President Laz to appoint new Malawi diplomats: Shake-up in embassies

July 21, 2020 Wongani Chiuta - Nyasa Times 61 Comments

President Lazarus Chakwera in consultation with vice-president Saulos Chilima  is making a host of new diplomatic appointments for Malawi, including to Embassy in United States, Washington DC, Belgium and South Africa.

Ted Kalebe: Contract expired
Sawerengera: Contract expired

The new ambassadors will be appointed  as most of the country’s diplomats in the foreign mission have their contracts expired and some are on recall.

The diplomats who have finished their tours of duty include Edward Yakobe Sawerengera at the Embassy in United States, Washington DC, George Mkondiwa the Malawi High Commissioner in India, Ted Kalebe (Belgium) and Kena Mphonda (United Kingdom).

Thier contracts expired in 2018 but continued serving in the Mission  in their current positions following failure by government to fund their return home.

Other   low-ranking diplomats have their contracts expired and others have recall letters.

They included Mike Mwanyula (Brussels), Patrick Mphepo (Dheli), some staff at Washington DC and most staff at London mission.

National Audit Office (NAO) audit has revealed that the country lost million of kwacha in public resources through fraudulent transactions in Malawi diplomatic missions abroad.

There has been widespread criticism over Malawi’s diplomatic service which has mainly been appointed based on political affiliation to parties in government. Many have advocated for career diplomats to represent Malawi if the country is to benefit from its representation abroad through trade, among other things.

Writting on social media,  UK-based journalist Peter Makossah tipped the new  administration to cleanse Malawi foreign embassies.

“The new government must, therefore, ensure to sanitize our embassies and take out all the rude, ignorant ‘viruses’who found their way into the embassies only because they are politically connected and not qualified, unfit and incompetent.

“It’s high time Malawi is represented by patriotic, capable and competent people in our embassies and advance our national agenda and market our beautiful and naturally endowed country,” he wrote.

He argued that government  must considered people for ambassadorial positions purely based on merit, professionalism and patriotism, citing some of the qualities as; national interest, credibility, patriotism,  clarity, understanding, circumspection, impeccable communication skills, people-management skills, comprehensiveness, knowledgeable, commercial-tourism-and- trade awareness and decisiveness.

“We don’t want people who will be promoting MCP or UTM in London, Washington DC, Geneva, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg or Harare, we want people who will promote Malawi and all her untapped beauty and undiluted sovereignty. We need people who love Malawi.

“Through strategic diplomacy, private-public partnerships abroad through our embassies and high commissions, the Tonse Alliance philosophy, which is hinged on making a better Malawi so much better for all, can be advanced via international policies that will benefit the people of Malawi,” he wrote.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Follow us in Twitter

61 replies on “President Laz to appoint new Malawi diplomats: Shake-up in embassies”

    1. Ku Japan Embassy kuli sister wake wa Ben Phiri. Abwerere ku Malawi. She does not know anything. Ndi mbuli ngati Ben. Muchosenso ma cadet onse please.

  3. I have said this before that to remedy this malaise, Tonse Alliance should engage our local universities to start career programs in International Relations. Our young men and women should be like those in HR, Accounting, Engineering, Economics etc.Not what we have been doing. The HE and VP should not listen to those who have surrounded them. Yes, this time they can send their relatives but let us make this as part of public sector reforms for the immediate future. Those who are connected, kindly forward this suggestion to the VP.

  4. I have read a lot of comments about Ambassidor Bowlers conduct and behavior at the Embassy. Ndiye kuti munthu ameneyu ndi otani? Mpaka kutukwana ma staff members? Akuti he was once the main player in the 1999 election rigging for DPP. Shameful for a diplomat.

    1. Why should Kenna Mphonda be left there? He should also be recalled. DPP cadets should be recalled. Let others also serve in those Embassies.

  6. Only if the tonse alliance will start to talk about appointments based in diplomatic careers (by virtue of their academic training in international policy and development), they will or are doing the same thing of posting people based on loyalty and relationships with tonse leaders. Same trap and equally unproductive..

  7. Mma Embassy munangodzadza ma cadet. Pali mbuli inayake anaichotsa kwina kuipamga post kwina Koma kulemba siidziwa. Ntchito gossip basi. Ku Malawi kuno ilibe pogwira. 10 years+ ku Embassy kumangoononga tax payers money for nothing basi. Mbuli imeneyi iona Nyekhwe ndithu

  8. Inde the deputy is just some useless lady who rises through the carpet. What looks? She has no looks but just that she is a bastard. Kapena nditi mixed breed

  9. Just advertise these positions and let people compete otherwise ku ma embassies kumapita mbuli zokhazokha

    1. Very true 👍 ayambile sanitise onse a ku UK. EISH ngamwano. Phone email sayankha need umadabadwa kuti akutaniko. Onse azipita sure

      1. Very poor customer service ku office ya ku London. Samayankha ma foni athu. A classic example I know a friend of one of the officials who I asked to phone him using a different number and he answered immediately.

