Blantyre Water Board workers move to oust CEO and board chair in extraordinary power grab

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has been plunged into extraordinary chaos after workers reportedly declared that both the Chief Executive Officer, Yeremia Chihana, and Board Chairperson, Stanley Chirwa, should be removed from office — a dramatic escalation that could trigger a major legal and governance battle.

In what would mark an unprecedented development in Malawi’s parastatal sector, sources say the BWB workers’ union convened a meeting and resolved to “relieve” both the CEO and Board Chairperson of their duties.

The astonishing claim immediately raises a fundamental legal question: can a workers’ union actually remove the chief executive or chairperson of a statutory body?

Under normal circumstances, the appointment and removal of a parastatal CEO and board members falls squarely under the institution’s enabling legislation and corporate governance framework — not a decision for employees to make unilaterally.

Yet at BWB, workers appear to have dramatically thrust themselves into the centre of an already bitter and long-running leadership dispute.

BWB spokesperson Evelyn Khonje confirmed that employees had gathered outside the organisation’s premises, though she said she had no further information regarding the reasons behind the gathering.

The extraordinary drama adds yet another explosive twist to the long-running Chihana saga, which has already seen the BWB Board repeatedly suspend the embattled CEO, only for the courts to reinstate him time and again — effectively turning his tenure into an ongoing tug-of-war between the boardroom and the courtroom.

Now, it appears workers have entered the battlefield too.

If the union’s resolution to remove the CEO and Board Chairperson stands, the question facing BWB is no longer simply who runs the organisation — but who actually holds the legal authority to decide that in the first place.

The chaos threatens to plunge the water utility into its deepest governance crisis yet, with yet another legal confrontation now looming on the horizon.

For now, employees remain gathered at BWB premises as the extraordinary leadership standoff continues to unfold — with one thing abundantly clear: Blantyre Water Board has entered truly uncharted territory.