Chakwera plays hide-and-seek on pay hike

• Govt labels him Pharisee

Despite accusing President Peter Mutharika administration of hypocrisy on salary increments for public officers, leader of opposition in Parliament Lazarus Chakwera has maintained a vague position on whether his monthly pay has now been hiked by 168 percent effective October 1 2014.

Chakwera, who is Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president and finished second to Mutharika in the controversial May 20 Tripartite Elections, said in an interview yesterday what matters to him is servant leadership.

He said: “Personally, I do not care whether I am paid very little or nothing at all. But we are not talking about Chakwera, but an office that the Bingu [wa Mutharika] administration had demoted and which they now wanted to normalise.”

On Monday, Chakwera called the President a hypocrite and said his government is trying to divert Malawians’ attention from real issues.

In August this year, Mutharika rejected a 600 percent proposed salary increment for Cabinet ministers and called it unethical.

This time around, our sister newspaper, Weekend Nation, revealed that effective October 1, salaries for members of Parliament (MPs), Cabinet ministers, the leader of opposition, the Vice-President and the President were increased by 376 percent, 168 percent and 80 percent, respectively.

But reacting to Chakwera’s remarks, Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nankhumwa yesterday branded Chakwera a Pharisee, saying his assertions that the President does not care about the tragedy of human suffering currently being faced by Malawians due to the economic challenges are baseless.

Said Nankhumwa: “Like a Pharisee of now, Hon. Reverend Chakwera would obviously have loved to see—as we have been instructed by his manner of effort, tone and mood—President Mutharika and his administration wear sackcloth and flagellate themselves to demonstrate that they care. The President inherited a country that was almost on a life support, and instead of dwelling on finger pointing, took responsibility to act decisively in meeting the challenges.”

According to Nankhumwa, the President is concerned about Malawians, “but he will not go on empty theatrical gestures”, but act for a better Malawi.

However, Chakwera yesterday said his sentiments were coming from the people on the grass roots.

Said Chakwera: “It is true that he [the President] inherited a country on the verge of collapsing, but there are certain policies which should not have been changed and that some decisions must be made across the board. What I said is a reflection of how angry Malawians are.”

Several commentators have faulted government for effecting the salary increments at a time when the same authorities are telling workers in other public institutions such as the Judiciary, Parliament Secretariat and the Anti-Corruption Bureau that there are no funds. n