Dual board roles freeze energy sector accountability

The energy sector is facing governance concerns as chief of the civil service chairs boards of interconnected power State-owned companies, raising questions over accountability, commercial independence and investor confidence.

Despite repeated warnings over conflict of interest, Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC), who heads the civil service, still chairs the boards of Electricity Generation Company (Egenco), Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) and the controversial Power Market Limited (PML), which were unbundled from Escom.

Escom workers repair a faulty line that carries power generated by Egenco and sold by PML. | Nation

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says the governance structure, which allows the SPC to head boards of Egenco, Escom and PML, undermines the commercial distance needed in the power market.

In an interview, PAC chairperson Steven Malondera said the setup creates an obvious conflict when the respective State utilities must negotiate power purchase agreements (PPAs), tariffs and debt settlements, among themselves.

“Good corporate governance is not about who is legally allowed to sit on a board; it is about whether the arrangement inspires confidence that decisions are independent, transparent and in the public interest,” said Malondera.

Sees obvious conflict: Malondera (C)

He said Parliament already raised concerns over executive civil servants’ dual chairmanships and overlapping appointments, but the Executive had not acted on the matter.

With PML reinstated in April 2026, when the High Court cleared it to resume operations after the earlier dissolution as the Single Buyer, Malondera said oversight must be strengthened to prevent public funds from being lost in unverified inter-company balances.

“If three interconnected public utilities are controlled through overlapping board leadership, then transparency must be exceptionally high,” he said. “Otherwise, accountability becomes blurred.”

He said Parliament may push for legal changes if the Executive fails to resolve the conflicts.

The board overlap is not new as former SPCs, including Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi and Colleen Zamba, chaired boards of strategic parastatal such as Egenco, PML and National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma).

Former Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) board chairperson Leonnard Chikadya said in 2022 that the SPC’s presence on utility boards made independent regulation difficult because a regulator could not easily discipline a body chaired by the head of the civil service.

Corporate governance expert Dicks Mfune said in an interview this week that the problem goes beyond administration because the SPC acts for the State as owner under the Companies Act.

He said combining shareholder authority and board leadership creates a situation in which the office is effectively judging its own decisions.

“It is an unhealthy situation where the SPC is the chair for three State-Owned Enterprises in the same sector,” Mfune said. “This is a possible source of administrative conflicts of interest, leading to compromised strategic direction.”

He added that previous debt collection disputes between Escom and Egenco had to be taken to the Office of the Ombudsman because the internal structures failed to resolve them.

The Secretary for Information and Communications Technology Harold Msusa said the government had not received any formal communication or submission from Parliament, or its Public Accounts Committee, on the issues raised through the media.

He said the government would not comment on the matter until it is formally communicated through the established institutional channels.

Msusa said once the matter is formally received, the government would consider the issues through the appropriate processes and respond accordingly.

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