The Atlas Malawi

Author: Erik Chiputula

  • Zitha Foundation takes over St. Gabriel Medicals FC

    Zitha Foundation takes over St. Gabriel Medicals FC

    St. Gabriel Medicals Football Club are expected to change its name to Namitete Zitha Football Club after securing sponsorship deal from Zitha Foundation, an international organization working with St. Gabriel Hospital.

    The Chipiku Premier Division side confirmed the development to The Atlas through General Secretary Wellington Mzunga.

    “Indeed we have secured sponsorship deal from Zitha Foundation so we have decided to adopt their name and we will be called Namitete Zitha FC” said Mzunga

    Mzunga added that their partners have not revealed the sponsorship amount and other pertinent details.

    “What we have been told is that they will be responsible for all expenses for the team but they didn’t come up with the amount they intend to pump in, they will be providing direct resources to the team” he added

    He further said that the sponsorship will help them to accomplish their desire to get Super League promotion next season.

    The 2022 CRFA Nyasa Capital Finance Champions have also confirmed changing their home ground for the upcoming 2023 season.

    “we are moving from Namitondo to Namitete trading centre. This will help us to increase our fan base as the new venue is situated around the trading centre unlike Namitondo ground which is based in a very remote area and again far from the trading centre”

    Since it’s establishment, the team has been run without sponsorship and was relying on the pockets of few individuals who works at St Gabriel Hospital.

  • Ntcheu District League set for completion after months without action

    Ntcheu District League set for completion after months without action

    The Central Region Football Association (CRFA) has disclosed that 2022 Ntcheu District League will be completed soon following it’s postponement late last year.

    The League was postponed before Bwanje FC vs Sharp Valley final as well as the third place game between Soccer City and Gumbu FC for undisclosed reasons from the Ntcheu District Football Committee leading to complaints from the teams.

    Solomon Butawo, owner of Soccer City Chimvano Football Club told the Atlas that the League was postponed without being notified by the organizers.

    “The League begun in April last year but it was stopped when it reached its final stages. My team Soccer City was supposed to tussle for the third place against Gumbu FC but since then there’s nothing tangible from Ntcheu District Football Committee. We tried to talk to them but it looks the problem comes from the sponsor who is yet to release money for prizes”

    “The last year’s edition needs to be finalized as you know we have wasted alot of resources during the competition and again other districts will begin 2023 season next month while us we are yet to complete 2022 assignments” said Butao

    Commenting on the matter, Chairman for Ntcheu District Football Committee Williams Kapenuka admitted facing problems to complete the competition but he did not provide much information on the reasons behind the postponement and the dates for it’s resumption.

    On February 18, 2022 the CRFA through chairman Austin Ajawa announced that they secured undisclosed sponsors for Ntcheu and Dowa District Leagues.

    “We have secured the sponsorship for the Ntcheu and Dowa District Leagues. The sponsor who does not want to be named is very much impressed with how the Leagues in different districts are being run under the the current CRFA tutelage hence they decided to come in and sponsor the remaining districts” said Ajawa

    Meanwhile, Vice General Secretary for the CRFA Antonio Manda admitted that there were some challenges with the sponsor which have been resolved.

    “There were some challenges but we discussed with the sponsor and anytime soon we will announce the dates to complete the competition” said Manda

    Sharpvalley FC will face Bwanje FC in the final while Soccer City FC will play against Gumbu FC to find third place team.

  • Kajoke snub Bankers and sign Bullets contract extension

    Kajoke snub Bankers and sign Bullets contract extension

    Hassan Kajoke has snubbed Silver Strikers Football Club and sign FCB Nyasa Bullets contract extension in a huge boost for Super League Champions.

    The Bankers announced in January that they signed striker Hassan Kajoke as a free agent before making U-turn that it was just pre-contract following the complaint to Football Association of Malawi by Nyasa Big Bullets who claimed Kajoke was still contracted to them until March 31, 2023.

    Kalisto Pasuwa has been eager to bolster his attacking options in the the current transfer window after the departure of 2022 top scorer Babatunde Adepoju, with Bullets conducting trials to the likes of Chinedu Okafor and Ephraim Kondowe.

    However, Bullets have been eager to hang on to the prized assets in the 2023 pre season transfer window.

    After securing the loan deal of Chimwemwe Idana from Mbeya FC after rejecting Bullets contract extension, Silver Strikers were allegedly working tirelessly to announce the arrival of Kajoke after the expiry of his contract at Bullets.

    However, reports from Nyasa Big Bullets confirmed that Kajoke has extended his stay by signing a three-year deal.

