The investigation focusing on illegal forex externalisation in Malawi is still ongoing. It is some eight months after the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) first discovered the ongoing crime. It appears that unscrupulous companies have been illegally moving millions of dollars out of Malawi for years now, all at the expense of the Malawian economy.
Last year alone Malawi, according to RBM governor Dalitso Kabambe, lost $394 million (MK5.69 billion) from illicit forex externalisation.
Kabambe laments this unscrupulous practice, done under the guise of transfer pricing.
Reserve Bank Malawi
He had defined transfer pricing as “setting the price of goods and services sold between controlled or related entities within an enterprise.” Trade pricing in itself is permissible. But it is illicit when used as a means to avoid taxation.
And so the RBM is continuing its search for everyone involved in this malpractice. At the moment a handful of multinational companies are now being investigated for financial crimes. Dr. Grant Kabango, deputy governor of the RBM confirms the ongoing investigation, with the central bank suspecting the companies of under-declaring sales to externalise agricultural products and produce.
In doing so they are also able to externalise forex, and “hide from the Malawian government foreign currency meant for the country.”
A long-standing battle
This investigation is likely to be protracted as Malawi has long been dealing with foreign exchange plunders. In particular, the country is being victimised by illegal forex externalisation, which has been adversely affecting Malawi’s economy for years now. Worse is that both Malawian companies and individuals “masquerading as travellers” are often in on the scheme.
Already the RBM has filed several cases involving illegal forex externalisation. Most notable of these cases is the one against Abdul Rehman of Cotton Ginners Limited, as it involves approximately $20 million (MK15 billion).
The government is also after 11 Chinese firms that allegedly siphoned $5.5 million (MK4 billion) out of the country via illegal forex externalisation.
Even more disheartening, the situation seems to be worsening. Cases of illegal forex externalisation are on the rise, in part due to not enforcing financial laws and the delayed of high-profile prosecutions.
Exacerbating matters is the sheer market size and liquidity of forex. FXCM puts the average daily trading volume at $5 trillion (MK 72 trillion) making it the largest liquid market in the world. This makes regulation extremely difficult and complicated. Consequently, illicit activities still slip through the seams despite the government’s regulatory efforts.
But the RBM is pushing back hard, even partnering with prosecution agencies to better combat illegal forex externalisation.
The RBM’s partner agencies are the Malawi Police Services, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director General, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Malawi Revenue Authority, the Financial Intelligence Authority, and the National Intelligence Services.
Better than last year
The RBM and its partner agencies are making headway in cracking down on illicit financial activities. Evidence of this improvement is the number of illegal forex externalisation cases already filed.
The situation is certainly better compared to last year, when Lowani Mtonga expressed in an op-ed his disgust at the government’s seeming inaction. The piece urged the government to “prosecute the perpetrators” of financial crimes.
A year later, it is happening. This development bodes well for Malawi, whose economy is continuously being undermined by these illicit activities
A total of 150 Malawian citizens who were staying in South Africa without proper documents have been deported back to Malawi.
Immigration spokesperson at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, Martin Ngongolo , said the deportees – 148 men and two women – arrived in the country on Monday.
“We have currently received 148 Malawians that were deported from South Africa and we are expecting another group to jet in,” he said.
Last December about 300 Malawian citizens were deported by South Afrrica and Zimbabwe deported 72 Malawians for being illegal immigrants.
Gondolo advised Malawians to observe immigration regulations in all countries, saying holding a valid passport is not enough but citizens should familiarise themselves with immigration requirements in all countries they are travelling to.
But the Centre for Development of the People (Cedep) executive director Gift Trapence has called for curbing high levels of unemployment in the country which he said was leading cause to an influx of Malawians leaving the country in search of greener pastures.
Trapence has pointed out that many Malawians, especially the youth, are migrating to countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to look for employment as they cannot sustain themselves here at home due to various economic hardships.
rapence said the country has a lot of graduates who are just sitting idle because they cannot get employment.
“We need a multi-sectoral approach to addressing unemployment as a country. We need to look at all possible ways and create a permanent national programme that will see to it that our industry is able to give jobs to our youth.
“Our industrial sector is very small and it is failing to meet demands for employment. I have not seen a lot of commitment from our politicians in addressing these challenges. The loan schemes they are advancing such as Malawi Enterprise Development Fund (Medf) are short-lived,” said Trapence:
In its Global Employment Trends for youth 2015, The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently indicated that job creation for the world’s youth remains an uphill struggle as two out of five economically active youth in most countries including Malawi are unemployed.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) conducted its first ever labour force survey in 2014 and reported that formal unemployment rate in Malawi was at 21 percent.
President Peter Mutharika recently attributed high levels of unemployment in this country to inadequate direct foreign investment. He described the private sector as the engine for growth and development as well as a source of direct revenue and employment.
He promised that his government was putting up measures to ensure that more foreign investors come to Malawi.
