Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

I feel greatly honored to be with you this morning on this auspicious occasion when the Reserve Bank of Malawi is handing over two TFM armored security vehicles to the Malawi Police Service.  The Bank acquired these two vehicles from South Africa in December 2001 for the sole purpose of currency escort.
 
Inspector General and Distinguished Guests, the relationship between the Bank and the Malawi Police Service dates back to the pre-independence days. It can be traced 46 years back to 1962 with the establishment of a Branch of the then central bank of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in Blantyre.  Since then, the Malawi Police Service has worked tirelessly to assist and support the Bank in fulfilling its statutory obligations in more than one way. Currency escorts within and outside Malawi is one task that readily comes to my mind.

As we are all aware, peace and stability in our country is a key prerequisite for the successful implementation of our statutory mandate to provide central bank services to our various stakeholders within and outside Malawi. This is particularly important today because the global security has evolved into a complex arena requiring sound security policies and strategies. We now find ourselves operating in a world that is increasingly dominated by uncertainty and rapid change in the methods employed by unscrupulous organizations and individuals to reap where they did not sow.

Inspector General and Distinguished Guests, as a result of the unrelenting commitment and support of the Malawi Police Service, the Reserve Bank of Malawi has successfully prosecuted cases involving fraudsters who have attempted to put into circulation counterfeit banknotes and coins and other people involved in related financial criminal activities. The Malawi Police Service has also provided the Bank with sound advisory services and invaluable information on many other areas of security critical to the smooth execution of its operations.

I must also report that our close association with the Malawi Police Service, through interaction at various levels with some of the serving officers and men, and also through the recruitment of some of your former officers and men, has reinforced our belief that security is integral to our operations to enforce successful execution of our statutory obligations.

Inspector General and Distinguished Guests, the Bank recognizes that the Malawi Police Service has embraced the Bank’s security issues as its own. The Bank is also aware that any further meaningful progress that the Malawi Police Service may wish to make in this area is contingent upon availability of appropriate human, financial and other resources. Finally, the Bank understands that there are numerous demands and challenges being made on the resources that the Malawi Police Service has at its disposal. It is against this background, coupled with our profound appreciation of the long and cordial relationship between our two organizations, that the Bank is this morning donating the two TFM security motor vehicles to the Malawi Police Service.

Inspector General and Distinguished Guests, I wish to put on record our sincere gratitude for the warm welcome accorded to me and my delegation this morning.

In closing, I would like to request the Inspector General to accept our humble donation of these two motor vehicles as a token of appreciation for the noble task that the Malawi Police Service is carrying out in this country and for the warm and cordial relations that have existed between our two institutions over the years.

It is now my singular honor and privilege to hand over the two TFM armoured motor vehicles to the Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service, Mr. Oliver M. C. Kumbambe.

Once again, I would like to thank you all for your attention.

May God bless Malawi.