Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera reduced the size of his cabinet on Tuesday in his first Cabinet reshuffle of 2023, reported The BBC. The reshuffle also saw the appointment of seven new faces including an opposition lawmaker.
Chakwera has reduced the size of the cabinet from 33 to 27. The Malawi leader, who dissolved his entire Cabinet last year because of corruption allegations against ministers, has since introduced eight new faces.
“The appointments are with effect from 31st January 2023,” said Colleen Zamba, secretary to the president and Cabinet.
The list of the new cabinet minister was released on Tuesday at around midnight local time.
Among those who have been sacked are Information Minister Gospel Kazako, Local Government Minister Blessings Chinsinga, Community Development, and Social Welfare Minister Patricia Kaliati, and ruling Malawi Congress Party’s Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka, who was Environment Minister.
The reshuffle was announced after reports accused several ministers of corruption charges in an investigation carried out by Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the UK’s National Crimes Agency.
In his New Year message, President Chakwera made a promise to name a new Cabinet focused on maximizing the country’s limited resources to improve service delivery.
Mr. Chakwera has not allocated himself any ministerial portfolio as was the case previously. He also did not allocate ministerial responsibilities to his Vice-President Saulos Chilima, who is currently facing corruption charges that he denies.
The vice-president remains in office because under Malawi law he cannot be sacked. Senior party members from the ruling coalition were also left out of the new cabinet.
In related news, last week, Malawi’s health ministry said more than 1,000 people have lost their lives due to an ongoing cholera outbreak that started in March 2022.
According to the statement, the total number of cases reported since the outbreak has risen to 31,241, while the death toll stands at 1,023.
On Thursday, Health minister Khumbize Chiponda warned that cholera deaths had multiplied within the last month.
