Taxpayers’ money misused as MANEB pays two bosses on one post
The much touted public service reform seems to be targeting the junior workers leaving the senior officials untouched, with the latest being the revelation that Malawi National Examination Board is paying two executive directors occupying the same position.According to The Nation newspaper, MANEB terminated the services of former executive director Gerald Chiunda after he breached the board’s conditions of service on leave of absence upon the expiry of his six-month secondment to SAMEQ, and it immediately hired Christopher Kalilani.
But July this year government sent Chiunda back to Maneb on what it called “desecondment” arrangement.
The paper indicates that Chiunda left Maneb in 2013 for a job at Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ) in France.
Maneb public relations officer Simeon Maganga told the local paper that the ministry of education and science and technology decision to redeploy Chiunda to the body leaves it with two officers occupying the position of director of research and test development.
Maganga added the examination body had “declared vacant” Chiunda’s post and that “it was filled”.
“moest seconded him back to us this year; Maneb had to obey government by accepting him back to the position he was holding before he left. Further, the board [of directors] obliged by accepting Mr. Chiunda back, but could not reverse its decision on the appointment it had made.
“Otherwise, Maneb is indeed having two directors on the post of director of research and test development. And the government is aware of the situation,” said Maganga as quoted by The Nation newspaper.
It is has also been revealed that moest directed Maneb to pay Chiunda 17-month package from March 1 2015 to July 31 2016.