Malawi’s Minister of Natural Resources has praised a bioethanol cooking scheme in Chikwawa, saying it offers a practical alternative to charcoal that could ease pressure on the country’s dwindling forests while improving public health. Patricia Wiskies made the comments during a visit on Tuesday to PressCane Limited’s clean cooking project, which operates under the Green […]
A court in Kasungu has handed down hefty fines to two people for illegal transportation of charcoal. The First Grade Magistrate Court in Kasungu has ordered Lovemore Njolomole and Jacqueline Malipa to pay fine of K500, 000 and K400, 000 respectively or in default serve 15 months imprisonment with hard labour for transporting charcoal without […]
The Malawi Parliamentary Conservation Caucus (MPCC) has poured out its anger over recent media exposure of “stinking” bribery in illegal charcoal trafficking from Zalewa to Blantyre, saying the revelation is “quite frankly an embarrassment” on a global platform. The caucus called for investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators. MPCC–which addressed a news conference at Peak […]
A court in Mzimba has fined five women K250000 each for importing 180 bags of charcoal illegally from Zambia and being found in possession of forest products illegally. The Mzimba Senior Resident Magistrate court ruled on Tuesday that failure to pay the fine, the women would face a jail term of 30 months each. They […]
Malawi Police Service in Mzimba have arrested six Malawians for allegedly importing charcoal from Zambia without government authorisation. Police say the six, who are on full remand, allegedly imported 135 bags of charcoal from Zambia into Malawi. They allegedly used a CCAP Synod of Livingstonia vehicle registration number MZ 47. Desk officer for forest crimes […]
Karonga District Forestry office says it is concerned with the cutting down of trees in restricted areas for charcoal making. Speaking in an interview, assistance district forestry officer Isaac Manda said despite the interventions against the malpractice, people continue to make charcoal. “You cannot understand what is happening here. We have forestry guards and patrolling […]
Malawi has unconditionally apologized to Mozambique over Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers conduct on the borders in Dedza on Saturday when they confiscated charcoal from Mozambicans. The district commissioner for Dedza Emmanuel Burukutu and the Angonia district commissioner Paul Sebasiyao met in Dedza on Sunday after the fracas on the border areas which threatened peace […]
Most parts of the country, especially the rural areas, are bare of trees because they are being rampantly cut down and converted into charcoal wood fuel and to curb this social ill, there a need to find alternative ways to economically empower people who depend on this thriving charcoal business. This was said by non-governmental […]
Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bintony Kutsaira says ministry officials will be patrolling the country from next week confiscating charcoal and arresting those involved in the business. He said in an interview on Wednesday after leading his constituents in Lilongwe Msinja North in tree planting that charcoal business contributes more than any other […]
A Malawi Police Service (MPS) officer who was stationed at the Malawi-Tanzania Songwe Border had died after allegedly “defecating” charcoal following a confiscation of a 50 kilogram bag of charcoal from a trader who was intending to cross the border. Mike Mwangomba, who hailed from Ngerenge in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kilupula in […]
Rumphi District Forestry department impounded 106 bags of charcoal in the wee hours of Thursday at Rumphi Boma, which were being ferried from Engucwini in Inkosi Mtwalo in Mzimba District. District forestry officer, Gift Nyirenda, said the department received a tip-off about a vehicle carrying bags of charcoal from Engucwini to Mzuzu via Rumphi. “We […]
Stakeholders in environmental conservation in Malawi say illegal charcoal production, the leading cause of depletion of forest reserves in the country, would be addressed if authorities provide alternative sources of energy for cooking to citizens. The stakeholders also hope that the amended Forest Bill, once debated and approved by Parliament, would help a lot because […]
Blantyre District Forestry Office (DFO) on Wednesday impounded two trucks carrying hundreds of bags of charcoal and fined a truck driver, Mc Donald Galison, 44 for being found carrying bags of charcoal. A 30 tonne truck registration number NU 7733/BJ2778 belonging to Chimalira Enterprise in Ntcheu which was driven by McDonald Galison was impounded Wednesday […]
The Regional Southern Africa Bonn Challenge (SADC+), a high level ministerial conference seeking to step up efforts to restore depleted forests, has opened in Lilongwe with Malawi unveiling ambitious forestry and charcoal plans to arrest and reverse forest degradation and deforestation. The meeting is part of a global initiative agreed recently in Bonn in German, […]
The Mangochi Second Grade Magistrate Court recently convicted and ordered Sub Inspector Palivati Kholowa, 42, of Zomba Police Station to pay K200, 000 or in default serve a one year jail term for being found in possession of charcoal produced from indigenous trees from Liwonde Forest Reserve. The court also ordered the Department of Forest […]
The Blantyre District Forestry Office (DFO) has attributed the rise in illegal charcoal production and selling to high poverty levels among Malawians. Blantyre District Forestry Officer (DFO), Geoffrey Kanyerere said since the beginning of the year, the office has confiscated a total of 1, 759 bags of charcoal. “From January 2017 up to date, we […]
A Malawi Defense Force (MDF) soldier lies in agony with open wounds at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre after he was brutally beaten up by irate villagers on Thursday in Mulanje. Mulanje District Hospital officials confirmed they referred a soldier to Queen Elizabeth Hospital with life threatening open wounds and multiple body cuts. Sources at […]
The Balaka Second Grade Magistrate Court in eastern Malawi has set free two people who pleaded guilty for being found with indigenous banned Tsanya logs without permit, accusing the forestry department of failing to perform their duties. Police Prosecutor Sub Inspector Elias Chitsulo told the court that the suspects Billy Dziopani (36), and Joseph Feki (29), were on […]