Tag Archives: Philip Kamangirah

Law and order, Malawi

CMC demands Forensic Audit at Malawi’s Roads Authority amid dubious contractual deals with Mota-Engil

Maravi Post Reporter
CMC Executive Director Philip Kamangirah

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s social right group Centre for Mindset Change (CMC) is demanding a Forensic Audit at Malawi Roads Authority (RA) regarding to suspected dubious contracts deals government awarded to Mota-Engil.

The grouping says despite the firing of Eng. Emmanuel Matapa, the ex-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the RA cannot go without Forensic Audit.

In a press statement made available to The Maravi Post, CMC says has faith in Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on its eyes on RA.

CMC Executive Director Philip Kamangirah observes that with the firing of the CEO Matapa and Director of Corporate Services, and without insinuating anything but a follow up investigation of his involvement in dubious deals he initiated during his leadership.

“We appreciate the fact that the Anti-Corruption Bureau is looking into the issues that were raised in our letter addressed to ACB where we called for investigations into road project contracts at Roads Authority especially those that were awarded to Mota-Engil, ” reads part of CMC statement.

Kamangirah adds, “We have faith and trust in the current ACB. With the firing of the CEO and Director of Corporate Services, and without insinuating anything, we demand a Forensic Audit at Roads Authority and of much interest to us are Mota-Engil projects.

“We push for Forensic Audit as we have always questioned several things from Roads Authority most of which took place during his tenure of office”.

Meanwhile Malawi government has halted some contracts that were awarded to Mota-Engil for further investigation on alleged fraud of ballooning contracts cost against initial budget agreement with the authorities.

Mota-Engil has not commented on the alleged fraud contracts awarded to the company.

Below is CMC full statement:


PRESS RELEASE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AT ROADS AUTHORITY

  1. Firing of the Chief Executive Officer


Centre for Mindset Change would like to express its gratitude to the government of Malawi for finally attending to the voice of well- minded Malawians who have for so long waited for the administration of justice on matters that concern them.

The firing of Eng. Emmanuel Matapa, the ex-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Roads Authority cannot go without a statement from us because we have always questioned several things from Roads Authority most of which took place during his tenure of office.

It is the hope of CMC and, indeed right-thinking Malawians that the whip will not only stop at Eng. Matapa and Ms. Auda Msiska but also others.


2. Terminal Benefits for the Fired Chief Executive Officer

The Office of the Ombudsman has previously made determinations on similar cases like at Malawi Energy Regulation Authority, Malawi Post and Telecommunications etc.

Similarly, other boards have recently fired CEOs and Directors that were merely appointed without paying them terminal benefits like at Board of Tobacco Control Commission, Lilongwe Water Board,Lilongwe Handling Company, etc.

We wonder why the Board of Roads Authority decided to award terminal benefits to Eng. Matapa and Ms. Auda Msiska.

This cements what we expressed in our letters to the Secretary of the Office of the President and Cabinet that we agree with Roads Authority employees who believe that the Board needs to be reconstituted.


MK6.3 million Fine for Non-Compliance on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (Parliament Circle to Game Complex 6-Lanes Road Project) CMC would like to also ask the Office of the Ombudsman and the Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet to look into the issue of the K6.3 million that Roads Authority has been fined.

We believe that the taxpayer cannot part away with all that just because of the incompetence of some people. Our call is that the responsible officers must pay that from their pockets. This will send a strong signal to public officers who have demonstrated negligence of the highest order.


3. Demand of Forensic Audit at Roads Authority

We appreciate the fact that the Anti-Corruption Bureau is looking into the issues that were raised in our letter addressed to ACB where we called for investigations into road project contracts at
Roads Authority especially those that were awarded to Mota-Engil.

We have faith and trust in the current ACB. With the firing of the CEO and Director of Corporate Services, and without
insinuating anything, we demand a Forensic Audit at Roads Authority and of much interest to us are Mota-Engil projects.

