BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—As Malawians continue to criticize President Lazarus Chakwera for his slowness in making appointments in very important state institutions, the president has indicated that new boards of parastatals will be appointed soon.
Early this month of July, President Chakwera dissolved boards of 60 parastatals in a ramp of reforms that he had rolled out since assuming power following a landslide victory in the June 23 fresh presidential election.
Since then, the president has been silent on possible replacements, a development that prompted some quarters to raise eyebrows, suspecting dirty games.
But in a periodic report released on Tuesday morning, Chakwera says he has finished three phases of his first 100 days in office which mainly focused on clearing the rubble of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cadets and the state filth planted by the ex-Malawi leader Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and he is ready to make appointments to all state institutions as he is starting the fourth phase.
“Today marks the start of the fourth phase, to last 40 days! This will focus on making significant progress on the appointment of new boards of parastatals, through which the dross of sycophants will be further removed; implementing lasting legislative and administrative reforms within state institutions, companies, and ministries, in readiness for rolling out key Tonse programs and promises to the people.
“In recognition of the fact that this phase demands our concerted efforts, yesterday I hosted a summit of the nine Presidents of the nine parties in the Tonse Alliance. I am happy to report that although we each lead unique political entities; we remain unanimous and resolute in our commitment to not allow the parochial interests that may exist within our own parties to derail our collective national agenda. We thus reaffirmed our devotion to replenish Malawi through the three pillars of the Tonse Philosophy,” reads the report in part.
According to the report, the first phase, lasting on week, was from the day Chakwera and Chilima were sworn in to the day they were inaugurated.
That phase focussed on 7 things: installing new leadership over State Residences; installing new leadership over the Civil Service; installing new leadership over the House of Parliament; installing new leadership over the Treasury; passing a new transitional budget focussed on food security, tax cuts, and governance; outlining the pillars of the Tonse Philosophy that will be our guide going forward; and engaging our neighbors, development partners, and private sector on how to participate in our transformation agenda.
The second phase of the transition, lasting three weeks, was from the day they were inaugurated to the end of Chakwera’s first week at Kamuzu Palace.
Chakwera says that phase also focused on 7 things: “building and deploying a transitional cabinet with clear timelines and key performance indicators; promoting Malawi’s global interests through strategic media and diplomatic footprints, including direct engagement with the White House; clearing the rubble of cadets and the state of filth we found at the presidential palace, which we will do across the state machinery; suspending the politically compromised boards and contracts at dozens of parastatals until audits are done; launching my regular radio address to enhance transparency and advance the Tonse vision of a New Malawi, beginning with my Anti-Corruption drive, which is already bearing fruit as law enforcement agencies are finally enjoying the independence they need to crack down on looters without fear of political interference or reprisals; appointing new heads of departments and the initial batch of Chief Advisors to help me manage State House affairs, as well as a new Presidential Taskforce and Office on Covid-19 to drive our efforts to contain the pandemic; meeting all Ambassadors of other nations to orient them on the priorities the governments they represent can support.”
There are a lot of Tonse Alliance supporters who are waiting for the appointments with bated breaths.
Some youths of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and UTM have already cried foul after noticing that DPP cadets are still manning government departments while they are still languishing at home despite the unwavering support they gave the president during the campaign period.
Recently, Minister of Civic Education and National Unity was under fire for appointing Lyson Sibande, whose past social media posts demonstrated clearly that he was a hardcore cadet.
Due to pressure, Sibande resigned for the position.
