Malawi

Malawi has confirmed an outbreak of viral conjunctivitis, or pink eye, in the Karonga district, with 109 cases reported since 1 February.

The disease was first identified among long-distance travellers from neighbouring Tanzania, officials at the Songwe border post, and later within the community, Karonga’s director of health services, David Sibale, said.

An outbreak of viral conjunctivitis was reported in Tanzania in mid-January.

By the end of the month, it had spread to 17 regions in both the mainland and the islands of Zanzibar, with more than 5,000 cases recorded.

Kenya, Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte have also recorded cases.

Rwanda’s ministry of health issued an alert on Sunday, urging the public to take precautionary measures.

Viral conjunctivitis affects the eyes and can easily spread from one person to another.

Infected people can have a pink or red colour in the white part of their eye, swelling of the conjunctiva (eye lining), increased production of tears, itching, pain, and difficulty seeing.

With good hygiene and avoiding contact with infected people, it tends to heal on its own.

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Malawi has removed visa restrictions for travellers from 79 countries in an effort to boost tourism and trade in the country.

The Homeland Security Minister Ken Zikhałe, in a gazette notice on Wednesday, amended the immigration regulations - effectively lifting visa barriers for citizens from the UK, China, Russia, Germany, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, France and others.

Nationals from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) are also exempt from visa requirements.

This excludes countries that impose visa requirements on Malawian citizens.

The changes also include exemptions for certain groups such as diplomats and government officials, and countries that have mutual exchange agreements for multiple-entry visas with Malawi.

The validity of multiple entry visas in Malawi is now up to 12 months, according to the new visa regulations.

“This monumental decision isn’t just about visas; it’s about unleashing the untapped potential of our beloved Malawi and inviting the world to experience its wonders first-hand," Tourism Minister Vera Kamtukule told local media.

The British embassy in Malawi urged its nationals to take advantage of the relaxed visa restrictions to visit a range of popular tourist attractions in the southern African country.

Malawi joins Kenya and Rwanda in opening up their countries for African travellers.

Read more on Kenya's recently introduced visa-free policy:

• Kenya ETA: President Ruto's vision of visa-free entry proves tricky for some
• Visa on arrival free-of-charge for Africans entering Rwanda

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Police in Malawi have recovered a presidential carpet that had been stolen in the southern town of Mwanza, near the border with Mozambique.

The carpet was taken together with a tent on Wednesday night as the items were being moved to the town, where President Lazarus Chakwera is expected to hold a public event on Friday.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident, police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said in a statement.

The two are suspected to have stolen the items from a ministry of transport and public works vehicle along the Zalewa-Mwanza road.

President Chakwera is expected in Mwanza for the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a stadium, as well as to inspect newly built police houses.

The incident comes a few days after unknown people broke into the office of Vice-President Saulos Chilima in the capital, Lilongwe, and stole some items.

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Malawi's government has announced plans to send 5,000 young people to work on Israeli farms, despite criticism for sending 221 young people to the country last weekend.

"We are looking at an initial figure of around 5,000, that's what we are targeting now," Malawi Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu told the BBC's Newsday programme on Tuesday.

"Others [Malawians] have been there for more than five years and we're just adding to those figures."

The minister defended the much-criticised move, saying that it was part of the government's ongoing programme of providing employment to young people locally and abroad.

"This has been happening in Malawi for decades and we've been exporting young people to countries in Africa and outside Africa," Mr Kunkuyu added.

On Monday, Malawian opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa had bashed the government during an interview with BBC Newsday, accusing it of endangering Malawians by sending them to a country at war.

However, Mr Kunkuyu said that Israel had assured Malawi that its citizens would work in safe zones unaffected by the fighting.

The Malawians will replace some of the more than 10,000 foreign farm workers who have left Israel because of the war.

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Malawian opposition politicians and rights groups have criticised President Lazarus Chakwera and his government for sending 221 young Malawians to work on farms in Israel.

The move on Saturday followed Israel’s aid package of $60m (£47m) two weeks ago to help Malawi's economic recovery.

