His Excellency the President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has withdrawn the appointment of the Deputy Inspector General of the Malawi Police, Demester Chigwenembe and appointed Acting Commissioners.
The Malawi leader also clarified that the appointments of the Commissioner General and Deputy Commissioner General have been made to function in an acting capacity.
President Chakwera said this during the swearing in ceremony of the newly appointed Ministers at the Bingu International Convention Center in Lilongwe on Friday, 10 July.
“What the press release on the appointments did not mention is that because such appointments are the domain of the Board of MRA, my appointments are only made to function in an acting capacity until the Board is reconstituted and in place to make permanent appointments. I have made these provisional appointments to stop the free-for-all pilferage of taxes and the destruction of evidence that have been taking place there in the last few weeks, crimes which need to be stopped as a matter of urgency. As for the appointment of the Deputy Inspector General, it has duly been withheld pending a regularization process, and I commend all of you who noted the anomaly,” clarified Chakwera.
Zeroing in claims that some Cabinet Ministers have conflicts of interest, the Malawi leader said his office will develop a special code of conduct that will police the appointed Ministers from using their public office for the advancement of those private interests.
The President assured the nation he did a thorough background check on each candidate and that they are “accomplished individuals in their own right”.
“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.
Chakwera added that at the start of a New Year, he will shortlist those whose performance he finds satisfactory and include them among those who will be publicly
interviewed for a year-long appointment on the 2021 Cabinet.
