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| MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION
IN MALAWI (CONGOMA) HELD AT THE BLANTYRE SPORTS CLUB ON 19TH
AND 20TH JUNE 2003 |
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| Minute 01/2003/AGM: Opening
Session |
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| The meeting began with a word
of prayer. Then the Executive Secretary of CONGOMA welcomed
all the delegates to the 2003 Annual General Meeting. He apologized
for the delay in starting the proceedings. |
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| He then expressed the hope
that the meeting will deliberate the issues before it with all
the diligence. He indicated that the meeting was a milestone
in the operations of CONGOMA as it will, among others, discuss
the Strategic Plan for 2003-2006. He further indicated that
the Meeting was expected to deliberate fully on the NGO operations
in light of the NGO Act. This would be a follow-up to the consultations
that CONGOMA had initiated on the NGO Act and the registration
processes. |
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Minute 02/2003/AGM: Remarks by NGO Board
Chairperson
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| In his remarks the chairperson
of the NGO Board, Mr. Jarvis Chakumodzi indicated that the presence
of the NGO Board members was to signify that they are part of
the delegates to the AGM. He took his turn to introduce members
of the Board to the meeting. |
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| Minute 03/2003/AGM: Remarks by the Representative
of the Norwegian Embassy |
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| In her remarks the representative
to the ambassador, Mrs. Hendrina Giva started by offering apologies
to the meeting for the ambassador's failure to attend the meeting
due to other pressing engagements. |
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| She then dwelt at length on
the critical role by the Civil Society in the socio-economic
development of the country viz-a-vis HIV/AIDS. She indicated
that it was against such a background that the Norwegian government
and the government of Malawi have signed a number of agreements
to foster the role of civil society in the development of the
country. |
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| In recognition of the important
role that CONGOMA plays and is expected to play, NORAD agreed
to fund consultations that has resulted into the development
of a strategic plan for three years and which the meeting adopted.
She wished the meeting fruitful deliberations and assured the
NGO community of NORAD's continued support to CSOs work in democracy
consolidation and socio-economic development in Malawi. She,
however, called upon NGOs to be accountable to their constituency. |
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| Minute 04/2003/AGM: Opening Speech by the
AGM Chairperson |
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| In his remarks, the chairperson
for the 2003 Annual General Meeting, Dr. Felix Jere, started
by welcoming all the delegates to the meeting.He reminded the
delegates that the AGM was the highest policy-making structure
for the Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi
(CONGOMA). |
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He noted with pleasure that
the organization for the meeting was satisfying as it has shown
that the Secretariat was living up to the promise it made at
the previous AGM.
Dr. Jere further indicated that CONGOMA has improved its corporate
image both at local, regional and international levels. |
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| He then took the opportunity
to thank all the partners that have rendered their financial,
moral and material support to the Council. Of particular mention
was ACTION AID's support of MK500,000.00 in 2000, MK700,000.00
in 2001 and 2002 respectively, and MK1,000,000.00 in 2003. He
then urged other partners to emulate this gesture shown by ACTION
AID. |
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| Minute 05/2003/AGM: Roll Call |
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| A roll call was taken to establish
the required quoram for the meeting as per the stipulation of
CONGOMA Constitution. Having formed the quorum the meeting proceeded
to deal with the matters brought before it. |
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| Minute 06/2003/AGM: Adoption of the Agenda
for the Meeting |
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| The meeting unanimously adopted
the agenda to direct the proceedings of the meeting. |
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| Minute 07/2003/AGM: Confirmation Minutes
of the Last AGM |
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| The meeting confirmed the
minutes of the 2001 Annual General Meeting, with a few typographical
errors, as a reflection of what transpired in that meeting.
