The High Court in Blantyre has once again halted government’s controversial secondment of senior parastatal executives to public universities, dealing another blow to a project that courts have repeatedly found wanting—but which Attorney General Frank Mbeta appears determined to pursue regardless. The rulings are rapidly piling up, and the message from the judiciary is becoming difficult to ignore: the government’s redeployment drive is legally fragile. In her determination, High Court Judge Edna Bodole granted Banda permission to apply for judicial review and issued a stay order stopping the implementation of the Chief Secretary’s decision.
She ruled:“The defendant’s decision made on November 17, 2025 be and is hereby stayed with the result that until the hearing and determination of the application for judicial review… the status quo ante preceding the impugned decision of the defendant remains.” In plain terms, the court ordered that Banda be treated as if the secondment decision had never been made. Through his lawyer, Bentry Nyondo of Ritz Attorneys at Law, Banda argued that his employment with Escom is purely contractual and that he reports only to the Escom Board—not to the Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet. Banda’s three-year contract runs until January 2028, and his legal team argued that he is not a civil servant subject to redeployment under the Malawi Public Service Regulations (MPRS) of 1995.
Reads part of the application:“He is not a civil servant so as to become subject to the authority and direction of the defendant… the claimant’s secondment is marred with bad faith as it is not supported by law or any pressing necessity.” The application further states that Banda has no teaching experience and that the decision effectively amounts to termination of his employment. In unusually strong language, Nyondo criticised the conduct of the Chief Secretary’s office, warning that constitutional offices are not above the law. “The rule of law will certainly not allow the Secretary to the Cabinet to behave like a bull which disregards herbs, shrubs and creepers,”said Nyondo.“The holder of such office can and must only exercise lawful authority.” Despite a growing trail of court defeats, Attorney General Frank Mbeta yesterday insisted government would fight on.
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“I have not yet received [the Banda stay order], but will challenge it in court,”said Mbeta, adding that documents challenging the Kumwenda reinstatement would also be filed. His stance signals an unyielding commitment to a project that has now been repeatedly rejected by the courts—raising fresh questions about whether government is listening to legal guidance or simply ploughing ahead regardless of cost.
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