Sankwasa rejects Divundu CEO's contract renewal

The Divundu Village Council is fighting to retain its long-serving chief executive Athanasius Ndjamba Maghumbo, after urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa rejected a proposed five-year extension of his contract, citing governance failures, alleged mismanagement and poor performance.

In a letter dated 1 September and seen by this publication, council's management committee recommended that council chairperson Wensel Kana approve an appeal against Sankwasa's decision and make representations to the ministry in support of the contract renewal.

Maghumbo has served as CEO since Divundu was granted village council status in 2015. His contract ended in June, but council resolved in April to renew his employment contract for a further five years.

However, Sankwasa refused to approve the decision.

In a letter dated 27 August to Kana, seen by this publication, the minister said he did not support the council's decision to renew Maghumbo's contract.

Sankwasa said he had “carefully reviewed all the documents submitted regarding the renewal” and noted that Maghumbo had served as CEO since the local authority was proclaimed.

“During his tenure, he has failed to submit the required budgets, audit reports, and financial statements, including mismanagement especially related to compensations,” the minister said.

He said Maghumbo's “overall performance has not met the required standards”.

“In view of these shortcomings, the renewal of his employment contract is therefore not supported by my office for approval,” Sankwasa wrote.

The minister also directed the council to advertise the CEO position immediately, according to the management committee's appeal submission.

Council defends Maghumbo’s tenure

The council has, however, challenged the decision, arguing that the concerns raised against Maghumbo are largely institutional and capacity-related challenges rather than individual failures.

The committee said the renewal was made in good faith and in the best interests of the institution.

It disputed Sankwasa's assertion that budgets had not been submitted, saying annual budgets were consistently prepared, considered and approved by council before being submitted to the ministry.

“Council therefore respectfully disputes the assertion that budget submissions were not undertaken and requests that the ministry reconsider this aspect upon verification of the council's records,” the submission stated.

The council nevertheless acknowledged challenges surrounding the finalisation of annual financial statements and audit-related processes.

It said these difficulties should be viewed within the broader institutional context, citing vacancies in critical finance and accounting positions, shortages of qualified personnel, technical capacity constraints, delays in external audit processes, and financial and administrative resource limitations.

The committee argued that these challenges could not reasonably be attributed solely to Maghumbo.

Another central argument is that there has been no formal finding of misconduct, dishonesty, gross negligence or dereliction of duty against him.

The council said no disciplinary determination had established that the shortcomings identified by the minister were the direct result of deliberate actions or omissions by the CEO.

“In the absence of such findings, council respectfully submits that the non-approval of the renewal may be disproportionate to the circumstances,” the committee stated.

Institutional knowledge

The appeal also stresses continuity, noting Maghumbo's institutional knowledge gained during his tenure since 2015.

The council warned that immediately implementing the minister's directive could disrupt ongoing projects and programmes, affect institutional stability, delay the implementation of council resolutions and create uncertainty among employees and stakeholders.

It further argued that such a move could affect service delivery initiatives underway, saying continuity in leadership was critical while governance and financial improvement measures were being implemented.

When contacted for comment, Maghumbo declined to comment on Sankwasa's decision or the council's planned appeal.

He said he was unaware of the appeal and only knew that his contract had not been renewed.

“I’m not aware of those things. I’m only aware that my contract is terminated,” he said.

Maghumbo also confirmed that he was no longer in office.