Africa-Press – Malawi. Social commentator Onjezani Kenani has raised sharp questions about last night’s wave of appointments to the boards of state institutions, saying speed is good but the rule of law and basic corporate governance cannot be sacrificed for haste.
Kenani began by congratulating those appointed and praising the government’s quick decision-making. He then turned to two serious concerns that he says must be answered publicly: whether the appointments respect existing law, and whether they follow simple principles of good governance.
On the law, Kenani points to the National Planning Commission statute. He notes that the Commission’s current board was appointed in 2024 for a five-year term and that the previous board served from 2019 to 2024. “Is last night’s appointment, therefore, in accordance with the law?” he asks, demanding clarity on whether fixed statutory tenures were ignored or overridden.
On corporate governance, Kenani highlights an unsettling pattern he says is appearing again: university lecturers being named to the boards of the very public universities that employ them. He warns that this creates a direct conflict of interest. “If you wanted to appoint them, why not let them sit on the board of other public universities and not the very same ones where they are currently serving?” he asks. In Kenani’s view, letting staff oversee their own managers and budgets is plainly against governance norms and undermines accountability.
The questions are not technical quibbles. If statutory tenures were breached, appointments could be legally vulnerable and decisions taken by those boards could be challenged. If board members are supervising the same institutions that pay their salaries, oversight will be compromised and public trust will erode — exactly the opposite of what a new round of appointments should achieve.
Kenani is careful to say he has nothing personal against any individual named to boards. His criticism is aimed at systems and consequences. He calls on those in power to explain the legal basis for the appointments and to show how they will prevent conflicts of interest that weaken oversight and invite corruption.
Civil society groups, opposition politicians and governance watchdogs should take note, Kenani argues, and demand swift, transparent answers. He suggests that the Attorney General’s office, the Public Appointments Committee, and the National Audit Office should be asked to review the process and publish findings so citizens can judge for themselves whether the rules were followed.
The broader message from Kenani is simple: speed is welcome, but it must be matched by legality and integrity. Appointments that look rushed or that breach basic governance principles will not build public confidence; they will destroy it. “Come now, let us reason together,” he writes, urging a public conversation before these boards begin work and before mistakes become costly and irreversible.
If the government wants to build trust, it should publicly release the legal opinions and selection criteria used for last night’s appointments and put in place conflict-of-interest safeguards for board members who are also employees of the institutions they will govern. Without that, Kenani warns, applause for speed will soon turn to outrage over broken rules and weakened institutions.
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