Reserve Bank of Malawi querried over results of forensic audit: Cdedi blames governor for leakage of privileged information
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has questioned the decision by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, Dr. Wilson Banda, to keep quiet while officials at the central bank are leaking results of the forensic audit at the central bank.
Nyasa Times understands that the central bank has been conducing a forensic audit whose report is supposed to be released in February 2021.
However, some bits and pieces of the findings have already found their way to the social media. This has raised the eyebrows of the CDEDI executive director, Sylvester Namiwa, who suspects that this could be a calculated move targeting specific individuals from one region and tribe.
Namiwa, in a statement released on Monday morning, says it is even mind boggling to note that Banda and his communications team at RBM have chosen to pretend that nothing has slipped through its fingers.
“This development leaves us with an impression that those people leaking the information are doing so under your watch, and to be raw, we believe this is a calculated move targeting specific individuals from one region and tribe, a very clear case of selective application of justice, which CDEDI is vehemently advocating against. As you are reading this letter, information regarding your salary and that of your predecessor, Dr. Dalitso Kabambe, is in the public domain, a development that is raising serious questions as to whether or not the bank must cough over MK180 million on external audit only to establish salaries of RBM Governor and a few other employees,” reads the statement in part.
Namiwa tasks Banda to explain how people that are outside RBM could access privileged information, including knowing the agenda and venues for the bank’s meetings and employment contracts.
He wonders whether the final report of the forensic audit would gain public trust considering the manner it has been handled.
“Since banks handle information in their day-to-day work around highly confidential and rather very sensitive information, how would the RBM stakeholders, including commercial banks trust a governor who is an alleged accomplice in the leakage of information from the Central Bank? All these issues put to question your suitability to steer the RBM ship and undermine the Governor’s role as a Registrar of Financial Institutions.
“Secondly, CDEDI would like to bring to your attention part V section 6 of the RBM act subsection 3, which states that to ensure continuity, appointments and reappointments into the board shall be made in a such a way that at least one-half of the number of directors shall continue to serve on the board. Since highly confidential information is already in the public domain, and in the interest of transparency and accountability, CDEDI is challenging you sir, to inform the nation with proof that the RBM board did not violate its own act on the composition of the board,” challenges Namiwa.
He further brings to the attention of the RBM boss Section 4 (a) subsection 2 of the RBM Act, which talks about the independence of the bank.
The section in question says: ‘Any person who improperly seeks to influence the bank, or a director or employee of the Bank in its performance of its or his functions, commits an offence shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of K1,000,000 and imprisonment for four years.’
Namiwa has therefore sought Banda’s clarification on why the Chief Internal Auditor had reservations with the hiring of Deliotte as external auditors to do forensic audit; why the auditors are reporting to the governor himself directly, when the standard governance practices demand that the Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) oversees the audit process and reports directly to the Board; and that Banda should prove CDEDI wrong that politics has taken centre stage at the central bank ‘since information is being leaked while the external auditor is doing their job’.
“We further seek your explanation on the deafening silence from your office at a time when private and confidential information has been leaked and is now in the public domain; why your office has accepted information such as your salary and that of your predecessor’s to be in the public domain when such information is supposed to be private and confidential; and why your office has chosen to use your entry salary as cap, to force officers with running contracts adjust their salaries in line with the cap. This is against existing salary structure within the bank, and if anything, it requires a review of the entire salary structure in order to achieve fairness as it were.
“You cannot isolate a few positions with employment contracts within the bank and force them to take salary cuts without any justifiable structure reviews, without consent of the individuals; this is against the labour laws. The bank ought to explain the reasons why people must take a salary cut, otherwise that’s an illegal move on the part of the bank,” demands Namiwa.
CDEDI is, therefore, demanding RBM governor to issue a statement to give the general public accurate information or risk being labelled as an accomplice in the leakage.
On the other hand, CDEDI has written the Auditor Manager for Deloitte, expressing worry over the leakage of the bits and pieces of the audit before the final report has been released.
Namiwa says they are equally saddened to note that, as a reputable firm, they have not even raised a query when the audit reference focal point was changed from the suspended Chief Internal Auditor to the RBM Governor.
He argues that this alludes to interference on the part of the audit and puts the whole process into question as the Governor is a political appointee.
“CDEDI would like to refer your firm to an incident which happened at the KPMG in South Africa where the auditors’ reputation was shamefully soiled due to similar unprofessional conduct. It is very clear that the audit information is being leaked purposefully in order to victimise people from one region and tribe for political gains. It is our expectation and that of many Malawians of goodwill that Deliotte would not like to be dragged into disrepute due to the current developments taking place at the RBM.
“ It is against this background that we challenge your good office to advise the central bank to publish a public statement to either explain or disassociate itself from such unethical and unprofessional conduct,” said Namiwa.
