You can jump into the lake, I am not going anywhere, news monger and social media activist Julius Mithi has told his boss, Accountant General Henry Mphasa after he suspended him accusing him of breaking the Malawi Public Service Regulations (MPSR).
In flurry of posts from his regular Dziwazako pub in the Northern city of Mzuzu, Mithi published communication from Mphasa who quoted several MPSR provisions to justify his interdiction which among other things include “impolite” posts.
The Investigator can confirm that Mphasas letter has no basis despite quoting the MPSR as government has no social media policy a loophole many have used to engage in politics and other news sharing. Mithi would be breaking the law only if he shared materials from his office where he is a Senior Accounts Assistant.
Mithi has engaged Mzuzu based Lawyer David Lameck who has responded to Mphasa citing the Ombudsman determination case of late Blandina Khondowe who was at the Ministry of Tourism but engaged in open social media campaign for the UTM. The Ombudsman backed her up and said there was nothing wrong with her posts.
Mphasa wrote on 25th November saying Mithi broken a litany of rules and that most of his posts castigated government and were unfounded. He said he was interdicting Mithi until the matter was investigated. Interdictions are normally done by the Department of Human Resources in Civil Service.
Mithi responding on his page, called the AG the most “useless” since the colonial times and chided him for being an outsider from Water Aid.
“This letter is written to JFM from an MCP boy just appointed boy. The Accountant General Mphasa who has never worked in Government who doesn’t know the constitution of Malawi,” writes Mithi in one post and adds in another, “My lawyer has just responded to a stupid letter from Accountant General who has never worked in Government.”
Mphasa has not responded to our request for comment sent to his phone yesterday.
