Where there is looting, there is a Chanco graduate: What are you teaching?

August 5, 2020 Mike Fiko –Nyasa Times 57 Comments

There is a good reason why University of Malawi’s Chancellor College (Chanco)  is also known as the college that God loves the most.

Kasambara (right) and Mphwiyo: All are products of Chanco

It is called so because, being a center of liberal arts, much of what is taught there centers on moulding a human resource that should responsibly, efficiently and effectively manage affairs of the public.

In fact, there is no model of responsibility, efficiency and effectiveness than the values that God left us with both in the Holy Quran and Holy Bible.

In creating the nation of Malawi, God knew we would need responsible people to lead and manage our public affairs; as such, He whispered wisdom to our founding fathers in the 1960s to come up with Chanco—a place where values of leadership and management are inculcated in the learners.

This is why it is at Chanco where professional teachers are molded to help build an upright generation that is responsibly educated.

That is why it is Chanco where social sciences—economics, sociology and psychology—are taught to help mold people that will develop and execute economic policies that respond to the need needs of our society.

That is why it is at Chanco where humanities—such as literature, philosophy, theology, etc.—are at taught to build people that will lead in processes of defining and preserving our culture to ensure we are a nation of purpose and direction.

This is why it is at Chanco where public administration and political science are taught with a prime goal to build responsible leaders to run our institutions both in public and private.

That is why it is at Chanco where law is taught by giants such as Professor Edge Kanyongolo to help mold a human resource that will stand up and defend the rights of the people and ensure that justice is not just done but also seen to be done.

But look, Professor Kanyongolo, the monsters that, lately, you have been producing at the Chanco—the college you and God loves the most?

Truth be told, the past decade has seen Malawians sunk deep into absolute poverty, all because of failed leadership that, evidently, run the nation by ransacking every coin in the public purse.

What’s shocking is that at every point of revelation regarding the loot of public resources, there is always a flurry of Chanco graduates either being on the frontlines of looting or collaborating with those who were looting.

Just look at the list of those that have been arrested, accused or allegedly involved in large scale looting of public resources.

Look at Ralph Kasambara, Paul Mphwiyo, Collins Magalasi, you name them.

And there are those that, using their higher offices, did everything to let Malawians down.

Think of the Bright Molande as chief advisor to Peter Mutharika; Lloyd Muhara as Chief Secretary to government; Sudi Sulaimana of coup-plots; you name them.

I have only picked a few. But if we were to do an audit regarding people who loot  public resources, even in non-governmental organizations, graduates from Chanco will always top the list.

What is wrong with the education that the professor are inculcating into the brains of these students?

Malawians are betrayed by Chanco. They are beginning to feel that the entire graduate thing is underrated as it is not helping build a better Malawi.

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57 replies on “Where there is looting, there is a Chanco graduate: What are you teaching?”

  1. Khalidye mumaliwona kuti ndilosokonekera kuyambira kuka campus kwawo komwe -kunyera mumakolido, kuba ma battery amagalimoto, kuphwa magalito a eni ake akuti ndi aku Oxford yaku Malawi. Students and Lecturers are all fucked up. Ena ndi amene akubwebweta muma facebook mu. I wonder why majority still trust these Chanco people. Jesus! Corporates take great risk when hiring these animals. And I hear some fools saying oh all judges are a product of Chanco – Yeah right. Well thats what happens when you have one law school in a country and the same law school make sure that other universities do not open law schools – no competition. A Malawi timanamizana kwambiri.

  2. It has nothing to do with Chanco per-se, it is devoid of ethics and being full of greed. Malawi has been suffering from this disease since the advent of Multiparty democracy in 1994. We could see people shaving their heads, eating a whole linunda la ng’ombe lootcha alone, growing pot berries, drinking canned beer (Olsons, Castle Lager etc) all the while in the not so past, we were sharing a packet of opaque beer once a month after receiving our meagre but powerful salaries. All this was done without justification for the extra income….ndiye pano yasanduka cancer because ma politicians and controlling officers whoa are very close to the govt purse have taken turns to dip their hands without any grain of fear or remorse, because the big kahunas are also doing their lion’s share of the feast……SHAME

  3. These people left Chanco well trained and ready for the jobs. However, the problem is within themselves. They are all “professionals” but lack ethics. That is sad because without ethics you are an empty shell.

