President Lazarus Chakwera is assessing members of his cabinet internally, despite promising last year that the ministers will give reports to Malawians publicly.
State House has confirmed in a statement signed by Press Secretary Brian Banda that members of Chakwera’s 31-member cabinet are being assessed in an internal process.
Banda said the second wave of Covid-19 and the death of two ministers — Transport Minister Sidik Mia and Local Government Minister Lingosn Belekanyama — have necessitated doing the process expeditiously, than initially conceived.
“The president has, therefore, decided to do the review internally, which is already underway, in consultation with Vice President Saulos Chilima.
“Upon completion of the internal process review, the president’s reconstituted cabinet will be announced by the Office of the President and Cabinet at the end of the first quarter,” said Banda.
Chakwera appointed his cabinet in July last year, saying it was a transition cabinet that would be reviewed after five months.
“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. At the start of the New Year, I will shortlist those of you whose performance I find satisfactory and include you among those who will be publicly interviewed for a year-long appointment on my 2021 Cabinet,” he said on July 10.
Banda in the statement said the process was postponed in order to incorporate public sector reforms performance contracts which the ministers signed in November.
Chakwera who was elected in June has been accused of abandoning his own campaign promises. Earlier this year, he said people should not be obsessed with the promises saying they were made on assumptions and in conditions that no longer hold.
