Colleen Zamba: The Corrupt-In-Chief, Top Civil Servant Who Brought Malawi to Its Knees

Colleen Zamba was appointed Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) in June 2022, hailed as a reformist economist with international experience. Instead, she has turned Malawi’s highest civil service office into a factory of corruption, manipulation, and primitive accumulation. As Board Chair of the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), she has wielded unchecked power over the country’s fuel lifeline — and ordinary Malawians are paying the price through endless fuel queues, skyrocketing fares, and an economy in freefall.

Even President Lazarus Chakwera himself admitted this week that “some people at NOCMA are sabotaging” his government’s efforts to stabilize fuel supply. What he did not say openly — but what Malawians already know — is that the finger points squarely at Zamba.

Rigging Fuel Contracts

The rot began in November 2022, when then-acting NOCMA CEO Hellen Buluma told Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee:

“Madam Zamba called me several times, pressuring me to award fuel contracts to companies she herself selected.”

These were not legal tenders but handpicked suppliers, politically connected and shielded from scrutiny. When summoned, Zamba contemptuously refused to appear before PAC. The Attorney General rushed to block the inquiry. Malawians learned the first hard truth: Zamba was above the law.

Sabotaging Watchdogs

In February 2023, Zamba illegally suspended ACB Director Martha Chizuma. The U.S. Embassy condemned it as “harassment.” Legal experts said it was unconstitutional. It was a clear strategy: neutralize the one person capable of investigating her schemes.

The Trillion-Kwacha Fraud

By September 2024, the full scale of her corruption exploded. Zamba signed a K1.5 trillion “government-to-government” contract with a Dubai-based company to supply 250,000 MT of fuel and 600,000 MT of fertilizer. The deal required 100% upfront payment.

But weeks later, Sheikh Ahmed Al Qassimi publicly denied ever signing any agreement with Malawi:

“I have never entered into any deal with the Government of Malawi. Any documents linking my office are fraudulent.”

The contracts bore Zamba’s signature. The fraud was undeniable.

DPP MP Ben Phiri later hammered the point:

“Colleen Zamba paid billions under a fake G2G Dubai deal. No fuel came, because she pocketed the money.”

This was not incompetence. It was outright theft.

The $22 Million Scandal

Buluma, the whistleblower Zamba tried to silence, could not hide her anger at yet another scam — the so-called Oman deal:

“With all due respect the Government owes Malawians the truth as to why the Country is still facing fuel scarcity! Nanga $22 million munalipira ku Oman a month or so ago ija mafuta ake ali kuti? Tiziti mwabetsa nso ndalama yonseyo! Pano muli mu Mozambique kukasaka mafuta kwa madobadoba ngati mukugula tomato! Ma low quality fuels mukugulawo mufuna munokole ma galimoto a a Malawi pamavuto onsewa! Eish! Zophweteketsa mutu! Such impunity sindinaonepo!!”

Translation: Millions of dollars were paid, but no fuel ever arrived. Instead, Zamba’s NOCMA is now scrambling for fuel “from street vendors in Mozambique,” buying low-quality imports that risk damaging Malawian vehicles.

The Human Cost

The suffering of Malawians is the direct result of Zamba’s schemes:

• At filling stations, citizens queue for days. “I slept in my car for two nights,” said a driver in Blantyre. “I missed work and lost my job.”
• Hospitals run out of fuel for ambulances. In Mzuzu, a nurse admitted: “We lost a patient because we could not rush her. The ambulance was dry.”
• Farmers watch crops rot. In Nsanje, tomatoes worth millions spoiled under the sun. “No trucks came,” a farmer said bitterly. “They said there was no fuel.”
• Commuters are being robbed blind. Minibus fares have doubled. “I take home nothing,” said a Lilongwe worker. “All my pay goes into transport.”

This is not misfortune. It is man-made disaster engineered at the very top.

The Land Giveaway

Even as Malawians suffer, Zamba was accused in August 2025 of secretly approving a K130 billion land giveaway at Lilongwe’s Area 55. Supporters called it a “contribution” to a joint venture. But the secrecy stinks of the same pattern: national assets handed away without accountability.

A Pattern of Primitive Accumulation

Zamba’s record speaks for itself:

• Manipulate procurement as NOCMA board chair.
• Sabotage watchdogs like the ACB.
• Sign fraudulent billion-dollar deals.
• Pocket millions while no fuel arrives.
• Dodge Parliament and hide behind power.

Even her own President admits NOCMA is being sabotaged. Parliament has been stonewalled. Civil society has demanded arrests. Whistleblowers have cried out. Opposition MPs have exposed theft. Yet Zamba remains in office, untouched.

The Verdict: Zamba Is the Fuel Crisis

Every fuel queue, every grounded ambulance, every farmer’s rotting produce, every commuter robbed by fare hikes — they all lead back to Colleen Zamba.

She is not a victim of circumstance. She is the architect of Malawi’s fuel disaster. She has betrayed Malawians, stolen billions, destroyed institutions, and left the nation at the mercy of fraudsters.

Colleen Zamba is not just part of the problem. She is the problem.

And until she is held to account, Malawi’s queues, hunger, and despair will only deepen.

 

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