  10. We said so many times that nepotism has no place in this country.Why sending Chakweras son to embassy.you critisized the same thing with DPP and you want to do the same thing.malawi sazatheka

  11. With COVID19 travel bans how do you bring them back home? And how do you deploy new diplomats to replace them?
    Are they going to conduct their business via Zoom from Malawi?
    Apa game yagona

    1. This is as good as saying ‘Tisalime mwina mvula siyibwera”. And then mvula yikayamba kugwa kuyamba kakasi kusowa pogwira!! Government processes will continue with or without Covid and in the fullness of time, implementation will follow.

      1. Very good Jinga that’s a very good comment. Baba Tunde ndi Cadet. Musiyeni alira sanati. Koma Muchila ndithu.

    2. Anthu aku Joni anabwera bwanji? Ndiye enawa alephere kubwera chifukwa ali ku embassy? Pathetic.. !!!

  12. Dr Chakwera, the Botswana Government sent a representative in your inauguration, this means they recognise that the new Government is going to bult that relations with them, may you please have an Ambassador to Botswana, thank you.

    1. Diplomat sichinthu chopangira sankiyo. Botswana, Lesotho angola namibia can be serviced by Malawi embassy in Pretoria

    1. No evolution
      Bowler was the chosen one of Bingu and APM. Collecting their bribes from business deals. This Bowler knows far more then anyone of the big deals as he was the collector and keeper.

  14. Amati “Kuthamanga sikufika”. It is very encouraging to learn that Tonse Alliance has decided to put in Embassies new staff, which of course is the norm when you take over the reigns. I wish you well oooh!!
    Just a reminder that moving people to and from Embassies calls for funds and it is not cheap. Those you intend to appoint today or tomorrow might take months/years to relocate and as such you will have a couple of disgruntled families whose promises will be difficult to fulfill. Do you think DPP was not aware that most of the diplomats had over stayed? They were constrained financially that is why these people were not moved. Kaya mwina Simbi, Kambala, Gaffar and company will sponsor the moves as sponsorship is in their blood, mainly when it comes to Tonse Alliance programs. Zeze the crafter will once again deliver.

    1. Yes, DPP pretended to be constrained financially because its the same money they stole and used it for their personal gains instead of government business. And they opted to keep these people in Embassies – kwinaku akupitiriza kuba and nothing for Malawi to benefit from these relations. This Embassy rot must be cleared for now! In one office in the Middle East, a consular officer is busy approaching governments and entities for support for pandemic and disasters and when that assistance is given, the fellow feasts of that! and we should be keeping such people in the name of being financial constrained to move them back home? Of course not!!

  16. Ambassador ku dziko la…. sadziwa chingelezi, amatichititsa manyazi. Chonde dzatuteni msanga mutibweretsere wodziwa chiyankhulo chawenichi.Chilomwe kuno sichigwira.

  17. ‘Undiluted sovereignty’???

    Seriously?

    Malawi is such a sovereign and independent country that the majority of our national budget is funded by donors; in other words, colonialists.

    Most of the big businesses and exporters are also in turn from these ‘donor’ countries.

    The majority of our infrastructure and development contracts are captured by foreign companies, in connivance with corrupt politicians and civil servants.

    Most of the profits from our local industries goes overseas; tobacco, sugar, cement etc.

    ‘Undiluted sovereignty’ indeed!

    1. Even USA borrows money from
      China to run their state affairs. US owe China trillions of dollars. Does that make it a colony? . Have you looked at the debt to GDP ratio for most European countries?
      That doesn’t make them less sovereign? Dont comment on issues you know nothing about. Malawi is sovereign

  19. Staff yonse ya Embassy ku England ndi ma DPP cadet. Kuli mwana Wa Dausi dzina lake Mwayi. Mwana wamwano kwambiri. Wina ndi cadet Kondwani anapita kale Ku Malawi amanamizira ulimi kumpoto kulikusowa pogwira. Please please tichosereni nyansi zonse Ku Embassy ku UK. Kunalinso niece wa Gertrude Muntharika surname yake Mmodzi. Kena kamwano Gwirani ntchito bwana Mkaka. Anthuwa azibwera kumudzi kuno.

