Drama over Buluma: Resigns as acting NOCMA CEO, gets fired by her Board the next day

Buluma accuses NOCMA Board chair, Secretary for Energy of flouting energy laws as reason for tendering resignation

* Citing the Public Finance Act 2022; Public Procurement & Disposal Act and other legal frameworks

* Contract termination was based on the determination made by the Ombudsman that ordered the NOCMA Board to relieve her of duties

By Duncan Mlanjira

A day after Helen Buluma tendered in her resignation as acting chief executive officer for National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), the Board chairperson, Colleen Zamba — who is also Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) — issued her with a letter terminating her employment contact.

The letter dated November 15 cited the contract termination was based on the determination made by the Ombudsman that ordered the NOCMA Board to relieve her of duties.

Zamba said after the Board wrote to the Ombudsman on October 31 objecting to her determination to effect the decision, they obtained an alternative legal advice from the Attorney General, who advised them that they were “compelled to undertake the determination even if disagreed”.

“Any review rights are the domain of the Courts,” Zamba said in her letter. “Consequently, I regret to inform you that you have been relieved from your duties, effective immediately in compliance with the Ombudsman’s determination.”

Zamba’s letter was copied to herself as SPC, Secretary for Energy and Comptroller of Statutory Corporations.

However, in her letter, Buluma accuses the NOCMA Board chairperson and Secretary for Energy of flouting energy laws as reason for tendering resignation, citing the Public Finance Act 2022; Public Procurement & Disposal Act and other legal, regulatory and corporate governance frameworks “which NOCMA, as a public company is supposed to adhere to”.

Addressed to Zamba herself as NOCMA Board chairperson and also copied to the SPC and Secretary for Energy — as well as Secretary to Treasury — Buluma contends that her decision has been reached “after serious consideration and taking into account the immense pressure” that she faced over the past recent months from Zamba, Secretary for Energy, Alfonso Chikuni and others “to bring new suppliers through dubious means and in some instances expensive fuel financiers”.

She mentioned the suppliers as follows:

* Confluence Asset Management Holding PTE Limited—US$250 million fuel financing;

* 700SA Oil & Gas—supply of 40,000MT monthly each product (value US$40 million per month;

* GY & Sons Holdings—supply of 40,000MT of both diesel and petrol;

* Dalitso General Dealers and “others which the PS responsible for Energy solicited”.

She indicated that on numerous occasions, she provided Zamba on the due processes to be followed in fuel procurement but despite this Buluma continues “to receive relentless pressure to proceed outside the normal procurement procedures and more recently taking advantage of fuel whortages as an excuse to enter into rushed agreements”.

Buluma discloses that on Sunday, November 13, the PS for Energy called for a meeting chaired by Zamba in the OPC boardroom “whose main agenda was to discuss an expression of interest from GY & Sons to supply fuel to NOCMA and the MERA resolution which was not to declare a fuel supply emergency”.

She said the meeting pushed directives for NOCMA management “to quickly publish a request for proposal (RFP) to include all the above unsolicited expressions of interest for fuel supply especially GY & Sons.

MERA management was directed “to influence its Board to rescind its earlier decision not to declare a fuel emergency”, saying the PS for Energy should gazette the situation “for the sole reason that this would open the opportunity for importers to take on more suppliers”.

NOCMA was to “proceed to do an RFP and send to all the above unsolicited suppliers and those that the PS would provide to normalize such procurements”.

Buluma accused the Board that this is despite providing assurance by herself and NOCMA Director of operations “that strategies were in place to deal with the fuel shortages” and that NOCMA was “coordinating well with MERA and other stakeholders, including the Reserve Bank of Malawi, to deal with the fuel shortages”.

“We also stressed the fact that fuel shortages that were being experienced were not due to lack of product from the current suppliers, but challenges in accessing foreign exchange and that engaging new suppliers at this points would not solve the challenges.”

Thus she accuse the Board and the PS that the orders she and her management team were receiving “directly undermine the Public Finance Act 2022; Public Procurement & Disposal Act and other legal, regulatory and corporate governance frameworks”.