    “FCB Nyasa Big Bullets is delighted to announce that Hassan Kajoke has signed a new contract, which will keep him at the club until May 2026” reads part of NBB statement

    After signing the contract, Kajoke was quoted saying: “I am delighted to extend my contract for three more years with Bullets. I decided to remain at the club where I came as a reserves player and I have seen my game developing over the years that I have been here and want to keep on improving and developing my game,” he told club media after signing a new deal on Tuesday.

    “I won’t talk much but I will go into the field of play and give it all for the club. I am here to work and I will keep on working hard. I enjoy being here.”

    The 24-year-old forward graduated from the reserves to the first team towards the end of the 2018 season and has scored over 50 goals for The People’s Team, helping Bullets win four TNM Super League titles, the Airtel Top 8 and the FDH Bank Cup.

    In the 2021/22 season, he won the TNM Super League Golden Boot award after scoring 15 goals and inspiring Maule to their 15th league title.

    The previous campaign, Kajoke had scored 17 league goals in his first full season with Kalisto Pasuwas’ side and he was the highest scorer in all competitions.

    The forward’s good form continued in the 2022 season when he scored 11 goals in 26 appearances across all competitions from which Bullets won both the TNM Super League and the FDH Bank Cup, as we finished as runners-up in the Airtel Top 8.

  • Malawi to launch National Research Agenda

    Malawi to launch National Research Agenda

    All set is for the launch of the National Research Agenda by the National Planning Commission (NPC) in partnership with the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST).

    The two institutions will be launching the National Research Agenda which is inline with the Malawi 2063 vision which NPC is Championing.

    Speaking on behalf of NCST Acting Director General, Mike Kachedwa the Chief Research Services Officer responsible for Health, Social Sciences and Humanities Research said the new national research agenda is critical because it’s about long term development goal which the country must embrace.

    “As a country we need to be doing these kind of researches as they address the needs of that long term development goal” said Kachedwa

    He further commended the new National Research Agenda by highlighting it’s difference from the past research agendas that NCST used to develop.

    “The new national research agenda is structured into pillars, themes and research priorities with an adoption of the Malawi 2063 10 year plan so in terms of the structure it has 10 specific research pillars which have been aligned with the Malawi 2063 goals’, said Kachedwa.

    In his remarks NPC National Manager, Dr Andrew Jamali said the national research agenda set to be launched on Wednesday has come at a right time,2 yeas after the Malawi 2063 vision was launched.

    “Actually we are on time because first of all development strategies in place has been the vision which was launched on 19th January 2021 and then we had MIV1 which is the Malawi 10 year implementation plan one that is operationalizing the vision from planning , so these are the key resource materials which has guided us to look at how we should develop the National Research Agenda alongside our partners and colleagues so we needed to have that raw materials to know exactly what are the pillars of the vision, what are the kind of resources and information needs that the 10 year plan are actually putting in place so that we can now beginning to formulate what kind of research, innovation and technologies need to be developed to operationalize the vision and MIP1 that’s in place” said Jamali

    He added that NPC will make sure that the national research agenda is widely disseminated across the space like academic, research centres, centres of excellency, the MDA’s, Agencies of Government and the development partners so that all the development blocks have to know of the existence of the National Research Agenda.

    As one of the partners, UNICEF through its Research and Evaluation Specialist Dr. Habiba Longwe Ngwira expressed excitement that the new national research agenda is finally set to be launched on Wednesday after channeling their technical and financial support to the whole process.

    “As UNICEF our role has been offering technical support in the entire process of developing the National Research Agenda, working closely with National Planning Commission and also National Commission of Science and Technology as well as other stakeholders in all key stages starting from the concept stage up to now when we have this final document’, said Ngwira.

  • NCST backs New National Research Agenda

    NCST backs New National Research Agenda

    The National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) says the new National Research Agenda which it will be launching on Wednesday in partnership with the National Planning Commission (NPC) is critical for the implementation of the Malawi 2063 development vision.

    Speaking on behalf of NCST Acting Director General, Mike Kachedwa the Chief Research Services Officer responsible for Health, Social Sciences and Humanities Research said the new national research agenda is critical because it’s about long term development goal which the country must embrace.

    “As a country we need to be doing these kind of researches as they address the needs of that long term development goal” said Kachedwa

    He further commended the new National Research Agenda by highlighting it’s difference from the past research agendas that NCST used to develop.

    “The new national research agenda is structured into pillars, themes and research priorities with an adoption of the Malawi 2063 10 year plan so in terms of the structure it has 10 specific research pillars which have been aligned with the Malawi 2063 goals’, said Kachedwa.

