The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) RLCSA Zambia Chapter, has asked the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) to compel Andrew Ntewewe to change the name of his ‘replica’ organisation, saying his YALI is fake.

In a letter to PACRA, YALI RLCSA Zambia Chapter coordinator Wilfred Chilufya submitted that Ntewewe’s YALI was not part of the Barrack Obama Initiative.

He insisted that Ntewewe was not part of YALI, but only named his organisation with the same name, adding that Ntewewe was misleading the public and donors by issuing statements using YALI’s name.

“It has come to the attention of the YALI RLCSA Zambia Chapter that there is an organisation called ‘YALI Zambia’, which has for a long time been carrying out activities purportedly in the name of the Young African Leaders Initiative and issuing statements on various issues of national significance without the authority of the YALI Zambia Chapter nor the YALIRLC SA. Upon further investigations, it was found that the same organisation was registered in 2011, a year after YALI was launched by President Obama, as a company limited by Guarantee and has since been represented by a person known as Mr Andrew Ntewewe who is designated as its president,” Chilufya said.

“We wish to state that this organisation or company is not part of the Young African Leaders Initiative nor is it part of its structures in Zambia or at the Southern Africa Regional Centre in South Africa. As already stated, YALI structures within Zambia operate under the auspices of the Regional Centre in South Africa with support from the USAID and the United States Embassy and there is no position of ‘president’ in the these structures.”

Chilufya said Ntewewe’s YALI had brought a lot of confusion.

“We, therefore, inform the Zambian public and anyone concerned that Mr Ntewewe is not an officer of YALI RLCA or the Zambian Chapter and, therefore, he does not represent YALI in any manner or form and the only thing he shares with YALI is the name of his organisation, which ironically is named after YALI. This has caused a lot of confusion amongst members of the public as this organisation is always mistaken for the Young African Leaders Initiative and in some instances has deliberately misled the public along with the government, donor agencies and other stakeholders. This situation cannot be allowed to continue, the continued misrepresentation of the YALI brand by Mr Ntewewe and his group has seriously affected the credibility and standing of YALI,” Chilufya complained.

He requested PACRA to compel Ntewewe to change the name of his organisation to avoid further misrepresentation of YALI.

“We wish to state that Mr Ntewewe and his group registered the name of their organisation as YALI in clear violation of section 40 (1) (a), (c) (d) (e) of the Companies Act No. 10 of 2017 under which the organisation is registered. We are of the view that the continued use of this name by the said organisation is not in public interest and has undoubtedly caused a lot of confusion. We, therefore, call upon your office to move in accordance with Section 43 of the Companies Act to direct Mr Ntewewe and his group to rename their company. YALI has a presence all over Africa and has over 5,000 alumni and, therefore, cannot be misrepresented by one person who registered a name with the sole purpose of misleading the public,” appealed Chilufya.