One observation was that the minutes did not have a list of
attendance for record purposes. |
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| Minute 08/2003/AGM: Matters Arising |
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| A lot of issues on this agenda
item were substantive items on the agenda and the meeting was
agreed to curtail discussions on those items to the appointed
time except the following: |
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| A. Special Assistant
to the President on Civil Society |
| It was noted that there has
not been formal discussions with the office in question, to
clearly define the role of the office and its relationship with
the Civil Society Organisations as was recommended in the last
meeting. It was indicated that an invitation was sent to this
office to present itself to the meeting. The meeting agreed
that the need to hold these discussions is still there and urged
CONGOMA and NGO Board to convene this important meeting. |
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| B. TEVET Levy |
| On the recommendation to TEVET
to establish an independent fund management, it was reported
that TEVET has internal capacity to carry out the responsibility
of fund management. |
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| Minute 09/2003/AGM: Report from the NGO
Board |
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| As per the requirement of
the NGO Act, the NGO Board is expected to present a report of
its activities for that financial year. It was in keeping with
this provision that Mr. Jarvis Chakumodzi, Chairperson of the
NGO Board presented a brief verbal report. |
The meeting was informed that
there was no activity report because the office is still working
on establishment issues. However, the Board was able to give
a verbal financial report, nonetheless, the meeting could not
comment or establish any position on the accounts as they were
not audited.
The meeting received the report but expressed concern on the
registration process and the ultimatum that the NGO Board Chairperson
made through the press. It was agreed that in future the Board
should be diplomatic on dealing with issues of NGOs and should
involve CONGOMA and issue joint statements. It was further agreed
that CONGOMA and the Board should come up with realistic registration
period and should not be cast in stone but dealt with as per
each case. |
| On the issue of fees charged
by the NGO Board, the meeting expressed concern on the high
levels of fees. The meeting wanted to know the criteria used
to determine these fees bearing in mind that the same NGOs are
expected to pay affiliation fees to CONGOMA. |
| The meeting agreed that CONGOMA
and the NGO Board should come up with realistic fees for the
NGO Board registration and affiliation requirements. |
| On the NGO Law itself, the
meeting raised concerns on certain provisions, which are not
seen to be NGO friendly. Such provisions on "electioneering
and politicking" have not been defined and may be subject
to abuse. |
| The meeting by consensus agreed
that a working team be constituted with technical expertise
to identify the gray areas in the Act and recommend to the Law
Commission for review. |
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| Minute 10/2003/AGM: CONGOMA Annual Report |
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| The meeting received the CONGOMA
annual report for 2001-2002, which outlines the activities done
by the Governing Council and the Secretariat. The meeting commended
Secretariat for the good work done in the period under review
and adopted the report. |
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| Minute 11/2003/AGM: CONGOMA Strategic Plan |
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| The meeting considered the
recommendation from the Governing Council to adopt the Strategic
Plan for the period 2003-2006. The meeting discussed the Plan
and came up priority strategic activities to be incorporated
in the final document. In adopting the Plan the meeting agreed
that CONGOMA should focus at three Strategic areas: Capacity
Building, Networking/Program Coordination and Advocacy. |
| The meeting urged the Secretariat
to strengthen its financial base by requesting members to increase
their contributions, while approaching more donors to support
the activities of CONGOMA. |
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| Minute 12/2003/AGM: CONGOMA Constitution
Amendment |
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| The meeting considered proposals
for the amendment of the CONGOMA Constitution to bring it in
line with the current realities. The meeting adopted the proposals
that: |
- CONGOMA Secretariat should engage relevant technical
expertise to review and amend the whole Constitution to
be adopted at a Special General Meeting.
- The composition of the Governing Council should be changed
to reflect inclusiveness or emerging realities. Out of the
nine members, six of them should be from local NGOs (two
of whom should at-least be female) and the other three should
be from international NGOs (at-least one of whom should
be female). Members also expressed the hope that there should
be continuity and consistency in the membership to the Governing
Council.
- There should be Programs committees made up of member
NGOs to advise CONGOMA Secretariat on program areas. The
Governing Council and Secretariat to consult with members
to come up with names for these committees.
- The designation of the head of CONGOMA Secretariat should
be re-titled from Executive Secretary to Executive Director.
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| Minute 13/2003/AGM: Presentation of 2001
and 2002 Audited Accounts |
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| The 2001 and 2002 Accounts
were audited by Graham Carr. A representative of the firm, Mrs.
