Mtilatila appointed first woman Met director

The Office of the President and Cabinet has appointed Lucy Mtilatila as the new director of Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (Met).

She is replacing Jolamu Nkhokwe who retired in January this year.

Confirming the appointment on Tuesday, Mtilatila said she was thankful to authorities for entrusting her with such a responsibility.

She described the position as challenging particularly with various climate extremes facing the nation.

Mtilatila said the appointment is effective March 14 2022.

She said: “There are a lot of climate extremes and it keeps us on our toes, but I will do my best. I have been getting a lot of support from my predecessor and the transition has been very smooth.”

Mtilatila pledged to enhance the department’s early warning systems, engage more with the public, operationalise the National Framework for Climate Services and also incorporate other sectors such as health and infrastructure.

Commenting on the development, Civil Society Network on Climate Change national coordinator Julius Ng’oma said the society has worked with Mtilatila on a number of projects.

“She was very supportive, particularly in one of our projects called Participatory Scenario Planning, where she helped us to access climate information and interpret it for the public to understand,” he said.

However, Ng’oma said there was more that needed to be done in terms of making the public understand the role of weather forecasts.

“She needs to enhance capacity by ensuring that there is adequate personnel and infrastructure to provide accurate forecast to the nation.

“We are also hoping that she is going to be a leader in pushing the Climate Change and Meteorological Bill so that we have regulations that will help protect weather information in place.”

Mtilatila, the fifth director of the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has a bachelors of science in environmental science and technology from the University of Malawi (The Polytechnic) and masters in meteorology from Monash University, Australia. She is currently studying towards PhD with Potsdam University of Germany.

She has worked in the MET department for almost 21 years. Prior to her appointment, she acted on the position for two months following her predecessor’s retirement in January.