    In his remarks NPC National Manager, Dr Andrew Jamali said the national research agenda set to be launched on Wednesday has come at a right time,2 yeas after the Malawi 2063 vision was launched.

    “Actually we are on time because first of all development strategies in place has been the vision which was launched on 19th January 2021 and then we had MIV1 which is the Malawi 10 year implementation plan one that is operationalizing the vision from planning , so these are the key resource materials which has guided us to look at how we should develop the National Research Agenda alongside our partners and colleagues so we needed to have that raw materials to know exactly what are the pillars of the vision, what are the kind of resources and information needs that the 10 year plan are actually putting in place so that we can now beginning to formulate what kind of research, innovation and technologies need to be developed to operationalize the vision and MIP1 that’s in place” said Jamali

    He added that NPC will make sure that the national research agenda is widely disseminated across the space like academic, research centres, centres of excellency, the MDA’s, Agencies of Government and the development partners so that all the development blocks have to know of the existence of the National Research Agenda.

    As one of the partners, UNICEF through its Research and Evaluation Specialist Dr. Habiba Longwe Ngwira expressed excitement that the new national research agenda is finally set to be launched on Wednesday after channeling their technical and financial support to the whole process.

    “As UNICEF our role has been offering technical support in the entire process of developing the National Research Agenda, working closely with National Planning Commission and also National Commission of Science and Technology as well as other stakeholders in all key stages starting from the concept stage up to now when we have this final document’, said Ngwira.

  • Six Bullets players ruled out of FAM National Women Championship opener

    Six Bullets players ruled out of FAM National Women Championship opener

    Six FCB Nyasa Bullets women players will miss 2022 FAM National Women Championship opener as they welcome Destiny Academy on Saturday at Mpira Stadium.

    The People’s ladies team  will be aiming for a perfect start of the 2022 National final campaign in their quest to defend the title.

    Certainly, Destiny Academy will be hoping for any advantage possible against Bullets. And the home side could be without six players for the encounter.

    FCB Nyasa Bullets women coach Maggie Chombo has told Bullets Media that their top scorer, Mary Chavinda, who won the FAM Southern Region Women Football League Golden Boot will miss Saturday’s action.

    “Mary Chavinda is still recovering from an injury she picked up during training the week the team resumed preparations for the group matches” said Chombo

    She added that fellow striker Zainab Kapanda has been having on and off discomfort from the previous knee dislocation and is set to go for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan in Lilongwe.

    According to Chombo the other four set to miss the clash are Caroline Mlenzo, Shira Dimba, Jennifer Harry and Fauza Muhammad.

    Despite the injury setbacks, Chombo believes the remaining players have capabilities to hand her the victory.

    “Although there are many injuries, I believe in the remaining players”

    Bullets ladies won 2021 FAM Women Championship after a 3-1 demolition over DD Sunshine last season.

    In other Saturday match, Mzuzu Stadium will host Moyale vs Ascent Academy at Mzuzu Stadium.

    The battle will continue on Sunday with games between Ntopwa vs Evirom at Mpira Stadium where as DD Sunshine will fa e Topik at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.

  • Ascent Academy in Mzuzu to face Moyale

    Ascent Academy in Mzuzu to face Moyale

    The Central Region FAM Women League Champions Ascent Academy have arrived in Mzuzu to face Moyale Barracks Sisters.

    The encounter is expected to happen tomorrow, Saturday at Mzuzu Stadium in their opening match of the 2022 FAM National Women Championship.

    Coach for Ascent Academy Thom Mkolongo has confirmed the arrival of his team as he eyes the victory.

    “We are already in Mzuzu, the morale is high and my players are ready and looks set for the encounter and iam very confident we will return with three points” said Mkolongo

    Ascent Academy wants to translate their fabulous form to the National level after clinching the Central Region FAM Women League.

    They claimed Central Region championship after collecting 36 points ahead of DD Sunshine who finished three points behind them on second position.

    During last season’s campaign, the Thom Mkolongo’s ladies finished fourth following their third place defeat to Skippers Football Club.

    Ascent Academy will face a formidable side Moyale Sisters who finished this year’s Northern Region campaign as runners up behind CY Sisters football club.

  • Fodya replaces Mwaungulu in Flames squad

    Fodya replaces Mwaungulu in Flames squad

    Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has announced that Malawi Men’s Senior national team is on Thursday afternoon expected to fly out to Saudi Arabia for a 10 day training camp ahead of the back-to-back 2023 AFCON qualifying matches against Egypt later this month.

