MUTHARIKA MAKES MINOR CHANGES TO CABINET

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000677 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM ECON PINR PREL MI SUBJECT: MUTHARIKA MAKES MINOR CHANGES TO CABINET REF: LILONGWE 520 ¶1. (U) Officials at the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) announced on July 14 that President Bingu wa Mutharika, who already leads the Ministries of Defense and Civil Service, will also be responsible for the Ministry of Statutory Corporations and Privatization. Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, formerly responsible for the Ministry of Statutory Corporations and Privatization, will head the newly-created Ministry of Water Development. In the announcement, the Ministry of Women, Child Welfare, and Community Services was also renamed the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Services. COMMENT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Ministry of Water Development is the lead GOM agency for several donor-funded initiatives. Its re-creation is a result of concerns on the part of the sponsoring donors that the water sector (and consequently their projects) would be side-lined, if no specific Ministry took the lead. RASPOLIC