Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee (PAC) has confirmed Reyneck Matemba as the new director general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) following his appointment in October this year, Nation Online has learnt.
The committee has also confirmed the Reverend Alex Maulana, general secretary of the CCAP Blantyre Synod, as new board chairperson of Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra).
Maulana replaces Mervis Mangulenje who has since been appointed as chief executive officer of the Malawi Rural Development Fund (Mardef).
Matemba and Maulana’s confirmations follow successful interviews they went through before the parliamentary committee last week.
But PAC chairperson Lingson Belekanyama could neither confirm nor deny his committee’s confirmation of the two, referring Nation Online to the Chief Secretary to the Government.
He said: “We did our part and wrote the Chief Secretary the same day about the results so he is the one to divulge any information. I am also sure by now the people have been communicated to about the outcome of their confirmation hearing.”
When contacted, Chief Secretary to the President Lloyd Muhara and government spokesperson Nicholas Dausi were both not available for comment.
In separate interviews Matemba and Maulana said they had not received any communication from OPC regarding their confirmation.
“I have not been communicated. But if it’s true perhaps it [the confirmation letter] was dropped at the office because we have been on holiday since December 22,” said Matemba.
However, some PAC members yesterday confided in The Nation in separate interviews about their committee’s endorsement of Matemba and Maulana’s appointments.
“We confirmed both of them because they performed well. But as for Matemba, the committee felt he was highly experienced based on his experience at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs as well as at ACB and is also a person of high integrity,” said the source.
Another member said the committee could not do otherwise looking at Matemba’s rich knowledge of the bureau as well as the court cases he has handled, with Cashgate as an example.
On his part, Maulana also said he had not received any communication “but what I can confirm is that I was appointed Macra board chairperson and went through interviews last week”.
Maulana becomes the first person appointed as board chairperson to appear before the parliamentary committee following a review of the Communications Act. The board members will also appear before the committee for interviews.
Matemba first served as ACB deputy director during the tenure of Judgee Rezine Mzikamanda who returned to the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal after his secondment at the bureau.
After President Peter Mutharika appointed a banker Lucas Kondowe as ACB head, Matemba was again maintained as deputy until October 2017 when he was appointed acting director general.
Matemba’s major task will be to impress Malawians by quickly concluding high profile cases such as the maizegate case which involves former minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda, who is also the governing Democratic Progress Party (DPP) vice-president for the Southern Region.
The K1.9 billion fraud case involving former president Bakili Muluzi is another court case that has not concluded after 11 years of trial. Matemba was once State lead counsel in the Muluzi case before he recused himself citing personal reasons.
