AG asks govt to scrutinise parastatal boards
Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale has written the Department of Statutory Corporations to scrutinise the number of board members in parastatal boards to ensure they are in line with statutory provisions.
This follows the revelation by Weekend Nation last week that President Peter Mutharika flouted several statutes when he bloated board membership in at least seven boards.
Kaphale’s request is contained in a letter addressed to the Comptroller of Statutory Corporations, Chief Secretary to Government, secretary for Transport and Public Works, and chief executive officer of Roads Authority (RA) in which he addresses concerns that the authority’s board is inflated.
““I have been alerted by a journalist from The Nation newspaper that quite a few newly-appointed boards could face similar problems, please do the needful by scrutinising each board in relation to the statutory provisions,” reads part of the letter dated January 23.
But spokesperson for the Department of Statutory Corporations, Flemings Nyirenda, said yesterday the department is yet to receive the AG’s letter.
“Once we receive it, the department will act accordingly. Like we said last time, we are aware of the anomalies and we are rectifying them. The legal opinion from the AG is part of the process of rectifying the anomaly,” said Nyirenda.
Parastatals with bloated board membership include Roads Authority (RA), Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST), Malawi National Council of Sports, Small Medium Enterprises Development Institute (Smedi) and Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board (PMPB).
Macra’s board was also bloated on the list released by OPC in November, but the gazette notice of appointment of the authority’s board indicates that the President appointed the correct number of board members.
Legal and economic experts argued last week the anomaly invalidates the November, 2014 appointments as it puts to question the legality of the concerned boards. n
