Uphold public appointments laws

The high vacancy rate in government’s ministries, departments and agencies has stirred debate about some individuals holding acting positions for too long. 

Some argue that this is a sign of poor planning. 

The critics say that the moment the Executive arm of the government knew, for example, that Martha Chizuma was not interested in renewing her contract as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general, the President should have started identifying her successor. 

They contend there could have been a smooth transition at the helm of the graft-busting body.

Others say the President and other appointing authorities in MDAs have the power to appoint acting office-bearers.

A typical example is the appointment of ACB deputy director general Hillary Chilomba as acting director general.

Section 8 of the Corrupt Practices Act of 2014 stipulates that when the office of the ACB director general falls vacant or the director is absent from duty or unable to perform the functions of their office, the deputy director shall act as director.

The section further stipulates that where both the director and the deputy are absent from duty or unable to perform the functions of their office, the President shall appoint another duly qualified person to act as director during such temporary absence or vacancy.

Where the temporary absence exceeds 21 days, the law requires the President, within 14 days, to furnish the Public Appointments Committee with the reasons why both vacancies cannot be substantively filled with immediate effect.

The President is also supposed to give the parliamentary oversight committee an estimate of the time within which the vacancy shall be filled, but it has to be within three months from the expiry of the 21-day period.

I hope that within or after the expiry of three months, President Lazarus Chakwera will diligently appoint the director general in line with the law.

Otherwise, failure to do so would create an unnecessary vacuum to fix the broken system and clear the rubble in a critical time like this.

Another example of a decisive government agency under acting leadership is the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), where the board of directors appointed Willy Harrison Muyila as acting director general in December 2018.

This followed the expiry of the contract of Davlin Chokazinga, who served as MBS director for 11 years.

In 2022, Rex Moyo acted as MBS director general for six months after Simon Mandala’s contract expired.

His successor Thomas Senganimalunje was appointed acting director general in November 2022.

He had only served for about five months when Dr Bernard Thole was appointed the new director general on March 12023.

Parastatal organisations’ regulations allow their boards to appoint someone in an acting capacity for six months whenever an executive position falls vacant. 

However, there are exceptions where the period could be longer than required by law.

Of course, some parastatal organisations keep individuals in acting positions for much longer because of maladministration and the board of directors’ ignorance of the relevant regulation.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Authorities have a duty to understand relevant laws and ensure those holding the acting positions do not overstay their welcome. 

Unless the tendency of keeping people in acting positions longer than the law requires stops, we will see someone in acting position nullified by the courts as the High Court ruled in retired Brigadier General Charles Kalumo’s case recently.