Malawi cabinet picks under ‘battery of scrutiny’, says President Laz

Prime Lazarus Chakwera has said he has put  to a“ battery of scrutiny” the  picks of ministers in cabinet positions before naming his full government team after winning the presidential election last month.

Chakwera in a briefing released on Wednesday said  the ministers he has picked  together with vice-president Saulos Chilima would be a “well-balanced team” of  high-performing servant leaders who will bring forth the fruits of their Tonse Alliance governance philosophy.

“I know you are anxious to hear an announcement of the new cabinet. In part, this is because I myself gave you the expectation to hear this announcement no later than my inauguration on July 6.

“But on second thought, Dr. Chilima and I decided to subject the list to another battery of scrutiny in order to be doubly sure that we are offering Malawians a well-balanced team of high-performing servant leaders who will bring forth the fruits of our Tonse Philosophy,” said Chakwera.

The Malawi leader has thanked Malawians for their  patience with the “ rigorous process”, assuring that he will be announcing the cabinet “any day now.”

Chakwera  said having promised to form a cabinet of no more than 30 members, of which no less than 12 are to be women, the number of qualified people under consideration exceeds the number of cabinet portfolios.

“For this reason, the task requires considerable thought and prayer on our part and will require understanding and trust on yours. What is certain is that we will still need the remarkable men and women who end up not getting a cabinet appointment this time around to be put to good use elsewhere in the service of Malawians.

“ This is because the work of draining the swamp, clearing the rubble, overhauling the rotten systems of the state, and building new systems cannot be the preserve of Cabinet Ministers alone,” he said.

Presidential aide  Sean Kampondeni has since indicated that preparations for swearing-in of the appointed Cabinet Ministers are also being finalised.

The President had only named a partial cabinet in which vice-president Saulos Chilima, who was sworn-in alongside Chakwera was named as minister of economic planning and development, and public sector reforms.

Chilima played an important role in the re-run of the controversial “Tippex election”, coming together with Chakwera to form the opposition Tonse Alliance that ultimately unseated ex-president Peter Mutharika.

Felix Mlusu was named as Malawi’s finance minister. He was previously managing director of Nico Holdings Plc, a financial company with interests in Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique.

Chikosa Silungwe, another lawyer involved in the court case forcing the election re-run, was named as Malawi’s attorney general. Silungwe previously worked at Malawi’s Law Commission and has a doctorate in Law from the University of Warwick, UK.

Richard Chimwendo Banda was named as minister of homeland security.

Chakwera won the election re-run with almost 59 percent of the vote. The country’s constitutional court had ordered a re-run over “widespread irregularities”, including the use of correction fluid to tamper with tally sheets.

Malawi became only the second country in sub-Saharan Africa to have presidential poll results overturned in the courts, as Kenya did in 2017.