Scattered and disjointed records can be a stumbling block and can compromise future decisions.
Records and archives provide a reliable link to the memory of humanity, preserving history, promoting accountability and a link to the past.
This is why it is important to carefully store, manage and utilise information created, received and maintained as evidence and as an asset by an individual or an organisation.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Alfred Gangata says a progressive community and institution should ensure that its records are in order.
“There is a huge gap in records management in this country at different levels that leads to conflicts due to lack of vital information,” he laments.
The minister says the government considers records and archives management as a very important sector in promoting good governance.
The ministry, through the Department of National Records and Archives Service, focuses on strengthening robust records management systems in the public and private organisations.
The department’s director Paul Lihoma says their mandate is to enable transparent, accountable, efficient and effective service delivery in records and archives management.
“The earliest archival documents, which the department preserves, date as far back as the mid-19th century. We collect, organise, preserve and provide access to the country’s documentary heritage for reference, research, socio-economic development and posterity,” he states.
The department was established in 1947 as the National Archives of Malawi, a regional branch of the Central African Archives.
The regional colonial repository comprised the National Archives of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia Regional Branch (now Zambia) and the Nyasaland Branch (now Malawi).
When the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was formed in 1953, the name Central African Archives changed to Federal Archives of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
“After the abolition of the Federation in 1963, the Nyasaland Branch became independent and was renamed the National Archives of Malawi in 1964. In 2017, it was renamed Department of National Records and Archives Service,” Lihoma recalls.
Currently, the department, which is headquartered in Zomba with regional records centres in Lilongwe and Mzuzu, preserves primary sources of information such as diaries, manuscripts, registers, minutes, photographs and audiovisual recordings.
The records come in different formats such as gramophone records, cinematographic films, reel-to-reel audio tapes, VHS, cassettes, CDs and DVD tapes, paper-based files, digital material.
In addition, keeps many secondary sources of information in form of printed matter such as books, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, gazettes, reports, and many others.
“The Department of National Records and Archives Service is the country’s richest information bank considering different forms of sources and formats we preserve records in our centres,” says Lihoma.
The department provides training in records and archives management, develops policies and standards for records management, digitization, and archival preservation.
Furthermore, it provides low-cost storage for non-current records from all government ministries and departments. It conserves and preserves the country’s documentary heritage for long-term access by the public.
“We register all newspapers and magazines in the country and collects for permanent preservation, copies of all published material in the country,” Lihoma says.
Not all records become archives as the department disposes all value-expired records from all Government ministries and departments systematically and legally.
The Association of Records Managers and Archivists (Arma), a professional body formed in 2024, works closely with the Department of National Records and Archives Services.
According to Arma president Alufeyo Manda, the association brings together over 500 records managers, archivists, and information governance practitioners across the country.
“Our mandate is to promote professionalism, ethical practice, capacity development and standards in records and archives management within both the public and private sectors,” Manda says.
The country lacks requisite infrastructure for effective long-term preservation of archival material which requires different minimum storage conditions for different formats.
“This challenge will soon be addressed when the country’s cultural centre is in place, which will among others, have the state of art archival building in Lilongwe,” Lihoma says.
Effective preservation of the country’s essential records preserves the country’s history, and territorial rights and integrity.
