Chakwera’s directive on entourage ignored

Two years after President Lazarus Chakwera directed that only relevant Cabinet ministers and senior government officials accompany him to public functions, little has changed.

The President made the directive on October 23 2020 at the official opening of Segecoa Golden Peacock Hotel in Blantyre where he described the presence of too many government officials and Cabinet ministers as a waste of public resources.

Chakwera, therefore, directed then Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi to come up with a protocol of who gets to accompany the President.

He said: “Please develop a protocol that makes sense in determining how many officials accompany the President for public functions and on what criteria. We cannot just let officials burn taxes like this needlessly. That kind of wastage cannot continue.”

It is not clear whether a protocol was developed because a bloated entourage comprising Cabinet ministers and senior government officials continues to be the order of the day.

Our observations of some selected public functions after the directive show that Cabinet ministers whose line of work does not relate to the function, still accompany the President.

In the previous year, major functions where the President was accompanied by a string of Cabinet ministers include Umhlangano Cultural Festival in September, Chiwanja cha Ayao in October and Gonapamuhanya Cultural Festival in November.

And most recently, the John Chilembwe Commemorations in Chiradzulu on Sunday brought together 11 Cabinet ministers as well as senior government officials including CEOs and directors of various State-owned companies.

Ministers present at the function were Patricia Kaliati (Gender), Mark Katsonga Phiri (Industry and Trade), Titus Mvalo (Justice), Abida Mia (Water and Sanitation), and her deputy John Bande.

Others were Sam Kawale (Agriculture), Michael Usi (Tourism), Jacob Hara (Transport), Timothy Mtambo (National Unity), Jean Sendeza (Homeland Security), Gospel Kazako (Information and Digitisation) and Agnes NyaLonje (Education).

A source who has handled such government operations before confided in Nation on Sunday on Friday that for an event like the John Chilembwe commemoration with the presence of 11 Cabinet ministers would on average cost K90 million on expenses, including allowances, but excluding accommodation.

Without giving specific figures, but hinting on the expenditure, the source said accommodation would be pegged at K45 million.

“There is also a separate budget in millions for the police, army, intelligence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for protocol; hence, resulting in a bloated budget of over K100 million,” explained our source.

At present, this money can be used to purchase medicines and medical supplies in the health sector which is currently grappling with the cholera outbreak.

Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira in an interview last week described the continued ignoring of the directive as a drain on public resources.

He said it also shows a lack of seriousness in the implementation of austerity measures when the country’s economy is struggling.

Kambwandira said: “We are not surprised to learn that government officials, including Cabinet ministers continue to follow the President wherever he travels because the President himself has set a bad precedent by failing to follow his own rules.

“When the President is breaking the rules set by himself, it does not give any confidence about how serious we are about austerity measures, accountability, and fighting corruption. Let the President walk the talk.”

On May 31 2022 Chakwera unveiled austerity measures aimed at stabilising the economy in the aftermath of the 25 percent devaluation of the kwacha.

The measures included cutting by 20 percent fuel allowances for his Cabinet, restrictions on foreign travel, and no movement of government vehicles after 6pm.

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Boniface Chibwana said in a separate interview that when the President speaks on any policy issue, it is supposed to be enforceable.

He said: “Indeed the President in 2020 and on many occasions has said that he does not need a big entourage, but the opposite has been witnessed. This is the culture we have entrenched in Malawi.

“Most ministers believe that being close to the President in these public functions means they are doing their work and this is very wrong. Ministers have too much work in their ministries in making sure that government policies are implemented and accompanying the President wherever he goes is not right.”

Chibwana, however, said the onus is on the President to ensure that the policy directives he gives are enforced instead of reducing them to mere rhetoric.

He agreed with Kambwandira that austerity measures need to be enforced and that a bloated entourage drains the meagre resources that the country has.

The directive on bloated entourage is among many directives the President has made, but failed to implement.

For instance, at the launch of the M1 construction works on July 12 2022, Chakwera directed government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to upload project data on the Information Platform for Public Infrastructure (IPPI) by August 31 2022, a directive that over 61 MDAs are yet to comply with.

Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) chairperson Gift Trapence said it is not surprising that the President’s numerous directives are not adhered to.

In an interview last week Trapence said the President has been a spectator of his own directives.

“On several occasions, the President has defied implementing his own directives and HRDC is not surprised with this because the President has not been the man of his own words in decision- making. He has not lived up to people’s expectations in decision-making,” he said.

Trapence said Malawians expect the President to talk less but act more.

SPC Colleen Zamba, however, was yet to respond to our questionnaire sent to her on Tuesday.

When asked about the President’s position on the continued ignoring of his directives, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda referred the matter to Zamba.

Minister of Information and Digitisation Gospel Kazako, who is the official government spokesperson, on Friday, did not also respond to our questionnaire.

Chakwera ascended to the presidency following his triumph in the court-sanctioned Fresh Presidential Election held on June 23 2020.

He promised to govern differently, only to slide back to business as usual, with sloppy policy execution.