men are committed to ending gender based violence by targeting their fellow men,” says Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) responsible for operations in the northern region, Isaac Maluwa – also a member of Megen – in an interview.
“The perpetrators of domestic violence are men from our communities so the problem could easily be rooted out if they were targeted. Yes there are other men who are victims of gender based violence but to a larger extent men are the perpetrators.”
Nolida’s husband might be a problem to his wife now. But the solution to himself as a problem has not yet been exposed.
But it is simple: sit him down, talk to him on the dangers of domestic violence to his better half and he will stop the evil practices on his woman. In this case, isn’t man a problem that is a solution in itself?
Collateral damage? The case of Viphya plantation fires
It is a sunny afternoon in October. From a far, a cloud that engulfs the gigantic Viphya Plantation leaves you convinced that the dreaded cold weather associated with this manmade resource lies ahead.
But move a bit closer and see how misled you are. It is hotter than your imaginations. And the clouds you saw from a far are clouds of smoke. Below them, fires uncontrollably ingest the predominantly Pinus patura plantation. And you will see that the trees being consumed give energy to the fires to keep raging.
Make no mistake. These are both old and young trees.
Fires have of late undoubtedly shot to top of the list of factors behind the fast depletion of the Viphya plantation which is billed as the largest manmade forest reserve in Africa. It sits on a staggering 53,000 hectares (ha) of land but 20,000 ha of this is under a concession by Raiply.
“This year’s (2010) fires have never been seen before,” said a forestry officer stationed at Nthungwa forest reserve, one of the three major sections under government control in the plantation – the others being Lusangazi and Luwawa.
“You will see fires from Lusangazi on the northern tip of the plantation down to Luwawa on the southern tip. And this year’s fires have even affected the area that is under a concession by Raiply. This has never been the case before.”
The first major fires started in the Lusangazi reserve around September and the effects were so devastating. People around Elamuleni, a trading centre along the M1 road within the forest, lost property worth millions and included livestock and stalls.
And by November, the fires had spread to a bigger part of the neighbouring Nthungwa forest reserve. According to details sourced from Nthungwa forest station, up to 82 ha had been consumed within three days that also saw two lives lost. Other properties including milling machines also went with the fires.
Collateral damage?
In all, 162 ha of Nthungwa reserve which covers 8,847 ha had been consumed in the fire since September. This, according to the reserves Technical Officer Charles Lungu, is a deplorable situation.
“A number of factors have led to these fires but everything revolves around policies government has instituted to properly manage the forest and save it from complete depletion,” said John Nkunika, a foreman with a milling company in the forest.
“The coming in of new logging prices and the cooperatives has left some of those who operated businesses in the plantation frustrated. Most of them cannot manage the new prices as such they leave.”
Government introduced new prices per cubic metre of forest products in a move to help ward off foreigners who took advantage of the low prices to deplete the country’s forest mainly the Viphya plantation.
The prices were hiked to K10,000 from around K1,200. And the coming in of cooperatives was meant to bring soberness in harvesting wood in the forest.
Nkunika said many operators have taken the two developments as a plot by politicians to ensure that only politicians benefit from the resource. This, he said, has borne a feeling that if those who are leaving cannot benefit from the plantation then nobody else should benefit. Hence they set the plantation on fire.
“Apart from those that have been fished out, most fires are also started by their employees upon their being declared jobless. People are earning a living out of this forest,” he added.
“While some are employed in the milling section, others carry the planks from the bush to near the roadside at a fee. Many more carry the remaining logs and sell them as firewood. Hence, stopping milling angers a lot of people.”
Structural conduciveness
The fires have usually been aided by a huge bush overgrowth below the trees in the plantation. This has seen fires spread vastly within a short period of time. And the situation is complicated by the fact that there is insufficient labour force to fight the infernos.
Officers at Nthungwa forest station revealed that there are just around 20 people on standby to manage everything in the entire reserve including fighting fires instead of a possible 40. Plantations Manager Seliano Chipokosa confirmed the shortfall and added that most of the labour force was ageing.
“Insufficient manpower aside, those of us available here do not have the equipment with which to fight the fires. You will be shocked to learn that we use panga knives to create breaks when fighting the fires,” said a forestry officer who declined to be named.
“We are supposed to use chainsaws when doing this but we don’t have chainsaws. We also don’t have fire fighting vehicles which means we have to wait to get to where fires start. And we fight the fires while barefooted.”
Debilitating factors
Further, the ability to fight or contain the fires is defeated because of failure. Chipokosa said in an interview that the plantation’s management has failed to upgrade about 600km of a road network in the plantation citing lack of capacity.
“Out of the 600km, we only upgraded about 190km. We also have a network of firebreaks which we were supposed to scrape last season but we have not done that. Therefore, it almost runs to zero when it comes to preparing to prevent occurrences of fires,” he said.
“Fire management is generally pathetic. We have the personnel [that could fight the fires] but there were only two vehicles last season. The means we use in fire fighting are also very basic.”
He said with all resources available, it would take manpower of between 25 and 35 to successfully deal with the fires.
Any hope?
