Information and Communications Technology Association of Malawi adopts new constitution

Information and Communications Technology Association of Malawi (ICTAM) has adopted a new constitution allowing members to seek re-election.

Wisely Phiri spearheaded the change

ICTAM held its annual general meeting in Lilongwe last week where the term of office was extended to two years from a year.

The association’s Publicity Secretary, Bram Fudzulani, confirmed that delegates to the AGM agreed to extend the term of office to two years and also allow members to serve two terms.

He said delegates adopted a new constitution to address some of the challenges that have emerged because of changes in technology development.

“The new constitution addresses most of the issues that were there due to the growing change of the technology as well as in the way the association has evolved since inception to where we are today. Among the issues that the newly adopted statutes are issues of affiliation to the body, previously the association was silent on how other technology bodies could associate with the body but now that is clearly defined and it allows now for more room for other bodies to affiliate themselves with us,” said he.

Fudzulani also clarified of the guidelines which ICTAM delegates put in place to ensure continuity in leadership.

“This has always been the same, all active members are eligible to contest for all positions except for the positions of the president which the new constitution says that the contestants need to come from the executive for the sake of leadership continuity. But all positions are open to all paid up members that is also guided by the newly adopted constitution,” he said.

Following the adoption of the new constitution, ICTAM will hold extra-ordinary general meeting at Mount Soche in Blantyre on Saturday (April 8).

The ICTAM PS said establishing a permanent secretariat office in Lilongwe which now handles all the administrative issues of the association.

“Another key issue was the drafting of the just adopted constitution which was overdue and am glad to say that we have managed to get to a consensus and adopted it.

“We held Malawi’s first ICT innovation forum and we hope that it will be an annual event that provides a platform to all the innovative minds out there,” he said.

Meanwhile, ICTAM Outgoing president, Wisely Phiri, has clarified that the body did not hold elections last week because delegates did not form a quorum.

“We have about 150 members and only 30 attended the agm as such we had to postpone the elections by a week to serve as a notice to all the members. If we fail to form a quorum this week the elections will go ahead because we have satisfied what is required in our constitution which is a week notice after the first annual general meeting.

“Additionally in the new constitution there is a clause which calls for 50+1 rule. The 50+1 clause states that, in order to be elected into ICTAM executive, an aspirant must hold a majority of votes. We have done this deliberately to ensure that members retain overall control,” he said.

During the agm in Lilongwe last week, Phiri told delegates that hosting of the meeting was an indication that ICTAM is firmly determined to good governance of the association; that we understand to win the future we must put ICT in the driver’s seat.

“There are young people across the country doing phenomenal work and rolling out important apps, websites and solutions that are transforming our society into an easier one to live, work and prosper. We are not where we need to be yet, but we have a strong foundation to build on and we will make the necessary investments to make it happen through a powerful voice of the association.

“In finance, health, education, agriculture and Governance, ICT has become the platform for top rate service delivery, on-demand dissemination of information, and effective customer service. As an association, we are committed to seeing more strides towards achieving more digital dividends in Malawi through various policy intervention,” said he.

Phiri referred to the records, saying ICTAM has grown massively.

“Out of the whole ICT professionals in Malawi, we had a committed membership level of only 19 individuals and four corporate who were paid up. Our membership level in this year has moved from that 19 to over 100 as of today. And we have commitments from corporates which will take our membership level to over 150 just by end of April. Our membership focus is over 300 paid up for the year 2017 which is an exponential growth.

In the same one year tenure we have created a secretariat which is housed at Filimoni House in City center and today we are presenting a final draft of the constitution to be ratified by the members. This means we have achieved all of what was asked of us,” Phiri told the delegates.

 

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