The Office of the Ombudsman has nullified the shortlisting and interviewing of two candidates for the position of Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), citing procedural irregularities and non-compliance with legal requirements.
Presenting the findings in Lilongwe on Friday, Ombudsman Grace Malera said the inquiry was launched following a complaint alleging irregularities in the recruitment process for the acting ACB Director General Hilary Chilomba and Oscar Taulo.
The investigations, according to Malera, focused on three key issues: whether the candidates met the advertised job requirements, whether the qualifications complied with Section 6(5) of the Corrupt Practices Act, and whether the process was conducted procedurally.
Additionally, both candidates lacked the mandatory 10 years’ professional experience post-certification, a key provision of the law.
“Mr. Oscar Taulo satisfied the academic and experience requirements as outlined in the job advertisement. However, further examination revealed that neither Mr. Taulo nor Mr. Chilomba met the legal threshold of 10 years’ post-professional qualification experience as required by the Corrupt Practices Act,” said Malera.
The findings, according to Malera, showed that while Mr. Chilomba met most of the job advertisement’s criteria, he only had three years of senior management experience instead of the required five.
The Ombudsman clarified that Chilomba and Taulo’s shortlisting and interviews were based on an illegality, hence the recruitment process should be set aside.
The Ombudsman has meanwhile directed the Ministry of Justice to disqualify both candidates and review the remaining shortlisted applicants.
The Ministry of Justice has been instructed to ensure future recruitment processes strictly adhere to legal and procedural requirements.
“It is the finding therefore of the inquiry that their shortlisting and being subjected to interviews was irregular and procedural. It was based on an illegality and is therefore not attainable, which is why at the end the directives are to the effect that their shortlisting and interviewing and the results of such processes should be set aside, that the two candidates, Mr. Hilary Chilomba and Mr. Oscar Tauro, should be disqualified and that if there are any other candidates on the list that the Ministry of Justice has that do not also satisfy the threshold as provided in Section 6 of Section 5 of the Corrupt Practices Act, they should also be set aside and disqualified,” said Malera.
In response to the findings, Ministry of Justice Spokesperson Frank Namangale acknowledged the Ombudsman’s directives but stated that the ministry needed time to review the report before making a detailed comment.
“We will comment later; we need to go through the report first,” he said.
The position of the ACB Director General became vacant following the expiry of Martha Chizuma’s contract on 31st March 2024.
Following the development, Hilary Chilomba, Chizuma’s deputy, has been serving as Acting Director General.
Out of 36 applicants for the role, 11 were shortlisted and interviewed, with Taulo and Chilomba recommended for the position.