    The Flames will face Egypt in Cairo on Friday March 24 and BNS in Lilongwe four days later.

    Flames Coach Mario Marinica will travel with a 25-man squad that includes three foreign based players.

    Scotland based defender Kieran Ngwenya, who is set for Flames return since his debut against Tanzania in a friendly match in June 2021, will join the team on Friday.

    Midfielders Fransisco Madinga and John Banda will join the team on Monday March 13 , from Botswana and Mozambique respectively.

    FCB Nyasa Bullets winger Patrick Mwaungulu has been ruled out of the trip after picking an injury while on club duty last weekend and has been replaced by Silver Stikers’ Mark Fodya

    This is the second time the Flames are camping in Saudi Arbia where they held their 2021 AFCON pre-tournament camp in December 2021.

    The following is the full squad traveling to Saudi Arabia:

    Goalkeepers: Charles Thom (Silver Strikers), Brighton Munthali (Blue Eagles), Clever Nkungula (Nyasa Big Bullets)

    Defenders: Lawrence Chaziya, Miracle Gabeya, Stanely Sanudi (Mighty Mukuru Wanderers), Paul Ndhlovu (MAFCO), Blessings Mpokera, Gomezgani Chirwa, Alick Lungu (Nyasa Big Bullets) Kieran Ngwenya (Aberdeen), Nickson Mwase (Silver Strikers), Kelvin Kadzinje( CIVO)

    Midfielders: John Banda ( UD Songo) Francsisco Madinga ( Galaxy FC) Frank Willard , Chawanangwa Gumbo, Patrick Mwaungulu (Nyasa Big Bullets), , Chimwemwe Idana( Silver Strikers), Gilbert Chirwa (Blue Eagles), Micium Mhone (Blue Eagles)

    Strikers: Chiukepo Msowoya, Christopher Kumwembe, Gaddi Chirwa(Mighty Mukuru Wanderers), Stain Davie (Silver Strikers)

  • Songo bite Bullets to win International Bonanza

    Songo bite Bullets to win International Bonanza

    Mozambican side UD Songo are the champions of International Football Bonanza after claiming a hard fought 1-0 victory over toothless FCB Nyasa Bullets on Sunday afternoon at Kamuzu Stadium.

    The People’s Team started well, they dominated play in the opening minutes but their front line failed to utilize on few chances created by Mike Mkwate and MacFarlane Mgwira.

    Nelson Divrasone broke the deadlock after half hour mark as his powerful shot beat Rabson Chienda in goals for Bullets to make it 1-0.

    The goal helped the visitors to settle into the game and they took over the control of the match until halftime.

    There was no goal in the second half despite Bullets dominance who failed to find a goal in 270 minutes.

    The Kalisto Pasuwa’s men played out 0-0 draws in their opening two matches against Ferroviarro de Nampula and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers before their loss to UD Songo.

    Songo were declared the Champions after finishing on top with 7 points as they beat Mighty Mukuru Wanderers 2-0, drawing with Ferroviarro de Nampula and then defeating FCB Nyasa Bullets.

    Mukuru Wanderers have finished second after recording their only victory against Ferroviarro de Nampula in an early kickoff.

    Christopher Kumwembe and Peter Cholopi scored a goal each to help Nomads beat Nampula 2-1.

    The victory lifted Wanderers to second with four points while Nampula finished third with two points and Host Bullets at the bottom with two points.

  • UD Songo beat Wanderers to lead International Pre-season Bonanza

    UD Songo beat Wanderers to lead International Pre-season Bonanza

    Mozambican champions UD Songo have started the Nyasa International Pre-season Bonanza on a high note as the lead the standings thanks to their 2-0 victory over Mighty Mukuru Wanderers.

    The two sides settled for a goalless draw in the opening half but they came strong to claim a 2-0 victory in the second half at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.

    Bheu Januario gave the visitors lead through a powerful shot from direct freekick midway in the second half before Dario Melo doubled the lead in the dying minutes of the match to seal victory for UD Songo.

    Following the victory, UD Songo move top with three points in their bag.

    FCB Nyasa Bullets comes second with one point as their games ended in a goalless draw with Ferraviarro de Nampula who stays third.

    The People’s team were outplayed in the most part of the match but managed to secure a draw.

    Tomorrow’s fixture sees Mozambican rivals Ferraviarro de Nampula and UD Songo facing each other in an early kickoff and later on a date of Malawian arch-rivals Bullets and Wanderers.

    The competition will be completed on Sunday with a Match between Mighty Mukuru Wanderers vs Ferraviarro de Nampula and UD Songo vs FCB Nyasa Bullets.