By Edward Chitsulo – SANF 04 no 55
Malawi’s newly appointed cabinet, sworn in on 16 June, strikes a balance between “individual merit and professional competence, religion, gender balance, youth development and the status of Malawi’s international relations,” according to a statement from the President’s Office.
After having waited for almost three weeks, Malawians woke up on Sunday 13 June to the announcement of a 29-member cabinet by newly sworn-in President Bingu wa Mutharika. The list presents the “lean cabinet” the president promised in his inaugural address on 24 May 2004.
Former president Muluzi had a 46-member cabinet that was subject to constant donor and opposition criticism during his term of office, given the small size of the Malawi economy.
According to Acting Secretary to the President and the Cabinet, Bright Msaka, the composition of the new cabinet, which has 21 full ministers and eight deputies, took into account the provisions of a memorandum of understanding signed between the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), the opposition Republican Party (RP) and the Movement for Genuine Democracy (Mgode).
Under the pact, which legal experts deem unconstitutional, Mutharika cannot hire or fire ministers without referring the matter to coalition leaders, Bakili Muluzi (UDF), Gwanda Chakuamba (RP) and Sam Kandodo Banda (Mgode).
The new cabinet has seen a majority of posts, 20, going to UDF mainly made up of the Lomwe and Yao ethnic groups. This allocation may be based on the fact that the UDF amassed a lot of votes in the Mangochi-Machinga-Zomba-Chiradzulo Yao-speaking belt of the Southern Region and in the Lomwe-Mang’anja belt of Chiradzulo, Mulanje and Thyolo.
The final cabinet has little representation of the other major ethnic groups of Malawi, the predominant Chewa of the Central Region and the Tumbuka of the North. It was in the central region where John Tembo’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP) won most of the parliamentary seats. In the North, RP’s Chakuamba, who got the majority votes among the Tumbukas, is also not in cabinet.
The Central and Northern regions have between them, less than ten cabinet posts, triggering some concern in a country where people vote more along tribal lines than competence, religion, gender balance and the other factors cited by the Office of the President and the Cabinet.
On gender balance and female representation, the new cabinet scores better in relative terms while in absolute terms it falls short since the number of female ministers has basically not changed as compared to the Muluzi cabinet.
The new cabinet has six female ministers representing 20.7 percent representation in the new cabinet. The cabinet of President Muluzi had seven female ministers out of 46, representing 15.2 percent. This perhaps explains why there has been little outcry from the women’s lobby movement after the cabinet announcement.
But what can be said about the women ministers is that they are the same faces that have all along been associated with the ruling party. Given the growing women’s lobby movement in Malawi, there was expectation of new entrants.
The cabinet has however been hailed by many as a good start. The Malawi Economic Justice Network commended the appointment of competent people in the core ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning and Development, and Health.
Another plus for the new cabinet is the abolition of the Second Vice Presidency, previously held by Chakufwa Chihana, leader of the Alliance for Democracy (Aford) which dismally failed in the Northern Region, its traditional stronghold. He has instead been rewarded with a ministerial position, a package that has met strong resistance from the Aford stable.
Constitutional lawyer, Edge Kanyongolo of the University of Malawi, says the abolition would benefit Malawi. But he doubts if all cabinet ministers were chosen on merit, which he feels is the key to an efficient cabinet if Mutharika is to turn the economy round. “I think the president has fallen short by including people whose performance in the previous cabinet was doubtful. There are too many ministers from the former cabinet,” said Kanyongolo. Eight ministers from the former cabinet have been retained.
The Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee has also hailed the Mutharika cabinet for abolishing posts of ministers in the Office of the President and Cabinet, and ministers without portfolio. (SARDC)