  4. This is a true and well researched article. The named mentioned above are examples of bad apples of top civil service and private sector personnel who have found themselves in financial scandals.
    But everyone must be judged individually.
    Those found guilty should be jailed just like anyone found stealing government funds or.property. 8

  6. Why attribute that to Prof. Kanyongolo. He teaches Law, and not all those you have mentioned are lawyers. Some of the educated thieves have not even been to CHANCO. You must be extremely stupid.

  7. Iwe ase…. Man is selfish and education has nothing to change that….

    People steal because of their self interests… We learn and practice principles of good governance, responsible citizenship..

    You’re making conclusions that are invalid….

    If u want to see the bright side, Consider the political state of Malawi today.. we are the only hope for Malawi ….

    You’re president now is from chanco…. The past leaders weren’t and gave no hope as much as is today

  8. Nkhani is not CHANCO, it us as Malawians. Since departure of Kamuzu Banda anthu mantha pa zinthu zaboma anatha. Kale munthu akagwidwa ataba or kuononga chinthu chaboma chances were very high he could not find any other formal employment in this country. Pano it is a syndicate from top to least bottom aliyense angopakula mbali yake. Same audit findings year in year out no commitment for reprimands. Now that we have new government it is my prayer that we reset this country towards initial status of respecting and fearing public resources.

  9. You have taken words out of my mouth.

    Over the years, l have been thinking a lot, and mainly out of the box.
    I do understand that education is the modification of our behaviour.

    After asking myself so many questions, l came to conclude that all the education, whether in universities or colleges, is in fact by-products of another person’s thoughts.

    Someone actually sat down to draft, formulate, and compile all that we are taught. It is all pre planned, and it’s attached intention is to capture our minds.

    In my opinion, education is somewhat a continuation of slavery. They cleverly used it to capture our minds, way of thinking, and make us all start thinking like someone else ( a white man who formulated all the syllabuses and the entire validity of the education institutions).

    Without sounding as if l am discrediting and defaming higher education, as l am a graduate myself, who left Malawi over 20 years ago, and now living in Europe, all l came to realise is that nothing can surpass Umunthu, or Ubuntu as narrated in Nguni (isiZulu).

    Our forebears narrated so much knowledge to us, through songs, proverbs,story telling and by nature, which to my understanding, is the greatest treasure that has ever been left for us and the generations to come.

    Umunthu or Ubuntu, which can not be taught in universities, is free and naturally instilled in us. It is entwined with our spirituality and mental consciousness.
    Umunthu is our paragons of virtue.

    So l am not surprised, if you like, to see university graduates being in the forefront of looting and decadency.
    This indicates that all people become after studying for Degrees or all other qualifications, is the pre planned, quantitative and qualitative by-products of those who connived to capture other people’s minds, by subjugating and manipulation.

    Many tends to lose their umunthu, their true self, all that is theirs after being mentally incarcerated by higher education.
    With all the understanding that it is ill fitting, and rather in comfortable, many start to look at their natural way of living with contempt, and start emulating white people’s way of living.

    It is only a fool that scorns and discards that which is theirs, and start ‘glorifying’ other people’s things.

    If not careful, and please be warned, one can easily become a fool with higher education.

    1. Well, the main argument of looting is self interests… It has nothing to do with education ..in fact He assumes chanco trains us in looting

  10. At first I didn’t want to join the discussion for obvious reasons. I feel even though there is some elements of truth going by examples you listed; the generalization has been too much and without reason or mercy. What can you say about Chilima and Chakwera whom we have entrusted with draining the swamp? We have very good, hardworking graduates from Chanco that go around as unsung heroes of the nation. These are the guys together with graduates from other institutions are making some of the things move in the country. Of course I know you withdrew on academic grounds but its unfair to judge an institution for your own failure. I’m thinking of those High Court and Supreme Court Judges and many more you have insulted their honor by putting them in the same basket with rotten apples.

    1. Koma ndiye, talk of doctors, the 5 constitutional judges, .good lawyers, administrators. The list is endless. Why focus on few rotten bananas when most of them are edible?

  11. I do not think Chanco is to blame. Most of Chanco graduates find themselves in Administrative jobs.It takes them a while to assume higher positions and in the process they are inducted to this culture of looting. Most of the big scale plunder is organized from the top otherwise they are not involved in embezzlements which is a low level type of plunder.

  12. Whaoh! No matter how much education does on a person, it all depends upon ones social, psychological and religious morals from upbringing. Henestly speaking, CHANCO has produced many good people running decent leadership styles in the country and abroad.

