One Civil Servant Chairs Three Malawian Power Companies That Must Negotiate With Each Other
MALAWI · ENERGY
Key Facts
The arrangement: The Secretary to the President and Cabinet chairs the boards of Escom, Egenco and Power Market Limited.
Why that matters: The three companies must negotiate power purchase agreements, tariffs and debt settlements with one another.
The finding: Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee says the structure creates an obvious conflict of interest.
The quote: Good governance is not about who may legally sit on a board, its chairperson said, but whether the arrangement inspires confidence.
The precedent: Former secretaries Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi and Colleen Zamba chaired boards at Egenco, PML and the national oil company.
The regulator problem: A former energy regulator chairman warned in 2022 that a regulator cannot easily discipline a body chaired by the head of the civil service.
Government response: The information ministry says it has received no formal communication from Parliament and will not comment until it does.
The catch: One official chairs all three companies, so the negotiations between them happen on one side of the table.
Malawi power sector governance now has a specific problem with a specific name. The Secretary to the President and Cabinet chairs the boards of all three state power companies, which means the agreements they strike with one another are negotiated, approved and signed off by the same office.
The structure, described plainly
Malawi’s electricity industry was unbundled into separate companies. Egenco generates, Escom supplies, and Power Market Limited operates as the single buyer between them.
The Secretary to the President and Cabinet, who heads the civil service, chairs the boards of all three. That is the arrangement Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has now formally questioned.
Power Market Limited was reinstated as the single buyer in April 2026, after the High Court cleared it to resume operations following an earlier dissolution.
What the committee actually said
PAC chairperson Steven Malondera told The Nation that the setup creates an obvious conflict when the utilities must negotiate power purchase agreements, tariffs and debt settlements among themselves. Nyasa Times reported the same finding.
His formulation deserves quoting once: good corporate governance is not about who is legally allowed to sit on a board, but about whether the arrangement inspires confidence that decisions are independent.
He added that if three interconnected utilities are controlled through overlapping board leadership, transparency must be exceptionally high, or accountability becomes blurred.
Why the Malawi power sector case is not merely technical
Inter-company balances between generator, single buyer and supplier are where money hides in every unbundled electricity market. They are settled through negotiation, and negotiation requires two sides.
When one office chairs all three boards, there is no independent counterparty to test a number. Malondera warned specifically about public funds lost in unverified inter-company balances.
Corporate governance specialist Dicks Mfune added that the secretary also acts for the state as owner under the Companies Act. The office ends up judging its own decisions.
The regulator cannot regulate upwards
Leonnard Chikadya, a former chairman of the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority, warned as far back as 2022 that the arrangement made independent regulation close to impossible. A regulator cannot easily discipline a body chaired by the head of the civil service who oversees it.
That is a structural point rather than a personal one. It would apply whoever held the office.
It also explains why the problem has persisted across successive holders, including Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi and Colleen Zamba.
The evidence that it already causes problems
Mfune noted that previous debt-collection disputes between Escom and Egenco had to be taken to the Office of the Ombudsman because internal structures could not resolve them. Two subsidiaries of the same shareholder could not settle a bill between themselves.
That is the practical cost of the arrangement, and it is already on the record. It is not a hypothetical risk.
Disputes escalated to an ombudsman are slower and more expensive than disputes settled by boards that can actually take opposing positions.
Why investors care
Independent power producers sign long-term agreements with the single buyer. The value of those agreements depends on the buyer’s independence and creditworthiness. Both are in question when the buyer, the generator and the supplier share a chairman.
Malawi needs generation investment badly, and its ability to attract it rests on contractual credibility rather than on tariffs alone. Investors price governance directly into their required return.
Malondera made this point himself: the setup undermines investor confidence. That is the argument most likely to move policy.
The government has not engaged
Harold Msusa, secretary for information and communications technology, said the government had received no formal communication or submission from Parliament or its Public Accounts Committee on the issues raised through the media. It would not comment until the matter came through institutional channels.
That is a procedurally correct answer and a substantively empty one. Parliament says it has already raised the concerns with the executive without evident response.
Malondera has indicated that Parliament may pursue legislative changes if the executive continues not to act.
The fix is not complicated
The state can remain the shareholder in all three companies without installing its own chief bureaucrat as chairman of each. Independent, commercially minded directors exist.
Separating ownership from board leadership is standard practice in every well-run state-enterprise system. It is also the cheapest reform available here, because it costs nothing but discretion.
The obstacle is that convenient arrangements are rarely surrendered voluntarily. That is what makes the parliamentary route relevant.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the governance problem in Malawi’s power sector?
The Secretary to the President and Cabinet chairs the boards of Escom, Egenco and Power Market Limited, three state companies that must negotiate power purchase agreements, tariffs and debt settlements with each other.
Who raised the concern?
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, whose chairperson Steven Malondera said the structure creates an obvious conflict of interest and undermines investor confidence.
Has this happened before?
Yes. Former secretaries Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi and Colleen Zamba chaired boards at Egenco, Power Market Limited and the national oil company. A former energy regulator chairman warned about the practice in 2022.
What has the government said?
The secretary for information and communications technology said the government had received no formal communication from Parliament and would not comment until the matter came through institutional channels.
Why does it matter to investors?
Independent power producers contract with the single buyer, and the value of those contracts depends on the buyer’s independence. Governance risk raises the return investors require.
Connected Coverage
We have covered Malawi refusing to devalue while the IMF refuses to sign, and Eskom doubling its annual profit while selling less power. Power sector reform is one of the recurring themes in Africa: The New Scramble.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief