Malawi
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Tvind assets: clothes recycling, schools and projects
Latest News:
October 2003: Malawi government probes Dapp college at Mikolongwe after students 'blow the whistle'.
'We are forced to work like slaves. We are denied time to worship. The school has unqualified tutors.'
An investigation by the Malawi News. Read the full article
Malawi - poorest country on earth is under DAPP siege - please help stop DAPP in Malawi
Direct to Tvind Alert, 2002
From Tngoma
"Poor Malawians are under siege of DAPP. Workers are complaining and the money is being sent back to Denmark under false pretence of education. They organise fake courses for the people to remit funds from the country......Malawians are being exploited by DAPP. Can someone please stop these thieves. Workers are complaining, and prices of clothes are high"
Malawi, one of the poorest countries on earth is being exploited by DAPP. They have set up shops all over the country selling second hand clothes that are donated from Europe. They bring second hand clothes under the pretext of charity. They have convinced the govt of Malawi customs to give them a special rate of Duty. Duty on second hand clothes is calculated using a formula below
US$25xTotal Kilos of goods/45. For example 12000 kg of clothes duty would be 25x12000/45 = US$6666.67 but DAPP has negotiated a rate of US 11/Kg so they would pay duty of only $2933.33. They sell their goods at the same price as everyone else. This is day light robbery of funds to the Malawi govt.
Secondly they remit funds outside through education schemes they run. They will say so and so is going on a course overseas. The Reserve Bank of Malawi would authorise foreign exchange to be sent overseas in the name of fees and boarding.
Their workers are complaning about their treatment. One guy from DAPP has said that he is prepared to testify on the plight of the workers in Malawi and he has the inside. He is still with the company in a senior management role but has seen first hand the failings of the company.
DAPP is robbing poor people of Malawi and remiting funds back home in the name of education. As you know in Zambia (which is next door to Malawi) DAPP has been evicted for similar practices.
I have come across this because I have just recently visited Malawi. I wanted to learn about internation trade in import/export. I spoke with the Govt customs people who confirmed the details of the formulas for DAPP and for everyone else. I saw some DAPP employees at Commercial Bank of Malawi - Blantyre Main branch process papers for education to change local Kwacha currency to foreign currency. I then spoke with a DAPP employee in management role who complained and was very bitter about this practice of DAPP and its treatment of the its workers. I felt unease with this organisation and I grew suspicious of it.
So I came back to find out who really DAPP is on the net. I was searching on the web when I came across your Website. What a relief it was to read about strings of accusations against the organisation. If you can help
Companies
DAPP Malawi (1996)
Development Aid from People to People in Malawi, P/Bag 342, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, Malawi
Tel: +265 67 69 08
Fax: +265 67 69 27
dappma@malawi.net
DAPP Clothes, Malawi.
Wholesale centres run from Mzuzu, Blantyre and Lilongwe. Many clothes come from Australia.
DAPP Partners
Umoyo Network
USAID
Save the Children
A partnership has been established in 2000 with the
Umoyo Network which operates with USAID
funding under the management of Save the Children
in Malawi to combat HIV/AIDS in that country,
whereby DAPP in Malawi would contribute with
HOPE Centers to the Umoyo Network activities.
Auf Deutsch