Chakwera breaks silence on calls to fire Chikhosi

For more than a year President Lazarus Chakwera has opted to turn a dear ear to demands by various sections of the society to fire his Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi.

But Chakwera broke the silence yesterday when, for the first time, he commented on the issue and assured stakeholders that he is addressing the concerns internally as administrative issues to be resolved within his office.

Presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said in an interview yesterday that the President was looking into the issues “in compliance with rules of natural justice and without any recourse to mob justice”.

The President’s inaction and silence on the calls, has, however, drawn varied public reactions. While some have defended his silence, others have described it as a disturbing trend, and a departure from the President’s hyped ‘listening-government’ mantra preached prior to his election.

The SPC is the head of the public service and chief adviser of the President on public service operations.

According to the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) chairperson Monsignor Patrick Thawale and publicity secretary Gilford Matonga, as a committee they believe Chikhosi is incompetent, and is not delivering to the expectation of Malawians.

On its part, the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament observed that there are serious problems in the four State-owned companies which the SPC chairs.

 A Malawi Congress Party faction of concerned members whose publicity secretary is former member of Parliament for Kasungu West Alex Major accuses Chikhosi of frustrating the Tonse Alliance agenda by sidelining those who fought for change in appointments in the civil service and for awarding his friends by recalling them from retirement and giving them jobs in the civil service.

Chikhosi was appointed as SPC in June 2020 but has faced a grim resistance from groups and individuals, including members of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which is led by Chakwera, denouncing him as unfit to run the highest public service office.

Demands to have the SPC replaced were first made public in February 2021, barely eight months after his appointment, by a splinter group of MCP that penned Chakwera to fire Chikhosi and other State House employees.

The quasi religious body PAC and the Centre for Democracy and Development Initiatives (Cdedi) are among other organisations that have been putting pressure on Chakwera to replace Chikhosi.

Whereas Chakwera has resolved to avoid the demands put forward to him, PAC, Cdedi and the MCP faction, in separate interviews, remained buoyant to realise their aspiration.

“We still feel the current SPC must go. If the President has so much trust and love in him, the best option is to transfer him and give him other duties where he can serve.

“The SPC is a position of trust and a person serving in that particular office is expected to perform according to the expectations of Malawians, but in this case, as a committee, we believe he is not delivering to the expectation of Malawians,” said Matonga.

Matonga said his body received several grievances against the SPC which formed the basis for the demand to replace him.

“People he is supposed to serve have lost trust in him therefore the position needs someone who can do things with speed and accordingly,” he said.

Cdedi executive director, Sylvester Namiwa, said ignoring calls to have the SPC replaced, is an indication that “apart from impunity and arrogance on the part of Chakwera, the SPC is working on a script and the ultimate beneficiary is the President.”

Namiwa said they would not tire in reminding the President that he was using borrowed powers if the spirit of Section 12 of the country’s Constitution was anything to go by.

“So, we will shortly engage the President to bring to his attention why his SPC is proving to be a thorn in the flesh of Malawians.

“If Chakwera is really serious about the welfare of the people and the good of his own legacy he should let Chikhosi go or else we will not hesitate to pile pressure on him to fire him through protests dubbed Chikhosi must fall,” said Namiwa.

On its part, the MCP splinter group said as devoted MCP members they were very angry with the President’s silence.

The group’s publicity secretary Alex Major said Chakwera must not water down the fact that party members have a voice in decision-making.

“As a party, we are saying we are unhappy with what is happening because we believe and trust our interests are not being served because of some people.

“We can’t tell why the President is not acting on the issue [firing Chikhosi and others] and we can’t find a reason for not doing that,” said Major, a former legislator for Kasungu West Constituency.

Chikhosi is not only fighting his removal as SPC, but also his involvement in boards of Statutory Corporations where he currently chairs four boards, including those of Electricity Generation Company of Malawi, National Oil Company of Malawi, Greenbelt Investment Limited and Power Market Limited.

The Public Appointments Committee of Parliament observed there were

serious problems in the four State-owned companies which the SPC

chairs and has proposed amendment of the law that designates the SPC to serve in the boards.

But South Africa-based political scientist Michael Jana observed in an interview that in the interest of transparency and accountability Chakwera ought to come clear regarding his position to avoid creating suspicions.

“If a significant section of the society thinks the top public servant is not performing to the standards then they have legitimate claims to ask for that level of accountability because he is a public servant.

“Now, if the President thinks otherwise, he would rather come out clear and explain, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, to the nation or rather to that significant part of the society why he thinks the SPC should not be replaced. But keeping silent just raises a lot of suspicions regarding the SPC’s position,” said Jana, a political studies lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand.

Another political scientist Vincent Kondowe said while it was the prerogative and discretion of the President to hire and fire the people he works with, he needed to listen to the voices or views coming from different sections of the society.

Kaunda said if the President felt the SPC was performing according to the agreed performance framework there was nothing he could do.

“On the other hand, the performance of a public officer is not only measured through the eyes of the President. The public, too, has a voice; so maybe the President must listen to such voices from the society on how his SPC is executing his duties, analyse the situation and respond accordingly,” he said.

But another political scientist Ernest Thindwa felt demands to have the current SPC replaced have emotions attached because, according to him, nobody has so far brought credible evidence suggesting the SPC was unfit for the position or was involved in manipulating some other government processes.