4. Reconstitution of the Board of Roads Authority

We still maintain our stand that the government must reconstitute the membership of the Board of Roads Authority. We will be following up with the Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet on this issue. In case some ethical members of the board are wondering our insistence here is a hint: some of your colleagues have been interfering with operations of Roads Authority by dealing with contractors on issues to do with payment of Interim Payment Certificates and information on upcoming tenders instead of sticking to their strategic governance mandate.

We believe they are not fit to serve Roads Authority with objectivity. Review of Some Elements in the Corruption Case of involving the Former CEO, Eng. Trevor Hiwa.

We are pleased that the courts have ruled that Eng. Trevor Hiwa has a case to answer. He was fired on the same allegations. It is not surprising that his successor has also been fired. This speaks volumes of the state of affairs at Roads Authority and as CMC we are concerned.

We would like the Director of Public Prosecutions to review the witnesses in this case. We have been informed by concerned employees at Roads Authority that some engineers, who according to the Commission of Enquiry are accomplices, are state witnesses and not the accused. This was done before the new DPP was appointed.

We agree with the concerned employees that this needs serious attention because the Commission of Inquiry even recommended that these engineers must be disciplined, and nothing has happened to date.


Call for More Information

CMC would like to inform Malawians that since the firing of the two, Roads Authority’s employees are providing us with information regarding what has been happening at Roads Authority. We will be submitting some of this information to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Office of the Ombudsman in due course.

CMC would like to therefore request all those that have information worth noting to not hesitate to contact us. This applies not only to RA issues but any other issue that is worth our attention.

Our offices are in Rainbow Building, Along Paul Kagame Road and the email address is; centre4mindsetchange@gmail.com

.
Conclusion
As Centre for Mindset Change, we will not relent on this, and we will continue engaging various institutions on this matter. We are evidence and issue based institution and we will strive to act fairly and with honesty.

Signed: Philip Kamangirah, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Malawi

Malawi Roads Authority cornered over gross of misconduct

Maravi Post Reporter 1 Comment
Kamangira wants Road Authority be investigated

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s civil rights body under the banner Center for Mindset Change (CMC) is demanding the re-constitution of Malawi Roads Authority (MRA)’s board and executive management amid gross of misconduct report.

The grouping told the news conference on Monday, September 20, 2021 that the roads authority has been involved into awarding contracts dubiously to questionable contractors.

CMC observes that the dubious contracts being awarded to questionable firm including Mota Engel Africa has cost Malawi huge some of on incomplete road projects.

The grouping’s executive director Philip Kamangirah therefore appealed to President Lazarus Chakwera to intervene on roads authority’s misconduct.


“We have been approached by Concerned Employees from Roads Authority to write you on this subject and we write on their behalf. The Concerned Employees allege that some of the Board of Directors are compromised and do not have the capacity to strategically guide Roads Authority,” says Kamangirah.

He added, “This has been very obvious through the following:They want to have external trips for trainings yet Engineers are denied such opportunities. If it was not for social media leaking the planned trip to Dubai earlier this year, Roads Authority would have lost MK49 million on air tickets, accommodation and allowances;

“They have put a blind eye on the Audit report that recommended further investigations on the roles that the CEO and Director of Construction played in projects that were awarded to Mota-Engil. Most of these projects have
overshot their contract amounts with astronomic figures”.

He observes, “They have an appetite for conducting site visits which is an operational matter and not strategic. They pocket a lot of allowances for site visits yet engineers and inspectors are limited on the basis of unavailability of funds leading to poor quality of work”.

Kamangirah appeals to Comptroller of Statutory Corporations , “We as Centre for Mindset Change would like to hear from you within the next 14 days on this matter. We do not want to start engaging the road users who pay fuel levy to go into the streets. We believe in contact and dialogue. Looking forward to hearing from you.

There was no immediate reaction from Roads Authority officials on the matter.

