Adra Malawi board given 14 days ultimatum to fire directors
The raging waters are refusing to settle at the Adventist Development Relief Agency of Malawi (Adra). Barely a few months after the agency lost funding from donors who are protesting the abuse of office and plunder of resources at the institution, concerned members of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church and a section of the former employees are demanding the immediate dismissal of the Acting Country Director and Finance Director.
They have since written agency’s board chairperson Pastor Frackson Kuyama to act with urgency or risk being reported to the church’s highest authority for intervention.
Kuyama is being pressured to dismiss Adra Malawi acting country director (CD) Hastings Lacha for his alleged disregard to policy and procedure and Finance Director, Rexia Lipunga, in line with recommendations from the donors in November 2019.
In November 2019, the donors made in November 2019 that Lacha and Lipunga should be dismissed from employment for alleged mismanagement of funds, poor leadership, unprofessional conduct or behavior towards staff.
Lacha, who was serving at Adra Uganda as coordinator for an emergency project targeting refugees, was hired in January 2019 after the former country director Michael Usi left the organisation and joined frontline politics.
But the board ignored the recommendations and this prompted the donors to withdraw aid. The donors include Denmark, Sweden, Australia and European Union (EU).
At least, 65 employees lost their jobs by June 2020 because the agency could not sustain paying them their salaries.
In a letter delivered through email to Kuyama on July 30 2020, the concerned Adventists and the retrenched employees are highlighting their plight following the termination of their services.
“We wish to bring to your attention the fact that these members are not individuals; they represent families who depend on them for all their needs. To make it worse, we are in a Covid-19 situation, which makes their situation even more desperate,” it adds.
“We are giving the Board a period of 14 days to consider acting on the matter as per donor recommendations. Should this fail, we will escalate the matter further to higher Church Management authorities,” warn the employees.
The Adra Malawi board chairperson Pastor Frackson Kuyama acknowledged receipt of the letter and assured that the board would address the matters raised.
“Please, be informed that the issues your group has raised are for the board and the board will respond accordingly,” says Kuyama in his response.
Kuyama did not respond to our questionnaire when we sought to find out if the board has already started taking steps to address the concerns.
Since its inception in 1983, Adra Malawi has been implementing HIV and Aids, food security, governance and education programmes, tailored to reach out to the vulnerable.
The organisations is said to have been receiving an average of combined K2.5 billion from its donors; meaning that their pulling out, which would bring Adra on its knees, would render miserable lives of 2.5 million people.
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I took a personal interest to follow the stories of ADRA Malawi, Surely are not adding up. A Dr Usi is to bleme. Any intelligent person who has been following this would know that someone is cooking a story. Truth will come
nkutheka Abusa a kuyama adya nawo
It is very sad to hear these abuse of office and resources from church institutions. What a greedy and corrupt Directors and ADRA Board members who are would wish to see only their children, relatives, friends being employed in ADRA and offered security and transport contracts e.g. Board member Mr Kamkwatira and Lacha himself, offering tenders to supply Golf shirts to Finance Director inlaw, siphoning donor money for personal benefits e.g. establishment of farms in Chikwawa, construction of houses, what a shame? My advice to Pastor Kuyama, you may shield the CD and FD so that people may not know the truth but God is watching. One day the truth will come to light and mudzakhala ngati Agalatiya opusa. Failing to resolve issues has led to over 60 employees become jobless only to protect two individuals. I doubt the integrity of the board members that has no value to the organization. I wish before the Directors are fired the Board should go first or let both go at the same time. Mukunyazitsa dzina la mpingo and we are very tired of hearing leadership issues at ADRA. The board chair who happens to be the president of Seventh day Adventist Church in Malawi has proved to be a good preacher and poor administrator. Please Pastor Kuyama resolve the issues and sustain the organization.
Some members become so identified with an organisation that they don’t really move out, they still control it by remote. This type do not want new people to manage it for fear of discovering their shady deals. This is the problem when an institution is overly personalized.
The final paragraph has some strange mathematics.
Some Malawian NGOs forget who their bosses are. Once they get some large funding they think they can get new donors easily! Well, not so fast. There are other organizations in Malawi that have lost funding due to arrogance of the board and its directors to donors. Ku ma NGO Boma liunikekonso!
The way this story has been appearing on nyasatimes times points to one thing.”Conspiracy”.And Watipaso Mzungu is just being fed information which I suppose just gets published without any sober journalistic conclusive verification. The truth shall out.
Kodi mpingo umenewu siuja wa anthu woyera ndi kulungama kwambiri uja, kwataninso kuti ayambepo kuwukirana, ndekuti kuseli kwake kuli nkhani ya ndalama, sipangakhalenso China ayi
Kusemelana zinyau basi kungomunamizira Racha basi.Did the donors came to see for themselves what is on the ground?
Pastor Kuyama should also resign as he has failed his responsibility