Malawi

Death toll from cyclone in Malawi may hit 1,000

LILONGWE, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Malawi is likely to reach 1,000 as more bodies are being recovered and many still reported missing, according to the country's Department of Disaster Management Affairs.

As of Tuesday evening, the cumulative number of recovered bodies reached 507 from 499 as reported Monday, with the number of missing persons rising from 427 to 537 and the number of the injured remaining at 1,332.

Cyclone Freddy death toll in southern Africa surpasses 500

18 Mar 2023; AA: The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in southern Africa has exceeded 500, authorities said.

In Malawi alone, 438 have been confirmed dead with at least 282 more missing and 918 injured.

"About 345,183 have been people displaced are now in over 500 camps," Charles Kalemba, a commissioner at the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, told Anadolu.

Worst cholera outbreak in decades kills 750 people in Malawi

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — The worst cholera outbreak to affect Malawi in two decades has now claimed 750 lives, a government minister said, while the World Health Organization chief described the southeast African country as among the hardest-hit amid ongoing global epidemics that are “more widespread and deadly than normal.”

Malawi’s Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda on Thursday ordered the closure of many businesses that lack safe water, toilets and hygienic refuse disposal facilities, and announced restrictions on the sale of pre-cooked food.

UNHCR urges Malawi against forcing refugees return to overcrowded camp

BLANTYRE (Malawi), Nov 29 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says it “deeply regrets” Malawi’s decision to force about 8,000 refugees living in rural and urban areas back to the overcrowded Dzaleka refugee camp.

Malawi’s minister of homeland security last week said the forced relocations would start after Nov 30, when a deadline expires on voluntary returns.

UNHCR is asking the Malawi government to reconsider its decision to force refugees and asylum-seekers living in villages, towns, and cities back into the overcrowded Dzaleka camp.

Malawi's vice president arrested on corruption charges

27 Nov 2022; AA: Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima was arrested Friday on corruption allegations by Malawi’s anti-corruption agency.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said in a statement that between March 2021 and October 2021, Chilima received $280,000 and other unnamed items from UK-based Malawi-born businessman Zuneth Sattar.

The ACB alleges that the money and items were a reward for Chilima for assisting Xaviar Limited and Malachitte FZE -- companies connected to Sattar – in awarding government contracts.

Malawi close to sealing $54 mln IMF emergency funding for economic shock

LILONGWE, Oct 18 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund approval of up to $54 million of emergency funding for Malawi is likely in the next couple of days, sources said on Tuesday, as the southern African country struggles with acute forex shortages.

Malawi, which is experiencing chaotic queues at fuel stations that are running dry due to a lack of foreign currency, would be the first African country to receive special IMF emergency financing to deal with the global inflation crisis.

WHO moves to roll out first malaria vaccine in Africa

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — As the World Health Organization announces the next step in its rollout of the world’s first authorized malaria vaccine in three African countries, concerns about its value have come from an unlikely source: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, arguably the vaccine’s biggest backer.

WHO endorsed the vaccine last fall as a “ historic ” breakthrough in the fight against malaria, but the Gates Foundation told The Associated Press this week it will no longer financially support the shot.

Malawian president announces economic recovery plan

LILONGWE, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday announced a comprehensive plan that will cover the period between 2021 and 2023 to help the country's economy recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 Socio-Economic Recovery Plan (SERP) will "stimulate strategic parts of the economy with various interventions" and help the country stay the course with the Malawi 2063 First 10-year Implementation Plan, the Malawian leader said in a national address.

Opposition wins historic rerun of Malawi’s presidential vote

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — The opposition has won Malawi’s historic rerun of the presidential election, the first time a court-overturned vote in Africa has led to the defeat of an incumbent leader.

Lazarus Chakwera’s victory late Saturday was a result of months of determined street protests in the southern African nation, and of a unanimous decision by the Constitutional Court that widespread irregularities in the May 2019 election — including the use of correction fluid on ballots —could not stand.

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