Confusion over DCs, others’ interdiction
There is confusion on the purported interdiction of some controlling officers, over accountability of K6.2 billion Covid-19 response funds with some officials saying the officers are reporting for duties.
Two days after President Lazarus Chakwera removed Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) commissioner James Chiusiwa (not George Chiusiwa as earlier indicated) and Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 co-chairperson Dr John Phuka for purported technical slips, presidential press secretary Brian Banda said 10 principal secretaries (PSs), 28 district commissioners (DCs) and five chief executive officers (CEOs) of councils had been interdicted.
“They [controlling officers] have been also suspended in their respective jobs and positions in the civil service. They were in these Covid-19 clusters based on their posts and not as individuals,” he said.
But in separate interviews on Wednesday evening, both the Ministry of Local Government and the Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) said DCs and CEOs of city, municipal and town councils were working normally.
Ministry of Local Government spokesperson Anjoya Mwanza said there was no communication from the Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) on the matter.
Malga acting executive director Hadrod Mkandawire said his association was “greatly concerned” with reports of the suspension they can negatively affect the work of the local authorities.
But sources in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) insisted yesterday that suspension letters were being worked on and concerned officers will soon receive them.
The delay, according to our source, has come about because of consultations “on how best to effect the presidential directive in line with the law and administrative procedures”.
The OPC source said the correct term is interdiction and not suspension.
Random checks yesterday showed that most officers who were heads of Covid-19 response clusters are still reporting for duties. They include PSs, DCs and CEOs of councils.
When contacted yesterday, Banda conceded that there was a mix up of information, but said SPC Zanga-zanga Chikhosi was better placed to give details regarding the suspended officers.
Efforts to get Chikhosi’s reaction have proved futile as he has not been picking our calls since Tuesday.
One of the affected PSs, speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday, expressed frustration that the directive has stirred uncertainty in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Said the PS: “We hear that we are interdicted, but there is no letter to that effect. Do you go home because the President has directed so or you wait for the letter and continue reporting for duties? If you report for duties, does that amount to defying the directive?
“Being a head of cluster does not really mean you are in control of funds. After all, some of us have submitted our reports to the task force and we are not sure what the basis is for interdiction.”
A list of cluster heads we have sourced from OPC includes the following PSs: Dr. Charles Mwansambo (Health), Chikondano Mussa (Education), Dickson Chunga (Labour), Yanira Ntupanyama (Forestry and Natural Resources), Patrick Zimpita (Transport), Benard Sande (Lands), Bright Kumwembe (Defence), Kennedy Nkhoma (Homeland Security) and Charles Kalemba (Local Government).
The following heads of security institutions are also on the list: Malawi Defence Force Commander General Vincent Nundwe, Inspector General of Police Dr. George Kainja, Immigration and Citizenship Services director general Hannings Mlotha, Chief Commissioner for Prisons Service Wandika Phiri, National Intelligence Service director general Dokani Ngwira and High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Gladys Gondwe.
There are 15 clusters of coordination; communication; health; water, sanitation and hygiene; protection and social support; economic empowerment; employment and labour force; education; security; transport; agriculture; nutrition; shelter; and local government.
Delivering his sixth televised National Address on the War on Covid-19 from Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Sunday, the President said both Dodma and the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 require strong leadership.
He also observed that the red flags regarding spending as raised by the Office of the Ombudman in its November 2020 report titled Misplaced Priorities were missed and left unchecked by the technical leads of Dodma and the task force who report directly to his office.
The President also said expenditure reports submitted by clusters and the scrutiny that followed were presented to the technical leadership of the task force and Dodma months after the spending was already done.
