The Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP) held its 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 20th July 2018 at the new lecture hall of the Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN) in Lilongwe. The AGM was held under the theme ‘Working Partnerships’. The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Isaac Munlo presided over the event as Guest of Honor and he recognized the role the SMP and MaSP are playing in ensuring that the partnership between the governments of Scotland and Malawi is working. David Hope-Jones, SMP’s Chief Executive Officer also attended the event.
The AGM was attended by 100 members of the MaSP from across the country and it was interesting to see new members attending the AGM for the first time. This year’s AGM was organized differently as members were treated to entertainment in form of traditional dances by Chance for Change Dance Troupe. Also new on the agenda was a key note address which was delivered by the outgoing vice Board chairman of the MaSP Board of Directors Dr Robert Ridley who was keen to recognize the fact that MaSP and the SMP are not classical civil society organizations but quasi-Non-Governmental Organizations championing civic partnerships anchored by the governments of Malawi and Scotland. Dr Ridley articulated the role the SMP has played in re-energizing the MaSP as an organization and in doing so, he brought the past and the future of the organization together. He proposed that to enhance the impact of the Scottish funding in Malawi, the Scottish government needs to include an independent expert Malawian input into project selection and review which can be done through a small steering committee as this will guarantee positive benefit to project selection, as well as improve transparency of process.
Mrs Vera Kamtukule the Chief Executive Officer for MaSP presented the 2017/2018 implementation report which was supported by an unqualified audit report from Delloitte and Touché audit firm who basically submitted to members that due to an improvement in internal controls, MaSP was at a better position financially now as compared to the same time last year.
During the core business, the outgoing Board Chairman Mr Andrew Namakhoma moved a motion to introduce annual membership fees. The motion was carried with an amendment on the proposed fees for local organizations and international organization from MK12, 000 and MK15, 000 respectively to MK15, 000 and MK50, 000 respectively. The other fees for schools, churches and individual members were approved as recommended at MK5, 000 per annum. The second motion was moved to change auditors as the Delloite and Touché had increased their audit fees which MaSP could not afford. The motion was carried and the appointed auditors are now AMG Global Auditors. There being 6 board vacancies facilitated by 3 resignations, the motion was carried with amendments. The MaSP Board had earlier resolved that only registered members will be eligible to compete for the board positions and so out of 18 applications, only 10 were eligible. Members decided that since a person is voted in his/her individual right, then if someone did not make it to the AGM they could not contest using a representative. The contestant’s number was later reduced to 6 for 5 positions. The 6th position for a legal practitioner was suspended a motion was carried to allow Board members to co-opt someone on the same at their next meeting in September.
Download a short report of the AGM Here
