Malawi’s Higher Education Students’ Loans board CEO Chris Chisoni fired

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Christopher Chisoni has been removed from his position as Chief Executive Officer for Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) with immediate effect, Maravi Post has learnt.

According to a statement in our possession from HESLB board of directors, Chisoni has been removed based on the findings on an investigation that revealed that procedures were not followed when renewing his contract.

“The Board of Directors of the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) would like to inform all stakeholders in Education, especially the Higher Education sub-sector, and members of the general public that Mr. Christopher Chisoni has been removed as Executive Director of HESLGB, with immediate effect.

“The decision of the Board is based on an investigation that commenced in late January 2021 after the Board observed that Mr. Chisoni’s second contract as Executive Director had commenced on 14^th November 2021, about one and half months after the appointment of the current Board, yet the Board had not renewed the contract as required by the HESLGB Act. The Board then resolved to investigate and ascertain the validity of the contract,” reads the statement in part.

It further states that on the 13^th July 2021, the Board resolved to terminate the contract of Chisoni on the ground that the renewal of his contract was irregular.

Chisoni was also arrested last year in August for allegedly abusing his powers as CEO for HESLGB by awarding an K18 million contract to his wife’s firm EE and A Enterprises of Lilongwe for printing diaries and supply stationary to the board.

Before joining the board, Chisoni was a vocal critic of the government when he was the coordinator of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP).

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).