The labour export deal has been criticised amid concerns over the secrecy with which it was done and the potential risks to citizens at a time Israel is in a conflict with the Palestinian Hamas group.

“Sending people to a war-torn country like Israel, where some countries are withdrawing their labour is something unheard of,” Malawian opposition leader Kondwani Nankhumwa told the BBC's Newsday programme.

He also questioned why the government had kept the deal secret, only informing parliament about a plan to send workers to an unnamed country on 22 November.

The government has defended the deal, saying that it will export Malawians to Israel and other countries to “fulfil this administration’s commitment to job creation and youth empowerment”.

The government also assured of the safety and security of the Malawians, saying that they will work in locations which are “classified as fit and safe” and will be provided with medical insurance and repatriation protections.

The deal comes amid an economic crisis in Malawi, marked by a 44% currency devaluation and drastic cost-cutting measures by President Chakwera.

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Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has suspended with immediate effect all international travel involving himself and all government officials.

He has also ordered all ministers currently outside the country to return home.

Speaking in a televised address on Wednesday night, he also announced restrictions on local travel and a reduction by half of the fuel allocation to cabinet ministers and senior government officials.

The measures will be in place until the end of the financial year next March.

Some similar austerity measures were also announced during the Covid pandemic but had limited impact as they were not strictly enforced.

The president asked the minister of finance to make provisions for a reasonable wage increase for all civil servants in the next budget review.

He also directed a reduction of income tax in the new budget so as to help workers whose pay has lost value as result of inflation.

The president’s move comes as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a four-year credit facility for Malawi worth $174m (£140m), just days after the country devalued its local currency.

Last week, the central bank announced a 44% drop in the value of the local currency, the kwacha.

Analysts suggest the devaluation may have been a condition for securing the IMF credit facility.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera and the country’s former leader Bakili Muluzi are among high-profile figures to pay tribute to John Tembo, who died on Wednesday aged 91.

President Chakwera, in a statement jointly issued with his wife Monica, described the death of Tembo as a great loss both to the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the nation of Malawi.

Mr Chakwera succeeded Tembo as president of the MCP, then an opposition party, in 2013.

The president said Tembo’s service to the party and nation “spanned six decades that saw him at the core of the establishment of key institutions of the country".

Warm sentiments towards the veteran politician were also expressed by Mr Muluzi, who served as president from 1994 until 2004.

He had previously worked with Tembo when the MCP was the only party allowed to exist by law when Mr Muluzi held the position of party secretary general, with Tembo as treasurer general.

“I am deeply saddened by the death of a man I knew so well and worked very closely with in the Malawi Congress Party (MCP),” Mr Muluzi said, describing him as “a staunch defender of his party” and “a man who strongly defended what he believed in”.

Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu described Tembo as “a true statesman who did a lot for the cause of building the country”.

More tributes came from Malawians of all walks of life, including religious leaders, civil society activists and local celebrities.

Tembo, regarded as one of the most influential politicians of all time, was a close ally of former President Hastings Banda who ruled Malawi for three decades during which time Tembo held multiple positions in government and state institutions.

AFPCopyright: AFP

John Tembo, a dominant figure in Malawian politics for more than four decades, has died in hospital in the capital, Lilongwe, at the age of 91, his family says.

He became an MP aged 27 in 1960 in the run-up to the country’s independence from the UK.

He went on to be regarded as former President Hastings Banda's right-hand man and Mr Tembo's niece, Cecelia Kadzamira, was hired as the government’s official hostess in lieu of a first lady.

John Zenus Ungapake Tembo was Malawi’s first finance minister after independence in 1964 and went on to serve in various other cabinet roles during his career.

He also had a stint as head of the central bank and was regarded the most influential member of government during Dr Banda’s 30-year rule.

Popularly known by his initials JZU, his most prominent role was being part of a three-member presidential council that ruled Malawi between 15 October and 8 December 1993, when the then-ageing Dr Banda underwent brain surgery and was deemed incapacitated.

