Someone has taken note of Mangochi... finally!

It took decades but it has finally happened. Mangochi has been elevated from a district to a town by President Joyce Banda, a step aimed at making the lakeshore town a bustling tourist city. I recently argued that former president Mutharika’s priority of Nsanje as a city may not have been a well thought out one.

Malawihas for the past few years been talking about finding an alternative foreign exchange earner to tobacco and tourism has been top of those alternatives. However there was very little work on the ground to show that efforts were being made to grow that industry. Many tourism facilities are not really up to international standard but not because that there has not been some sort of effort. In the past decade or so the road network has been greatly improved as has the recent hotel grading seen an improvement in lodging facilities. There have also been efforts by the Department of Tourism to market the country albeit not at the same level of quality as our neighbours. There is a lot more that has to be done however and I think this declaration is a first positive sign.

It is my hope that government will throw as much money and effort towards upgrading Mangochi, maybe even more, as it did towards Nsanje to make the district and town world class. Perhaps sooner rather than later the area will be a gateway to the other tourist attractions Malawi has to offer and at the same time attract the much needed investment and visitors the country needs to boost its ever dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

African leaders, you are also human!

Death has today taken the life of another African leader, the six in 36 months. While the illness of Guinea-Bissau's President Malam Bacai Sanha seemed to have been in the public domain and as was that of Ghana's President John Atta Mills the same can not be said of the other leaders who passed on. There was a suspicious secrecy around the illness of Zambia's President Levi Mwanawasa, Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua and more recently Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. It got even more sinister when authorities tried to conceal, without much luck, the death of our very own President Bingu wa Mutharika for a good two days.

African leaders are humans not gods. Illness and death is a part of human life. Lets learn to deal with that. Once leaders come to terms with those facts maybe they will also realise that they need to fix the broken health systems they avoid once they fall sick.

Client experiences

Over a week ago I decided to jot down my experiences with clients of my web and graphic design business. I had just received an 11th hour request to complete a project in an impossible time frame. Requests like these come in all the time in different shapes and sizes so I thought it would be good to start collecting these stories for compilation later into a journal. And boy did this particular project take me through a roller coaster!

I get so easily distracted so am hoping I actually get to finish this journal some day soon. Perhaps I should take a day or two off to actually compile old stories that are still very vivid. I also need to document the many errors and mistakes I made and too often never learned from them.

Freelancing in Malawi - you just have to love it!

To bundle or not to bundle

“WIN a NEW SAMSUNG S3! Use K300 on Airtel Internet a week. Use more to increase your chances of winning.”

This is an sms I have received a couple of times over the past few weeks from my mobile operator. I love a good competition and by Malawian standard this is one. What I find difficult to understand though is why Airtel would want us to access internet at just over K4 per Mb when they could encourage us to purchase bundles which will cost us anywhere K3.33 to K1.20 per mb depending on the bundle size.

Some may argue they want to make more money off unsuspecting customers who have never heard about bundles, and there are plenty ignorant ones out there. But I would argue that by promoting bundles firstly they are helping their customers save, one ingredient for a happy and loyal customer. Secondly they would most likely get more customers because according to my research Airtel Data Bundles are amongst the cheaper internet options available. Thirdly they will be taking more cash from more customers for bigger (monthly) bundles which I think should make for better cash flow.

But then again, Airtel has their reasons for not promoting bundles. That now leaves me in a dilemma as to how to access internet – bundleless or bundles. Because the reviews of that Samsung are gooood!

So my neighbour had said it but I thought it was just some overzealous traffic cops wanting to make a quick buck or two. Today I confirmed the worst, the Lilongwe - Mchinji road has a maximum speed limit of 80 km/h outside of the trading areas. This ridiculous limit is on a road as well maintained (maybe even better) and probably with five times less traffic as the M1 yet the M1 has a 100 km/h maximum limit.

The authorities are most definitely not in a hurry, and they are slowing down the whole nation with them!

The Dilemma of Mzimba South East Constituents

There is a saying, 'You get what you deserve'. Not very sure if Mzimba South East constituency deserves their member of parliament though. The Nation Newspaper today reports that the MP for the area Rabson Shaba has returned to the Democratic Progressive Party saying he earlier defected to the People's Party because' he was confused during Bingu's funeral'.

There is a place for people of his calibre and it's called a circus. His constituency don't deserve to have a clown representing them, like many other constituents whose parliamentarians are equally 'confused' hopping from one party to another under the guise of confusion, wanting development or whatever other nonsensical excuse.

Some circus is missing it's clowns!

"Blogging is about Freedom"

Sitting on the panel with Soyapi Mumba of Owinna.com (middle) and award winning blogger Kondwani Munthali (right)

That is how Kondwani Munthali, winner of the MISA Malawi Blogger of the Year Award, put it! Blogging is  something he has enjoyed doing though at times it has put him into direct conflict with his work as a journalist of Nation Publications. Kondwani made this revelation at an Introduction to Blogging event organised by the US Embassy in Malawi last week. Together with Soyapi Mumba and myself, Kondwani encouraged the mainly journalism students in attendance to embrace blogging as it gave them the freedom to express themselves, something they may not always be able to do freely when writing for a publication. Soyapi explained how after he had blogged about William Kamkwamba, the world opened up for the young boy from Kasungu and that managed to get an international scholarship.

Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu making a speech

Other contributors on the day included Global Voices editor Victor Kaonga, social commentator Jimmy Kainja, Ministry of Health spokesperson Henry Chimbali and Kumbukani Kuntiya who runs Malawi2014  on Twitter. The students had a lot of questions on how to start blogging and best practices.

Grace Nachiola making her presentation

The event was earlier opened by the Charge d'Affaires Lisa Vickers who stressed the importance of social media and blogging. Later the Minster of Information Moses Kunkuyu encouraged Malawians to use social media as it provided an alternative to the mainstream media. US Embassy's Grace Nachiola also gave a presentation on the background to Social Media highlighting key statistics of its growth, influence and use especially by the youthful members of society.

Blogging in practice

After the discussions and presentations the journalism students went through a practical session of creating blogs of their own.

Ghana: Democracy at work

My heart goes out to the people of Ghana on the death of their president John Atta Mills. My congratulations go to John Dramani Mahama on his assumption of the high office and wish him all the best in running the country.

Malawi, or rather a certain section of the country’s political class need to take a lesson in democracy from our friends in the west. The country managed a smooth transition of power within hours of the death of their head of state. It was a simple act of following what the constitution clearly states without any pointless need for legal interpretations. 

Of course the lesson is one for a whole lot of other country’s too!

DPP on Joyce Banda's 100 days

I am not one to listen to much radio but today was an exception. I happened to listen to three different interviews on three different radio stations with three different politicians but all from one political party, the Democratic Progressive Party.


First up was an early Radio Maria interview with Nicholas Dausi who, if I recall correctly, is the new spokesperson for the party. In his usual fashion, Dausi was all emotional screaming down the microphone. For once he was not showing off with any fancy English nor was he quoting Socrates but as usual he was being very economical with the truth. When asked about the first 100 days of Joyce Banda’s presidency he claimed there is nothing positive to point out. All he has seen are dismissals and arrests. He mentioned Matilda Katopola, Alexious Nampota and I think Christoper Ngwira to drive home his point.


Later in the day on Zodiak’s Tiuzeni Zoona programme Peter Mutharika, the party’s interim president, was being interviewed. When it came to the question of the president’s performance his response was that 100 days is too short a period to make a fair assessment. He also stated that his aim is to work with the president for the betterment of the country. How sincere that comment is is subject to debate but he at least sounded it.


Capital Radio’s Straight Talk in the evening had secretary general Wakuda Kamanga as it’s guest. When asked about the performance of government his response was similar to Mutharika’s that 100 days is too short to give a proper assessment but went on to say it's been a mixed bag. On the negatives he pointed out the Section 65 stalemate and rise of crime – a relatively fair comment (and a debate for another day). Unfortunately the interviewer never really gave Kamanga a chance to state the positives but at least we know he has seen one or more if my understanding of 'mixed bag' is correct.


What surprises me is why Dausi was foaming at the mouth spitting fire and brimstone. Which Malawi does he live in? Which patch of sand is his head stuck in? Considering the damage the DPP did to this country is it not somewhat of a miracle the country is actually functioning? With details of plunder by the previous government emerging almost weekly I really wonder how long he will maintain his party’s moral high ground.

Bingu wandiwonetsa maiko...

Malawi's Tobacco

Time to Rebuild Brand Malawi!

Over the past year or so Malawi has not been projected internationally in very positive light. The warm heart has been mired in problems, shortages and intolerance of varying kinds and magnitudes. Just 16 days ago a group of men and women, one of them an expert in comparative constitutional law and a past recipient of the International Jurist Award, met in a series of illegal cabinet meetings in an effort to plunge the country into an even greater mess. They attempted to stage a constitutional coup. But alas the numbers just were not adding up, some members grew cold feet, betrayal set in and the plot fell apart faster than it was put together. Suddenly the nation saw glimer of light on the horizon. However the whole episode left Malawi with a battered image, a laughing stock!

Thebe Ikalafeng, a thought leader and branding expert, gave his opinion on how the authoroties handled, or rather withheld, the news of the death of President Mutharika so as to facilitate an illegal transfer of power to the deceased's younger brother.

Nepotism, cronyism and downright executive arrogance was indeed taking this country down a road where the (constitutional) law was thrown out to the dogs, the new law was that prescribed from the political podium. Its time to mend this broken image. Its time to grow Malawi into a strong brand. Its tough work because perceptions are hard to change. It will take time but it must happen and be given the priority it deserves. Every Malawian has his and her work cut out, it's not just a task for Joyce Banda and her government.

My prayer is that all the undesirable attributes Malawi became notoriously associated with over the past few months will be buried together with the late president Bingu wa Mutharika tomorrow never to rear it's ugly head again on this peace loving nation. Malawi has systems and resources, lets use them to build a strong brand Malawi!


