Africa-Press – Malawi. President Peter Mutharika has drawn a hard line in the sand — warning his newly appointed ministers that this is not the time to eat, celebrate or enrich themselves, but a time to work, deliver, and rescue a struggling nation.
Speaking in Lilongwe during the swearing-in of 17 ministers and deputies, Mutharika told his team, in no uncertain terms, that their appointment was not a reward, but a burden of duty to serve Malawians with integrity and visible results.
“We are all aware of the economic challenges facing our country. My vision is to confront these head-on and deliver tangible development. I want ministers who will wake up and work — not those who will sleep in luxury,” Mutharika declared.
The President said he has no patience for laziness, excuses, or corruption, stressing that there will be no honeymoon period. Each minister must produce monthly progress reports backed by verifiable results.
“If you are here to eat, you will not last. If you are here to serve, history will remember you,” he warned.
Mutharika reminded the ministers that government’s decentralisation agenda was meant to ensure that development money reaches the people — not ministers’ pockets or party loyalists. Every constituency, he said, will receive K5 billion annually to drive grassroots development.
He challenged his team to empower the youth through skills training and innovation, saying Malawi’s future depends on its young people’s creativity, not recycled politics or tired bureaucracy.
And then came his fiercest blow — a full-frontal attack on corruption.
“No nation can prosper where corruption thrives,” Mutharika thundered. “It steals hospitals, schools, clean water and jobs. It destroys investor confidence and weakens the very soul of the nation. I will not tolerate it. Not in this government.”
He demanded financial discipline across ministries and directed Attorney General Frank Mbeta to tighten the legal framework to ensure no one — however powerful — is above the law.
Information Minister Shadreck Namalomba pledged to reform the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation so it stops serving political masters and instead serves the people. Homeland Security Minister Peter Mukhito vowed to end the passport chaos and restore discipline in the police service, while Gender Minister Mary Navicha committed to defending women, children, and persons with disabilities who have suffered neglect for too long.
But beneath Mutharika’s calm tone was a chilling warning — a message that if any minister mistakes public office for a personal feeding trough, they will find themselves on the wrong side of the President’s wrath.
In his words and tone, Mutharika made one thing brutally clear: The days of gluttony and complacency in government are over — this is war against mediocrity, greed, and inertia.
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