Mijoya presented the audited accounts to the Annual General
Meeting. The meeting noted with satisfaction the prudent financial
management at the Secretariat as attested to by the auditors.
The meeting, however, expressed concern over the number of member
NGOs that have not paid up their membership fees in the years
under review. |
| It was agreed that these members
be given a grace period of twelve months to settle their dues
and that if they fail to honour their dues by that time they
will be deemed to have nullified their membership to CONGOMA.
The Secretariat was called upon to write letters of reminder
and indicating the grace period and the decision thereof. |
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| Minute 14/2003/AGM: Appointment of Auditors |
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| The meeting was satisfied
with the work done by the appointed auditors, Graham Carr and
Company. The meeting unanimously agreed to re-appoint the same
as auditors for 2003. |
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| Minute 15/2003/AGM: Election of Office
Bearers |
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| The meeting conducted elections
for office bearers for the four governance arms of CONGOMA.
The meeting expressed concern that during the time of elections
some members were not present. It was agreed that in the subsequent
meetings the item of elections should come much earlier on the
agenda to allow for greater member participants to vote. |
| The following were the results
of the elections for the governance arms of CONGOMA: |
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D. Board of Trustees
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- Mr. Dickens Thunde - World Vision International
- Mrs. C. Weja - Council of St. John Ambulance
- Mrs. Makoko Chirwa - Women's Voice
- Mrs. E.P. Changa - ECLOF
- Rev. M.B.K. Chipuliko - African Baptist Assembly (PIM)
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E. * All the Trustees are continuing
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F.
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G. Governing Council
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- Christian Service Committee*
- Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre*
- Society For The Advancement of Women*
- Youth Net and Counseling
- ACTION AID
- INTERAIDE*
- 3 Regional representatives to be elected at the regional
meetings.
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| * Newly elected and the rest
are continuing |
H.
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I. Finance and Administration Committee
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- Sue Ryder Foundation
- Active Youth Initiative For Social Enhancement
- OXFAM
- Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC)*
- Foundation For International Community Assistance (FINCA)*
- Nkhomano Centre For Development*
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J.
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K. * Newly elected and the rest are continuing
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L.
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M. Standards Committee
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- Habitat For Humanity
- Consumers Association of Malawi
- Malawi Fresh Water Project
- Eye of the Child
- Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)*
- Centre For Human Rights and Rehabilitation
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| * Newly elected and the rest
are continuing |
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| Minute 16/AGM/2003 Presentations |
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| The AGM heard and discussed
five presentations from Alexander Forbes, Electoral Commission,
MASAF, First Merchant Bank and Ministry of Finance. |
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| 1. Alexander Forbes |
| A representative of Alexander
Forbes, Mr. Macdonald Chafwala -Operations Manager, informed
the meeting that his firm is discussing with CONGOMA, a proposal
to come up with motor fleet insurance program for NGOs. |
| Once the proposal is accepted
and an agreement is signed, Alexander Forbes will obtain competitive
terms from the insurance market and make some recommendation
of a competent and viable insurer. This will be on the basis
of financial viability of the insurance company and their capabilities
in settlement of claims |
| The meeting welcomed the proposal
but indicated the need to have a copy of the proposal to appreciate
the benefits of the program. Members requested Secretariat to
continue their discussions with Alexander Forbes especially
after comments from the Task Force on the matter. |
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| 2. Electoral Commission |
| The Chief Elections Officer,
Mr. George Chimwaza made a presentation on behalf of the Electoral
Commission. He outlined the role of the Electoral Commission
and hastened to mention that Government will make provision
in the national budget for the General Elections in 2004. He
further indicated that with the realization that the Commission
cannot go it alone, the Commission usually sub-contracts a number
of essential services to other service providers. Mr. Chimwaza
informed the meeting that after the advertisement for accreditations,
27 organisations had applied and 20 have been short-listed.
