Zamba made the remarks at Nkopola Sunbird Hotel in Mangochi when she opened Corporate Governance Orientation Workshop for the newly appointed boards of State Corporation and state-owned enterprises jointly organized by the Department of Parastatals in the Office of President and Cabinet and Malawi School of Government.
She observed underperformance in some parastatals and other state-owned enterprises that were characterized by wastefulness and self-enriching tendencies contrary to government and citizens’ expectations.
“You have been appointed with the responsibility to put in place systems and controls that should safeguard public resources for the benefit of Malawians and you are also expected to ensure that ethics, integrity, and accountability prevail in your institutions to bring back public trust in the parastatals.
As such, she said the government will not tolerate wastefulness, plunder of public resources in state corporations and state-owned enterprises at the expense of taxpayers’ money as the government will not hastate to issue serious penalties to the perpetrators “without fear or favor,” she added
“This workshop has been organized to equip you with necessary tools for your effective performance in your capacity as boards,” she added.
“Malawians have very high expectations that your appointments will assist the government in serving the citizenry in achieving its mandate,” Zamba said.
Zamba, therefore, said there was a need for the boards of state-owned enterprises to understand institutions’ mandate and legal instruments that established their respective institutions, adding that each board will be assessed on how this will be realized.
Controller of Statutory Corporations in the Office of President, Peter Simbani said at the end of the orientation workshop the participants were expected to understand human and financial resource management skills, prevailing legislature, and government policies apart from understanding the Malawi Vision 2063.
He said there was a need to align what they will discuss at the orientation workshop to the requirements of corporate governance.
Chairperson of the Council of Malawi Scholl of Government, Professor, Lewis Dzimbiri said the Malawi School of Government has the mandate to develop human resources in the public and private sectors and will continue to build the capacity of statutory institutions for effective performance.
“Human capital development is one of the enablers of the Malawi Vision 2063,” he added and pointed out that the state-owned enterprises have the obligation to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development by ensuring effective performance within their mandate.
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Newly appointed board members of state corporations and state-owned enterprises attended the Nkopola Sunbird orientation workshop which is expected to equip participants with basic public sector tools and policies to guide them as they carry out their duties in their respective entities.
The boards of parastatals that attended the Nkopola Sun bird orientation workshop were those from the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority, Admarc, Southern, Central and Northern Water Boards, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, Malawi College of Accountancy, Teachers Council of Malawi, Malawi National Examination Board, Road Fund Administration, and Malawi Housing Corporation.