Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera promised Malawians that he would fire underperforming ministers after giving them a 5-month probation period.
Despite some ministers being shredded in scandals including serious allegations of corruption and tax evasion, Chakwera has remained silent.
Minister of Energy Newton Kambala was recently reported to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) by a parastatal boss who accused the minister of interfering in a fuel supply contract. ACB confirmed that it is investigating the issue.
At the Ministry of Education, there has been an exam leakage affecting over 100,000 students who will be forced to re-sit for the exams next year. But despite calling for removal of management at the Malawi National Examinations Board, Chakwera has shielded his minister Agnes NyaLonje.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s management of the Affordable Inputs has been described as a disaster as it has seen beneficiaries sleeping for several days at selling points yet Chakwera continues to defend the program and his Minister Lobin Lowe.
Chakwera was also recently asked to fire Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda for encouraging mob justice against suspects but the president has remained silent.
The ministers like Chakwera who has been nicknamed Siku Transport have largely been on the road on unending familiarization tours like their boss who is hardly on one place.
Speaking when the ministers were being sworn-in on July 10, Chakwera promised to restructure the cabinet after a five-month transitional period.
“You each have five months to produce results that will give Malawians confidence that change has come. At the end of that period, you will each give a report to Malawians publicly on your progress in each of the key performance indicators that I will give you,” said Chakwera.
The five-month period has ended this week and Malawians are yet to get reports from the ministers.
State House, however, insisted on Monday this week that the ministers’ performances will be reviewed and the underperforming ones will be fired.
