Activist wants APM trimmed powers legalised
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director Timothy Mtambo has asked members of Parliament (MPs) to push for a law that formalises President Peter Mutharika’s “historic and very commendable” announcement to trim his appointing powers of some top public servants.
Mtambo was reacting to Mutharika’s recent announcement on the trimming of his own powers as part of Public Service Reforms whose blue print was launched in Lilongwe last Wednesday.
Said Mtambo: “As a follow-up, let Parliament, which happens to be sitting right now, do the rightful thing urgently—that of starting to align the President’s will with the formulation of the laws that will make this a binding move.
“The parliamentarians will need to amend, or even repeal altogether, some constitutional provisions which all our presidents have clung to, since the nation’s independence in 1964, until the incumbent leader decided otherwise.”
On several occasions this year, Mutharika mentioned about his readiness to deny himself some of the traditional powers of the presidency, saying the move was to entrench democracy and also to fulfill his promise to Malawians during his campaign for the presidency in the May 20 polls last year.
Mtambo expressed disappointment that most people have not openly commended the President for his bold and rare move towards consolidating democracy in the country.
Since independence, Malawi has had five presidents—the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Bakili Muluzi, the late Bingu wa Mutharika, Joyce Banda and incumbent Peter Mutharika.
“I wish to urge my fellow citizens to be truthful and fair, as we hold our leaders accountable. We should speak out and criticise when the leaders make wrong decisions but, also, we should commend them when they do the right things,” stated Mtambo, regarded by some as a bitter critic of Mutharika’s leadership.
He said the two-time lowering of fuel prices is an example of why people should commend the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government for showing transparency in translating international market developments to local realities.
However, he lamented the fact that the business community has maintained a rigid stance of not lowering commodity prices correspondingly, thereby denying ordinary citizens some financial relief they deserve after the fall of fuel prices.
Mtambo was one of the organisers of the recent civil society demonstrations and he read out the petition handed in at the Civic Centre offices in Lilongwe that demanded that government address numerous problems affecting the country.
