Taxpayers to pay for Mutharika’s ‘vengeance’

It is normal and expected that when there is change of government, some people lose their jobs as the new administration brings in their own people to serve their political agenda and personal interest. The usual casualties are political appointees working at State House, in State-owned enterprises and the civil service.

We have seen it during all successive administrations from Bakili Muluzi to Joyce Banda. President Peter Mutharika had raised hopes he would do things differently. But a few months down the line, he has proved he is walking in the footsteps of his predecessors. He has replaced Banda’s appointees with his own people.

While re-deploying or replacing people is understandable and sometimes inevitable, it is important do it with caution because it may have disastrous consequences. The fired individuals have the right to sue the State for unfair dismissal and courts have awarded them heft compensations.

Some categories of workers at State house are hired to serve the President. For example, presidential spokespersons, advisors and personal assistants are hired at his pleasure just like ministers. These can be fired anytime. It is also common knowledge that when the President is ‘ejected’ out of office, they also lose their jobs.

For officers whose appointments are governed by an Act of Parliament such as the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), the procedure has to be followed. We know that for many state-owned institutions the hiring and firing of chief executive officers rests with the board. Unfortunately, successive presidents have usurped the power of the boards to appoint and fire CEOs against the law.

We know some individuals who sued government for being unfairly dismissed by Banda who served Bingu wa Mutharika personally. One questions the basis of suing government. Does anyone expect Hetherwick Ntaba or Albert Mungomo to have been Banda’s spokesperson? It was common knowledge that with the death of Mutharika their jobs were on the ropes. Some CEOs of State-owned companies underperformed or did not have relevant qualifications to run parastatals other than serving personal interests of the late president, government and ruling party. But they had a contract and had the right to sue. Government failed to prove that the incumbents were incompetent so their dismissals were seen to be fair and not politically-motivated.

Unfortunately, Mutharika is repeating the same mistake his predecessors made. As a lawyer, there was high expectation he would follow the law and live up to his promise of not dismissing anyone from their jobs without justification. But the 100 days in office, Mutharika has fired people in alarming proportions and prepared to pay compensation. Really?

With a struggling economy, government cannot afford to be budgeting to compensate people unfairly dismissed just because the President wants to replace them with his own people. The funds could have been allocated to critical sectors such as health, education and agriculture to improve the lives of Malawians. This paints a picture that Mutharika and his government do not care about how they use government money as long as they meet their political agenda. If anything, Mutharika should have allowed the incumbents to finish their contracts and the board of each State-owned company to hire the CEO through interviews as provided in the statutes. Good leaders respect laws of the country and State institutions; and have the ability to work with anyone regardless of who they are.

It is high time Members of Parliament (MPs) stepped up their oversight role by ensuring that the President and ruling party observe laws for appointing CEOs of State institutions. Moreover, Parliament should ensure that CEOs are appointed by the Public Appointments Committee (PAC) to avoid presidents abusing their power and to prevent CEOs from becoming victims of political decrees. Successive presidents have been dismissing people unfairly and making appointments illegally; and getting away with their decision. But when their decisions are challenged in court, it is the taxpayers who suffer the consequences of the President’s vengeance. Can we really be proud that we have effective leaders?