Vice president Saulos Klaus Chilima (born 12 February 1973) is an economist who became a politician of late and has been Vice-President of Malawi since June 2014. Before joining politics, Chilima held key leadership positions in various multi-national companies including Unilever, Coca Cola and Airtel Malawi, where he rose to become Chief Executive Officer.
In February 2014, Saulos Chilima was announced as the running mate of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Peter Mutharika for the May 2014 presidential election. This Surprised many DPP party members as Chilima before that was considered a political.
Among his portfolios, the vice President is Minister Responsible for Disaster and Relief Management, Public Events and Chairperson, Civil Service and Public Service reform Commission. Leading Civil Service and Public Service reform Commission is a very big responsibility as it is the cornerstone of the Peter Mutharika Presidency. If the reforms fail so goes the Peter Mutharika place in Malawi History.
So why did the Malawi Vice President and the Peter Mutharika administration feel pressured to respond to un-merited accusations from Media and detractors saying the Vice President was being Marginalized.
Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima would like to clarify on reports alleging that he is being side-lined by His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi.
Such reports allege that His Excellency the President does not delegate the Vice President but instead opts for Cabinet Ministers.
The Vice President finds this allegation unfortunate and premised on hearsay intended to spread mischief and spark disaffection in the cordial relationship that the two enjoy.
The gist of it is that President Peter Mutharika lacks an effective public relations team. He has surrounded himself with a team that no one respects and thus he finds himself more and more on the defensive for no apparent reason.
His Presidency started on the defensive as Lazarus Chakwera claimed that he stole the elections. A claim that Chakwera still sticks to without an effective come back from The President and his team.
Chilima has more power and responsibilities than Joyce Banda had. He has more power than was accorded to the last Vice President before him who was dumped before the last elections. Khumbo Kachali as was evidenced by how Joyce Banda treated him in the end had less responsibilities and yet the reporters in Malawi had nothing to say.
Why does Peter Mutharika keep on wasting time to every accusation that comes his way? The President needs to learn that in politics most of the time it is not the message but the messenger.
They Vice President and the DPP need to grow some balls and start taking people who have been putting them on the defensive head-on.
