Phwetekere Defies OPC Order, Refuses Secondment to Domasi College
Executive Director of the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board, Prince Phwetekere, has openly rejected a government directive that sought to second him to Domasi College of Education as a lecturer, insisting he is not a civil servant and remains contractually employed by the Loans Board.
The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), through Chief Secretary Justin Saidi, issued a notice this week announcing that Phwetekere had been seconded to Domasi with immediate effect. The statement further indicated that he was expected to report for duties at the institution without delay.
However, in a strongly-worded letter addressed to the OPC, which we have seen, Phwetekere has challenged the directive, describing it as unprocedural, irregular, and legally unfounded.
Phwetekere argues that he voluntarily retired from the Civil Service on 28th February 2023, meaning he ceased being a government employee before he was appointed Executive Director of the Loans Board. He says his current employment is based on a five-year fixed-term contract effective 1st March 2023, and therefore he cannot be moved or reassigned as if he were still under government service.
“My employment with the Loans Board is not governed under the Civil Service framework and I am serving on a fixed-term contract. I never requested nor consented to any secondment,” reads part of his letter.
Phwetekere further states that any change to his employment status can only be made by the Board of the institution that appointed him, not by the OPC, and only in accordance with the terms of his contract.
The move by the OPC has raised serious questions about governance, interference in parastatal operations, and the handling of executive contracts within statutory bodies. The Loans Board is legally mandated to operate with its own institutional autonomy, including authority over its Chief Executive’s tenure — a fact that Phwetekere is now invoking to challenge the directive.
Observers say the standoff signals a potential legal and administrative confrontation, especially if the government insists on enforcing the secondment order. For now, Phwetekere maintains that he will continue running the Loans and Grants Board until the Board — not OPC — decides otherwise.
Meanwhile, the OPC has not yet issued a public response to Phwetekere’s pushback, leaving the situation in a tense and uncertain stalemate.