‘Chaotic public administration must stop’

One of the things President Peter Mutharika said in his inaugural speech was that he would not want political change that costs government officials positions. But barely two months in office, Mutharika has already fired some officials such as the Army General and Commissioner General of Malawi Revenue Authority. ALBERT SHARRA talks to political analyst Michael Jana on this and other related issues.

Is the President justified to fire top officials in government parastatals?

Well, I think it depends on the reasons for firing them. If indeed the top officials are fired on the basis that they are incompetent, or their policy position is inconsistent with the policy position of the government of the day, then the President is justified to fire them as long as he is acting within the law. This purging is not uncommon, especially when new governments come into power. But in a democratic dispensation where the President is accountable to the people, one would expect that credible reasons should be given to the public when such officials are fired. But I should be quick to point out that our legal framework has a problem in that it gives the President too much power to hire and fire top government officials willy-nilly. As a result, some top government officials are hired not on merit, but on political grounds, and when new government leadership takes over, they fire those officials and appoint their own political stooges. This chaotic public administration must stop; these presidential powers must be trimmed to avoid abuse.

President Peter Mutharika pledged to base his appointments on merit. Looking at the appointments made so far, do they prove this?

Looking at the profile of most people appointed recently into Cabinet and other top positions, I think from the professional perspective they do qualify. But what the President did not say and will not say is that most of those appointments are also based on political considerations, which is expected, and on ethnic and patronage basis that largely favours the South, especially the President’s ethnic group, which is unfortunate. By just studying voting patterns in Malawi, you will realise that ethnic divisions in Malawi, that otherwise are supposed to be healthy as a form of identity, are so politicised to the extent that any president who is serious about nation building should be seen to be bridging these politicised gaps. But I am afraid, the recent appointments are just entrenching these cracks. Of course this does not mean sacrificing merit at the altar of ethnic balance; you know as much as I do that you can find qualified people in many sections of Malawi society, and one can come up with a balance.

Every time a new government comes into power, it appoints its own people to head various government departments. What do you think motivates them to do this?

As I have said, new governments will always appoint politicians and technocrats whose ideologies and policy positions align with their manifestos. In that context, purging is a common phenomenon and is understandable. However, too much presidential powers and the prevalence of patronage politics in Malawi has resulted in new governments abusing this seemingly objective process to reward political cronies with government positions and/or buy political support using government positions and resources. We have seen this happening during the MCP, UDF, DPP and PP governments.

Can a new President deliver effectively using an old team hired by the predecessors?

I think that is possible. Of course, as I have said the old team should align their approach and vision to that of the new President or vice versa. Otherwise, any misalignment can easily lead to purging. However, in Malawi, the situation is compounded by the fact that some of the ‘old’ team members were themselves appointed using little merit but political reasons. In this case, the new President can be justified to replace them with new officials as long as merit is given a priority; but what we have often seen is that the new presidents also use a lot of political considerations leading to a cycle of hiring and firing that has little developmental returns.

What actually influences presidents to make such hiring and firing?

Well, I think they are constrained by the need to entrench and win political support so they or their political parties are voted back into power. Given these considerations, experience has shown that the presidents use a combination of strategies—from merit based appointments that will yield developmental results to appointments that will reward political supporters and buy new ones.

Does this have any impact on the operations of government?

Of course it does. At the end of the day, we often have little institutional memory and lots of ad hoc government programmes that have little medium to long term benefits to the people.

Looking at the approach the DPP-led government has taken. Should we expect more firing and hiring?

In the context of too much presidential powers and the desperate need to mobilise political support through government performance and/or political rewards as I have indicated, there is bound to be more hiring and firing.

What is your advice to the current leadership on appointments?

On appointments, I think the President will do Malawi a great favour if he facilitates the trimming of presidential powers on the appointments and firing of technocrats. I think there is need to build a professional civil service and government organisations from the top to the bottom echelons. And one way of doing this is to make sure that top government positions are filled by professionals who are insulated from the whims of politicians and whose appointments and dismissals are not entirely in the hands of the President.

Any additional comment?

I think that, unless the presidential appointments and firing power over top government officials are curtailed, Malawi presidents will continue to use and abuse this power to achieve their idiosyncratic political goals, with the progress of Malawians coming secondary.