Apologies were received from Charles Chimpeni, Jordan Chipatala, and Thomson Mbalule.

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Malawi AGM held on 27 th May 2016 at Sunbird Capital Hotel, Lilongwe 1.0 Present See attached Attendance List as annex A. 2.0 Opening Remarks The meeting started at 19:20pm with a word of prayer offered by Joseph Kumwenda. The secretary, on behalf of the chairman apologized for the late start, attributing it to the hitches encountered by some members of the committee who travelled from Blantyre. 3.0 Apologies Apologies were received from Charles Chimpeni, Jordan Chipatala, and Thomson Mbalule. 4.0 Minutes of the last meeting The minutes from the meeting held on 05 July 2015 were adopted after a proposal by Charles Ulaya and seconded by Eleanor Gondwe. 5.0 Branch Chairman s Report 5.1 The Chairman thanked the members, students and all present for their presence, making particular mention of Timothy Isabirye, CIMA Regional Marketing Manager and Victor Nyasulu, the past chairman of the ABF. 5.2 Main highlight of his report was the lack of activities in the past year, a situation which has led to CIMA Malawi Branch be put on a recovery plan by the regional office. 5.3 He explained for instance, that the change to computer based exams which can be taken randomly, made it difficult for the branch to carry out the exam cool-off activities. 5.4 Further to that, the chairman echoed the concerns of the students regarding internet challenges when writing computer based exams. This follows the unstable internet connectivity in the country. Follow up will be made with those providing computer based exams in the country to monitor progress in this area.

2 5.5 He further updated the members of the meeting the branch committee had with the Malawi Accountants Board (MAB) in April 2016, together with ACCA Malawi and ICAM representatives. Main issues that ensued were: That all accountancy professional bodies in Malawi will be required to subscribe to MAB as the regulator in the country at 10% of the membership fee. The committee expressed challenges with this fee arrangement as the branch does not collect membership fee. A proposal of a flat fee was suggested to MAB instead. Feedback to the suggestion was not yet received at the time of the AGM The branch representatives continued to uphold their stand against the apparent conflict of interest that ICAM has since it changed from SOCAM to an institution administering their own local qualification as it carries out the delegated powers of MAB. In response, MAB and ICAM faulted the law that enacted these two bodies and structures into place which will be another long process to change. 5.6 Two issues were further discussed following feedback from the chairman s report: Joseph Kumwenda inquired of the possibility of having a permanent employee to actively and effectively coordinate the local CIMA activities and offer a physical point of contact to handle student inquiries. The members present were communicated of the efforts the committee has made through the African Branches Forum (ABF) representative in this regard as well as setting up a resource centre as it was in the past. At a previous ABF meeting, it was suggested that branches may wish to appoint any influential person to act as a Patron for the branch, however terms of reference were not yet drawn. A follow up will be made to that effect Another member alluded the branch s inactiveness to lack of touch with the students and members and suggested that the committee s access to members and students database may help reach out to them. s were reminded that under the UK s data protection Act, the branch cannot be given the said access. However, there is a facebook group where students and members share information.

3 6.0 Presentation by Victor Nyasulu Chairman of the African Regional Board The following were the highlights of his presentation: 6.1 ship and Student Growth: Malawi membership has reached 114 but has registered a drop in student numbers from 242 to 204; A total of 122 CPD and social events, including conferences were conducted across the region in 2015; CIMA Ghana celebrated their 5 th anniversary; Zimbabwe Accountants Conference enjoyed sponsorship from the regional office in 2015; Introduction of 4 sittings of case studies in 2015; Launch of Global Management Principles; and, Informed the members present of a registered management accounting standard BS CIMA Vision for Management Accountants The evolution of CIMA s joint venture with the American Institute of CPAs seeks to achieve this vision: Stronger together for a stronger profession through its proposal of shared resources, profits, investments, integrated management, finance governance and membership The joint venture has so far delivered 150,000 CGMAs worldwide; Global Management Principles; Thought Leadership; CGMA Competency Framework; and raised the profile of management accounting Existing members will retain their membership The proposed new structure of the association joining CIMA council and AICPA council was endorsed by PWC and Kaplan Up until 16 June 2016, members have from 18 April a chance to vote in respect of this joint venture.

4 7.0 Audited Financial Statements 7.1 The chairman asked the auditor from BDO to read out the audit opinion. The meeting was asked to take the report and accounts as read. 7.2 The chairman moved that the annual report of the CIMA Malawi Branch and the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 be adopted. Seconded by Joseph Kumwenda and Charles Mwenda, the motion was adopted. 8.0 Appointment of Auditors 8.1 BDO expressed interest for re-appointment; however, it was communicated by the regional office that from 2016, PWC will be CIMA auditors. 9.0 Elections to the Branch Committee 9.1 The chairman explained that as is the practice, for the sake of continuity, the current holders of positions of chairman, vice chairman and secretary will continue into the ensuing year. 9.2 Nominations were called for from the meeting as none were received through mail.

5 9.3 With the help of Victor Nyasulu through the voting process, the following was adopted as the new committee to serve the interests of the branch in the ensuing year: Name Tiya Somba Banda Charles Chimpeni Grace Dzoole Sophia Mkandawire Sanderson Khonje Rodney Mwaisimba Charity Mseka Joseph Kumwenda Maggie Kalua Eleanor Gondwe Position Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Treasurer 10.0 Close of meeting 10.1 The chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and declared the meeting closed. Tiya Somba Banda Branch Chairman