By Deogratias Mmana:
His office is in Blantyre because that is where the headquarters of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is.
However, the department’s Director General, Brigadier General Charles Kalumo (retired), is operating from Lilongwe.
We have not established whether he has been operating from the Lilongwe office since his appointment in August last year.
The development is however not sitting well with insiders at the department and analysts who argue that the case is a test of the austerity and good governance measures which the Lazarus Chakwera administration has been touting to enforce.
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Well-placed sources have told Malawi News that whenever there is an executive management meeting, senior officials travel from Blantyre to have such meetings in Lilongwe.
“Our DG operates from the Lilongwe office but the headquarters for the Immigration is in Blantyre,” one of the insiders said, hinting at how the move is proving costly to the department’s purse.
National Public Relations Officer the Immigration Wellington Chiponde promised to respond to our questionnaire which sought justification for Kalumo to operate from Lilongwe and not Blantyre where the headquarters.
We also asked him about the frequent movement of managers from Blantyre to Lilongwe for meetings with him in the capital city blowing public resources.
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On Saturday he acknowledged receipt of the inquiry and said: “I acknowledge receipt and will revert.”
When we called him for reminder, said: “We have been in meetings and we are finishing today. I need to consult and will send you our write-up after the meeting.”
However, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (Csat) director Willie Kambwandira has described the development as counterproductive and making no sense at a time Chakwera has been preaching about austerity measures.
“This does not make sense and contradicts the President’s call for austerity measures. It does not demonstrate prudent use of public resources and only confirms that the talk about austerity measures was only poetic and rhetoric.”
He further said: “It only tells us that we have some public servants in government who are living in their own world. The President should act on such errant and extravagant officers if he is serious about the austerity measures.”
Executive Director for Church and Society for the Blantyre synod of the Church of Central African Presbyterian Reverend Master Jumbe urged the President to act on all public servants who choose not to comply with his austerity measures call.
“We have said enough on austerity measures compliance failure. It is high time actions were taken on those treating the call with kids’ gloves.
“This country is already struggling and it is unfortunate that some public officers become selfish and do not care about saving public resources,” Jumbe said.
But also blamed Chakwera himself for the behaviour of some government officials as he himself is not complying with the austerity measures.
Among others, he said the President has “too big an appetite for both local and international travels.
In November 2022 at a press briefing where he was ‘launching’ his policy direction on the department, Kalumo said as a man with military background he would ensure that the Immigration department leads by example, being a disciplinary organisation.
He said he was aware that the department was experiencing challenges that included mobility, financial resources to support daily routine operations among others.
Kalumo’s appointment however attracted a challenge by an employee of the department, Chikhulupiliro Zidana.
Zidana contended that the appointment of the Director General of the Department of Immigration falls under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Homeland Security as stipulated in Section 3 of the Immigration Act.
Zidana further argued that it was irrational and procedurally unfair for Chakwera to appoint someone who is not a member of the department or the public service in general, which goes against Section 3 of the Immigration Act.
He also said Kalumo’s appointment was illegal as he was beyond the retirement age of 60, as promulgated under Section 29 of the Public Service Act.
However, the Attorney General argues that Zidana has argued that Zidana does not have sufficient interest to bring the case forward, given his grade level and lack of relevant experience for the position of Director General.
In a February 2023 ruling, the High Court said Zidana had standing before the court, considering his years of experience in the Department spanning over a decade and that he holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) Degree.
The court considered Zidana’s application to have merit.
The court did suspend Kalumo’s appointment pending the hearing of the judicial review case.
