Malawi Minister Tells Acting Anti-Graft Chief to Stay as Hiring Stalls

Malawi's justice minister says he has instructed the acting head of the country's Anti-Corruption Bureau to remain in his post while the government completes its search for a permanent director general. Charles Mhango's account, reported by Nyasa Times on November 2, concerns Gabriel Chembezi, whose latest acting contract was due to expire on November 3, 2026.

Mhango said the recruitment process was at an advanced stage but had not been completed before the contract deadline. He said he had directed Chembezi to continue working until a substantive director general could be appointed. The instruction is the minister's reported account; a newly signed appointment instrument or extension order was not available in the records reviewed for this article.

The vacancy matters because the bureau is responsible for investigating alleged corruption and prosecuting cases under Malawi's anti-corruption framework. Its independence, continuity and the process for selecting a permanent director can affect confidence in the agency's oversight work. The bureau's own public management listing continues to identify Chembezi as acting director general, but the listing does not specify the legal instrument or expiry date of his current appointment.

Nyasa Times reported that the director-general post had been advertised three times over two years and that none of eight candidates shortlisted in an earlier round secured the job. The newspaper said the ministry re-advertised the vacancy in August. Chembezi had previously served in the acting role after the departure of another interim head, Hilary Chilomba.

There is a separate legal question about how long an acting director can serve. A provision of the Corrupt Practices Act governing acting appointments sets a six-month period or until the vacancy is filled, as reported by local newspapers. The legal status of successive extensions cannot be resolved from those accounts alone. In earlier reporting, the Times Group quoted Attorney General Frank Mbeta defending Chembezi's extension until November 2026, saying the government considered the arrangement lawful. That was the government's position on the earlier contract, not independent confirmation of the legal basis for a new extension after November 3.

The minister's explanation is that the government has not yet finished the recruitment process. No new permanent appointee, parliamentary confirmation or court determination on the current acting arrangement was established by the reviewed sources. This report does not allege that the minister or the acting director committed an offence.

The next verifiable development will be publication of a permanent appointment, a formal extension instrument, parliamentary confirmation or a court decision addressing the acting tenure. Until then, the minister's direction and the unfinished recruitment process are reported public statements rather than a definitive legal finding.