RBM “fires” three senior directors, including Pastor Esau Banda

The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has removed three senior directors from their positions, including its Director of Human Resources, Pastor Esau Banda, in a management shake-up affecting the central bank’s top officials.

Banda, who is also the founder of Pentecost International Christian Centre (PICC), is among three senior officials reassigned to other institutions with immediate effect, according to Administrative Notice Number 1127 dated October 20, 2026, and signed by RBM Governor George Partridge.

Banda has been seconded to the Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism, where he will serve as Special Advisor on Trade and Industrialisation.

He is reported to have served at the central bank for 26 years, rising through the ranks to head the Human Resources directorate.

The other officials affected are Deputy Governor responsible for Operations Kisukyabo Simwaka and Director of Public Relations Boston Maliketi Banda.

Simwaka has been seconded to the Department of Economic Planning and Development under the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation, while Boston Maliketi Banda will serve as a lecturer at the Malawi College of Accountancy.

The changes come amid reports that the three officials had been dismissed from their positions at the central bank.

However, the administrative notice confirms their secondments to other institutions but does not explicitly state that they have been dismissed from the RBM or public service.

The bank had not publicly explained the reasons behind the changes by press time.