The new members of the Malawi Cabinet will be sworn in today at 13:00 hours at Kamuzu Palace, State House announced last night.
Malawi President Joyce Banda on Tuesday hired her new Cabinet which saw five former ministers, including Ken Lipenga (Finance) and Ralph Kasambara (Justice and Constitutional Affairs), facing the chop.
In the 32-member Cabinet, the President has drafted in five new faces, including four who are not members of Parliament (MPs) in economist Maxwell Mkwezalamba (Finance), former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Fahad Assani (Justice and Constitutional Affairs), disability rights activist Rachel Kachaje (Disability and Elderly Affairs) and her former aide and People’s Party (PP) director of women affairs Mary-Claire Makungwa (Gender, Children and Social Welfare).
Ntcheu Bwanje South MP Lucious Kanyumba, who served in various portfolios under the late Bingu wa Mutharika, has been appointed Minister of Education, Science and Technology, replacing Eunice Kazembe who has been moved to the newly created portfolio of Good Governance in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).
Fired alongside Lipenga and Kasambara are Eunice Makangala (Labour), Reen Kachere (Disability and Elderly Affairs) and Sam Ganda whose portfolio of deputy minister of Industry and Trade has been removed from the new Cabinet.
Lipenga’s eventual firing after the dissolution of the Cabinet last Thursday comes against a background of calls from various stakeholders, including opposition parties, for him to either resign or the President should fire him in the wake of the Capital Hill cash-gate scandal where billions in public funds have been paid out to individuals without contracts with government. Several civil servants have also been arrested for being found in possession of huge sums of money whose source they could not explain.
In the new list, the President has moved former minister of Local Government Grace Maseko to replace Makangala at Labour whereas Brown Mpinganjira has moved from Water Development and Irrigation to Information whose former holder, Moses Kunkuyu, has moved to Tourism and Culture.
Former minister of Gender Anita Kalinde has taken over from Mpinganjira while Rachel Mazombwe-Zulu, former minister of Tourism, is now Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
The President has maintained 12 portfolios as follows: Sosten Gwengwe (Industry and Trade), Catherine Gotani-Hara (Health), Mohammed Sidik Mia (Transport and Public Works), Ephraim Mganda Chiume (Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Henry Duncan Phoya (Lands and Housing), Ken Kandodo (Defence), Uladi Mussa (Home Affairs), Halima Daudi (Environment and Climate Change Management), Enock Chakufwa Chihana (Youth and Sports), Ralph Pachalo Jooma (Economic Planning and Development), James Munthali (Agriculture and Food Security) and John Bande (Mining).
The President has also moved Agness Mandevu Chatipwa to Education, Science and Technology as Kanyumba’s deputy from Ministry of Gender.
Other deputy ministers are Ulemu Chilapondwa (Agriculture), Cornelius Mwalwanda (Finance), Godfrey Kamanya (Local Government), Ephraim Abel Kayembe (Foreign Affairs) and Chikumbutso Hiwa (Health).
Lipenga and Kasambara could not be reached for comment as their mobile phones were out of reach.
Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito who last week led a mass demonstration in Lilongwe over looting at Capital Hill welcomed the changes in the new Cabinet but described it as insignificant.
Kapito specifically hailed the sacking of Lipenga whose ministry is at the centre of looting at Capital Hill and was also at the centre of controversy for defending the zero-deficit budget under the Mutharika administration.
“We are bit happier for the removal of the Finance Minister. It can make investigations a bit more credible. But I would have loved if many more were dropped, especially those whose ministries have high corruption perceptions,” said Kapito.