According to NSO, the youth constitute 70 percent of the country’s population
He is known as the field Marshall of the ruling DPP party , but Ben Phiri who also happens to be a Minister of local government had a day never to forget in court. At the ongoing Constitutional court , hearing the vote rigging case, lawyers from the the opposition side had a field day over the so called field Marshall. As it never rains but pours , the cabinet minster found himself trending on social media with very funny memes , making fun of his court appearance
What grabbed peoples attention is not the testimony that Ben Phiri was giving , but it was when lawyer Chikoya Silungwe asked Phiri to clarify about his academic qualifications. Ben Phiri holds a Phd , but for so long people have doubted his qualification with rumours rife that he bought the qualification. It was well known to all Malawians that the Phd was awarded by one of the dodgy universities called Cypress International University. This is why it came as a surprise to Malawians when the cabinet minister told the court that his PhD was not from Cypress but Jerusalem Bible College.
Ben Phiri
What was even more shocking was the fact that the minister said his thesis wasn’t about servant leadership as he previously used to tell people but it was a bible related thesis. Lawywer Silungwe asked Phiri to state where he obtained his doctorate degree and in what field . Phiri said it was a biblical degree from Jerusalem Bible College. Silungwe went further to ask Phiri if he has a masters degree of which the minister said yes , an international relations degree from Costa Ford University. He also said he has a bachelors degree in international relations from Atlantic University.
It did not take long before Facebook was awash with people making fun of the minister .Long time critic of Phiri , Allan Ntata had his song going viral with him commenting how surprising it is that a Leadership philosophy degree has all over a sudden changed to a biblical philosophy. MCP secretary general Essenhower Mkaka also had a dig at the cabinet minister over the surprise change of both his thesis and university.
Others have questioned the credibility of Ben Phiri as a witness. There are strong calls for the minister to be prosecuted to perjury as his inconsistencies suggest he has been lying under oath . One commentator Yasin Maoni made a a call that Ben Phiri need to be fired as a cabinet minister for peddling lies in court about his qualifications
On 25th July,2015, the social media was awash with congratulatory messages to Special Advisor to Malawi President Peter Mutharika, Ben Phiri, for obtaining what they called a Doctorate degree. My immediate reaction after reading the messages was to join the bandwagon and congratulate him. But curious me also wanted to know which university the man others call ‘Prime Minister graduated from and what area he studied. I was also interested to know how he jumped from not having a first Degree and Masters Degree to a Ph.D! I posted on numerous Facebook groups including ‘My Malawi My Views’ and Kusanthula Za Kukhosi Pa Malawi’.Immediately after doing this, a barrage of attacks on me came from left to right. Young ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters called Cadets loyal to Ben Phiri accused me of jealousy and lack of manners. According to them, it was Ben Phiri’s moment and I was only trying to spoil it because I hate him. They told me how Ben Phiri ‘worked so hard’ to get his new academic credentials. A fast count showed I was alone battling numerous angry people.
I am not one to back off for attacks on me that have no logical facts. The majority of the cadets didn’t even know what their leader was studying and at which university. It took one cadet who must have attended the graduation ceremony to post a scanned copy of a graduation ceremony programme with names of the graduates, one of them being Ben Phiri. I learned that the graduation ceremony was held at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe. I also learned from the scanned copies that he graduated with a ‘Ph.D in Leadership Philosophy’ from ‘Cypress International Institute’ , Texas, U.S.A.
Dr Ben Phiri
A quick google search showed that Cypress International Institute does not exist on the internet. It has no website, no any mention by anybody, news or article. Later, I was told the institution name is actually Cyprus and not Cypress which means the graduation pamphlet might have been wrong. A google search showed some Cyprus International Institute but not from Texas and which doesn’t offer the degrees which Ben Phiri and others obtained at BICC.
An article in the Daily Times of 21st July,2015 indicated that the Vice Chancellor of the institution is Professor Gusto Tuweh Gadama. A search of Professor Gadama on the internet yielded a result that shows that going by the name Professor Dr. Prince Gadama, he is a Board Advisor of some Cypress Bible College/Institute of US. On its website, Cypress Bible Institute (CBI) indicates that through its’ Apostolic curriculum and home Bible College correspondence program, it seeks to:
Help students have the ability to rightly divide the Scriptures.
Impart the Oneness message of Acts 2:38 for Bible salvation.
Prepare students for the specific local and foreign ministries to which they have been called.
There is absolutely nothing about the academic degrees that were presented by Professor Gadama at BICC!
In his profile on the same website, Professor Gadama is said to be the founder of Gospel Outreach Church International, Apostolic International Organization, and Jerusalem Christian Bible College. The profile further says he is the author of 116 Books comprising of the following: Creativity Studies, Counseling, Ministry, Theological Syllabuses, Doctrinal Subjects, Christian Life Growth, Leadership, Church Government, Health Studies, etc. None of these books and absolutely none was found on the internet. Not on Amazon, any seller or publishers’ website.
