Celcom top brass in mass resignation

The executive management for Celcom Limited has resigned, plunging the mobile phone company into uncertainty.

The mass resignation also casts doubt on whether the company will roll out this October as per licence deadline given by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra).

Celcom chief executive officer Ted Sauti Phiri on Thursday confirmed he has resigned together with other managers.

“I can confirm on my part that I have resigned and it’s a coincidence that the technical director, the human resources manager and others have also resigned,” said Sauti Phiri.

But he declined to disclose reasons for the mass exodus at Celcom, which has been failing to roll out since Macra gave it a licence two years ago.

Celcom was awarded a fixed line and mobile phone services licence, becoming Malawi’s fourth mobile operator.

Celcom is owned by a conglomerate Mulli Brothers Holdings, whose chairperson and managing director Leston Mulli declined to comment on the future of the company.

“I stopped granting interviews to the media and, therefore, I cannot comment on this,” he said.

Zadziko Mankhambo, head of communications at Macra, said: “We are not interested in the resignations at Celcom. What we are interested in is whether they will meet the deadline to roll out.”