President Lazarus Chakwera says the board of Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) needs to be fired immediately for wasting millions of taxpayers’ money.
Chakwera said this today in Lilongwe when he launched the Malawi national fibre backbone project which has been implemented by China.
The Malawi leader said he was dismayed by reports of wasteful spending happening at Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA).
“That the Board Chair of MACRA could not find a more cost-effective way of enhancing the capacity of board members than taking them to Dubai and blowing millions is a clear sign that the leadership of MACRA Board needs to change immediately,” said Chakwera.
He added that last year he spent endless hours configuring the boards of parastatals and no parastatal board chair should think that their position is a licence for wanton wastefulness.
The president then reminded board chairs to be watchdogs against waste, not enablers of it. Chakwera said public servants need to look around and see the poverty and suffering of Malawian so that they can put people’s needs above their own spending appetites.
He said: “All of us who have been given a chance to lead, whether in the presidency, or in Cabinet, or in MDAs, or in Boards, or in Embassies, need to behave as though we understand that Malawians have given us this chance to lead so that we can serve them.
“So as far as I am concerned, if you are anywhere in my Administration to serve yourself, you need to get out of the way. If you want kuwadyera a Malawi, the place to do that is not my Administration. My Administration is for servants, not masters.“
Newspaper reports revealed over a week ago that the MACRA board spent K46 million on a trip to Dubai where five board members and two management officers attended a two-week training on corporate governance and information communication technology.
MACRA justified the training saying it was budgeted for and could not be conducted in Malawi.