Chipokosa said the plantation’s management was engaging the Mzuzu city council fire brigade for a possible helping hand in fighting the fires. However, this appears a long-term dream especially because the assembly itself lacks such equipment.
But if all the wrongs, including the pathetic fire fighting means, were corrected the cloud engulfing the plantation would only be that from the humidity created by the many trees.
Otherwise, the plantation is on its way to complete depletion and the country would have failed miserably in achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7 which seeks to ensure environmental sustainability.
But move a bit closer and see how misled you are. It is hotter than your imaginations. And the clouds you saw from a far are clouds of smoke. Below them, fires uncontrollably ingest the predominantly Pinus patura plantation. And you will see that the trees being consumed give energy to the fires to keep raging.
Make no mistake. These are both old and young trees.
Fires have of late undoubtedly shot to top of the list of factors behind the fast depletion of the Viphya plantation which is billed as the largest manmade forest reserve in Africa. It sits on a staggering 53,000 hectares (ha) of land but 20,000 ha of this is under a concession by Raiply.
“This year’s (2010) fires have never been seen before,” said a forestry officer stationed at Nthungwa forest reserve, one of the three major sections under government control in the plantation – the others being Lusangazi and Luwawa.
“You will see fires from Lusangazi on the northern tip of the plantation down to Luwawa on the southern tip. And this year’s fires have even affected the area that is under a concession by Raiply. This has never been the case before.”
The first major fires started in the Lusangazi reserve around September and the effects were so devastating. People around Elamuleni, a trading centre along the M1 road within the forest, lost property worth millions and included livestock and stalls.
And by November, the fires had spread to a bigger part of the neighbouring Nthungwa forest reserve. According to details sourced from Nthungwa forest station, up to 82 ha had been consumed within three days that also saw two lives lost. Other properties including milling machines also went with the fires.
Collateral damage?
In all, 162 ha of Nthungwa reserve which covers 8,847 ha had been consumed in the fire since September. This, according to the reserves Technical Officer Charles Lungu, is a deplorable situation.
“A number of factors have led to these fires but everything revolves around policies government has instituted to properly manage the forest and save it from complete depletion,” said John Nkunika, a foreman with a milling company in the forest.
“The coming in of new logging prices and the cooperatives has left some of those who operated businesses in the plantation frustrated. Most of them cannot manage the new prices as such they leave.”
Government introduced new prices per cubic metre of forest products in a move to help ward off foreigners who took advantage of the low prices to deplete the country’s forest mainly the Viphya plantation.
The prices were hiked to K10,000 from around K1,200. And the coming in of cooperatives was meant to bring soberness in harvesting wood in the forest.
Nkunika said many operators have taken the two developments as a plot by politicians to ensure that only politicians benefit from the resource. This, he said, has borne a feeling that if those who are leaving cannot benefit from the plantation then nobody else should benefit. Hence they set the plantation on fire.
“Apart from those that have been fished out, most fires are also started by their employees upon their being declared jobless. People are earning a living out of this forest,” he added.
“While some are employed in the milling section, others carry the planks from the bush to near the roadside at a fee. Many more carry the remaining logs and sell them as firewood. Hence, stopping milling angers a lot of people.”
Structural conduciveness
The fires have usually been aided by a huge bush overgrowth below the trees in the plantation. This has seen fires spread vastly within a short period of time. And the situation is complicated by the fact that there is insufficient labour force to fight the infernos.
Officers at Nthungwa forest station revealed that there are just around 20 people on standby to manage everything in the entire reserve including fighting fires instead of a possible 40. Plantations Manager Seliano Chipokosa confirmed the shortfall and added that most of the labour force was ageing.
“Insufficient manpower aside, those of us available here do not have the equipment with which to fight the fires. You will be shocked to learn that we use panga knives to create breaks when fighting the fires,” said a forestry officer who declined to be named.
“We are supposed to use chainsaws when doing this but we don’t have chainsaws. We also don’t have fire fighting vehicles which means we have to wait to get to where fires start. And we fight the fires while barefooted.”
Debilitating factors
Further, the ability to fight or contain the fires is defeated because of failure. Chipokosa said in an interview that the plantation’s management has failed to upgrade about 600km of a road network in the plantation citing lack of capacity.
“Out of the 600km, we only upgraded about 190km. We also have a network of firebreaks which we were supposed to scrape last season but we have not done that. Therefore, it almost runs to zero when it comes to preparing to prevent occurrences of fires,” he said.
“Fire management is generally pathetic. We have the personnel [that could fight the fires] but there were only two vehicles last season. The means we use in fire fighting are also very basic.”
He said with all resources available, it would take manpower of between 25 and 35 to successfully deal with the fires.
Any hope?
Chipokosa said the plantation’s management was engaging the Mzuzu city council fire brigade for a possible helping hand in fighting the fires. However, this appears a long-term dream especially because the assembly itself lacks such equipment.
But if all the wrongs, including the pathetic fire fighting means, were corrected the cloud engulfing the plantation would only be that from the humidity created by the many trees.
Otherwise, the plantation is on its way to complete depletion and the country would have failed miserably in achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7 which seeks to ensure environmental sustainability.
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