Talking Blues: MK754,835,824.14 richer, MK754,835,824.14 poorer – the price the poor pay
In December 2014 former Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Christopher Makileni commenced a lawsuit against the Malawi Government.
He sued for “constructive dismissal” and claimed MK1.1 billion.
His grievance was that on 3 June 2014 he was redeployed from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to the Office of the President and Cabinet by the then Chief Secretary to the Public Service Hawa Ndilowe.
The former Chief Secretary told Makileni she had been ordered by now-former President Peter Mutharika that Makileni should be posted to OPC Special Duties.
That was not all.
He was advised to go home and wait while logistical and administrative arrangements were being organised for him.
In due course, the OPC repossessed his Toyota Prado TX official vehicle.
Seven months elapsed. Nothing came forth.
Makileni, therefore, concluded that he had been “parked”, the jargon used when government views someone as an undesirable employee.
Makileni deemed this “constructive dismissal”; a term used when an employee terminates employment because their employer’s behaviour is so intolerable or heinous or is making life so complicated that the employee has is forced to quit.
Where did it begin?
In 2004, Makileni was working in the Office of the then Vice President Dr Cassim Chilumpha. Around that time, he was arrested on trumped-up charges and subsequently acquitted by the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court in 2007.
He was compensated with MK36 million.
Under the Peoples Party (PP) administration, Makileni was promoted and assigned to the Ministry of Local Government on promotion only to be “parked” when Joyce Banda lost elections in 2014.
Let us fast-forward to now.
In a memo dated 20 August 2020 Attorney General Dr Chikosa Silungwe rebuked Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Zangazanga Chikhosi for more or less going down the same road that Hawa Ndilowe, at the behest of Mutharika, had taken.
Wrote Silungwe in part: “I note that you have not responded to my letter of 16 July 2020. Please note that the purported secondment of Mr Chizaso Nyirongo; and the posting of Mr Amani Mussa breach the Public Service Act, especially Regulation 1:175 and Regulation 1:176 of the Malawi Public Service Regulations. The two decisions are ultra-vires and illegal.”
The fact of the matter was that Nyirongo who previously served as a chief draftsman was being reappointed to replace Mussa despite Ministry of Justice not asking the OPC for the secondment of a person from another department.
Also recently in the news was Principal Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General Gertrude Hiwa’s challenging her transfer to the OPC as chief director for good governance. She was challenging the decision because, among others, she was not given the right to be heard.
In the same memo dated 20 August 2020, Silungwe warned against poorly drafted contracts, unlawful dismissals and reckless redeployment.
He put it in black and white that such tendencies cost taxpayers K29 billion between 2018 and 2020.
Let me paraphrase this last bit: Chikosa was warning the current government that it is us, the taxpayers, who pay and bear the brunt of administrative cockups by those entrusted to manage of our money and that there is no justification whatsoever for penalising the taxpayer because those in power want to settle petty scores with their enemies, real or perceived.
Blues’ Orators, now brace yourself for the stone-cold stunner: two weeks before Attorney General Silungwe rebuked Zangazanga, on 3 August 2020 to be precise, the Industrial Court Relations issued a Consent Order awarding Christopher Makileni the following:
• Pension: MK216,635,824.14;
• Loss of use of vehicle: MK205,500,000.00;
• Salary before tax: MK63,000,000.00 and
• Fuel: MK63,000,000.00
Totalling a whopping MK754,835,824.14!
Thanks to Mutharika’s vindictive act, Makileni is MK754,835,824.14 richer; and the rest of us MK754,835,824.14 poorer.
MK754,835,824.14.
How many school blocks have we lost? How many tablets of life-saving medicine? How many currently defective hospital equipment would this have repaired?
How many teachers and nurses would this have paid?
Putting a bag of fertiliser at the promised but now proving elusive to deliver MK4,995 per bag, this translates into 151,118 bags of fertiliser.
This is the fortune that just one, just one, ill-advised dismissal grounded in revenge and executed in blatant disregard of the Law has cost the taxpayer.
Poof. MK754,835,824.14 gone. Just like that.
You know what? When AG Silungwe was rebuking Zangazanga, those who leaked the memo thought they were hurting Silungwe.
