Anglican Bishop Malasa under fire for hand picking under-qualified Diocesan Secretary

Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire Right Reverend Brighton Vitta Malasa has come under fire for allegedly hand picking and hiring Mrs. Brenda Zembeni Maganga as Diocesan Secretary a position which has been vacant for sometime, Nyasatimes can reveal.

According to a letter dated 10th November addressed to the Bishop and signed by 23 members calling themselves ‘concerned citizens’ from St. George’s Anglican Church, the group is accusing Malasa of employing Zembeni Maganga without using proper channel and even consulting the leadership of the entire Upper Shire Diocese.

“We the undersigned writing in our capacity as concerned members of St. George’s Parish in Zomba hereby submit to you our serious concern about the appointment of Mrs. Brenda Zembeni Maganga as the Diocesan Secretary of the Diocese of the Upper Shire as announced in your email of 1st November 2017” reads part of the letter seen by Nyasa Times.

According to the letter, there are serious anomalies with the appointment which requires urgent attention.

The concerned citizens therefore reminded the Bishop some of the steps that are supposed to be followed when hiring senior officers.

“It has been a tradition and accepted practice in the diocese that when positions of senior officers including that of diocesan secretary fall vacant employees recommended for approval to take up the posts are identified through competative interview,” it reads.

Adds the statement: “There are members within us the concerned members of St. George’s Parish who have been on panels in the past  which had interviewed candidates for the position of diocesan secretary. The diocese has been following this procedure as it is aware of the fact that transparency is one of the cardinal principals of good governance
and competative interviews provide this transparency”.

The statement further states that a person who is employed through competative interview gives confidence to the employers that he or she has the ability to perform on the position occupied.

“The manner in which Mrs. Zembeni Maganga has been appointed to the position of diocesan secretary is clearly not in line with modern day principles of good governance, transparency and accountability”.

“Your Lordship, the Diocesan Act states that the diocesan standing committee (DSC) shall appoint the Diocesan Secretary with the consent of the Bishop” the statement reads while noting that this was not cleared in the communication from Bishop.

Efforts to hear Malasa’s side of the story proved futile as he did not respond after the topic was introduced to him.

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