CDEDI has given the central bank seven days to address the issues that have been raised, saying the matter at hand has attracted huge public interest and anxiety, and that Malawians are waiting with baited breath on how your office is going to manage the situation.
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People are confusing a persons salary and a salary scale.
The scale is public,the salary a person is at within the scale is confidential.
MCP DOESN’T COUNT PEOPLE FROM SOUTH AS IF NO ONE VOTED FOR THEM. ANYONE FROM THE SOUTH WILL BE A VICTIM OF MCP GOVERNMENT ZANU IZO AMENE MUNAVOTELA NG’ONA IZI
Its not about people from the south but it is about people who were stealing from government coffers
Salaries of the RBM Governor cannot be private and confidential. This is a Government bank and tax payers have the right to know.
In fact any serious financial institution makes salaries and benefits of its top executives public knowledge. If you Google salary of Workd Bank President you’ll find it. If you Google salary of UN Secretary General you’ll find it. If you Google salary and bonuses of Furtune 500 company CEOs you’ll find those too.
Nde ka Reserve Bank nkachaniso? In fact with Access to Information Act, information on earnings of government officials should be made public. RBM is a government institution.
CDEDI seems like a group of ignorany and disgruntled cadets who are so desperate to find fault where none exists.
Mr. Namiwa, what you should know is that, the DPP government was too nepotistic. We understand that a lot of people who holds better positions are from same tribe, Tonse Government is just following anyone who stole the government’s money
just looking at the surname ‘Namiwa’..well my guess could be right..Hlomwe belt. Nothing objective
If its public organisation & uses public resources what then is wrong that the owners of resources know what was happening with their resources? Namiwa you are a foolish hlomwe! Go and hang yourself at Mount Mulanje!
Mr Namiwa, you have lately been been very vocal about Tonse Government victimizing one tribe and one region. We would like to joggle your memory. It is not the Southern Region being victimized, it is those that stole from Malawians. Please remember in case you have forgotten that the DPP Government was so nepotistic such that only one tribe and not the Southern Region enjoyed all prominent positions on their reign. Stop generalising the South, not everyone benefitef. Should the current Government just go to Mzimba or Dowa or Mangochi and arrest someone yet they never committed any crime for you to vindicate yourself. Mr Naniwa you are in denial. You are the one that used to attack the DPP prior to the reruns for nepotism. Mr Namiwa you are also a beneficiary of the nepotism DPP afflicted on Malawians. Leave justice to prevail. You are a shameless liar, politicking and ranting yo get sympathy
Namiwa seems to be a spokesperson for DPP not Human Rights Defender. There is no any relationship between salary and tribe
May the almighty GOD rescue Mr Namiwa from clutches of the devil
The name itself Namiwa speaks a lot that nothing good can come out of this man’s mouth but the voice of hatred and tribalistic. Your tribes men had a system of installing your tribes in all sectors of the civil service and all statutory companies. Other tribes were removed or not even recognised and every appointment your president was making were from Lomwe built. You can not admire what Chakwera and Chilima are doing trying to balance up positions of public offices? Your tribe is full of thieves if we can go round our prisons we will discover that your tribe is on position one of the occupants of prisons due to various crimes. Shame on you with your organisation.
How doesbthe information that is leaking get linked to targettimg certain individuals of a certain tribe?
Namiwa ndi machine Mtambo mwana surely he will make this government crawl for trying to extinct one tribe in Malawi.Please RBM gorvernor respond quickly to this query so that the earlier you clear this the earlier you rescue oneself from being labelled manhunter or nepotist.
ha! kuchemerera nsete!
Nothing wrong with the audit but if it has some unprocedural flaws, then every concerned citizen has the right to query.
How would any of you feel if your salaries were let in the open for all to see, including angongole and your forever begging relatives. It’s wrong for what RBM has done despite what party or region the employees come from. It’s unprofessional and disgraceful. One day remember Tonse will also be out of Government. Never forget.
Salaries of Ministers, PSs, MPs are public knowledge. What’s so special with RBM whuch is also a government institution? If World Bank publishes its salaries, what’s so special with RBM?
I think it’s just out of your ignorance but salaries for public servants are not private. In many countries they are even posted on websites like USA President. These guys receive our taxes and are supposed to be accountable to us. If we need to hide because of angongole then no need even to take public position. Simple. Mwamva a Nyenkhwe?
Well i don’t understand why CDEDI you are overreacting to the leak? It seems you are an interested party or being used by an interested party who doesn’t want this audit results to be known for obvious reasons. Leak or no leak as long the information is correct there is nothing to worry much about. With ATI in place the public may demand to see the whole audit. Let’s focus on the contents of the audit.
Chidikuliku matongo
Whats this?
Surprising that Namiwa suspects the Forensic Audit Report is targeting individuals from or region and tribe. Have these so-called suspects anything to fear if they never did anything wrong?
