Mumba’s charity for poor students hit by registration hold-up

A charitable foundation set up by Malawian MP Vitumbiko Mumba to help vulnerable college and university students is at risk of missing its planned launch date after officials failed to complete its registration, despite the process dragging on for nearly nine months.

The Mzimba Central Constituency MP’s People Over Politics Foundation was due to be unveiled with fanfare in Lilongwe on 2 October 2026 — but behind the scenes, lawyers acting for the charity have accused the Registrar General’s office of leaving the application languishing despite claiming every requirement had been met.

Furious lawyers have now issued a stark seven-day ultimatum, warning they will pursue “legal and other remedies” unless the registration is finalised — or officials explain in writing exactly why it has stalled.

The foundation, designed to operate as a charitable trust supporting some of Malawi’s poorest students, first submitted its application back on 1 January 2026. But instead of a swift approval, the paperwork was left in bureaucratic purgatory for months.

It wasn’t until April that officials finally responded — only to demand corrections. Lawyers scrambled to fix the issues and resubmitted the application on 25 April 2026. Yet still, nothing.

In a strongly-worded letter to Chikumbutso Namelo, Registrar General at the Companies, Registration and Intellectual Properties Centre (CRIPC), Jefferson Luwa of Maxoreen Attorneys did not hold back.

“We have been following up with your Lilongwe office. The application has since been on ‘pending approval’ since January, 2026,” he wrote, laying bare months of frustration.

Luwa warned the delay was now directly jeopardising the charity’s ability to help the very students it was created for — with the clock ticking down to its high-profile launch.

“Our client intends to launch its charitable activities on 2nd October 2026. However, despite the considerable period that has elapsed since the submission of its application, your office has yet to complete the registration process,” the letter states.

The lawyers have demanded that if any further documentation is genuinely needed, officials must say so in writing immediately — rather than continuing to sit on the application in silence.

With just weeks to go before the planned launch, the standoff raises real questions over whether Mumba’s charity will be able to begin its work on schedule — or whether red tape at the heart of Malawi’s registration system will delay help for vulnerable students yet again.