In positions such as that of Brigadier General Charles Kalumo (retired), who was until Thursday heading the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (Dics), it is rare for one to be constantly hauled over the hot coals like the military man has been.
Director-generals of State departments and agencies seldom stay longer at their workplaces if they are facing resistance from those they lead, lest they have all their plans and strategies sabotaged by their disgruntled juniors.
Kalumo stuck around even when it was clear his position was no longer tenable.
Well, he might still remain at Dics if the Attorney General (AG) succeeds in his appeal against the High Court’s decision that has nullified the Immigration chief’s appointment.
He was drawn from what are supposed to be scraps of history.
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At a time when thousands of young people are jobless because government does not have enough slots to get them on board, President Lazarus Chakwera recalled Kalumo from his retirement and gave such a tired man one of the most crucial roles in government affairs.
It is not like the public service no longer has competent officers—fresh and vibrant—who can lead Dics.
But the culture of appeasement seemed to have creeped in once again and in it Kalumo chanced upon heading the Immigration Department.
He will now go down in history as someone who presided over the worst passport crisis in Malawi in recent memory.
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Up to now, Dics is failing to efficiently render its services to Malawians. Passport seekers are spending days on end at Immigration offices in desperate hope that they will soon get the travel documents.
The department is failing to reform, just like its cousin the Department of Road Traffic and Safety Services, which cannot issue driving licences in ways other countries do.
Kalumo was supposed to be resting at home while enjoying his retirement benefits, instead of busying himself with a role which has its competent and relevant holders.
The resistance he has faced at Immigration should be a lesson to Chakwera and others who appoint public officers that drawing old and tired fellas from retirement back into the public service is just off the mark.
Everyone has their time and those who retired because they reached the mandatory retirement ages must not return to take up jobs of those who are still in their prime.
Right now, Kalumo’s future at Dics remains hazy in the wake of the court order that has declared his appointment a nullity.
AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has vowed to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal. He has the right to do that—in whose interest, however, no one knows.
In the meantime, a nihility is hovering over the retired military officer’s head because the High Court refused to put its judgement on hold as it waited for the outcome of the appeal.
But the law is sometimes very complex and Kalumo might just still be around Dics, when those who want him totally out are still celebrating that their supplications have been heard, albeit in a different way.
But what if, in all this anarchy at the Immigration, Kalumo is not really the devil he is being presented?
What if it is not true that he is incompetent and maltreats workers at the department?
It is interesting that all of a sudden, officers at a department that has been known for high levels of incompetence have turned around to loathe the same habit apparently because it is in their boss.
The irregularities regarding the Immigration chief’s appointment and Chakwera’s penchant for retrieving tired officers back into the public service must be put aside in the meantime.
A proper investigation, that takes into account views of all manner of Immigration officers, must be conducted to get to the bottom of the crisis at Dics.
I had a candid conversation with an Immigration officer who conceded that Kalumo might have indeed brought his military way of doing things to a department that seldom needs it, but was bent at ensuring sanity returns to Dics.
The officer stated that the recalled retired brigadier general was sanitising the department and some “old-timers” felt their cartels were being threatened. In fact, they were being disbanded.
There also are suggestions that some of the challenges at the Immigration department are being deliberately created by officers who no longer have their illicit ways of doing things.
So, as Kalumo rests at home after a hectic spell at the security institution, we must delve deeper into the genesis of the revolt from his juniors.
He might not be the devil that he is being presented out there. After all, the devil is in the details.
