Should public positions be tied to presidential tenure?

The expectation is that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) must operate with independence from appointing officers. That expectation, however, faced its greatest test sometime in 2007. The then DPP Ishmael Wadi had independently made a decision that irked his boss, former president BinguwaMutharika.

Visibly furious, Mutharika went public not just to demand, in a space of 48 hours, the resignation of Wadi. He also challenged the idea of DPP’s independence when he advanced that ‘there is no way one can be independent from the person who appointed him’.

What resulted from the clash was a huge debate regarding the assumed independence of certain senior public positions from the incumbent president.

Without narrowing the debate to Wadi’s predicament, there was an aura of agreement among various stakeholders, then, that certain senior public positions suffer increased manipulation from politicians—especially the president.

In fact, former vice-president Justin Malewezi told The Nation last year that politicisation of the public service, especially through the president’s privilege of being the appointing authority, is one key factor behind the dismal performance of the country’s public service sector.

Records show that every president comes with his or her team and even within the team, if some take a different route of thought from that of the president, they end up chopped.

This, analysts argue, has had negative effects on the efficiency of their critical offices as they always toll the presidential line even when it is flawed.

To deal with the problem, the Public Service Reform Commission (PRSC) has recommended that some public positions should follow the presidential tenure of office.

The positions include: the Attorney General, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), the chief secretary to Government, the director general of Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), the Inspector General of Police, the Commander of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), the Secretary to the Treasury, the Budget Director, the director of the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the commissioner general of the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).

But can tying these positions to presidential tenure really help to reduce political interference in their operations?

Chancellor College associate professor of public administration Happy Kayuni lauds the recommendation, arguing that shows that the Commission understands the dichotomy between politics and administration.

“We need to understand that every political leader has his or her vision. To fulfil this, they need to work with people they easily understand and this means changing the look and tone of the administration in place.

“That is why I find it sensible for these key public offices to be tied to a presidential tenure,” he says.

John Kufeyani, a fourth-year political leadership student at Catholic University of Malawi (Cunima), supports the recommendation, saying it will help to avoid the perception that there is political interference in appointments and termination of employment of officers.

“We need to face the truth that change of leadership affects the public sector too. Even in established democracies like US, key public positions wear a new face every time leadership changes. I really see the recommendation as a bold move to sanitise an issue already at hand,” he says.

However, Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) president Chancellor Kaferapanjira argues that tying public positions to presidential tenure of office legitimises the problem of political interference.

“We feel that it is important to leave these positions to be independent and not aligned to a term of a political leader. That is basically legitimising political influence. For instance, the Inspector General of Police is a professional and he/she should be able to serve the new leader with professionalism,” he says.

Concurring with Kaferapanjira, Chancellor College professor of public administration Lewis Dzimbiri adds that what the Commission wants to legitimise is an issue that has been there from way back.

“We know what has been happening that every leader works with his or her team. However, legitimising this is akin to entrenching a behaviour that we must fight against as a country,” he explains.

He adds that if implemented as advocated by the Commission, the move will have adverse effects on the management of the public sector.

“In the first place, ethical issues will be heavily compromised. We will create a scenario where senior officers, especially when they know that they are leaving their offices, will not care to misappropriate resources to their advantage. I see entrenchment of organised corruption,” he says.

Dzimbiri also noted that tying officials to a presidential tenure will have effects on continuity of experience.

“Government is an institution, to mean, it needs to have certain people who should be around for institutional memory. The idea of tying positions to presidential tenure defeats this.

“Currently, we should be talking about developing a national development programme which everybody who gets into government should be following. If we can achieve this, there will be no need of tying officers to presidential tenure,” he said.

Coincidentally, the Commission also recommends that Malawi should have a National Vision which should be legislated to make it legally binding, and avoid the tendency by ministries, departments and agencies deviating from the country’s plans and strategies. This will ensure that the country’s transformative agenda stays on course and stands the test of time, including any change of government.