Officials running the Public Sector Reform Program say they have completed a process that would trim the powers of the President. Nwazi Nthambala, Public Sector Reforms Management Unit’s Principal Secretary told Zodiak radio Wednesday that her office has completed the process of trimming the presidential powers but she could not say the proposed powers that need […]
For such a small country, Malawi likes its things big. Big cabinet, big number of civil servants, five big presidential residences, a big parliament and big cars on the big presidential convoy. Anyone with any truth in them will tell you, though, that Malawi can run on half the number of civil servants, half the ministers, […]
US ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer has asked for speedy implementation of public sector reforms, saying this is the best way to get Malawi out of its poverty trap. Palmer said this in a special radio interview with Zodiak. She also asked President Peter Mutharika to desist from making political appointments in the public service, […]
Principal Secretary (PS) in the Office of the Vice President responsible for Public Sector Reforms Management Nwazi Mnthambala has said Government has mostly concentrated on the engagement of the supply and not on the demand side of communication since the Public Sector Reforms Agenda was launched in February 2015. The PS made the remarks on […]
The civil service is the key sector of society in a developmental State such as ours. If it is weak, incompetent and disgruntled, the ill-effects will be felt elsewhere. For this reason the reforms that have been undertaken should be resumes and concentrate on the role of the chief secretary. The title chief secretary was […]
Any close and honest analysis of the late president Bingu waMutharika’s vision for Malawi comes to one evident conclusion. BinguwaMutharika’s major preoccupation for Malawi was food security. This was to be achieved through the Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) and the Green Belt initiative. Of course his ancillary ambition was to improve the country’s competitiveness […]
“The President and his government must be interested in the health of the economy. Any leader who is not interested in the health of the economy gets overthrown by the economy itself.” -Sam Mpasu, former Malawi Parliament’s Speaker In a move that scoffs at President Peter Mutharika’s government’s own Public Service Reforms recommendation to trim […]
Malawian citizens have expressed their views on the current economic recession and public service reforms arguing that if the country is to change then the change should begin with the highest office in the land and trickling down to ministers. The sentiments were expressed during a public debate called Bwalo la Nzika which was organised […]
Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) say proposed solutions by the Public Service Reform Commission must first be approved by National Assembly before implementation. Timothy Mtambo Executive Director for Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), said reforms being pursued by President Peter Mutharika administration are not inspiring because they are not aligned with the national vision. […]
A fortnight ago news came out that Malawi’s President, Arthur Peter Mutharika had approved implementation of reforms in parastatals in a last ditch attempt to free the statutory corporations from the imprisonment of Capital Hill. Malawi’s leading daily paper, The Nation, described the move as the boldest step so far towards taking politics out of […]
It is a fact that for the first time in Malawi’s history of attempting to reform the Public Sector, this time around the drive has massive momentum like a train in motion. However, with the political government system that as a country we follow and practice it is important to underscore and put under the […]
As part of the objective of the Pubic Service Reforms, Malawi government has made structural changes to bring sanity to the system and streamline positions to reduce the number of principal secretaries (PSs) from the previous 96 to at least 40. Chief Secretary to the Government, George Mkondiwa, has informed PSs that that the Peter […]
Contrary to recent observations that the steam on public service reforms was simmering down, it has transpired that much more reforms have taken place in most sectors across the public service. Addressing a news conference on Wednesday at Capital Hill in Lilongwe, Vice President Saulos Chilima, who is also chair of the Public Service Reforms […]
Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) has welcomed the decision by government to increase salaries for civil servants in junior grades (J to R) with increments ranging from five to 22 percent as per their request effective July 1 2015 but called for an inflation-busting pay across the board. According to a circular by Secretary for […]
A former high Malawi’s ranking civil servant Dr Andrew Daudi has warned government employees against a casual approach when discharging their duties. Daud, who is currently Chief Executive Officer for Mallenium Challenge Project in Malawi but once worked as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, said civil servants should also be liable to dismissal […]
British High Commissioner Michael Nevin has said the Public Sector Reforms Programme being championed by government are a step in the right direction but he was quick to add that implementation is key. Speaking during the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday in Lilongwe on Monday evening, Nevin said there is need for a “reform […]
Intermediaries, commonly known as middlemen, have been completely cut out from corruption syndicates with officers at the road traffic because the new system is electronic and transaction only starts when the system recognizes a bank payment receipt. The development has angered the middlemen, usually well dressed men who linger around the premises, who have been […]
The Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID) Research Programme has commissioned a multi-country study on the comparative politics of public sector reforms (PSR) in Africa, with case studies onMalawi, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda. In this post, I show how the basic research questions apply to the case of Malawi. I highlight the salient political economy parameters that characterise the public sector environment […]