Monthly Archive for December, 2009

The great day for farmers to express their views was December 21^st, the day they prepared to resolve and approve various issues presented. Trucks started transporting farmers from various surrounding villages.

The meeting started at 10am. All board members and ex-officials were present including Paramount Chief Lundu of Chikwawa. Kasinthula management presented the 2010-2011 company budget and farmers approved it.

I presented the Fairtrade Premium 2010-2011 budget, workplan, annual premium income and expenditure. Farmers agreed with the presented report and finally approved the proposed 2010-2011 budget and workplan.

I was going to Blantyre to meet Martin who is supporting the proposed piggery project whose targeted beneficiaries are Chinangwa based women. On the way I took a Shire Valley shot with my digital canon camera. The Valleys view is beautiful with low lying land with its Shire River, the Lisuli lagoon as well the stretch of the forest and the Kasinthula cane field apart. I admired the view regardless of exhausted hot conditions we experience.

Following the village headman Chinangwa, the relatives to Chinangwa village headman called the prophet whom they heard a rumour that he was able to prophesise the root cause of the problem. He started working at 6pm. He started prayers with the audiences. He started expressing that he was able to see people who were bewitching the village headman Chinangwa.

Some people forced him to let them see those suspected witchcrafts but they failed. He told them that they can’t see them because they do not have the Holy Spirit that could enable them to see clearly. He was later directed to stop his prophesies. He left for another family where he was hired to heal their 18 year old son. After prayers he concluded that the boy was healed and demanded Mk1,500.00 for the service. The boy said that he had no money. “If don’t have money then you are not healed and you die” the prophet said to the young boy.

The boy’s parents were so furious. There was then a battle between the prophet and the boy’s parents. The prophet bulled by the boy’s father. It was something most people were not expecting. Others said that he was not a prophet by Holy Spirit because he was demanding money after prayer that was why he was suspected of being the thief.

Boniface Kunterera is one of the Kasinthula irrigation supervisors. He is very committed on his daily duties. He observed that many people from the surrounding villages are stealing canes. At around 9 am when he was supervising irrigation, he saw some three cane thieves entering the cane filed which he was in charge of. He called 2 cane guards to investigate where those thieves hidden.

Thieves understood that Kunterera led about the investigation. The 2 cane guards failed to identify where they hidden inside the cane field. Later the three got out and attacked the supervisor for he revealed to the cane guards that they were inside the cane field stealing. The issue was referred to Chikwawa police.

Things might sometimes happen and stopped different minds working properly. A 15 and 13 year old blood sisters married one man. School going children whose both parents passed away some past 5 years ago were brought up by their grandmother. A man who once married a bargirl persuaded them to fall in love. “I have failed to advise these granddaughters. It is something I can experience as one major obstacle in life. I was once tipped that the elder one was in secret love with this man. It was later terrible when I also told that the other was also sleeping together with the man. I can assure you that there no any parental approval” the grandmother told me when interviewed. I later asked her to let me refer the nonsense behaviour to human rights activists for help. It is a breach in Malawi a girl child to marry before 18 years.