ESCOM’s new CEO, William Kaipa, suspends the finance director as investigations continue into a K8 billion tyres procurement linked to Mapeto Tyres.
A new wave of internal scrutiny has hit ESCOM after the corporation’s newly appointed CEO moved to suspend its finance director over concerns tied to a K8 billion tyres procurement.
Newly-appointed Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) Chief Executive Officer William Kaipa, appointed by the Board to drive transformation rather than preserve business as usual, has reportedly identified alleged procurement violations involving tyres purchased in September last year.
According to Misryoum, Kaipa suspended director of finance Brian Ndisale as investigations were initiated over alleged flouting of procedures.. ESCOM’s communications leadership indicated the suspension is meant to clear the way for further review, without releasing additional specifics at this stage.
In this context, the tyres case centers on how supply arrangements were handled, with concerns that the quantities purchased went beyond operational needs. Misryoum reports that some tyres were expected to expire before being used.
The procurement contract for supplying the tyres was reportedly awarded to Mapeto Tyres as a single supplier, a decision described as contrary to policy that at the time required multiple suppliers to benefit.
Misryoum adds that the procurement process traced back to an advert dated April 17, 2025, inviting companies to supply the tyres. The move came as Kaipa began issuing directives soon after taking charge of ESCOM, aiming to address what the company described as operational instability.
Meanwhile, Kaipa also placed a moratorium on certain functional review implementations and ordered a halt to outstanding steps linked to unimplemented recommendations. These instructions included limits on role changes and structural adjustments without the CEO’s express approval.
In a slightly broader realignment effort, executives were directed to identify staff whose redeployment or demotion had allegedly caused loss of critical skills or operational inefficiencies, with a focus on prioritising areas such as system control centre operations, faults management, network operations, and customer service.. The expected outcomes described by Misryoum include stabilised operations and improved fault response.
Insight: For utilities like ESCOM, procurement discipline is more than paperwork. When purchasing decisions affect readiness, budgeting, and service delivery, leadership scrutiny can quickly translate into public confidence.
Insight: Misryoum notes that the suspension and investigation could become a wider test of governance at ESCOM, especially as the CEO pushes operational reforms alongside internal compliance checks.