National Audit Office (NAO) audit has revealed that donor money amounting to K925, 918, 030.14 were looted from the health ministry’s finance, human resources and HIV and AIDS department.

The auditors pounced at the Department following request by the American Ambassador Virginia Palmer who had suspected that some dishonest employees were abusing the funds to spearhead a national response to HIV/Aids, a pandemic which has wiped out an entire generation of adults in Malawi and left over a million children orphaned.

The figures have been under tight lid since the embarrassing scandal as Health Minister Peter Kumpalume said the stolen money ran into “millions.”

But Nyasa Times can now confirm about the figures which intial findings on the looting indicated that money amounted to K2.5 billion it has been reduced to K925, 918, 030.14.

Auditor General Steven Kamphasa said his office cannot comment on anything on the matter since his office has already submitted the findings to the Ministry of Health.

US-funded Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had written the ministry to complain that they suspected civil servants from the HIV and AIDS project were defrauding the government.

US ambassador to Malawi, Virginia Palmer, is onrecord saying that that she hoped the authorities “will identify those responsible and that they will be held fully accountable for the misuse of funds intended to improve the health of Malawian citizens.”

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Macphail Magwira said Malawi government will have to pay back the money and deal with the culprits.

“We will not treat this issue with kid groves, we want to make sure that all those who were involved in such malpractice are brought to book using while using Section 39 of Public employment act,” said Magwira.
Malawi government suspended 63 seniors officials in the health ministry to allow auditors to investigate and audit the accounts.

Those who were suspended included the Director of human resource, the Director of finance and two chief accountants to pave way for a thorough audit investigation over unjustified withdrawal of

allowances and fuel abuse.

Malawi, which depends on foreign aid for about 40 percent of its national budget, has suffered after donors withheld funding over a large-scale corruption scandal

Prosecutors have in the past said one third of Malawi’s government revenue is lost through fraud.

The immediate past Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Monday that having a handle on Nigeria’s spiralling inflation, foreign exchange problem, fiscal deficit and debts control were key to resolving the country’s current economic crisis.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, who was speaking on Aljazeera TV programme, The Stream, said focusing on the basic issues of macroeconomic stability was crucial to fixing the country’s economic challenges.

“If you don’t pay attention to the fundamentals of having a stable and good exchange rate policy, inflation under control, manageable fiscal deficit and debts, there will continue to be trouble in the economy,” she said.

Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades. The economy slipped into recession after contracting in the first two quarters of 2016.

Inflation jumped from 16.2 per cent in July to 17.1 per cent in August 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Since the introduction of the floating foreign exchange policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which freed the Naira from a band of N197-N199 to the dollar, the currency has been in a free fall against other international currencies.

From about N281 to the dollar at the beginning of the policy in June, Naira crashed to about N420 to the dollar shortly before the Sallah holidays on Friday.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank Managing Director, told Al Jazeera that she remained optimistic that solutions to the country’s economic decline could still be found.

Asked what would be her top three priorities to resolve the country’s current economic crisis if she remained the finance minister, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said she would prefer the current managers of the economy talk about it.

“I have contributed the best I could to the country. It is still the most interesting country in the world. It is better to leave those who are managing now to say what they would do.

“All I can say is that there are solutions. Nigeria is a vibrant country. I love it so much. I know it is going to come out of this one way or another,” she said.

On if President Muhammadu Buhari were to ask her to come and help in resolving the country’s economic crisis, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said: “One of the things you learn as you get wiser is to talk less as you grow older.

“I have spent my time contributing to the country. It will be better to leave those managing the economy to do what they know how to do.

“I served my country for seven years and it was a great honour. The second time was very tough, but it was still an honour. I am not the only person who is a repository of knowledge. There are other people who can equally try their hands in running the economy.”

On the continental scale, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, expressed regrets the economic gains recorded in Africa have started being eroded in the last two to three years.

