Some members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) mainly from Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and People’s Party (PP) have reportedly reconstituted a ‘gang’ to remove Shadreck Namalomba as their chairperson for his display of incompetence, misbehavior and poor leadership qualities.
Some inside sources within the committee have confided in us that some of the irate members have been boycotting meetings convened by Namalomba as a way of expressing their dissatisfaction and resentment over poor leadership.
PAC comprises 21 members including the embattled Namalomba himself.
However, according to one member who opted for anonymity for fear of reprisals, about 14 MPs want Namalomba to go.
Said the source: “Of course we have our own WhatsApp group and all seems to be okay on the surface but underneath members still don’t want the chairperson and I am one of them who wish he should have left the position way back. This man is swayed by politics and has demonstrated incompetence over the years.”
Another source recalled that last week, the committee was scheduled to meet but to conduct its actual business but failed because “there was no quorum.”
He said: “Most of the people shunned the meeting and it is due to the same reason that members want another chairperson and not this Namalomba.”
This is not the first time the MPs have exuded their wrath over Namalomba, who is also official spokesperson for the ousted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-which in recent times has been embroiled in unrelenting infighting over leadership.
In October last year, some disgruntled members of PAC also issued a notice of intention to move Namalomba following his ‘childish’ remarks attacking the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Speaking to the media then, one of the aggrieved MCP legislators George Zulu said it was justifiable to have the chair removed for his “attack” on a governance institution such as ACB.
He said his conduct undermined efforts of such credible institutions.
Namalomba wrote a letter, in his capacity as DPP mouthpiece, lambasting the graft-busting body of harassing and persecuting his boss and former president Peter Mutharika.
Mutharika is under ACB investigation for allegedly abusing his presidential privileges by allowing importation of K5 billion worth of cement using his duty-free status.
Namalomba’s conduct also irked Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) as it demanded his immediate removal.
Later, the High Court sitting in Zomba granted an injunction to Namalomba, effectively restraining attempts to remove him from his position.