Officials from the parliamentary inquiry on maizegate on Friday took on Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Erica Maganga, accusing her of deliberately hiding crucial information on the procuremnt of Zambia maize. Maganga had told the inquiry that the ministry’s involvement in the procurement of the maize was minimal. The parliamentary […]
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Erica Maganga has come in defence of Minister George Chaponda, saying it is the ministry which made mistakes in the press release giving contradictory statements in the misprocurement of maize from Zambia. Malawi’s flagship newspaper, The Daily Times had put Chaponda on spotlight after he […]
The National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM) on Thursday bemoaned the slow pace in transforming lives of local farmers from being middle income earner to into fully fledged and well established ones. NASFAM Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Betie Chinyamunyamu was speaking at Crossroads in Lilongwe at the launch of NASFAM’s 19th Annual General Meeting […]
Malawi is planning to align its seed regulations to the region through Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Seed Harmonization Implementation Plan (COMSHIP). Secretary for Agriculture, Erica Maganga said in Lilongwe on Friday during the official opening of the National Seed Consultative Meeting that COMSHIP is intended to bring about a framework of […]
The Tobacco Association of Malawi (TAMA) on Thursday officially opened its 27th Annual Congress, a gathering that draws together, stakeholders, tobacco farmers representatives across the entire region of Malawi. Speaking when he presided over the opening of the annual congress, Vice President Saulos Chilima acknowledged the role tobacco farming plays in the country’s economy, saying […]
Press reports on Friday indicated that K47 million in taxpayers money has allegedly been siphoned by officials through payments to ghost workers at Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development the principal secretary Erica Maganga confirmed the embezzlement of funds. The fresh cashgate involves five accounts assistants, three of them working at the ministry headquarters […]
News that government has cancelled the 2012/13 fertilizer procurement contracts for possible review is not unexpected. The review comes at a time when high level sources have revealed of serious anomalies and high level corruption in the way the contracts were awarded. It has been alleged that Erica Maganga was removed as Secretary for Agriculture […]
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Principal Secretary, Erica Maganga has been removed from her position over reports that he had allowed businesses which were bankrolling former ruling DPP, to be considered for the 2012/2013 Farm Input Subsidy Program. Nyasa Times understands that Maganga has been deployed to what civil servants are calling it “concentration camp” in the Office […]
Scarcity of fuel especially diesel has led to the delay in transportation of subsidized fertilizer and maize seed to farmers. All vehicles that are hired to transport the farm inputs use diesel which is a very rare commodity in Malawi. Many farmers in the southern region of the country and part of the central region […]
Malawi government has finally procured viral vaccines to treat foot and mouth disease that has hit the lower shire particularly Chikhwawa district. The outbreak was reported in the area late September this year and put lives of over 70,000 cattle are at great risk of contracting the disease. Principal Secretary for Agriculture in the Ministry […]