PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW CABINET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000520

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL PINR KDEM MARR MI
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW CABINET

REF: LILONGWE 457


1. SUMMARY. More than three weeks after elections, President
Bingu wa Mutharika finally announced his cabinet on June 13.
With 21 senior ministers (including the President and Vice
President) and 8 deputy ministers, Mutharika failed in his
attempt to reduce the size of the cabinet to 20. In an
effort to forge a working majority in parliament (a work very
much still in progress),Mutharika was compelled to include
ministers from four minor parties. He also had to balance
his desire to streamline the cabinet with the need to
maintain harmony in the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF)
which is chaired and controlled by former president Bakili
Muluzi. The 29-member cabinet is nevertheless an improvement
from the bloated 46-member cabinet of the prior government.
Cabinet members will be sworn in on June 16 in Blantyre. END
SUMMARY.


2. Secretary to the President and Cabinet Bright Msaka on
June 13 announced the composition of President Mutharika's
cabinet. According to Msaka, the new appointments take into
consideration individual merit and professional competence,
as well as the recent memorandum of understanding between
ruling and opposition parties. Other factors were religion,
gender balance, and development and foreign policy goals.


3. President Mutharika will serve as Minister responsible
for Defense and the Civil Service. Vice President Cassim
Chilumpha will assume the portfolio of Minister for Statutory
Corporations. There will be no position of second vice
president, though former second vice president Chakufwa
Chihana will retain his position as Minister of Agriculture.
The new cabinet includes three members of the Republican
Party (RP),two members of the Alliance for Democracy
(AFORD),and one member each from Movement for Genuine
Democratic Change (MGODE) and the New Congress for Democracy
(NCD).


4. Members of Malawi's new cabinet are:

Ministers:

President, and Minister Responsible for Defense and the Civil
Service: Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika

Vice President, and Minister Responsible for Statutory
Corporations: Dr. Cassim Chilumpha

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security: Dr.
Chafukwa Chihana (AFORD)

Minister of Finance: Dr. Goodall Gondwe

Minister of Economic Planning and Development: David Faiti
(RP)

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Dr. George Chaponda

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs: Henry Phoya
(will also serve as Attorney General)

Minister of Industry, Science and Technology: Khumbo Chirwa
(RP)

Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security: Uladi Mussa

Minister of Trade and Private Sector Development: Mrs. Eunice
Kazembe

Minister of Education and Human Resources: Yusuf Mwawa

Minister of Transport and Public Works: Henry Mussa

Minister of Lands, Housing and Service: Bazuka Mhango (RP)

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development: Jaffalie
Mussa

Minister of Information, Communications, and Tourism: Dr. Ken
Lipenga

Minister of Labor and Vocational Training: Mrs. Lilian Patel

Minister of Health: Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba (NCD)

Minister of Mines, Natural Resources, and Environmental
Affairs: Davies Katsonga

Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture: Henry Chimunthu Banda

Minister of Women, Child Welfare, and Community Services:
Mrs. Joyce Banda

Minister of Social Development and Persons with Disabilities:
Clement Chiwaya

Deputy Ministers:

Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Food
Security: Sidik Mia Mohammed

Deputy Minister of Industry, Science, and Technology: Mrs.
Elvy Kalonga Ntafu

Deputy Minister of Education and Human Resources: Mrs. Anna
Kachikho

Deputy Minister of Transport and Public Works: Roy Commsy

Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development:
Patricia Kaliati

Deputy Minister of Information, Communications, and Tourism:
Henri Mumba (MGODE)

Deputy Minister of Health: Frank Tumpale Mwenefumbo (AFORD)

Deputy Minister of Mines, Natural Resources, and
Environmental Affairs: Bob Khamisa



5. Biographical information on cabinet members will follow
in septels.
DOUGHERTY