BLANTYRE—(MaraviPost)—Political scientists have criticized President Peter Mutharika for failing to respond to the current situation in Malawi by maintaining underperformers and cash gate suspects in his cabinet.
Mutharika made a cabinet reshuffle on Monday but no any minister faced the boot and no crucial changes were made.
Commenting on the reshuffle, Chancellor College scientist Joseph Chunga, said the reshuffle does not give hope to Malawians as it has just merely moved some few ministers around.
“The reshuffles expose failure in defining different sectorial priorities and categorization of the sectors,” observed University of Malawi’s (UNIMA) Chancellor College political scientist Joseph Chunga.
He said: “The whole essence of defining a particular department is because you assume it has a particular mandate to address in as far as government structure is concerned and if you find cases where you have what could have been very related sectors of functional dimensions split in different departments then you wonder what is government really trying to achieve.”
Another online writer Negracious SC, in his article, argues that the reshuffle looks like a useless rotation around criminal axis.
“By definition, a Cabinet Reshuffle entails a change in the members of the Cabinet, decided by the President, in which some members are given different jobs, some members lose their jobs, and new members are brought in [Longman English Dictionary]. In Malawi, the president’s mandate to reshuffle a cabinet is enshrined in Section 94 (1) of the Constitution,” writes Negracious.
He added: “The core progressive purpose of such cabinet retouches is to troubleshoot policy stagnation where other ministries fail to deliver. The non-performing Ministers and indeed those ministers whose moral identity has gone rotten and turns hazardous for progress, are supposed to lose job.
“It is from the above-opined premise that I find this particular cabinet reshuffle of President Mutharika to be a template of mockery to the definition and purpose of the reshuffle.”
Political analyst at Chancellor College Mustapha Hussein queried President Mutharika why creating separate ministries for urban development and rural development “when we already have community and all these are communities.”
Hussein said “there is need for proper segregation”.
He said: “ One would wonder the complementarily of coherence in moving sports to the ministry of labour, because labour requires a totally different way of doing things.”
In the new Cabinet, the President has also introduced a deputy minister at Home Affairs and Internal Security filled by Aggrey Masi who was appointed in April, Deputy Minister of Defence. His post has been filled by Vincent Ghambi, formerly Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Technology, a position that has since been scrapped off.
Government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati has been moved to the newly created Ministry of Civic Education, Culture and Community Development whereas former Minister of Transport and Public Works Malison Ndau now heads what is called Ministry of Information and Communications Technology to become new government spokesman.
Sports, previously headed by Grace Chiumia now Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, has been moved to Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development with Henry Mussa retained at as its minister.
Chiumia replaced Jappie Mhango who is now Minister of Transport and Public Works.
Morning of pleasure.
There’s a
pertinent race
where a young
bird, sometimes,
appears near a
shadow to recall
your intention…
Francesco Sinibaldi