God Bless Malawi!

RIP Mutharika, Congratulations JB!

Condolences to the Mutharika family and friends on the loss of their father and friend, Bingu wa Mutharika. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Congratulations to Joyce Banda on her ascendancy to the high office of the land. We hope that with God's guidance our land will heal and move forward with renewed hope.

The tech solutions we fail to embrace

I am looking at a newspaper cut out on my desk, an advert for pre-qualification for supply of goods and services. The organisations seems interesting and I reckon if I submit my interest my chances of qualification are good. The deadline is a few hours away. The issue I have is that I have to print out the documentation, photocopy my proof of registration and tax compliance, get the document bound and enveloped then drive half way across town to drop it in a tender box.

If Malawi were not facing a fuel scarcity problem and if planet earth was not reeling from deforestation I would not have had a problem with the whole arrangement. But we do have these problems! Luckily there are ways to skirt around both issues - pdf and email! After all this is just an expression of interest, no technical or financial proposals involved. And even if they were involved then I can think of at least one way to get around the confidentiality part - passwords. As a techie it is all straight forward in my head, may be not as easy to implement on paper.

The gist of my argument? We, Malawians, need to realise that technology is here to help us get around some, if not most, problems we are encountering today. Skype instead of physical meetings, e-banking instead of issuing cheques, email delivered pdf's instead of physical delivery. The list goes on. The technology is there, the costs have come down, the learning curve is not at all steep! There is more to the internet than just Facebook and BBM!

Wasn't Mangochi a better candidate for city?

For the past few years there has been a lot of talk from government about turning Nsanje into a city with its own airport, port, banks and other modern amenities. We have seen a scramble for land and construction of a port (of some sort) but for the past year the project has hit a wall for reasons I need not explain.

Wouldn't the effort that went into Nsanje have worked wonders by now had it been done in Mangochi? What Mangochi lacks is a modern airport cable to handle fairly large aircraft's. Everything else is pretty much there - the lake, hotels, banks and the enthusiasm to make tourism work!

Just a thought...

Lost in Translation

Sometimes I can't help but laugh at people who try a bit too hard to be cleverer than everyone else. Here is a case of a certain politician giving an interview to a certain news channel concerning the arrest of a certain activist. Not verbatim but definitely very close!

Interviewer: "Some people say that this is a deliberate campaign against opponents of your government..." (interrupted)
Interviewee: "If in your country you have started campaigning that is okay but here our campaign starts in 2014."

I stooped my head in shame!

Zain's feathers ruffled by spam sms

Mobile operator TNM has ruffled some feathers at competitor Zain Malawi by broadcasting SMS's on it network promoting it's reduced international calling rates. I am not sure if this was part of a publicity stunt but it was definitely not a well thought of move for two good reasons.

Firstly I doubt Zain would be happy with a direct competitor conducting a PR campaign on it's network. And then to do it with out their permission was a sure way to get them in hot water. Unali mtopola weniweni!

Secondly, as stated in Zain's press release, it was a move that did not please many customers as it was a clear cut case of spam. There are also questions being raised as to how TNM obtained or generated the phone numbers. TNM could have generated the numbers in one or two different ethical and absolutely legal ways. However the way they used those numbers is the bone of contention here.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and what measures big brother MACRA will take to protect the consumer in future. Whatever the case it has a left someone looking not very clever.

Muluzi and the Malawian presidency

I read a Twitter post recently that suggested the African presidency has become such a lucrative business that incumbent presidents all over the continent are busy ensuring they are succeeded by their wives, brothers, sons or any kind of close relative. The trend has been working well in many parts of north, west and central Africa. The attempts to import the concept closer to home need no explanation.

There is however one man who has taken this political meddling to a whole new level. He goes by the name of Bakili Muluzi. During his last years of power we saw how this man tried to extend his term of office by hook and by crook. After those attempts failed he hand picked two gentlemen, gentlemen he thought he could control like little puppets. When his successor stopped talking, walking and acting the ‘puppet’ by showing the world he had a backbone of his own Muluzi kicked Plan B into full swing - impeach the rouge 'puppet' and get the junior ‘puppet’, the second in command into the seat of authority. That plan failed miserably too.

Running out of ideas, Muluzi decided to try to get back into the presidency himself even though the law clearly said he could not. Like any politically hungry and desperate person he was not deterred. That attempt failed. When push came to shove he went into an unworkable alliance with someone he claimed had blood on his hands. Result? Yet another failure!

Well, as predicted, he is at it again. This time around his son is the …er, puppet. His son denies it but his father’s destructive tactics have been laid bare for all to see, except of course for those whose heads are buried to deeply you-know-where to take note.

What is amazing is that each time Muluzi is up to his antics his party suffers a great deal. Cracks and divisions develop, infighting ensues, dirty linen is hung out for all to see. Which begs the question, what is it with Muluzi and the Malawian presidency? Why is he so very desperate to install himself or a proxy in state house? Why does he time and again selfishly advance his own personal agenda ahead of party unity?