Malawi’s accountants institute invites orator Prof Lumumba to its annual conference
Staunch Pan-Africanist, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba from Kenya, have been invited by Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (ICAM) to its annual conference to be held from September 19-21 at Sun ‘n’ Sand Holiday Resort in the lakeshore district of Mangochi.
Under the theme, ‘Repositioning for Africa’s Economic Renaissance — Malawi in the Equation’, Professor Lumumba will be joined by high profile African professionals such as Zambia Institute of Accountants Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bonna Kasinga; Pan African Federation of Accountants CEO Vickson Ncube and South Africa Institute of Chartered Accountants CEO Freeman Nomvalo.
Local speakers include ICAM CEO Dr. Francis Chinjoka Gondwe; 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).
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.
Its current leadership comprise president Joel Mwenelupembe; vice-president Phyles Kachingwe and its management of Dr. Gondwe as CEO, Charles Chimpeni as director of technical and membership services, Bertha Misomali as director of corporate services and Ruth Mgwede Mdala as director of education and training.
Gondwe said its Council serves as a board of 14 members led by the president with the Accountant General and Auditor General as ex-officio members and that the AGM is ICAM’s supreme decision making body which has 2,200 members.
“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 Mr W.B. Mwenelupembe, Mr. Ramesh Savjani, Mr. Andrew Chioko, Mr. Nkodola Uka, Mr. Simon Itaye, Mr. Bob Martin and Mrs P. Kamkwende,” Gondwe said.
Over the years, other high profiled guests who have been invited to the AGM include Stephen Berry from UK, Justin Cohen, Chris Gibbons, Vusi Thembakwayo, Siphiwe Moyo, Alex Granger, Peter Van kets, all from RSA.
Professor Lumumba, who is expected to deliver his speech entitled ‘Harmonising Africa’s Resources for Africa’s Development: from Third World to First’, once served as the Director of Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission from September 2010 to August 2011.
He, however, only served for less than a year and was dismissed under controversial circumstances and since 2014, he is the Director of Kenya School of Laws.
An eloquent lawyer, Lumumba holds a PhD in Laws of the sea from the University of Ghent in Belgium.
He is an admirer of Patrice Lumumba and Thomas Sankara, the deceased and assassinated revolutionary leaders of the DR Congo and the Burkina Faso, respectively.
Professor Lumumba is also remembered for his emotion-laden and energetic speech in Uganda at the third Anti-Corruption Convention in which he has quoted and referred to Patrice Lumumba several times in his speeches.
On August 28, 2015, the PAV Ansah (PAVA) Foundation invited Lumumba to speak at its 2015 Forum on ‘Good Governance, Whither Africa’ where he expressed his serious concern about the energy crises that African leaders have allowed to reach such a devastating stage.
Professor Lumumba also talked about the issue of African youth fleeing the continent and blamed them on the economic hardships and the “misgovernment” from their leaders.
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
- 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
