By Staff Reporter
The Ombudsman has found that the appointment of Itaye as Macra Director Genaral was illegal and that those who facilitated his hiring acted outside their mandate. These are the then Principal Secretary in the ministry of Information, the then Board and then Malawi Statutory Cooperation Chief Mr Zangazanga Chikhosi. Chizuma says the whole process to hire Itaye was a mockery and a maladministration.
She adds that Redeployment of Itaye to Postal Corporation as Post Master General and to Lilongwe Water Board as CEO was illegal and a maladministration. She has therefore nullified his contracts including his current contract and she has directed the Macra Board to fill the position of DG at Macra. She has further directed the board not to pay Mr Itaye any benefits, and if that was done, it should be recovered.
The Ombudsman report, has however cleared Itaye on allegations that he is a convict, saying no evidence on this was found Martha Chizuma says her office investigated Irregular recruitment where it was alleged in the complaint that Mr Godfrey Itaye wasn’t supposed to be recruited when he was not fit for the position of Director General and when he was a convict after a scandal at a company he was working at, National Bank.
She adds the investigation also boardered on Tribalism where one Mr Lipenga was recruited for being a relation of Mr Ben Phiri and Irregular recruitment of Ruth Mgwede who was said to be a DPP party loyalist. She further says the report looked into Irregular recruitment Charles Fodya who is also said to be DPP follower too.
Furthermore the report tackled issues of Conflict of interest where Mr Itaye influenced recruitment of his relations
The Ombudsman has also nullified the employment of MacDonald Phoya at Macra for being illegular and illegal and has since directed that Macra fills the position before 31 June 2021.
The report has also faulted the appointment of a non qualified Board members at Macra, then.The report says the Board members could not articulate issues properly and could easily be manipulated by Macra Staff.
She says Malawians were given a raw deal by having such Board members. The Ombudsman has also found the recruitment of Mr Henry Shamu the then Post Master General (2017), as illegal.
The report says his contract was illegular, and that his appointment was made by a wrong authority.
She says the appointment of Shamu without interviews by the former President Peter Mutharika was illegal and unconstitutional. She has therefore directed that Mr Shamu should not be paid any end of contract benefits and if this was already done the money should be recovered.
The report has further faulted his redeployment from Malawi Postal Cooperation to Macra where he is currently Acting Director General. As remedy, the Ombudsman has declared it as null and void
The Ombudsman report has also found that the Macra Board rubber-stamped the appointment of Mr Benson Tembo at Macra as Digital Migration Director just to clear space at MBC for Mr Aubrey Sumbuleta to be promoted from Deputy Director General to Director General.
The report says what happened was irregular and Government and the Board knew they were breaching the law. She says the position was not established at the time and the movement of Tembo to Macra was illegal and a maladministration. She has since declared his appointment as null and void and she has directed the board to give the evidence of the same by 31 July 2021.
The Ombudsman has also nullified the position of Fearless Mululu who was recruited as Director of Internal audit.
The report says the position never existed at Macra. Mululu’s position has been nullified and he has been told to lay his queries with the Macra Board and that no Malawians’ tax money should foot his claims.