  13. Statistically that is a bad analysis and the sampling is very poor. The looting should be blamed on the leaders that ruled Malawi from 1994 to 23 June 2020. The biggest thief was Bakili, followed by Bingu and the Peter Muthalika and his wife. If we go by tribes we know that crime rate is very high in the southern region especially Thyolo, Mulanje, Chiradzulu and Phalombe. There is also a lot of prostitution in these districts. These statistics are available at NSO and you can verify them. The issue of blood suckings, kudula mabele, kufukula dead bodies and albino killings are also part of the Mlakho culture. There was a lot of uhule at Mlakho wa Lomwe gatherings and we saw APM dancing with atsikana mabele pa mtunda.

      1. Ndiwe galu kwabasi one ndimtumbuka pachakuti pako Ngati ulibe mtundu wakwanu mwina ndiwe obwela usamalimbane ndi waife atumbuka panyapako kupusa

      2. Inu munasamba liti anyani osekana michila kuda kuli biiiih Ngati atumbuka mukuwatchulawa bolanso anzanu amalowa mkalasi , you don’t breath well in every articles published if you haven’t criticise the tumbuka tribe , ngati mulinawo milandu atumbuka why not going to settle down the matter with them rumphi is not far like heaven , you are an idiot galu sindinunso azungu Ku mtundu wanu Kaya ndiwe mchewa Yao Sena mlomwe ndiwe opusa amene umalimbana NDI Ife atumbuka ubwele Ku Ru kusasamba Kunene ukukunenako ndiye kuti

    2. Thats stupidity at its best, nonsense! Mbuzi ya munthu iweyo and even a chicken can think better than you honestly. Wabadwa liti iweyo to talk shit about looting. During Kamuzu era people were looting too but because that time there was no freedom for the press. For instance, the first audit in Police and Army took place in the mid or late 70s, ambiri were implicated. Most of the civil servants who opened tobacco estates were using government resources to manage those farms, vehicles, fuel even employees. JZU was also good at that,ask him how many vehicles he had at his backyard from parasatals? More than 10 vehicles he was using apart from being a Cabinet Minister.

  14. Much as your arguments might have some flaws, I will not completley dismiss them. It’s pathetic that those we call educated pple from the university of Malawi have taken this country to ransom

  15. You’ve gone overboard in this article, Mike Fiko. Looks like you’ve got a personal grudge against Edge Kanyongolo.

    Do you know what “White Collar Crime” means? I won’t bother to define it for you, but white collar criminals are usually educated people and are produced in all universities and in all countries. The “technocrats” in organized criminal gangs in western countries, for example, can be graduates from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Columbia University ( not Columbia Commonwealth University), Oxford, Cambridge, etc. Their crimes usually go undetected or unsolved because the criminals are educated, of course.

    It all depends on
    individual moral inclination.

  17. Kota system. Kumapita anthu osayenera kumeneko. Zimapointi zankhaninkhani. Zimaprogram zophweka zilikumeneko

  18. The article is fallacious in nature. and the sample you have used barely represents the whole. Try writing something that will bring malawians together and bring hope, for that’s surely what this country needs right now. Thank you.

  19. Not a Chanco alumni but.. morality and integrity is never taught anywhere. We all know right from wrong but some opt to do wrong .. This article is such a waste of words…

  20. Ine sindinaphunzile
    Koma ndimaona zitsilu zambili za ophunzila bwino
    Amenewa amachita zosaenera kuzipanga ozindikila
    Monga kulandila ndi kupeleka Ziphuphu,kuba,kumwa mowa,uhule,kunama,kusakhulupilika,kubela zipanizina mavoti kuti Bingu komanso Pitala apambane mwazina
    Ophunzira amayenela kukhala chitsanzo chabwino

  21. This is why some of us wonder why some people think of limiting others without degrees to junior positions despite clear examples of these people doing better than degree holders AKB never went to anybodys University but is one of the best corporate directors

  22. Very unfortunate that personalities are unreasonably equated to an honorable and reputable institution, which in itself has nothing to do with whatever choices people make in life after walking through corridors of the university institution misrepresented here. To the author, your biased opinion is highly respected but not acceptable by choice of sensible readers!!!! Renew your mind.

