Centre for Mindset Change has commended government for firing Engineer Emmanuel Matapa as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Roads Authority (RA), saying authorities have listened to the concerns of “well-minded Malawians”.
In a statement released yesterday, Executive Director for CMC Philip Kamangirah said the action which has been taken by the administration of Lazarus Chakwera shows that the leadership considers the voice of well-minded Malawians.
Kamangirah added it is their hope that the whip will not only stop at the firing but also suspension of terminal benefits for the fired Chief Executive Officer.
“The Office of the Ombudsman has previously made determinations on similar cases like at Malawi Energy Regulation Authority, Malawi Post and Telecommunications among others. Other boards have recently fired CEOs and Directors that were merely appointed without paying them terminal benefits like at Board of Tobacco Control Commission, Lilongwe Water Board, Lilongwe Handling Company, etc.
“We wonder why the Board of Roads Authority decided to award terminal benefits to Engineer Matapa and Msiska. This cements what we expressed in our letters to the Secretary of the Office of the President and Cabinet that we agree with Roads Authority employees who believe that the Board needs to be reconstituted,” he said.
He went on to say that the organization wants Office of the Ombudsman and the Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet to look into the issue of the K6.3 million that Roads Authority has been fined for felling trees in Lilongwe and that Forensic Audit at Roads Authority should be done at RA to send a strong signal to public officers who have demonstrated negligence of the highest order.
He noted that taxpayers cannot part way with such an amount just because of the inconvenience of some people.