Following a referendum in June 1993, Malawi abandoned single party rule and in historic multiparty elections the following year, Dr Banda and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) lost power.

This paved the way for Mr Tembo to emerge as a prominent opposition figure, heading the MCP. He contested and lost presidential elections in 2004 and 2009 - both times to Bingu wa Mutharika.

He stepped down as MCP leader in 2013, replaced by Lazarus Chakwera who went on to become president in 2020.

South African entertainment company Multichoice, which owns and operates satellite pay TV service DSTV, has withdrawn from Malawi after a court barred its local franchise from increasing prices.

The company said "no new subscriptions or reconnections will be accepted” and it would only continue serving clients with active subscriptions until 10 September.

The withdrawal of services from Malawi marks the end of a hostile relationship between Multichoice and the regulator.

Last month, Multichoice Malawi announced an increase in DSTV prices, but the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) acquired a temporary court injunction preventing the hike from going through.

MultiChoice Malawi reacted by obtaining a temporary stay of the injunction.

Macra in January fined MultiChoice 10 million kwacha ($9,220; £8,400) and ordered the company to refund subscribers the added amount after MultiChoice raised DSTV prices without the regulator’s approval.

MultiChoice Malawi argued that it was merely collecting subscription fees on behalf of MultiChoice Africa, which sets and adjusts the prices.

MultiChoice prides itself as Africa’s leading entertainment platform, serving 23.5 million households across 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

While DSTV provides various entertainment services, it is best known for the streaming of live sports events, particularly football.

In recent months, MultiChoice Africa has hiked the subscription fees for TV services in some markets, including South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

The company has responded to criticism from users in these countries by explaining that the price hikes have been caused by inflation and subsequent increase in its operating costs.

BBCCopyright: BBC

A magistrate's court in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, has found Chinese national Lu Ke guilty of procuring children to take part in entertainment and racially exploiting them. It then said he should leave the country within seven days and never be allowed to return.

Lu Ke, also known as Susu in Malawi, was arrested in July last year after he had been exposed in a BBC Africa Eye investigation. The report revealed he was filming local children making personalised greeting videos, some of which included racist content.

The videos could be bought for up to $70 (£55) on Chinese social media and internet platforms.

When news of his offensive videos broke, Lu Ke fled to neighbouring Zambia when he found out that the Malawian authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest.

He was then detained in Zambia and convicted on entering the country illegally before later being extradited to Malawi.

The case in Malawi did not immediately start as authorities said they were still carrying out investigations.

Lu Ke was denied bail and remained in police custody until his sentencing on Thursday.

The court was told that Lu Ke had already paid 16m Malawi Kwacha ($16,000) to the government of Malawi.

The money is supposed to be used as compensation for his victims and for helping school children in the area of Njewa on the outskirts of Lilongwe, where Lu Ke made the videos.

The court handed him a 12-month prison sentence which it said he had already served since he has been held in police custody for the past year.

Magistrate Rodrick Michongwe also ordered Lu Ke “to leave the country within seven days and to never return to Malawi”.

Watch the original BBC Africa Eye documentary:

AFPCopyright: AFP

The Malawi Financial Crimes Court has ruled that Vice-President Saulos Chilima should be given more time to go through his charge sheet before he enters a plea in the corruption case he is facing.

Dr Chilima was in court in the capital, Lilongwe, for the start of a case in which the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is accusing him of receiving $280,000 (£230,000) and other unnamed items from a British businessman.

He was arrested in November and granted bail but the case has since been transferred to the Financial Crimes Court following a request from the ACB.

Dr Chilima, who is on record as saying charges against him are politically motivated, is yet to give his response in court.

On Monday, Judge Redson Kapindu ordered the ACB to provide Dr Chilima all the details of the case within seven days.

The graft-busting body, however, asked for more time and the court gave 1 August as the date for the disclosures to be made by and when a plea will need to be given.

Before then the court sits again on 19 July for a hearing on bail conditions after the defence asked that they be waived.

Under the bail conditions Dr Chilima has to report to the ACB once every three months and has had his passport withheld by the court.