Dual service is greed

What message is the President sending to faithful and capable members of the Progressive Democratic Party (DPP) with good education when he allows some people to hold two public offices as if the party does not have enough capable people to serve in some public offices?

I am talking about the three Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioners who are holding two public offices and are showing no sign of relinquishing any of them anytime soon. It pleased the President to appoint Jean Mathanga, chairperson of the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) board, as a commissioner for MEC. The President also appointed Moffat Banda who is chairperson of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) as a commissioner for MEC. In his wisdom or kindness or both, the President also appointed Reverend Clifford Baloyi who chairs the Northern Region Water Board as a MEC commissioner.  The expectation of the majority of the people was that the three would sooner rather than later relinquish their other positions. But three months down the line these people are still clinging to both positions.

Let us not beat about the bush. This is dyera. The provisions of the country’s Constitution and Public Service Regulations (PSR) are very clear that you cannot serve in two public positions. Section 75 (2) of the Constitution clearly states that “A person shall not be qualified to hold the office of a member of the Electoral Commission if that person is a Minister, Deputy Minister, a member of Parliament or a person holding a public office.”

With what the Constitution says, it does not help the President for anyone to say he believes the commissioners are not breaking the law by serving in two public positions. The President swore to uphold and defend the Constitution and he should not be made to break it.

That aside, what message is the President sending to other very faithful and dedicated members of the DPP who are waiting in the wings or languishing in the cold when the President allows some members to double as board members of public institutions where they get mouthwatering allowances? Even if the President wants to appease some people as it often happens in politics—which is wrong—after being appointed into these positions, the three commissioners should have quickly resigned from their other public positions. I am very sure that there is no shortage of capable people in the party who can serve in those positions?

As some have rightly said, holding two public offices raises the issue of conflict of interest in as far as governance is concerned. But if the President decided to award the three with better paying jobs after appointing them as board members of parastatals, the members themselves if they were law abiding and not greedy should have said “thank you Your Excellency for recognising me again, but I will choose one and leave the other because the Constitution says I cannot hold two public offices.”

I am sure that is what the President was expecting these people to do.

Why do we forget quickly? Malawians said no to dual service when the country was transiting to the multiparty dispensation. Have we already forgotten that once upon a time, one John Zenus Ungapake Tembo  (JZU) used to be chairman for Admarc, chairman for Air Malawi, chairman for Press Corporation Limited, chairman for National Bank of Malawi, chairman for Malawi Development Corporation et cetera, during the one party era? A few of his cronies would also hold several chairmanship positions in some lucrative parastatals. And we all said no to that.

We condemned that as dyera (greed and selfishness). And we said it was unethical, a backstab on separation of powers; it compromised the need to provide checks and balances apart from encouraging corruption. We also condemned that as a dark past that had better be forgotten. Was it bad because it was JZU? Why then do my good friends Bright Molande and George Mituka now want to defend the very things we despised as not in tandem with the democratic dispensation? Maybe they were too young then to remember anything? They should not allow the President to look like a cartoon by defending and condoning mediocrity.

Mathanga, Banda and Baloyi should forthwith quit one position. For MEC to gain credibility it needs people whose integrity is beyond reproach. n