President Mutharika hails Chilima on reforms ‘job well done’: Malawi VP hands over to OPC for implementation

Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Friday commended Vice-President Saulos Chilima for his chairmanship of the Public Service Reforms Commission, which he had held for two-and-a-half years, saying he did “a good job” as he handed over the mantle to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

Speaking at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, President Mutharika dispelled fears that the transfer of reforms to OPC is not firing Chilima but that his office will start implementing the recommendations of the commission.

“I am grateful to you Mr. Vice President [Chilima] for steering the ship this far. I knew you would do a good job, and you did,” said Mutharika.

“Throughout the period of your work, you sent to me progress reports on what has been achieved against the approved reforms. Whenever in doubt, you consulted and sought my guidance for direction,” Mutharika noted.

He said the end of the Chilima led Commission is not the end of the reforms agenda, saying next step is that of implementation of the recommendations made by the commission.

“This is just a transition of an oversight management from the Commission to the Office of the President and Cabinet. This transition was pre-planned. We had our timeframes. Let us remember that a Commission is by its nature temporary. This is the normal tradition in every country that Commissions pass their work to the Executive for implementation,” said Mutharika.

The President said government established a unit for reforms in the OPC which will be led by “a very able leader”, Seodi White as Chief Director of the Public Sector Reforms at OPC.

Mutharika said Chief Secretary of government Lloyd Muhara will be the leader of the public service.

“Our goal is to ensure smooth continuation of the reforms agenda from the Commission to OPC,” he said.

Mutharika said they have already been seeing “improved revenue collection” and “innovation” in a number of parastatals.

The Head of State called for “a sense of urgency” to get things done.

He said: “We must remain focused even when besieged with detractors. Let us focus on delivering to the people. Let us unlock the huge potential for our social economic growth by implementing our reforms.

“Let us engage in a new culture of doing things, and do things on time. Let us drive this country with robust fiscal policies that ease our way of doing business. “

Mutharika urged the OPC to sustain the momentum of implementation.

In presenting the report, Vice President Chilima said they have made recommendations on “what ought to be done, so that there is continuity of the reforms process.”

During the same event, several ministries signed performance contract agreements against which they are going to be assessed after a prescribed period.

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