Escom Chief Kamkwamba Kumwenda Moved to Mubas as a Lecturer

The government has with immediate effect reassigned Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) Chief Executive Officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda to the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), formerly the Polytechnic.

The development marks yet another major shift within Malawi’s key parastatals barely a month after the new administration took office. Several top executives in state-owned enterprises have either been suspended, redeployed, or reassigned—actions that some commentators have described as “cleaning up the rubble.”

A letter signed by the Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), Justin Saidi, dated this week, has directed Kumwenda to wind up his duties at Escom immediately.

According to the correspondence, Kumwenda has been assigned to serve as a lecturer at MUBAS, though he will remain an employee of Escom. The directive further clarifies that Kumwenda will not lose any of his current employment benefits or entitlements while serving in his new academic role.

The government has not publicly stated the reasons for the reassignment. However, the move comes at a time when the energy sector remains under scrutiny over persistent power challenges, including blackouts, aging infrastructure, and financial inefficiencies within both Escom and its sister companies.

The reshuffle is expected to trigger further debate among industry analysts, with many waiting to see what additional reforms or leadership changes the administration will implement in the coming weeks.