Back in 2014, wearing the hat of Leader of Opposition in Parliament, President Lazarus Chakwera thought a lean Cabinet with its size legislated was the best way to go.
Fastforward to a decade later, serving as President, political realities have forced him to expand the size of his Cabinet to the disappointment of some stakeholders, including the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) which hoped that with the Tonse Alliance collapsing and only Malawi Congress Party (MCP) as a major ruling entity, he would bring down the number of Cabinet members.
However, nine months to the September 16 2025 General Election, the President has found himself with a 31-member Cabinet, up from 27, as he tries to consolidate his political base and shore up his re-election campaign.
PAC has since expressed disappointment with the bloated Cabinet five months after the quasi-religious grouping met the President and reminded him on the need to keep his promise on a lean Cabinet.
During his response to the State of the Nation Address delivered by former president Peter Mutharika, Chakwera, as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, proposed an amendment to the Constitution to include a provision that would limit the Cabinet size to 20.
He said: “It is in this regard that the Malawi Congress Party’s position is that even the reduction of Cabinet size to 20 should be included in the Constitution, and knowing that the State President is committed to the reduction of presidential powers gives us confidence that he would be supportive of this development.”
In the run-up to the 2019 Tripartite Elections, PAC met presidential candidates and each one of them, including Chakwera as MCP torchbearer, committed to 19 promises, including a lean Cabinet of between 14 and 20 members.
But in a telephone interview yesterday, PAC spokesperson Bishop Gilford Matonga said they are disappointed with the bloated Cabinet, especially after reminding the President on the same in August.
He said: “Our reaction is that of shock and disappointment because the President did commit to have a lean Cabinet. At first we understood a little bit because when he was promising he did not have an alliance in mind, but now that the alliance no longer exists, it is surprising.
“So this is the time the President should have considered his commitment made in 2013 and in 2019.”
Matonga said PAC booked an appointment with the President and once the audience is granted they will include the issue of Cabinet size.
Mzuzu University-based economist Christoper Mbukwa, in a separate interview, faulted Chakwera for being insensitive to the economic challenges facing the country.
Sounding frustrated, he said with the talk of austerity measures the bloated Cabinet was the least one would have expected.
Said Mbukwa: “But he comes up with a bloated Cabinet with so many deputies and some functions can be amalgamated. All this is like undoing what was preached during the Mid-Year Budget Review. It’s a missed opportunity.
“In a country where we are struggling with our fiscal space, we have got so many good programmes, but we do not have resources to bankroll such. Some of the areas where we can have some good savings are in this area of appointments.”
On why the President seems to have departed from his word, presidential press secretaryAnthony Kasunda said the primary consideration in the configuration of the Cabinet was to ensure the delivery of quality services and development to Malawians.
He said: “This objective takes precedence over historical precedents, political ends or parochial interests that characterised previous administrations.”
In an earlier Facebook post in November 2018, Chakwera faulted Mutharika for appointing more members of the Cabinet from his home region, saying the action was divisive.
But The Nation analysis shows that in the Cabinet announced on New Year’s Day 2025, about 54 percent of members are from the Central Region and the bulk of them from Lilongwe District, Chakwera’s home.
On the regional balance, Kasunda said the Cabinet “comprises capable individuals from all regions of Malawi and various political parties, including the opposition”.
In the same November 2018 Facebook post Chakwera also accused Mutharika of sidelining women after only three made the 20-member Cabinet, representing 15 percent.
On the other hand, Chakwera’s new Cabinet of 31 has 12 women or 38.7 percent, slightly below the gender ratio of 60-40 in public appointments prescribed in the Gender Equality Act. But minus Chakwera, the 12 represent 40 percent.
NGO Gender Coordinating Network chairperson Maggie Kathewera Banda wondered why Chakwera decided to rape the Gender Equality Act on appointments.
In an interview yesterday, she said: “We are not consistently using the law, it seems we only use it when it’s convenient. I thought we have come of age. I am really tired, because we are moving two steps forward and three steps backwards.
“As an advocate of the women’s manifesto, I am really scared because we seem not to have political will and we can have a government portraying that kind of attitude, what does it mean for the rest of the leaders?”
But Kasunda said the law was adhered to because the President is not counted as a Cabinet appointee. Going by his assertion, the number of women in Cabinet comes to 40 percent.
Section 92(1) of the Constitution says about the Cabinet: “There shall be a Cabinet consisting of the President, the First Vice-President, the Second Vice-President and such ministers and deputy ministers as may, from time to time, be appointed by the President.”