Human Rights, Law and order, Lifestyle

Chakwera’s Tonse police challenged to release rights activist Sylvester Namiwa, other ten for unacceptable arrest

Maravi Post Reporter

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s civil rights group Centre for Mindset Change (CMC) has dared Malawi Police to release rights activist Sylvester Namiwa immediately and unconditionally for wrongly arresting him.

The grouping has expressed dismay over President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse police for contravening the RIGHT to DEMONSTRATE is not subject to approval by the District Commissioner or any Public Authority.

The law (SECTION 96 of the POLICE ACT) necessitates the demonstrators to only notify the authorities and not seeking permission.

CMC finds such arrests, unacceptable, undemocratic and a demonstration of serious negligence in respect to the values of democratic governance.

“We therefore call upon government and its authority to release Mr. Silvester Namiwa and others immediately,” reads part of CMC statement signed by its Executive Director Philip Kamangirah.

Namiwa who is the Executive Director of Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI),Edwin Mauluka the media manager and ten others including women were on Wednesday, morning, August 11, 2021 arrested at Parliament building during a vigil to force parliament leadership to explain about smuggling of the loan bill.

CDEDI boss Sylvester Namiwa in high spirit: Spends night in cooler as he waits formal charge in court Thursday

Namiwa is in robust health and high spirit as he spends a night in police cell awaiting for formal charge in court on Thursday, afternoon August 11, 2021.

Below is CMC full statement made available to The Maravi Post on Thursday, August 12, 2021:


CALL FOR IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF CDEDI LEADERSHIP

Centre for Mindset Change (CMC) is saddened in the manner demonstrated by the Police and the Government of Malawi on the arrest of Mr. Silvester Namiwa who is the Executive Director of CDEDI,
Mr. Edwin Mauluka the media manager and ten others including women.

CMC finds such arrests, unacceptable, undemocratic and a demonstration of serious negligence in respect to the values of democratic governance.We therefore call upon government and its authority to release Mr. Silvester Namiwa and others immediately.

Mr. Silvester Namiwa and others were arrested on Wednesday in Lilongwe at Parliament Building for
leading a demonstration on the notorious Loans Authorization Bill which was ostensibly trafficked to
Parliament by some intricate persons without following the required procedures.

CMC wishes to put it on record that Malawi is a democratic state and therefore leaders and their agencies
should never at any time make an attempt to destroy this democracy that we hardly fought against the
darkest thirty- one rule of the Malawi Congress Party.

We wish to hassle that the RIGHT to DEMONSTRATE is not subject to approval by the District Commissioner or any Public Authority. The law (SECTION 96 of the POLICE ACT) necessitates the demonstrators to only notify the authorities and not seeking permission.

CMC finds the arrests unjustifiable and a proof of hypocrisy, an iota of mediocrity and a momentous
impunity demonstrated by the Tonse Alliance under the Leadership of President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.
The arrest of Mr. Namiwa and others is a severe undemocratic attack on the civic space which Malawi
has enjoyed over the years.

We therefore wish to remind the Tonse Alliance government that Human Rights are not negotiable. We
call upon the government and its agencies to stop harassing, intimidating, victimizing and oppressing the
people of Malawi for reasons of enjoying their constitutional rights as provided for. Such mannerisms are
tantamount to the death of our hard- earned democracy. Freedoms to assembly, association and
expression are legal and ought to be respected at all level.


Signed by: Philip Kamangirah, CMC DIRECTOR, Dated: 12th August, 2021

Development

CMC condemns continued politicization of Malawi’s Covid-19

Angella Semu

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The Centre for Mindset Change (CMC) has condemned the continued politicization of COVID 19 pandemic that has threatened the welfare of many lives across the world by some people in the society.

In a press statement issued on Monday, April 20, 2020, CMC Chairperson Phillip Kamangirah denounced the behaviour of some leaders and groups of individuals who have take the crisis for political gains by putting their political ambitions in front of the lives of people under serious threat due to the novel coronavirus.

