By Pemphero Malimba
A group of 17 civil society organisations (CSOs) is asking the Office of the President and Cabinet to withdraw the purported secondment of Non-governmental Organisations Regulatory Authority (Ngora) Chief Executive Officer Felix Lombe.
This is contained in a letter dated April 30, 2026 and directed to Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Justin Saidi.
The letter has been signed by leaders of the CSOs, which include National Advocacy Platform, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Youth and Society, Human Rights Defenders Coalition and Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre.
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The CSOs say they are “concerned” with the purported secondment of Lombe, who is reported to have been seconded to the Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA).
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“Under Section 19 of the NGO Act, the authority to appoint, deploy, and manage staff of Ngora is expressly vested in the board. It follows, as a matter of law, that any decision relating to the removal, secondment, or reassignment of the Chief Executive Officer must originate from, and be sanctioned by, the board itself,” the letter says.
The organisations say the directive bypasses Ngora’s mandate, undermines due process and is susceptible to legal challenge for want of authority.
“It constitutes a clear usurpation of the board’s role and reduces a legally established governance structure into a procedural formality. More critically, this development threatens the institutional independence of Ngora. The authority is established to operate free from political interference and to foster a credible, autonomous civil society sector,” the group says.
In an April 14, 2026 letter to Lombe, Saidi said Lombe had been seconded to MCA to serve as a lecturer under Ngora employment.
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“The exigencies of the service require that you be seconded from the NGO Regulatory Authority to the Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA), where you will serve as a lecturer under the Ngora employment contract. The secondment may be cancelled at any time before the end of the agreed-upon secondment period if a need arises and with the mutual agreement of the parties,” Saidi said in the letter.
He indicated that Lombe would remain a Ngora employee and shall continue receiving employment benefits in accordance with terms of his employment contract.
“Under these secondment terms, you will remain an Ngora employee and you shall continue to be paid all the employment benefits entitlements in accordance with your employment contract. This secondment shall be governed by the Malawi Public Service Regulations (MPSR) provisions relating to the secondment of civil servants to the Corporation and other organisations. You are therefore requested to wind up your work at Ngora, hand over to the most senior Director/ Manager in your SC [statutory corporation] and report to the MCA immediately,” he said.