We all know about the shady dealings at RBM where one Governor was earning an obscene salary, apparently more than that of the UK Reserve Bank Governor, in a country where the minimum wage was below K50,000. All this was under DPP watch
All thieves must be exposed and get arreested. When dpp was commiting crimes against Malawians Namiwa was nowhere to be seen. Crying on behalf of dpp. Malawi will never go back to criminal dpp.
Stupid article. Very useledd
Mr. Namiwa, your making your organisation very useless. Just join politics
If the Audit Results did not point Fingers at Namiwa’s Masters he could have been all Over Demanding that So and So must resign …But since Regions and Tribes are so important to Him …Let him defend his Region and Tribe …Cadet ndi Cadet olo akhale ku Civil Society u Cadet umakhalabe pa No …1
Cadet Namiwa always when an issue is raised concerning malpractice done by past regime then to Namiwa its targeted move and targeting one tribe and one region, is Namiwa brain functioning proper or he is fucken mad???
Tell Namiwa guy that no matter how he will cry noone will listen to him coz we know already that he is a Cadet . He was quite during DPP regime when Muntharika stole Mk145million.
Silly CDEDI, where were you when the country was going through plunder? I bet you running on stolen government money.
Namiwa is just another attention seeker kkkkk. My friend you have come at the wrong time. We have vivid memories of Mtambo and friends. You are just a joke. If people from one region are the ones in the wrong shud they just walk freely. Ukufuna amange omwe sanalakwe? It really shows how idiotic you are. You grabbed all the good positions now it’s firing back. Sizatikhudze. Ndi mmene munkabela chuma cha Malawi
CDEDI folks,. are you sure what you are saying makes sense? Do you think the
RBM salaries were not already known and are now known after the forensic audit? And you mean RBM salaries are such a secret that it needs forensic audit to know ? I think what the public is interested in is to hear justification for these insensitively high salaries in an economy of our size. Your nosense will not divet the public from that. And you also allege that the salary issue is meant to victimise individuals from one region/ tribe. You mean all the top officers mentioned belong/ed to one region/ tribe? If that’s the case then that’s the issue you can write about and not this rubbish. Just for your information, people are looking for strong CSOs to provide meaningful checks to the current government as HRDC seems to be slowly but surely losing their relevance. It’s unfortunate you seem to be serving the interests of some few crooks ( of course not surprising at all).
Namiwa, you are a big joke. Where were you when the president was promoting people from one region and tribe. Are you trying to be relevant now. The president was making questionable appointments and you kept quiet. Do not be a nuisance now because of this freedom.?Shame
This reveals that only one region or tribe wa appointed to executive positions at the Central Bank.
Hehehehe. When a blind man leads other blindmen. Is there sense at all in your comment? If you dont know the topic being discussed and neither do you know truth on the ground, dzipatseni ulemu onamizira by simply shutting up ur mouth. Shame
Namiwawa should be schooled that salaries for public servants arent confidential. I would be worried if the report being circulated was fake or inaccurate. If one tribe and one region committed crimes they should be pursued for justice. The reason Lomwe are targeted its because they committed crimes. They took advantage of the captured DPP Government. The charge sheet wont read ” you are being tried because you are a lomwe”
namiwa and Cdedi are lost, it seems this NGO was formed to fight for former elites and its associates. why are you deffending pay cuts at reserve bank when everyone was complaining about its big pay-check. why are you forcing our own powell to respond to social media. you think reserve bank governor position is valueless or meaningless as yours? respect his office and his position because anything he says has an effects on our currency. and by dragging him to respond to social media will devalue his office.
Ka bungwe ka DPP aka katibowa kwambiri
Osadandaula ngat sanalakwe sanalakwe
And regionalism osainamizila boma madpp linali lambali imodzi ndemufuna azimangidwa anthu oti sanapange nawo?
Seems you Mr Namiwa deserve my attention.
This is a childish propaganda. Tonse Liars are indeed targeting particular individuals at RBM.
I agree with you, all this is an effort to find very tangible reasons to dismiss other people, however, they must not accept to reduce their salaries, for what? Nonsense! Isnt the creation of stupid and useless positions by Chakwera a way of stealing tax payers money? Appeasement policy at its best. At least those at RBM are working for it, awo a congress, just getting for free, they are completely doing nothing. Finally, the bloated cabinet, siphoning tax payers money, ati ma adviser, za ziii.
This bogus organization is nyusesi. If people abused tax payers money let them be exposed. A malawi tabeledwa kokwana with one tribe
No one abused .Kabambe did not offer himself his salary it was the board. Again kodi Nkhani yokuba ndarama ku state house kudzera ku Hotel ili pati. Vuto Chakwera anatenga Kapondamgaga chifukwa amamugulira ma suit ali pa umphawi ku Assemblies Of God ndiye nkhaniyi sipita patali ndiponso achitsiru a Matemba sangayikhudze
Zio ine, you are right. How far is the issue?