Malawi govt suspends Aids Commission boss

National Aids Commission (NAC) executive director Thomas Bisika has been sent on forced leave by Malawi government effective Monday, October 6 2014, Chief Secretary George Mkondiwa confirmed.

According to published report, Bisika has been sent on forced leave to pave way for investigations, which government is yet to make public.

The decision was recommnended by NAC executive board, which met on Tuesdayin Lilongwe.

“We received communication from the NAC board that Bisika should be on a month-long leave. The reasons they gave are that he is being investigated on some issues in relation to his line of work and we thought it wise to suspend him until the investigations are over,” said Mkondiwa as quoted by The Nation on October 8.

According to the daily newspaper, Miriam Mangochi, a former NAC employee currently at Ministry of Health, is tipped to replace Bisika in an interim capacity until his fate is decided

Former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika appointed Bisika as executive director in September 2010

Before joining NAC, Bisika worked as health system adviser to the World Health Organisation (WHO) based in Abuja, Nigeria.  He also worked as programme specialist for the United Nations Population Fund.