Supreme Court refuses to save Chihana’s job hours before he’s formally dismissed

It truly never rains but pours for Yeremiah Chihana. In an astonishing twist of fate, the embattled former water board chief was dealt a brutal one-two punch on Tuesday — losing his Supreme Court battle and his job in the space of a single, catastrophic day.

The former legislator had rushed to the

Supreme Court of Appeal seeking emergency judicial relief to halt the effects of his suspension as Blantyre Water Board chief executive — only for the seven-member bench to dramatically dismiss his application on the spot.

As if that humiliation wasn’t enough, Chihana was then summarily sacked from the public water utility altogether, delivering a devastating double hammer blow in the space of just hours.

Sitting in Blantyre on Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Appeal threw out Chihana’s bid for a stay order and injunction, effectively slamming the door on his hopes of staying in post while his case dragged on — and leaving his employment dispute to be fought out in the Industrial Relations Court instead.

The powerful panel of seven justices, led by Deputy Chief Justice Lovemore Chikopa, ruled firmly that the dispute was fundamentally an employment matter that belonged before the specialised labour court, not the country’s highest court of appeal.

The crushing ruling capped months of escalating warfare between Chihana and the BWB board, a saga that has already produced a dizzying sequence of suspensions, court orders, dramatic reinstatements and renewed suspensions.

Then came the knockout blow.

A chilling dismissal letter dated 5 October 2026, signed by BWB board chairperson Stanley Chirwa, confirmed Chihana had been summarily dismissed from the very position he had only taken up in April — bringing an abrupt and humiliating end to a tenure defined almost entirely by legal warfare rather than leadership.

It marks the latest chapter in a turbulent saga that has seen Chihana repeatedly drag the board through the courts in a desperate bid to cling onto his office.

The courts had already signalled where this was heading, with the High Court ruling back in May that the dispute was fundamentally an employment matter and discharging an earlier order that had temporarily halted his suspension.

The legal rollercoaster showed no signs of slowing, with the High Court striking again in September — lifting a second injunction that had been temporarily shielding Chihana from the effects of his suspension.

Now, with the Supreme Court slamming shut his latest legal lifeline and the BWB board formally terminating his employment, Chihana finds himself facing arguably the darkest moment yet in his extraordinary fall from grace.

The dramatic developments also pile fresh pressure on questions over governance and stability at one of Malawi’s most critical public utilities — an organisation already grappling with serious financial strain, having recently been hit with a crushing judgment debt of nearly K3 billion, including collection costs, in a separate legal matter entirely.

For Chihana, Tuesday will go down as a truly catastrophic day: the Supreme Court refused him the lifeline he desperately sought, while his own employer simultaneously moved to sever ties with him for good.

The saga may not be over yet, with Chihana still free to pursue his fight through the Industrial Relations Court.

But for now, the brutal message from Tuesday’s events is unmistakable: the courtroom has failed to save his job — and the boardroom has now officially taken it away.

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