Looking and learning from Makileni´s case, one wishes that Silungwe’s predecessors were that blunt in advising overzealous government officials carrying out instructions, no matter how idiotic or illegal, without considering the implications.
Since there is nothing to be gained by crying over spilt milk, we should look to the future: how can we help Zangazanga Chikhosi and his successors from losing us billions through illegal decisions and actions?
I have a few suggestions; feel free to add yours.
First and foremost, I would urge President Chakwera and his buddy Saulos Chilima to ensure, through the ongoing reform, that the Civil Service is completely de-politicised and that professionalism permeates through the recruitment, promotion and termination of all civil servants.
Secondly, now that Chakwera has recruited an army of advisors, he should draw a line from what they can do and not do.
Most politically driven decisions and dismissals are championed by political advisors whose value I have never understood anyway.
Thirdly, any public or civil servant whose lack of judgement costs the government should foot the bill personally.
Why should our small and vulnerable farmers lose 151,118 bags of fertiliser, just like that, because Mutharika had beef with Makileni?
Finally, I urge Chakwera and Chilima to really take heed of AG Silungwe’s very sound advice. Unlike the squadron of political advisors surrounding them, Silungwe is unafraid when the need to provide sound advice, no matter how unpalatable, arises.
In Chakwera’s and Chilima’s shoes, Silungwe would be my go-to man.
This justifies that lads in Govt and the majority of the public sector have nothing to do! They scheme and create such cases as a means to siphon the citizens hard earned taxes. We have citizens out there who work their asses off day and night and pay hefty sums of their hard earned cash as taxes and what do they get in return? Mediocre public service from ungrateful civil servants who dont have a clue of what there jobs entail. It just shows they ain’t busy at all! They don’t have anything to do. If the reforms are thorough… Read more »
I am in the wrong private sector. I am resigning right away! Easy money is in the civil service.
If the courts agree with him that he was constructively dismissed then why award him 205 million for loss of use of motor vehicle and 63 million for fuel? Both of them were meant to be used while performing his work and they can’t be commuted into personal cash.
Something is seriously wrong here and Sulungwe should have known if he is not part of it. This is day light robbery and setting a very wrong precedence. No man, we are being robbed by organised white collar criminals.
I think there is some errors. 1. Use of vehicle 200m is high. 2. Fuel is not free, is given if on official duties. It is an allowance.like loss of vehicle.
The law in these cases is clearly an arse. And MP’s need to pull their fingers out and review these useless laws. If you can be fired in the private sector then the same should apply in the public sector which is full of old deadwood masquerading as directors or PS. Notice in lieu of pay basi, then pack and go. What kind of nonsense is this where people sue and get full amount that they would have been paid if they had not retired? It also shows that these fellows are very comfortable and lazy in those offices, they… Read more »
Why is Chikosa failing to take the cases to court? The government has enough lawyers to represent us in this kind of theft. We are the ones who pay taxes. We ware being robbed in brought daylight. My understanding is that Chikosa has already settled 22 cases out of court and what are the courts for? This guy has a hidden agenda and must be fired. Inu a Chakwera please walk the talk. We want justice and rule of the law. What the AG is doing is unprofessional? He looks like a Rastaman and you know what rastas do. Peter… Read more »
courts are unpredictable and expensive in this case Makileni demanded 1.1 billion the court could have given him his wish and may be more plus other cost incured during the hearing Period of the case, this is a fair conclusion our leaders need to learn
whenever you have civil cases or unfair dismissal go for out of court settlement
The former Clerk of Parliament demanded K900 million but the courts gave her less than K100 million. The courts should be fully used in such circumstances. This is tax payers money or public money and every kwacha must be accounted for. In this case there is some childishness in the AG.
This both ridiculous and outrageous. Before I talk more about this, Chikosa Silungwe must go. This case was never before the courts and it the consent or agreement was done in the offices. What was wrong to have the case closed in court. Makileni is a trouble maker right from school and at work at the Reserve Bank and in Government. How much does a PS receive for him to get this enormous and outrageous compensation. A PS gets approximately K16 million per annum. Having graduated in 1990, Makileni had less than 7 years to work and you multiply that… Read more »
Even fuel is for office use not a right.
How can the compensation for loss of use of a. Vehicle cost more than the vehicle ? Mk205 Milion?
This is robbery……
Daylight
That’s peanuts my friends.