Ntaba back at State House
Politician-cum-medical doctor Hetherwick Ntaba is back at the State House in a new role, Minister of Information, Tourism and Civic Education Jappie Mhango confirmed yesterday.
Ntaba, who served as spokesperson to former president Bingu wa Mutharika until his sudden death in April 2012, is now President Peter Mutharika’s chief adviser responsible for domestic policy, according to Mhango.
Mhango, who is also the official government spokesperson, said Ntaba’s appointment is with immediate effect.
He said: “In fact, he [Ntaba] has already started working in his new capacity.”
Reacting to the appointment yesterday, Ntaba said he felt excited to head back “serve the President and the whole country in this capacity”.to the State House to
He said: “I feel very happy. It is a challenge, but I feel excited to serve the President and the
Chief country.”
Prior to his appointment, Ntaba was working as a medical doctor in hospitals in Lilongwe.
He said he would be doubling his new role with his revived medical career.
Mhango also confirmed that Mutharika has appointed Bright Malopa as technical adviser on broadcasting at the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra).
In an interview yesterday, Malopa said his move from State House, where he served as presidential adviser on strategy since 2014, to Macra was necessitated by problems Macra was facing to control infiltration of foreign content on the local media.
He said Macra has been approaching people with technical expertise to help correct the situation.
Said Malopa: “Foreign content is currently standing at 80 to 90 percent. It is a big problem even at MBC [Malawi Broadcasting Corporation]. Some people felt I have the creativity and technical expertise in this area, hence my appointment. My role will be to boost local content to 50 percent.”
State House sources also said the President’s chief adviser on economic affairs, Collins Magalasi, is also said to be acting as the President’s executive assistant, but Mhango said he needed more time to verify the appointment.
How does Bright Malopa boost local content by joining a regulatory body? Wouldn’t it make more sense to deploy him in an environment that *creates* that content?