“On the continent, we have seen a period when the economy was doing relatively well. It’s only in the last two to three years that things have started to go a bit south.”

She spoke about the job initiative of the Goodluck Jonathan government, YOU-WIN.

“The whole idea was to have a business plan competition. Beneficiaries were expected to create jobs to employ six people or more.

“Each created 9-10 jobs. The World Bank did an evaluation of it and found it good. I do believe the government should come in. We started a peer to peer mentoring. Now, one of the things I want to say is that creating employment is not only about struggles, it is about managing success,” she said.

On how the anti-corruption war was fought during her time in government, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala described it as “a very tough fight”.

“It was tough. I must thank my team. You don’t do it alone. I had the support of an economic team in the Ministry of Finance. At the end of the day, you need to have some principles,” she said.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday said the current economic recession the country could provide the turning point from an oil driven economy to real prosperity.

Ekweremadu in his Eid el-Kabir message signed by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, noted that the present economic challenges were not beyond redemption.

“I warned long ago that elections had come and gone and we should move from politics to governance. It is time for governance and we must bring all capable hands on the deck, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic backgrounds.

“Nigerians are facing hard times and all they are interested in are positive results and urgent succour. They don’t care whether you are APC or PDP or whether you are North or South.

The good news is that capable hands abound in the country. We must assemble them and give them both the mandate and liberty to help the president’s team to revamp the nation’s economy,” he said.

He enjoined Muslims to use the period to pray for the nation’s quick recovery from the current economic recession, expressing confidence that Nigerians, working together, could heal the nation’s economy.

He, however, noted that prayers alone were not enough and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to look beyond party affiliation to constitute a special economic squad to rescue the nation from present situation.

Civil servants have urged President Robert Mugabe to fire one of his two deputies and reduce the size of his Cabinet instead of introducing measures that will further impoverish already struggling government workers.

Representatives of the civil servants have already warned they would cripple service delivery unless government reversed its proposal to cut bonuses and tax their allowances, starting next month.

Finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa on Thursday announced that government was scrapping payment of bonuses to public workers as well as introducing taxation on their allowances as part of measures to contain a ballooning wage bill.

Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou said Mugabe should resign as he had failed to administer the economy instead of tempering with civil servants’ salaries.

“If Mugabe and his government are serious about cost-cutting measures, he should reduce the number of his vice-presidents. We do not need two VPs for a country like ours. This is a political statement which will be met with a political reaction,” Zhou said.

“This is the kind of dictatorship that we don’t tolerate. There are four ministers in the education cluster, why not fire three and remain with one? Why not cut the Cabinet to show that he is serious about civil servants’ issues? We are going to fight this moribund government.”

He added: “He [Mugabe] must resign and we get a more serious administration than this child’s play.”

“It’s unheard of that a government cuts salaries, especially allowances that are a result of collective bargaining agreements,” the firebrand trade union said.

The Apex council, the umbrella body of all civil servants, also came out guns blazing, accusing the government of being insensitive to their plight and vowed to oppose the proposals.

“The Apex Council would like to express its dismay at the shocking budget proposals announced by the Finance minister. While the intent to reduce the civil service wage bill is cited as the premise of the International Monetary Fund [IMF] inspired cuts, we the workers do not believe the economy will benefit from such insensitive and anti-labour solutions,” said Cecilia Alexandra, the workers’ representative team leader.

“To start with, the budget proposals on the so-called civil service rationalisation are being made without due consultation and thus in breach of workers’ constitutional rights to consult and be consulted.”

She added: “The Apex Council wishes by this statement to unequivocally reject the budget proposals by the Minister of Finance regarding retrenchments, salary cuts and suspension of bonuses. We believe these measures are ill-conceived and can only further entrench the doom and gloom that has become part and parcel of the lot of the average civil servant.”

Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association chief executive officer, Sifiso Ndlovu said government should not blame anyone if civil servants go on strike.

