Malawi accountants body ushers in new office bearers
Four members were elected into the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (ICAM) Council during its elective annual general meeting and conference held on Friday at Sun ‘n’ Sand Holiday Resort in the lakeshore district of Mangochi.
The post of president was maintained by Joel Mwenelupembe as well as that of non-practising vice-president Phyles Kachingwe.
Stephenson Kamphasa replaced David Mhango as a practising member and the other are Moffat Ngalande, Victoria Munkhondya and Madalo Mwenelupembe.
Dalitso Gadama joins Hilda Singo, Daniel Jere, and James Kamsesa as non-practising members.
Academia member is now Frazer Chipala, replacing Kezzie Mkandawire.
Sungani Mandala is ex-officio in his capacity as Accountant General together with Thomas Makiwa as acting Auditor General.
The Council comprises 14 members — 5 practising, 5 non practising, 1 academia, 1 diplomate and 2 ex-officios.
ICAM was established in 2014 and its role is to promote the accountancy profession in Malawi, to train accountants, to promote governance in Malawi and to enhance skills of its members by organising continued professional development (CPD) programmes among others.
This year’s AGM theme was ‘Repositioning for Africa’s Economic Renaissance — Malawi in the Equation’.
The success story of ICAM since its inception is that it has grown to be a powerful and respected body which influences policy matters in Malawi to do with governance, tax policies and financial management.
ICAM was first formed as Society of Accountants in Malawi (SOCAM) and established by accountants themselves. Some of the notable names who were influential in establishing SOCAM include W.B. Mwenelupembe, Ramesh Savjani, Andrew Chioko, Nkodola Uka, Simon Itaye, Bob Martin and P. Kamkwende.
This year, ICAM invited staunch Pan-Africanist, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba from Kenya, who is expected to deliver a speech under the theme, ‘Harmonising Africa’s Resources for Africa’s Development: from Third World to First’.
He was joined by high profile African professionals from Zambia, South Africa and other local speakers that included Dr Betchani Tchereni (Dean Faculty of Commerce, The Polytechnic); Dr Thomas Chataghalala Munthali (Director General, Planning Commission); Prince Kapondamanga (Farmers Union of Malawi) and Charlotte Malonda (Competition and Fair Trading Commission of Malawi).
Professor Lumumba once served as the Director of Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission from September 2010 to August 2011.
An eloquent lawyer, Lumumba holds a PhD in Laws of the sea from the University of Ghent in Belgium.
He encourages African leaders to rise to the challenge of changing the fortunes of the continent.
Lumumba has written several books on law and politics such as:
- Kenya’s Quest for a Constitution: The Postponed Promise
- Call for political hygiene in Kenya
- An Outline of Criminal Procedure in Kenya
- Judicial review in Kenya
- The Quotable P.L.O. Lumumba
- Judicial review of administrative actions in Kenya
- A handbook on criminal procedure in Kenya
- Stolen Moments
