Africa-Press – Malawi. President Lazarus Chakwera Wednesday fired Defence Minister Harry Mkandawire and Education Deputy Minister Nancy Chaola Mdooko from Cabinet.
But Chakwera has maintained the same names in the key ministries of Finance, Agriculture and Trade.
In a Cabinet reshuffle announced last night, Chakwera has appointed Lilongwe East Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Ezekiel Ching’oma as new Homeland Security Minister, replacing Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, who has moved to the Ministry of Mining.
Jessie KabwilaChakwera has also appointed Malawi Congress Party (MCP) spokesperson Jessie Kabwila as new Minister of Higher Education.
The Malawi leader has also promoted former deputy Minister of Local Government Owen Chomanika to a full ministerial position of Natural Resources and Climate Change, a portfolio previously held by State Vice President Michael Usi.
Further, Chakwera has roped in Democratic Progressive Party legislators Joyce Chitsulo and Benedicto Chambo as Deputy Minister of Local Government and Agriculture, respectively.
He has also brought on board People’s Party lawmaker Noah Chimpeni and Patricia Nangozo Kainga as Deputy Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs, respectively.
Another new face in the Cabinet is Lilongwe South MP Peter Dimba, who is the new deputy Minister of Transport.
Apart from a few changes here and there, the bulk of the Cabinet remains unchanged.
In his New Year message to Malawians, Chakwera said the reshuffle had been made to bring renewed energy, focus, efficiency and speed to services that the government provides.
“With this team, we will work harder than ever to make your lives better this year and beyond this year.
Peter Dimba“But as always, for that to happen, I will be counting on your support every step of the way, because the government that I lead is your government,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Chakwera said Malawi registered a number of gains in 2024.
Among other things, the Malawi leader cited roads that are being constructed around the country; the arrival of a fuel train in Lilongwe from outside Malawi for the first time in two decades—and its arrival in the Shire Valley from outside Malawi for the first time in four decades—as some of the key achievements in the past 12 months.
“We gave each constituency in the country K200 million for development projects that are now visible in every constituency, including new district council offices in some, new bridges in others, new stadia in others, new markets in others, new police stations in others;
“We mobilised over K300 billion in off- budget support to procure emergency food for 5.7 million Malawians who lost their crops to drought conditions brought on by El-Nino weather.
“We reached millions of vulnerable Malawians with various forms of support, including social cash transfers for some, AIP fertilisers for others, collateral-free loans from Neef [National Economic Empowerment Fund] for others, and bags of maize from Dodma [Department of Disaster Management Affairs] for others.
“We saw the restoration of donor confidence in our finance management reforms and the return of budgetary support to Malawi for the first time in a decade; we saw the Consumer Price Index drop for the first time in months to signal the stabilisation of inflation,” he said.
For More News And Analysis About Malawi Follow Africa-Press