“Nobody should be blamed for whatever action civil servants take because this government has shown its arrogance and disdain to engagement,” Ndlovu said.

“We are appalled by the level of arrogance that this regime has taken; for sure this will not go unchallenged. Civil servants will take this seriously and respond accordingly.”

College Lecturers’ Association of Zimbabwe president, David Dzatsunga said as civil servants, they would engage Public Service minister Prisca Mupfumira to register their disbelief and inform her of their next move.

“This is war and we are not going to lose this fight. This government will know that cruelty and arrogance does not pay. For sure we are going to fight for our rights,” he said.

Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) also called on both Mugabe and Chinamasa to resign for failing to revive the ailing economy.

“Our members that educate children under adverse conditions in rural areas would be severely affected,” RTUZ said.
“To forego bonuses and taxing our little allowances will hit our pockets hard. We are already an impoverished lot and this will further affect our income. This will negatively affect our education delivery.”

The rural teachers said they no longer had confidence in the government.

“We are calling on them to shape up or ship out. This authority has proved over the years not to have the needs of people at heart and they propose questionable economic, political and social principles. We cannot continue to be victims of a failed state,” the rural teachers said.

“Government has in the past months been struggling to fund its wage bill, forcing it to stagger salary dates for our members and other civil servants, sometimes running into the following month. We advocate for a pro poor education system that respects all players. Government should be more progressive in dealing with its civil servants, not to be an agent of doom.”

GE’s offer of best-in-class training for young engineers, known as the Graduate Engineering Training Programme, is open to women and men alike. However, women in technical positions the world over are frequently in the minority. We recently caught up with two female participants to chat about their experience and to hear their take on women involvement in the sector.

Claudia Giurriuta, 31, is from Mozambique and has an interest in subsea drilling. She sees an opportunity to apply her technical knowledge in her home country, where gas is a significant sector.

“My father is an auto electrician. When I was a child, I used to see my father working at home on weekends and I used to ask questions and spend my time with him. So I realised that I liked what he was doing because it involves technology. It’s not just about using tools. There was more to what he was doing, so my passion for engineering started then,” she says.

She’s one of only two women in the programme. “At the university, we were only two girls in the class with about 30 boys and I got used to the situation. Even as a woman, I have knowledge and the ability to face any professional situation the same way men do,” she says.

Giurriuta faced significant opposition in her career choice. “My father didn’t agree about my choice to be an engineer. He said engineering is not for women and my mother wanted me to be a lawyer. So I had to lie for one year that I was studying to be a lawyer. When I told them I was studying engineering, they didn’t support me at first, so I explained to them that it’s what I want to do professionally and it’s what I’m happy doing. Nowadays, they are proud of me. I am the only woman engineer in my family.”

Marian Muthui, 26, from Nairobi, Kenya, was attracted to engineering because she believes it is a field that has the greatest potential for social impact as it seeks to solve the world’s most “pressing issues”.

“From a young age, I loved science-based subjects and would often tinker with everything I could get my hands on. I would take things apart and put them back together just to try to understand their intricacies and how they worked,” she says.

When she has completed the GETP, Muthui would like to focus on the energy field as she believes there is a proven correlation between energy security and economic development. “My future interests are in research and development of various microgeneration technologies in renewable power and transportation,” she says.

Muthui has a mechanical engineering degree and joined the GETP when it was still being conceptualised. She says she expected to be in the minority. “Sadly, this is not a strange phenomenon. It has been this way since my days in university and it still persists now in the job market. But, I am optimistic that this will change as the number of women in engineering increases,” she says.

“The programme has been a great opportunity to increase my technical skills and to network with various business leaders. It has definitely been challenging, but I have used those challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow,” she says.

Luckily, Muthui has always had the support of her family to rely on. “Despite the fact that we did not know a single engineer, we educated ourselves on the topic and saw it as a perfect fit for me in accomplishing my future goals,” she says.