He further indicated that short-listing was based on criteria
agreed upon during preparation of civic and voter education
policy workshop, which had drawn together the Electoral Commission
and other stakeholders including NGOs. |
He called upon the Civil Society
to be united and work as a team in the run up to the 2004 General
Elections. Once the accreditation list is out a workshop will
be convened on the electoral processes. Government will make
provision in the national budget for the elections.
The meeting noted with concern that while it is the responsibility
of Government to shoulder the budget for the General Elections,
the government has been relying so much on donor funding. The
meeting therefore, called upon the Government to allocate for
the Elections in the budget. |
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| 3. The First Merchant
Bank |
| The Marketing Manager of the
First Merchant Bank (FMB), Mr. George Kamvulumvulu informed
the house that FMB has a lot of services that can benefit the
NGOs. He further indicated that his bank was presented with
the Bank of the Year Award. |
| The award was conferred on
FMB by the Banker Magazine of the Financial Times in London.
This is to underscore the standards that First Merchant is known
for. He indicated that among other services FMB offers are:
low interest rates, and high returns and document lockers at
reasonably low cost. It was further disclosed that FMB opens
for business on Saturdays from 08:30-10:30am. |
| It pleased First Merchant
Bank to donate MK25,000.00 to CONGOMA and ninety-two T-Shirts
to the delegates at the AGM. |
| The Chairperson applauded
this gesture by First Merchant Bank and urged other partners
to emulate this gesture. |
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| 4. Malawi Social Action
Fund (MASAF) |
| The Director of Sponsored
Sub-projects, Mrs. Christine Kamwendo made a presentation to
the meeting on behalf of MASAF. In her presentation she outlined
the role of MASAF phase 3, which is expected to span a period
of 16 years. She informed the meeting that the first phase has
funding to the tune of U$60 Million. This is from the support
of the World Bank, DFID,UNICEF and UNAIDS. MASAF 3 will take
into account the decentralization, MPRSP and Millenium Development
Goals. She indicated that NGOs are expected to play a critical
role in the project as there will be need to assist the people
in coming up with needs assessment. |
| The meeting expressed concern
on the status on Community Based Organisations in-terms of their
capacity to handle finances. It was agreed that there would
be need to twin the CBOs to the NGOs. |
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| 5. Ministry of Finance |
| A representative of the Ministry
of Finance, Mr. Stanley Tchuthi working in the Tax Policy Unit
informed the meeting of the Ministry's considerations for incentives
to NGOs. He said NGOs are not exempted from duty. But recognizing
the role of NGOs in development of the country, government provided
some sections in the Customs Procedure Code in order to give
relief on some goods procured by NGOs. He indicated that for
the past two years government has, however, experienced some
problems with the administration of duty exemption to NGOs.
One problem is the administration of Memorandum of Understanding,
initially there was a committee comprising of Ministry of Gender,
Ministry of Finance and MRA. This committee died and has left
a vacuum as to who should deal with MOUs. Another problem has
been that there has been no central point from which requests
for exemption are submitted. Some NGOs just forward requests
direct to the ministry and the ministry does not have reference
document. |
| The meeting agreed that there
is need for the Ministry of Finance and CONGOMA to come up with
clear guidelines on fiscal incentives and the Minister's discretion
for granting such exemption. It was further agreed that the
government should come up with one Ministry designated to deal
with the Memorandum of Understanding between government and
the NGOs. |
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| Minute 17/2003/AGM: Any Other Business |
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On any other business one
item was raised regarding the report from the NGO Board.
The meeting wanted to know in the spirit of transparency and
accountability, if the NGO Board had fixed allowances for itself
and what the levels of the allowances were.the amounts of allowances
the NGO Board had fixed for itself. However no response was
given since all the Board members and the Chairperson were not
present as this issue was being discussed. CONGOMA Secretariat
was requested to follow up and report to members. |
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| Minute 18/2003/AGM: Closing |
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| There being no other business
the Chairperson of the meeting Dr. Felix Jere thanked all the
members for attending the meeting. He then thanked Secretariat
for the work that was put into organizing the meeting. The meeting
closed with a word of prayer. |
