Mutharika to move or sack some ministers in imminent Malawi Cabinet reshuffle

Malawian President Peter Mutharika will carry out a most wide-ranging reshuffle of his Cabinet to give his government a reboot since his endorsement as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) torchbearer in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.

“A Cabinet reshuffle is imminent, it could be announced this week,” a government source told Nyasa Times.

Many are crying out for changes that would usher in a new generation, not tarnished by corruption.

And during the closing ceremony of the party convention in Blantyre on Tuesday, Mutharika warned newly-elected DPP national governing council (NGC) members and their associates against abusing public resources for their own benefit instead, saying he knows some who use their positions to demand contracts from parastatals or State owned enterprises.

The reshuffle could also see the entry of Ralph Jooma, former chief whip of the People’s Party (PP) who has been elected in DPP executive and Welani Chilenga a former PP legislature from Chitipa.

Mutharika is said to be preparing to appoint former PP leader Uladi Mussa into the Cabinet following his election as DPP vice president for the Central region.

There are movements in the background by so-called DPP Team A to manoeuvre their people in to positions of power.

Sources say Mutharika is juggling a lot of balls considering the reshuffle will be political alignment every sacked minister or shunned backbencher is another potential enemy who could blow everything up.

Mutharika also has to cut deadweight and has a delicate balancing act.

But Mutharika is expected to sack or move some Ministers in an assertion of authority.

Governance commentators who spoke to Nyasa Times said they expect for a significant “freshening and sharpening of the Cabinet team.”