To encourage more girls and young women to study science and engineering, Muthui says exposure is the key factor. “Most young women do not know what exactly engineers do and some believe that it is a field just for men. In my downtime, I hold workshops with young high-school girls to mentor and encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is my personal contribution to increasing the number of women in engineering,” she says.

Weiteithye Farmers Group in Mwala, Eastern Kenya, comprises about 100 small-scale farmers struggling with crop production, value addition and marketing of their produce.

Like other smallholder farmers in Africa, the Weiteithye group lacks access to inputs, financial services and skills in agri-business, efficient machinery for processing produce, market information, new technology, among others. David Mutiso, the group’s Chairman, is calling for support to promote agriculture into a profitable sector. “Most of the people in the rural areas like us depend on farming. The Government must make agriculture work for us; we need to earn proper income from agriculture,” he said.

It is farmers like Mutiso who are set to benefit from the US $30 billion pledged by major development institutions, the private sector and African leaders at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The funds will support investments to increase production and income for smallholder farmers and local African agriculture businesses over the next decade. A session on “Making Political, Policy and Financial Commitments to Africa’s Agricultural Transformation” saw Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, pledge US $200 million to support 150,000 young farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs to access markets, finance and insurance over the next five years.

The African Development Bank announced investments of US $24 billion in the coming decade to drive Africa’s agricultural transformation. “This is a 400% increase in financing to the agricultural sector by the Bank from its current levels of $600 million per year,” Chiji Ojukwu, Director of the Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-industries Department, remarked on behalf of Bank President Akinwumi Adesina.

The Bank’s contribution will support the private sector to unlock the potential of African agriculture. In his keynote addressdelivered on September 8, 2016 during a plenary session on the “Role of Policy in Enabling Public-Private Partnerships to Achieve African Agricultural Transformation”, President Adesina said, “Africa must seize this moment and prioritize investments in agriculture. It is time to support African farmers; African farmers cannot fail.”

The Africa Agriculture Status Report 2016, launched at the AGRF, highlights the importance of private-sector investment in all aspects of agriculture, such as inputs, as well as the agricultural value chain, including production, processing, marketing and transport.

A fertilizer firm, OCP Africa, committed to investing US $150 million over the next five years to support local fertilizer distribution, storage and blending, while the World Food Programme promised to purchase at least US $120 million each year in agricultural products from smallholder farmers through a partnership called the Patient Procurement Platform.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for its part, pledged US $5 billion, a portion of which will go towards crop and livestock research, strengthening data, and improving systems to deliver innovation and information; and to provide better tools to farmers. The next six years will see Africa’s agriculture benefit from US $3 billion pledged by the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The Rockefeller Foundation committed to contributing US $180 million towards investments in human resilience to catalyse agricultural transformation, while the Kenya Commerical Bank, East Africa’s largest commercial Bank will invest US $350 million in loans for smallholder farmers, 50,000 of them women and another 50,000 youth.

Targeting women and youth is priority for the AfDB. Through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women (AFAWA), the Bank will help to leverage US $3 billion for women farmers and entrepreneurs. The Bank is already rolling out its ENABLE (Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment) Youth initiative, in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.

The ENABLE Youth program seeks to bolster youth entrepreneurship in agriculture and agri-business. The initiative will see the Bank train the next generation of agriculture entrepreneurs, also referred to as ‘agri-preneurs’, in several countries, and provide them with seed money through banks to finance their bankable business plans.

Africa’s foremost thinkers on migration will convene in Addis Ababa for the Tenth African Development Forum (ADF) in Addis Ababa Ethiopia from 15-17 November on the theme, “Migration and Africa’s transformation.” Jointly convened by the Economic Commission for Africa in partnership with the African Union and the African Development Bank, the Forum has become a unique platform for business, civil society and political leaders to thrash out some of the most pressing issues relating to Africa’s transformation.

