Executive must change course this year and ahead

The media has over the years has faced accusations of thriving on sensationalism. Actually, some people believe that a newspaper headline they see on the street each morning is not a true reflection of the actual news content.

The year 2022 wrapped up on a bad note for the Tonse Alliance administration. It was one where news headlines brought out that doom and gloom engulfing the nation, with countable headlines that brought some hope here and there.

For example, November and December 2022 mirrored everything that should bother and worry Malawians; for they faced news headlines that would have otherwise only be suitable for a stage play.  

But nay! What Malawians faced almost each morning they woke up were factual-based news headlines.

Malawians were bombarded with mouthwatering headlines; from former National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) deputy chief executive officer (CEO) Helen Buluma alleging what surrounded oil deals, the arrest of Malawi’s Vice-President Saulos Chilima on corruption charges, to the missing of National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) maize worth K112.5 million meant for strategic grain reserves and the fuel crisis that destroyed the economy.

Bad, disturbing, disappointing and hair-raising as they may sound, a fair reflection by the Executive and other State agencies concerned with  the shortcoming; would help the country’s leadership on how to deal with problems besetting this nation.

Is President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse administration determined to change the course this year and ahead to lead the nation to the promised biblical Canaan? If this chance is lost; the road to 2025 polls is doomed.

How can powers be deal with such issues bringing into the mud the image of our great nation? There is that need for authorities to be realistic, honest, transparent, accountable, and be ready to act on emerging issues as fast as they can while implementing what is on its buffet; the campaign promises they voluntarily shared.

The President requires immeasurable support from people that surround him to deliver.

From his top civil servant Colleen Zamba, Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC), all the way to a deputy minister and principal secretaries, the chain must pull in one direction to achieve the desired results; a better Malawi for all.

In fact, if in any doubt, the office of the Attorney General (AG) is open to all State institutions to seek legal advice before making any decision. The framers of the revered document, the Constitution, realised the daunting task in running State affairs; thus they came handy and created a top legal adviser to government.

The AG’s chamber is government’s legal think-tank, running on taxpayers’ money and with mandate to play advisory role to the President, ministries, departments and agencies, including statutory corporations. 

And for orderly and to avoid lawlessness, the same Constitution created countless State institutions that include Judiciary, Parliament, Office of the Ombudsman, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), each with a unique mandate but aimed at complementing one another.

There have been mistakes that were done by the Tonse administration last year and ought not to be repeated going forward.

For example, the SPC, who happens to be chairperson of the Nocma board, was too slow to act on allegations of underhand fuel dealings at Nocma when signals were written all over the wall it was a matter of time the bomb was to explode.

When certain groups/individuals including the civil society made calls to have Buluma fired on grounds that her August 2019 recruitment did not follow set procedures, both Zamba and her predecessor Zanga Zanga Chikhosi looked the other way.

Buluma, who was also acting as CEO, enjoyed inconceivable protection from that powerful top office and it continued raising more questions than answers; and to seal it off government was determined Buluma was not going anywhere. Zamba put it in black and white in a letter to Ombudsman Grace Malera dated October 31 2022.

Office of the Ombudsman earlier on September 30 2022, after an inquiry surrounding Buluma’s contract at Nocma, made a recommendation to the Nocma board to immediately nullify her contract following findings that her recruitment was unlawful, irregular and unprocedural.

The Ombudsman gave the Nocma board 30 days to furnish the office with a report on implementation of the directives made.

But what did the SPC do? She ignored this determination, and on the other hand, it was business as usual for Buluma who continued reporting for work as if nothing had happened.

The Nocma board chair, to come out clear and to remove any doubts the Ombudsman might have had on their actions, but of course outside prescribed 30-day period the Ombudsman gave to Nocma board to implement her determination, wrote the Ombudsman in a letter dated October 31 2022, telling the Ombudsman the board was not going to comply with her decision.

This conduct, coming from that top office in the civil service whose bearer takes an oath to defend the supreme law of the land, had all the hallmarks of a serious problem that needed cure yesterday.

The board in its letter said it had made a decision to retain Buluma as Nocma deputy CEO and would also proceed to pay her terminal benefits in relation to her three-year contract which ended on August 2022 before a four-month extension of up to December was made.

But this is where the Nocma board missed it; Office of the Ombudsman is a constitutional body, which Malawians through their representatives, established to serve their interests.

And like any other tribunal in Malawi, its determinations are enforceable, unless challenged in a court of law. And the Constitution beautifully placed it under section 123(2) that decisions and exercise of powers by the Ombudsman shall be reviewable by the High Court on the application by any person with sufficient interest in the case the Ombudsman has determined.

As if this was not embarrassing enough, the AG also came on record as quoted in The Nation of November 4 2022 that he was not consulted in the Nocma/Ombudsman saga, arguing if he was, his position was going to be different from the one the Nocma board took.

And here is the climax of the whole Nocma circus; two letters, the first from Buluma and the other from Zamba, flew all over the social media space on September 16 2022.

In her letter dated November 14 2022, Buluma claimed to have resigned as Nocma deputy CEO, citing alleged immense pressure she faced over past months from Zamba, Ministry of Energy principal secretary Alfonso Chikuni and others to bring on board new fuel suppliers in deals she claimed were dubious.

Zamba, on the other hand, in her letter dated November 15 2022 as Nocma board chair and addressed to Buluma, informed her she had been relieved of her duties upon seeking alternative legal opinion from the AG following the determination by the Ombudsman.

The AG’s legal opinion should never have been the alternative; his office is the first call point for such legal opinions. Otherwise, it was all smelly the Nocma board was out to solicit legal opinion suitable to their interests.