    1. The Ambassador, Kena Mphonda is a career diplomat. He rose through the ranks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was ourdeputy Ambassador in Washington DC before being transferred to London as full Ambassador. Ok, maybe his tour of duty has expired so he can go back to the Ministry. But he was not a cadet.
      But I agree with you that the rest of the staff are indeed cadets. They have never worked in the civil service in Malawi. These were just picked because of being cadets. Let them go back o where they came from. They have no formal jobs. End of story!

      2. kenna yo ndiye asamapatse ma outside chores kuti akamuimilile when the hangover is killing him.
        eya anthu oyenerera amazinyozesa okha ndipo timasiya kuwakukhulupila olo ali ophuzira

    3. Niece wa Getrude Mutharika ndi Towera Mmodzi ndi Mwai Dausi ndi Mbuli zachabe chabe. Kuli mbuli ku Embassy kumeneku.Kofunika kuchitike another audit chifukwatu eeeeeeee. Winadi ndi Kondwani ntchito kulemba zonyoza Dr LMC and SKC ngati ali ndi chilichonse. Kunamizilra ulimi ku Malawi. Achoseni wonse ku Embassy.

  20. If you want real change, just advertise these embassy jobs so that some of us can also go overseas. Don’t just replace dpp with tonse diehards and expect better performance.

    1. I agree otherwise changing just to put in other cronys is no real change for Malawi. Let every qualified Malawian have a chance to apply

  21. Who are career diplomats in Malawi if I may ask? Malawi does not offer courses in diplomacy. The lucky one have attained qualifications in diplomacy and international relations in other countries. Those espousing for change in the way diplomats are appointed want themselves to be appointed without looking at their own ability to be a diplomat. There is a lot of jealous in Malawi. No matter how highly qualified one is for the job, he will still be dressed down. Do embassies not offer on the job training? There are sections in embassies that require vast experience like the political and trade sections. Government is and never has been a trader yet they send people from Ministry of Foreign affairs to head a commercial section.

    1. There are many career diplomats at the Minustry of Foreign Affairs. May of them have postgraduate qualifications.
      Government can also beef up the embassies with technocrats from other ministries. For example a Tourism attaché, Trade & investment attaché and defence attaché can be drawn from the relevant ministries.
      This is what civilised countries do. Normally these officials are career civil servants not cadets. They are usually posted for 3 to 6 years and another cohort comes in. Nobody stays in the diplomatic mission for ever.
      Yu see people like Patrick Mphepo have been out there fir years doing nothing, just because he’s related to the evil Francis Mphepo. We don’t need dynasties in embassies

      1. If we start mentioning names, we will mention a lot. I hear of someone who claimed to be a nephew to Peter mutharika, not qualified but always causing trouble at the Mission. Mbuli yeniye I. I won’t mention names Koma limayamba ndi …………

  22. I 2nd makosa. too much political satire.
    kufika mma embassy mu kumalemba nchito azikazi ao a staff ndikumagwila mu embassy. let alone they are just mare housewives not on the list of the designated staff. zimatelo????
    kuliso wife ya Mussa..
    ena ali mma embassy from late years 1970s amataniko.
    shaaaa

  23. Kkkkkkkk Unfortunately onse omwe watchula apa ndi asukulu yao. Akabwera ku Malawiko azinjoyabe iwe ukuzunzikabe

  24. The norm in international relations is that, usually, political appointments are for positions of Heads of Missions if so desired, i.e. Ambassadors/High Commissioners. The rest of the staff should be career diplomats.

  26. Ati career diplomats he he he in Malawi? Tangonenani mukufuna kuyikapo azibale anu ndi zibwenzi.

  27. The reality is AMBERSODORS represent the interests of the GVT in power …So dont miss the point ….tell people true expectetions …
    Thats the order of Political world .even in religious circles thats it
    TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT.😅😅😅😅

  28. The changes are obvious and it is no brainer whatsover. We all know that everywhere in the world when governments change, diplomats change as well. Why should the new government have people like Ted Kalebe, Agrina Mussa (Henry Mussa’s wife), Msuliria Banda, Mike Mwanyula, etc as diplomats or ambassadors? There are also first and second secretaries who are sons and daughters of the former government ministers. When we voted for change, we did not want these party people there wasting our money. Bring them back now. The daughter of Bingu was sent to South Africa by APM.

  30. Musaiwale Annie Kumwemda ku Harara mzake wa Mrs Mutharika. Paja wachosetsa munthu amene akanakhala deputy wake poopa kuti adziwa mmene amabera ndi aunt Gertu

  31. munalephera kuwauza zochita ma boma onse akale ndiye lero mukufuna mumuuze zochita chakwera?

Comments are closed.