“The theme stems from the recognition of the central role of migration as an important enabler for inclusive and sustainable development. We seek to raise awareness and deepen understanding of the role of international migration in promoting inclusive growth and transformation in Africa,” says ECA’s Chief Economist and Deputy Executive Secretary, Abdalla Hamdok.

Mr. Hamdok adds that the forum will provide an opportunity for African policy makers to analyze issues, review progress, discuss policy options, strengthen partnerships and explore consensus on devising suitable strategies for making migration work for Africa’s transformation.

“The central premise guiding the discussions at the Forum is that international migration plays a critical role in the continent’s endeavor to develop and improve welfare, peace and stability and provide jobs for our growing population,” he underlines.

He notes that Migration continues to shape dynamics across countries with the youth, mostly migrating in search of jobs and education.

The issue of migration has become a major subject of debate internationally. According to experts, some reports in the media have fed into existing stereotypes, especially on the numbers of Africans leaving the continent, the links to criminality, global asylum and related issues. This has entrenched a lopsided approach to the issue. Mr. Hamdok expects the Forum to elevate the discussion and aim to emerge with a deeper understanding of the issue.

Expected at the 10th edition of the ADF are African Heads of State and Government, policy makers, representatives from development partners, UN agencies, academia, civil society organizations and the private sector. A number of parallel events will take place from 13-14 November, whose aim will be to shape the outcomes of the Forum.

As in past such Forums, a consensus on a number of key questions of regional mobility on the continent, demographic dividend, skills and employment creation is expected. In addition, participants are expected to touch on leveraging human and financial resources of Africa’s diaspora and address new directions and trends in African migration.

The African Development Forum (ADF) is a flagship biennial event of the Economic Commission for Africa that offers a multi-stakeholder platform to debate, discuss and propose concrete strategies for Africa’s development.

The Forum is convened in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other key partners to establish an African-driven development agenda that reflects consensus on African development matters.

A number of targeted pre-events related to the theme will precede the Forum.

The Department of Water and Sanitation says it will continue with water restrictions across the country as the drought is far from over.

According to the department’s weekly report, national water storage is under increasing stress and shows a steady decline week-on-week.

“The Bloemfontein System, consisting of four dams serving mainly Mangaung, has revised its water restrictions to 30% [abstraction limit] for domestic and 75% for irrigation from the Caledon, which will be increased to 100% when transfers are made from Lesotho.

“Orange River has applied restrictions of 10% for domestic and industry, and 15% for irrigation. These restrictions are also applicable to transfer schemes from the Orange River,” the department said in statement on Thursday.

In KwaZulu-Natal, dams remain dangerously low with Klipfontein at 12.5%, Hluhluwe at 17.7% and Goedertrouw at 17.7%. All these dams are reported to be declining slightly week-on-week.

“The current restrictions for Goedertrouw dam will remain at 15% industry, 40% domestic and 80% irrigation, but these restrictions might increase if the situation does not improve,” the department warned.

The Vaal River System serving mainly Gauteng, Sasol and Eskom has also decreased by 0.3% to 53.1%. The Vaal Dam decreased to 32.5%, a decrease of 0.7% week-on-week.

Rand Water started with the reduction of supplies to their major customers on 6 September 2016, and it will take a few days before reaching the required 15% reduction.

The City of Johannesburg has also announced their revised restrictions on Monday and has established a task team to monitor the implementation of the restrictions. The task team will meet every Monday.

The department said even with normal rainy seasons, it will take a number of years for the system to stabilise.

“There is still a need to continue to intensify the enforcement of restrictions and to stretch the available water supplies,” the department said.

Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane is expected to attend and present the keynote address at the launch of new water initiative pioneered by the University of Cape Town.

The University of Cape Town has an interdisciplinary research institute focused on water scarcity. The ‘Future Water’ initiative is born out of the work of the institute in understanding water scarcity and related challenges.

The launch will be held at 4.30pm at the New Engineering Building, South Lane, Upper Campus on Thursday.