Umodzi Holdings suspends CEO Kamlepo amid leadership crisis

State-owned Umodzi Holdings Limited board has suspended chief executive officer Kamlepo Kalua and appointed director of finance and administration Jonathan Mwakyelu to act in his position.

The development has escalated a leadership crisis with Kalua insisting that he remains in office.

Kalua: I am not suspended. | Nation

In a staff notice dated October 13 2026, board chairperson Geobra Kamanga announced that Kalua’s suspension is with immediate effect and that Mwakyelu will act in his position until further communication.

“I write to advise members of staff that effective immediately, Hon. Kamlepo Kalua has been placed on an administrative suspension as chief executive officer of Umodzi Holdings Limited,” he said in the notice, which also appealed to staff to support Mwakyelu.

But in an interview yesterday, Kalua disputed the suspension, saying he was yet to receive specific communication explaining the decision and questioning the basis for the action.

“I am not suspended. A suspension should tell you the reasons why you are suspended. Can you say you are suspending somebody because of private issues?” queried Kalua, a former legislator for Rumphi East Constituency.

He also denied receiving any communication from the board and wondered what “an administrative suspension” is all about.

“Have you ever heard of administrative suspension? In Malawi, we politicise everything,” said Kalua.

He said Umodzi Holdings was making progress and he expected to release a performance report in the coming days detailing what he described as significant profits the company had made in the last quarter.

But Kamanga, in a separate interview, confirmed the board’s decision, saying he had communicated it to Kalua.

“Yes, I can confirm he has been suspended. The reasons are personal to him. I have communicated with him,” he said.

Kamanga said the board intended to engage Kalua on professional conduct in a corporate environment “We will sit down and guide him on the best way to conduct himself at a corporate company”.

Comptroller for Statutory Corporations Stuart Ligomeka, who doubles as Deputy Chief Secretary to the Government, declined to comment, saying the matter fell within the board’s mandate.

The dispute comes after a standoff at Blantyre Water Board involving recently fired CEO Yeremiah Chihana and the water utility’s board. The two parties went to court back and forth before the board eventually fired Chihana last week.

Both Chihana and Kalua are politicians who lost their parliamentary seats in the September 16 2025 General Election.

Umodzi Holdings Limited manages Umodzi Park comprising the five-star President Hotel, Bingu wa Mutharika International Convention Centre, presidential villas and Malawi Square in Lilongwe.

In recent years, it has recorded major financial and operational turnaround with profitability hitting K1.2 billion and K1.9 billion in the 2022/23 and the 2023/24 fiscal years, respectively.

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