Health sector organisations have questioned the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s rejection of public health workers’ applications to operate private clinics or engage in private practice despite a court injunction against President Peter Mutharika’s Executive order restricting dual practice.
The Human Resources for Health Coalition (HRHC) and the Medical Doctors Union of Malawi said on Tuesday that the rejected applications involve specialist doctors, clinicians and other health workers who got clearance from their direct supervisors but their applications were rejected by the ministry.
HRHC chairperson Solomon Chomba said this is happening even though the injunction meant that health workers should not be barred from owning, operating or holding shares in private clinics.
“Affected health workers are considering contempt of court proceedings against the Ministry of Health and the Attorney General because we believe the ministry is silently implementing the order,” he said.
Under the approval process, public health workers seeking to open private clinics first obtain authority from their immediate supervisors before seeking approval from the Ministry of Health and subsequently a licence from the Medical Council of Malawi.
In a separate interview, Medical Doctors Union of Malawi president Dr Henry Makowa said 14 specialist doctors in the public sector have been denied permission to engage in dual practice, with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation citing the executive order.
He said the affected specialists include those in internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology.
According to Mlangiza, the risk is that some specialists may leave the civil service to concentrate on private practice.
Said Mlangiza: “Some specialists have already resigned from the civil service and some have already left the country, a development that could affect service delivery in public hospitals and the training of other specialist doctors in health facilities.”
Meanwhile, Chomba said discussions on an out-of-court settlement between the government and health workers over the Executive order were yet to begin.
On July 2 this year, the High Court directed the parties to settle the dispute out of court within 60 days and stayed further court proceedings pending the outcome of the discussions or a further order of the court.
Chomba said the government requested the out-of-court settlement, leading the health workers to expect it to initiate the discussions.
He said the health workers’ lawyers reached out to the Ministry of Health to discuss how best to resolve the matter, but there has been no substantive response.
When contacted, Ministry of Health and Sanitation spokesperson Benedicto Mbewe said the ministry could not comment on the Executive order because the matter was being handled by the Attorney General.
We were unable to teach Attorney General Frank Mbeta for this story on Tuesday.
President Mutharika on February 16 2026 issued the Executive order that effectively bans public sector healthcare workers from owning, operating or holding shares in private clinics to improve service delivery. He gave them 30 days to comply or risk dismissal.
But on March 13, High Court Judge Howard Pemba granted three healthcare workers—Aubrey Milinda, Davie Kalulu and Wellington Chipofya—an injunction stopping implementation of that order.
