Probably they have been vindicated! When the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) demanded that President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera should fire Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC), Colleen Zamba, Malawians were in darkness on what the quasi-religious body had seen in the iron lady.
The PAC leadership, led by its chairperson Monsignor Patrick Thawale, made the plea during its meeting with President Chakwera at the Kamuzu Palace on Tuesday, 28th November 2023.
Thawale, a revered Catholic cleric, argued then that despite the euphoria that trailed her appointment in June 2023, the civil service is in no better state than it was before her appointment.
He outlined complaints to Chakwera on some civil service appointments, recruitments and postings by the SPC being unprocedural.
PAC further challenged the President that with Zamba at the helm of the civil service, his administration cannot achieve the desired service delivery to Malawians.
Some self-enriching citizens and civil society organization (CSO) leaders dismissed these assertions as outright persecution of the SPC.
But two months down the line, it would appear there was something Thawale and his leadership had seen in Zamba that had made them demand for her dismissal as Malawi’s topmost civil servant.
Probably then men and women of God had seen through their spiritual eyes that the SPC was actually working under the influence of other persons other than her appointing authority – President Chakwera.
This publication has gathered stunning revelations on how presidential advisors have captured Zamba to the extent that she cannot discharge her duties without consulting them.
At the centre of this syndicate is Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs, Ephraim Chivunde, who is being accused of manipulating Zamba to make decisions that have ended up putting the government in a tight corner.
It is not surprising therefore that since her appointment, the SPC has been mired in a number of high profile investigations involving procurement deals in some critical sectors of the economy such as energy and agriculture.
In less than two years of serving as SPC, Zamba has undoubtedly made herself the most powerful woman in President Chakwera’s government that she can fire anyone without consulting the Head of State.
For instance, she singlehandedly dissolved the entire Board of Directors and management at the Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) after the board refused to take her order to give back the Kammwamba Coal Power Project to the Ministry of Energy, which had earmarked Jindall to take over and implement it.
She was also at the centre of the fight between the Ministry of Energy and EGENCO over the secondment of some senior officials who are said to be connected to the SPC.
In all this, the accusing fingers are pointing at Chivunde as being the major culprit behind the terrible decisions Zamba has been making on behalf of the Government of Malawi.
Our highly placed sources at the Capital Hill are, for instance, accusing Chivunde of influencing the SPC to facilitate the signing of the ill-fated $6.8 billion (about K11.3 billion) deal with the Belgium-based Bridgin Foundation on November 28 2022.
There has been dead silence on the future of the package, which was meant to finance projects in areas of health, education, energy and infrastructure development has no progress report.
“In a recent development, Chivunde influenced the SPC [Zamba] to seal a deal with East Bridge to supply fertilizer for the 2023-2024 Affordable Input Programme before entering into another agreement with a Botswana-based company, SG Global, to supply fertilizers and fuel to Malawi,” revealed our sources.
Furthermore, Chivunde influenced the awarding of contracts at Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) and Malawi Gaming Board to the Mpinganjira family who are his direct relations, our sources added.
Chivunde could not be immediately contacted for his comment.
