The board of directors of Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) has resolved not to renew the contract of chief executive officer (CEO) Collins Magalasi and has since advertised the position.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mera board chairperson Leonard Chikadya said they have since advised Magalasi, who wrote the previous board expressing interest to renew his contract, to respond to the advertisement.
Said Chikadya: “His [Magalasi] contract expired on 22 November and he applied to renew the contract, but that was to the previous board.
“So, when we [the new board] sat at our first meeting last week, we looked at his contract and we decided not to give an automatic renewal.”
He said the board would like to have the recruitment process of the CEO as transparent as possible in line with the Tonse Alliance administration’s philosophy that recruitments should be procedural.
Chikadya said if Magalasi decides to apply for the position, he will be given the same opportunity as other candidates.
But when contacted yesterday, Magalasi declined to comment on the matter, saying: “Allow me not to make any comment on my contract… So, allow me not to make any comment.”
From Wednesday this week, Mera started floating adverts for the position in the press.
Magalasi, a one-time executive assistant to former president Peter Mutharika, was on July 29 2020 arrested alongside businessperson Dorothy Shonga and Mera public relations officer Patrick Maulidi on allegations of fraud in connection with a K107 million contract