Academically, the profile says he is the holder of several diplomas, degrees, and Doctorate degrees, as well as honorary Doctorate degrees. It says he has diplomas in Philosophy of Theology with Christian Leadership International Institute in Republic of Mozambique, Associate Degree in Theology with International Bible College in South Africa, Bachelor Degree in Philosophy of Theology with University of South Africa, Masters Degree in Philosophy of Theology with Jerusalem University, Doctorate Degree in Religious Philosophy with University of Cambridge, Doctorate Degree in World History with the University of Helsink, Doctorate Degree in Counseling with University of Lasapuenzo. Doctorate Degree in Church management with University Kingdom as well as Doctorate Degree in Leadership Skills and Management with University of Zambia.
He has several Honorary Doctor Degrees from universities and institutes. Not even one thesis for these degrees was found during a search on the internet. No resaerch paper, conference proceedings, workshop reports or just any mention in an academic report about this highly educated Professor was found on the internet .
The only results that were found in abundance on the internet were articles of Professor Gadama presenting academic degrees and honorary degrees to different people in different countries. In all these graduation ceremonies, he was being referred to as the Vice Chancellor of colleges and institutes with different names. It seems this highly distinguished son of Malawi is a Vice Chancellor of many institutions.
An article of February 21st , 2012 on allafrica.com shows that Prof. Gadama presided over a graduation ceremony at the New Water in the Desert Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Brewerville, Libereia. He presented honorary and academic degrees from the International School of Ministry (ISOM) facilitated by Vision International College. Prof. Gadama, presided over the ceremony in his capacity as Vice Chancellor for Africa.
In an article of 26th November, 2014 on inprofiledaily.com, in his capacity as the Vice Chancellor of the Cypress Bible College Prof. Gadama presented a Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Religious Study) to Bishop Benda of Liberia amidst hundreds of international students on behalf of the organization. The same article refers Professor Gadama as the founder of the Jerusalem Christian Bible College in Lilongwe.
In a 16th December, 2013 article on Nyasa Times, Prof. Gadama, now in his capacity as Vice Chancellor of the Univeristy of Jerusalem, presented honorary doctorates to former Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara, former Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President John Tembo, former General Secretary of the C.C.A.P Livingstonia Synod Rev Levi Nyondo and owner of New Era Private Schools Mrs Evelyn Jesman.
Apart from Presenting Ben Phiri with an ‘academic’ Ph.D at the 25th July, 2015 graduation ceremony, Prof. Gadama also presented Honorary Degrees to musicians Ethel Kamwendo and Wambali Mkandawire.
The facts so far indicate that Prof. Gadama backed by his American friends is running well organized diploma mills calling them different names according to the weather,year and place. All the institutions that he has used to present the degrees are a scam. Many of them do not have any footprints on the internet. It is normal that academic institutions have many foot prints on the internet emanating from different academic activities including workshops, conferences and research articles.
Furthermore, Professor Gadama is a fake professor who claims to have many degrees and 116 books to his name. A Professor of that calibre would have his academic work found all over the internet but for Gadama none was found! These people are just milking the unsuspecting gullible people desperate for some degree to raise their profile. They are also using celebrities to market their diploma mills by giving them honorary degrees. It is incredible how high profile people in Malawi could not notice that Gadama and his institutions are nothing but a scam. It is worrying that some of these people are running the Malawi government. If they can’t notice this diploma mill scam, how can Malawians trust them with running of government business? The news of ‘Dr.’ Ben Phiri is already on Malawi Government news website and the public broadcasting institution Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The fact that the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) and MBC did not do a research on this bogus Ph.D from a nonexistent institution shows that some of those running these institutions are either idiots or puppets dancing to the tune of this powerful Presidential Advisor who also controls the President and all government business. With people of such calibre running the government including advising the President, it is no wonder Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world. We we are not about to improve if we continue having such mediocre characters at the centre of government!
The organisers of Malawi Achievers Awards UK have confirmed
the final line-up of entertainers who will spice up this year’s event with Soldier
Lucius Banda as the main headline. Malawi Achievers awards whose aim is to
celebrate and recognise outstanding individuals and groups in the UK for their exceptional
achievements and contributions to their respective communities in both the UK and
Malawi.
This event comes after a two year break . Previous events have been under the banner of Malawi Association UK (Mauk) but this year’s event is being organised by the public with Kondwani Bowoyeke Munthali among one of the main organisers. The event will take place at the Nottinghamshire Golf and country Club in the city of Nottingham on 30th November .
To spice up the night, entertainers for the night will
include Soldier Lucius Banda. Malaikah ,
Gospel star Matamando and DJ for the
night will be PG The DJ with renowned MC Chijota running the event.
Winners will be announced from a number of categories that
include; Best Business/Entreprenuer, Young Achiever award,
awarded to a person aged under 25 years, Best community/social group, Best
Charity organisation, Academic achievement, Media/art/culture Award,
Breakthrough/innovation Award and there will also be a special recognition
award to an individual or group who will be chosen by the organising
committee
Among other prizes for the night include an Air ticket to go
and spend Christmas in Malawi which has been sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines.
Providing more details of the event organiser Munthali made
a statement on his Facebook page that “ The line up is complete, great food,
great judges, red carpet event. Get your tickets in advance as there will be no
tickets sold on the door”.
With tickets going at £35 for early birds and £45 after, those that want to buy can access the link through Event Brite website or by contacting one of the organisers. This year’s even is promising to be the best.
