Boards yet to get down to work

More than a month after President Peter Mutharika appointed people into various boards of parastatals, the bulk of the appointees is yet to get down to work due to lack of official communication from the appointing authority.

The President appointed more than 200 people of diverse professions into 25 boards of statutory corporations on November 10 2014, but some of them declined the offer.

While some have turned down the appointments on personal grounds, others have developed cold feet on whether to take up the offers for fear of declaring their assets as provided for by the new law.

Investigations by The Nation have revealed that most of the boards have technically not started functioning because their members have not yet been formally communicated to about their appointments.

Speaking in separate telephone interviews, several appointees confirmed to The Nation that they were yet to start working because nobody has contacted them since they heard about their appointment.

Others such as Dr Mwiza Nkhata, dean of law at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima) and human rights activist Emmie Chanika, said they just received communication about their appointments on Monday this week.

Said Chanika: “I have just received that communication today, but I am declining the offer for very personal reasons.”

President of the Malawi Forum for Unity and Development (Mafunde), George Nnensa, and Joseph Patel, president of the Independent Schools Association of Malawi (Isama), also said they were yet to get a word.

National coordinator for Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice (CCJP), Chris Chisoni, and Monsignor Boniface Tamani of the Catholic Church in the Blantyre Archdiocese also said last Thursday they were yet to receive offer letters.

When contacted for comment, Chief Secretary to the Government George Mkondiwa referred the issue to the comptroller of Statutory Corporations, Zanga Chikhosi, who did not pick up his mobile phone.