Kondwani Nyondo

 Mingling with the dead By Kondwani Nyondo  It is my third morning since I joined the mortuary, but the smell no longer bothers me. There is silence — the kind that hums through the cold air.  Mr. Banda, the senior attendant, calls it “the sound of peace.” Before I joined, I heard many stories about mortuary attendants. One of them claimed that when a dead person suddenly rose, attendants finished them off with a hammer. I ask Banda if, in his thirty years of service, he has ever seen that happen. He chuckles, wiping his hands with a towel. “No. That has never happened,” he says. Then, after a pause, adds, “But there was one incident — a coffin swelling on its own after we had put in the body. That one scared me a little.” An hour later, the ground phone rings. Banda picks it up. It’s a call from Room 12 in the doctors’ block. “Get to 4A on the ground floor. There’s your new arrival," says the voice. We move quickly, gloves and stretcher in hand. When we reach the ward, a...

MINING PAYOUT SCANDAL ROCK BALAKA ·         Villagers decry unfair treatment, ghost beneficiaries ·         As ACB launches BY KONDWANI NYONDO  When bulldozers rolled into Ng’onga Hill in Balaka, the villagers thought it was the sound of progress. Months later, the only sound that remains is that of blasting rocks and wailing families who say the development has stolen their land, homes, and dignity. What was supposed to be fair compensation from Portland Cement Malawi Limited has turned into a scandal. While those who genuinely deserved compensation got peanuts, others, even without land, including public officers are alleged to have received hefty sums.   Interviews, petitions, and documents reviewed during a months-long investigation in the mining projects in Balaka reveal a compensation process riddled with corruption, ghost beneficiaries, and broken promises. The Anti-Corruption Bureau has since opened ...