CMC has also entreated all stakeholders to came together
and work out on the solutions in order to manage the pandemic while performing their duties to ensure that there is bonds of unity among Malawians.

It has also recommended Government of Malawi for taking all the steps and precautionary measures in the fight against COVID 19.

CMC has call upon continued engagement between government and all stakeholders in decisions on how to implemented the fight against COVID 19.

Below is CMC full statement:

CONTINUED POLITICIZATION OF COVID – 19 IS A SAD DEVELOPMENT
FOR MALAWI

The Centre for Mindset Change (CMC) is puzzled with the continued politicization of COVID 19 by some quarters of our society. COVID – 19 has puncture around the globe, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services tussle to manage.

TRAVERSED by our private conscious, a national call to the service of our country, in and conventional HEEDFUL of our civic duties and common humanity DEMEANOR IN ACQUAINTANCE of objectives set forth in the Constitution of the Republic Malawi ACCUSTOMED of our duty to develop and exploit our social and sequential gifts to spear-heard peace building, Social Justice and democracy, preserve dignity, observation of the rule of Law and to strengthen the bonds of unity among Malawians.

DISTINGUISHING the need for organized leadership and stewardship for the proper conduct and practice of our affairs AFFIRMING our responsibility in each generation to make our faith in ourselves in reality, in honesty of thought and expression and in purity of heart, we are worried with the current politicization of the COVID 19.

? It is only in Malawi where a group of individuals can choose to put the lives of people under
serious threat in order to serve their political ambitions.
? It is only in Malawi where leaders can take a crisis for political gains
? It is only in Malawi where people can simply fail to recognize the danger of COVID 19 when the
entire world has been on silence.
? It is only in Malawi where Politics has become order of the day even amidst the crisis of COVID.

We are therefore calling upon all people to look at the COVID 19 as a Public Health issue and not political.

We also wish to recommend the Government of Malawi for taking all the steps and precautionary measures in the fight against COVID 19.

It is time that all stakeholders came together and work out on the solutions in order to manage the pandemic. We further call upon continued engagement by Government to all stakeholders as to how the decisions can be implemented in the fight against COVID 19.

It is our belief that as a country all necessary measures are put in place by government amidst the crisis. We hope for the best as we stand together in the fight against the COVID 19.

Let us all stand together in fighting the pandemic
Let us have one voice
Let us protect the people of Malawi
Let us adhere to all guidelines
Above all, let us keep on praying for Malawi to remain the Land of Peace.
God Bless You All
Signed:
Philip Kamangirah
CMC CHAIRPERSON

Malawi, Politics

MCP President Chakwera backtracks on MK4b scam; as concerned citizens buffed with greedy MPs

Maravi Post Reporter

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The main opposition Malawi Congress Party’s (MCP) President Lazarus Chakwera has backtracked of his Members of Parliament (MPs)to benefit from the infamous MK4 billion that the house agreed to share.

This comes barely a few days after Malawi Parliament agreed to share the money equally (MK20 million each) of 198 lawmakers.

The development which buffed the concerned citizens through their leader Philip Kamangirah on legality of the greedy MPs over the hard earned taxpayers money.

Kamangirah wondered as to why the legislators could make a share deal when the nation is bleeding with social economic challenges including shortage of drugs in public hospitals among others.

He even questioned the opposition leader in Parliament of his earlier involvement over the matter arguing that if Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe and Local Government minister Kondwani Nankhumwa are to resign, Chakwera too was to follow suit.

But MCP’s Second deputy Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka told Zodiak radio Views Triangle Program that the party will not be part and parcel of the share deal.

Mkaka says the party earlier nodded in the Parliament that the money was to be distributed to all constituencies, “because leader of opposition and MCP President Chakwera had no enough information on the money.