  23. Theft cannot be attributed to a learning institution nor a faculty member, but rather to individual’s upbringing. So, the article is completely misplaced and doesn’t make sense. The writer has even committed an offence by attacking an innocent lecturer who is not responsible for any student’s behaviour. It probably would have sounded reasonable if Chanco was blamed for producing half-baked graduates because the University’s role is offer quality education and not behaviour. Unfortunately, the writer has openly shown his hatred for Kanyongolo.Why has the immediate past Chancellor of UNIMA (Mutharika) been spared in the article? If anything, he is the one who was at the centre of wanton looting.

  25. In the first place, many thanks for your unfounded and baseless assertion you have levelled against chanco graduate. I have said your assertions are baseless.

    In the second place, you need to improve your English, Grammer and typos.

    Thank you.

  26. Chanco graduate here trying to answer for many other Chirunga graduates who lead exemplary lives.

    In my humble opinion, it is not about the college and the type of graduates it produces. I think it simply boils down to the issue of individual morality. If one is morally corrupt and does not see the clear demarcating line between right or wrong, it does not matter whether the person is educated or not. Educated people steal or commit crimes and so do uneducated people.

    The main problem is that with educated people breaking the law, they usually know how to game the system. Unfortunately that is very sad because we are supposed to live exemplary lives as educated people. Young people should look up to us and say “I would love to be a lawyer or economist” like …[put a name of someone who inspired you in your field of study here]

  27. It’s a waste of our time to argue with someone whose post is full of fallacies . I will refer the author of this post to do some minor readings on fallacies. He willl understand why his post is useless and one of the most dull thing Nyasa could post.

    Those of us who went through chanco have better things to do than argue with an embecile who is trying take us through his stupid reasoning. Someone doesn’t even understand issues of causality. Let alone talk about the University he went through, should be Columbia or Skyway university

    1. So the do called chancos know everything taught in other colleges. Amakuphunisani kuba kumeneko. Ntchito kungonyoza ma college. Ma course a biology omwewa

  28. Nonsense. Should Kanyongolo follow the Chanco graduates wherever they are to monitor how they are doing? Are their choices Kanyongolo’s?
    There is a lot of envy in this article. If you failed to go to Chanco then don’t generalize the issue here. It’s called fallacy. Sit for msce to get selected, age ain’t nothing brother.

  29. The problem with Chancol is that most courses there do not define what really a student will be when they graduate. Most of the degrees there are like general degrees with no specific purpose in life. Some will mix biology with dancing, others geography and human rights. When they graduate they apply for any job. They do not understand how organisations work. Unlike College of Medicine, Luanar, KCN and Poly where you know from day one who you will be. Most of the courses there lead you into real professions, with strict code of conduct and sanctions for its members. That’s why HE the Life President Kamuzu Banda, Ngwazi the guru, Father and Founder of University education in Malawi said there are only 3 nobble professions; Accountancy, Law and Medicine (in alphabetical order) because these professions are regulated.

    2. This is rather archaic thinking. Chanco introduced many specialised degrees some 4 or 5 years ago. Inu izi mwazitenga kuti? Zamakedzana!!!

  30. Very unfair to the academia of Chanco. There are indeed some bad oranges and that cannot be attributed to the liberal college. You may wish to include the thousands of Chanco alumni who have lived perfect lives and are models in society . I will not mention any because they are just too numerous!
    Address the bad apples in their individual capacities . Otherwise I thank all the teaching staff of Chanco, the college that made me what I am today

  32. So now we have chilima and his vice chakwera both from chanco, Mike am concerned. Apa vumbwe wathyola khola

  33. I am very curious: do you have a personal grudge against Kanyongolo? You would have written the whole article without mentioning his name and it wouldn’t have made any fuckin’ difference. This is the problem with graduates from Columbia Commonwealth University! Mxii!

  36. Currently, Chanco graduates are negotiating k9. 7 billion payout from government to themselves. They are calling it MEC legal expenses account but in actual sense is just light theft of public resources. Chanco Faculty of thieves and their devlish hearts

    1. This is true. And another Chance graduate is “meritoriously” Chewalizing the civil service and putting friends, relatives, relatives of friends and friends families in high offices for the same reason, to loot state coffers.

  37. This is the best case scenario of the fallacy of over-generalization. Maybe the author should also go to Chanco and do Logic 101 with the Philosophy Department.

  39. That is why, it is at CHANCO where pure sciences – Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology – is lectured…

    Ill mannered Mike-Fiko. Mmmtwxxiiiiiiiii!

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