Cdedi blames Nocma woes on leadership
Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) has asked President Lazarus Chakwera to show his decisive leadership by putting the house at National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) in order by ensuring that a new chief executive officer (CEO) is hired.
Cdedi is questioning the rationale of having someone in acting capacity for over nine months, arguing this has brought chaos at Nocma, including lack of technical capacity as Nocma’s director of finance and procurement officer are on suspensions.
Nocma has found itself in a wrangle with Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) over award of fuel contracts, prompting newly appointed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma jumping on the matter to issue a restriction order on the fuel supply contracts to pave the way for an investigation amid allegations of corruption.
However, the same bureau three months ago endorsed the deals by vetting Nocma’s request seeking ‘no objection’ to award the contracts.
Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa said in an interview yesterday the leadership crisis at Nocma, President Chakwera’s indecisiveness on the matter and alleged infighting of Tonse Alliance’s senior officials over who to award the contracts to would one day bring the nation into “total and regrettable disaster”.
“Remember the President about seven months ago asked Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Mr. Zangazanga Chikhosi to fix the leadership crisis at Nocma. Today, we still have someone in acting capacity.
“The same President in November 2020 publicly said the acting CEO at Nocma, Ms Helen Buluma, be removed within two weeks because she is a known operative of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. He knows there is something amiss at Nocma, but it appears he is such kind of a leader who thinks things would sort themselves out over time,” Namiwa said.
Buluma was brought in as acting CEO after the firing of former CEO Gift Dulla over alleged abuse of office.
But reacting to Cdedi’s calls, Information Minister Gospel Kazako in a written response to a questionnaire said Tonse Alliance is a government that believes in systems.
“We think Cdedi is still stuck in the past where they belong when a President was involved in the recruitment of a CEO of a statutory body. Free tutorial to Cdedi; Nocma has a board of directors. It is responsibility of the board to appoint a CEO,” he said.
On the other hand, presidential press secretary Brian Banda, also in a written response, said Nocma CEO can only be appointed by the board according to the law, urging Cdedi to be lobbying the President to follow the law, not to break it.