On Friday, Chakwera called for the resignation of Gondwe who allocated the funds and Nankhumwa who was tasked with choosing the MPs to benefit.

The MCP leader observed that government, through the Finance Minister, flouted procedure and violated the law in its acquisition and distribution of the MK3.4 billion.

“We demand that the two Ministers in question, out of respect for the Office of the President and this House, should tender their resignations,” he said.

The opposition leader also urged the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Parliament to investigate the actions of the Finance Minister and the Minister of Local Government “to determine, with evidence, the nature and extent of their wrongdoing and whether they took these actions on their own or on orders from the President.

But Nankhumwa who is the leader of the house pushed the matter to Gondwe as the overseer of the said money saying he can not argue more.

Authors, Politics

Philip Kamangirah: Open Letter to Dr. Chakwera

Admin

Beloved Dr. Chakwera, the leader of opposition and President of the Malawi Congress Party. I greet you in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

To begin with, I was very happy when you were elected as the President of the Malawi Congress Party during the Convention that was termed democratic. During the early days of your leadership, every member of MCP thought you are a game changer as your name slowly changed from Dr. Lazarus to Game Changer.

Alexander Lower wrote” when wealth occupies a higher position than wisdom, when notoriety is admired more than dignity, when success is more important than self respect, the culture itself over- values “image” and must be regarded as narcissistic “. Your Case is not different Sir from that of AGALATIYA, who started on a very good note and chooses to end up so badly.

It all started like a joke when you unexpectedly displayed your real character to the Senior Members of Malawi Congress Party. You surely started calling them other names like that of NKHOLOKOLO. As this was not enough, you slowly became your own Dictator who would never want to be opposed.

We all witnessed how you made Senior Members of the Party become victims even though they were democratically elected at the Convention. You started personalizing Party property, resources and many more. You have done a lot of harm to MCP that expected.

I may not be able to mention it all here. Just to remind you Sir, on 13th September, 2015 the Secretary General of MCP Dr. Gustavo Kaliwo wrote you a 9 pager letter in which he officially requested for an audience to resolve matters surrounding your leadership wrangles with other members of the Malawi Congress Party.

The letter was written after you spoke to each other on the 5th September,2015 and the NEC meeting was scheduled for 7th September, following a Court ruling by Justice Mkandawire. The rest is water under the bridge.

BREACH OF THE RULES OF NATURAL JUSTICE BY YOUR LEADERSHIP

As you very well know that democracy entails inherent competition of ideas, best ideas prevail and these are the ideas that bring political change. Great democratic leaders are those that embrace this competition of ideas, harness it and channel it to bring positive energy in the political establishment.

MCP is highly judged today because it failed on this basic democratic principle for the 30 year rule. It stifled democratic competition of alternative ideas. This is the legacy you volunteered to change and all your followers under your leadership should be united in order to bring such a transformation in Malawi Congress Party.

It is regrettable to note that you have never walked the talk. It is sad to realize that you have completely become a Dictator of his own making.

Mr. President, characters are like pregnancy, you can’t hide it, the adage goes. It is becoming more baffling to say that your leadership has failed to unite members of the MCP and instead you have divided the Party so miserably.

I potty you Mr. President you seem not to understand the difference between a church president and that of a Party President. You have run out of ideas as evident by your failure to effectively resolve the differences that are rocking your party. You have displayed malnourished leadership. You need to bring hygiene in your leadership and sanitize the rule of law in thus democratic dispensation.

If you want Malawians to trust your leadership, demonstrate now that you are an alternative. Learn to resolve things before going to court or even to international donors. Swallow the bitter pill by being tolerant and democratic if MCP is to survive the next election otherwise you are looming for destruction.

I am of the view that you shall change your ways and style of leadership for the sake of MCP.

Yours faithfully,

Philip Kamangirah

Disclaimer

The views contained in this letter are those of the writer who is the one of the concerned citizens in Malawi not of The Maravi Post.