Twist to ex-aide, Chaima

Government has recommended to the Department of Human Resources, Management and Development (DHRMD) that Chris Chaima Banda who was fired in 2021 as presidential adviser on Strategy and Manifesto Implementation be put back on government payroll.

The development follows a request from Secretary for DHRMD Blessings Chilabade to Attorney General Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda for a legal opinion in which the former proposed that the ex-presidential aide dismissal be substituted for interdiction and the AG duly provided the advice which was in favour of the request.

Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale confirmed in an interview this week both the request from Secretary for DHRMD and the legal opinion which Chakaka-Nyirenda provided.

If implemented, the move will see Chaima Banda who at the time of his dismissal was on a three-year contract on Grade C pocketing accrued salaries and other benefits from August 11 2021.

President Lazarus Chakwera fired his adviser after he was arrested alongside former minister of Mines Newton Kambala and Alliance for Democracy (Aford) president Enock Chihana for allegedly trying to influence the National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) to award fuel import contracts to particular suppliers in 2020.

In a written response, Namangale said: “The Secretary for Human Resource, Management and Development indeed solicited a legal opinion from the Attorney General (AG), which the AG duly provided. [But] we will refrain from addressing your questions on the matter because the AG’s legal opinion was meant for his client.”

But an inside source at DHRMD who is privy to the correspondence between DHRMD and the AG said the memo to the AG, reference number HRMD/LC/2580 dated November 3 2023, Chilabade asked “whether Mr. Chaima Banda’s employment contract should be converted to interdiction on full pay”.

The Secretary for DHRMD argued that the former presidential adviser was not accorded a prior hearing before dismissal and that he was also not given any notice as required.

The source said the memo further stated that a subsequent review of Mr. Chaima Banda’s employment case by DHRM found that there were serious procedural flaws when terminating his employment contract and recommended that he instead be interdicted from exercising the powers and functions of his office on full pay.

According to the source, the former adviser is said to have been treated differently from other civil servants in a similar position and no justification was provided by the employer.

Said the source: “It is the opinion of the AG that the contract was terminated based on a report from the ACB and no further independent investigation was carried out to establish any wrong doing.” 

In his opinion issued on January 8 2024, the AG advised Chilabade to proceed to substitute the termination with interdiction on full pay effective August 11 2021, according to the source.

The source indicated that it is the AG’s view that Chaima Banda was discriminated against and that rules of natural justice were not complied with because, for instance, criminal law does not allow for a person to be dismissed from employment merely for facing criminal charges rather one can be interdicted pending criminal allegations.

Asked if Chaima had lodged a complaint about his dismissal or sued the Malawi Government for unfair dismissal, spokesperson for DHRMD Kennie Ntonga in an interview on Monday asked for more time before commenting.

On his part, Chaima Banda could not be reached for comment.

Office of the President and Cabinet spokesperson Robert Kalindizga did not respond to our inquiries on why OPC did not follow the right procedure before dismissing Chaima Banda.

But in an interview on Tuesday, a governance expert Mavuto Bamusi observed that he suspected political manipulation in the decision to compensate Chaima Banda.

Bamusi said the AG is on a fast lane towards compromising his professional duties.

He said: “This will set a bad precedence for dozens of officers who have similar cases in the public service. Ultimately, tax payers will yet again shoulder unnecessary fiscal burden for people who have allegedly plundered scarce public resources.”

According to Bamusi, the implication of the move is that poor people may suffer twice while rewarding misconduct.

Bamusi argued that there is more to this than meets the eye on this issue saying how Chaima Banda has been treated reflects a strong sense of selectivity since other public officers have not been given the same treatment.

“For instance, former Inspector General of Police George Kainja was fired alongside Chaima Banda on similar charges. The former minister of Energy Newton Kambala was also dismissed on the same allegations.”

Another governance expert Charles Kajoloweka said the arrangement is basically a broad political scheme to insulate from accountability all those close to President Chakwera accused of corruption.

He said it is the same scheme that was applied to insulate State Residences Chief of Staff Prince Kapondamgaga from prosecution.

In July last year, Chakwera reinstated Kapondamgaga who he suspended in 2022 following allegations from ACB that he was among high profile personalities suspected to have taken bribes from UK-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar.

On its part, ACB said in a statement that Kapondamgaga was no longer a person of interest and it had dropped potential charges against him. The graft-busting body said it had arrived at the decision after Kapondamgaga freely surrendered a Mercedes Benz he received from Sattar.