Mutharika slammed for ‘adopting’ JB’s style- Report

Malawian commentators have criticized President Peter Mutharika for shifting what they call governance style by adopting former President and founder of the People’s Party (PP) Joyce Banda’s way of running the countries affairs in a business as usual leadership.

The commentators, Chancellor College based analyst Ernest Thindwa and Rafiq Hajat, Executive Director for Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI) also slammed Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led government for not living up to its promises made during the campaign.

According to them, the Malawi leader promised not to attend any petty government events warranting the presences of Ministers and Directors not head of State.

But two months down the line, Mutharika has travelled to Machinga where he presided over the installation of Traditional Authrity Kapoloma, opened HTD House in Blantyre, also opened JTI Warehouse in Lilongwe and Grand Palace Hotel in Mzuzu, which was already opened.

“What we see are the same pattern of the previous administration although not at the same scale attending insignificant ceremonial activities,” said Thindwa as quoted by a Daily Times newspaper report of December 19, 2014.

He said it was high time leaders took bold decisions for the country to shift from the trend, observing that it was proving difficult for Mutharika to delink himself from established political culture and adopt a new way of doing things.

Thindwa also faulted Mutharika army of advisers noting that they are not helping him in any way to make a significant shift from undesirable past.

While Hajat advised the President to spend  “all his energies” on addressing real issues and providing solutions to the people rather than engaging himself in addressing events which are not worth attending to.

He singled out the economic meltdown, the depreciation of the kwacha, the prevailing mood of the anger in the streets as real issues needing much needed attention.

However, government spokesperson Kondwani Nankhumwa denied that Mutharika promised not to preside over such functions.

Nankhuma, who is also the Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture, argued that recent functions that the President attended were very important to the state in the sense that government showed the spirit to the work-together with the private sector.

“The President did not say he will never be attending to functions. He said he will be weighing the functions which to attend.

“The President has been able to delegate, however the functions that he has attended recently ere very important and befitting the attendance of the head of state,” said Nankhumwa, who is also Parliamentarian for Mulanje Central.