FAMILY AND FRIENDS: NEPOTISM IN THE MUTHARIKA

C O N F I D E N T I A L LILONGWE 000452

SIPDIS

FOR AF/S, INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: FAMILY AND FRIENDS: NEPOTISM IN THE MUTHARIKA
GOVERNMENT


Classified By: CDA David Gilmour for reasons 1.5 b and d


1. (C) SUMMARY. President Mutharika has placed relatives in
key government positions as he struggles to build a political
base for himself and his party. The president's cousin is
serving as head of the Public Service, and two adult
daughters have been appointed to positions in State House.
Mutharika is also believed to have appointed the head and the
deputy head of the police because they come from his home
district. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Following a longstanding tradition in Malawian
politics, President Mutharika has appointed close relatives
to important government positions. The most prominent
appointment to date is that of his cousin, Charles Matabwa,
who was named to a newly created position as head of the
country's civil service. Mutharika inherited a relative of
his predecessor Bakili Muluzi in the position of Secretary to
the President and Cabinet (SPC),the administrative head of
the President's office and the entire Civil Service. Rather
than dismissing the incumbent-- a skilled administrator with
many powerful friends-- Mutharika decided to split the office
of SPC into two, creating a Chief Secretary for the President
and Cabinet and a Chief Secretary for the Public Service. He
kept Muluzi's relative in the former position and appointed
Matabwa to the latter. Matabwa, a mediocre administrator, is
not respected for his leadership qualities, but his close
personal relationship to the president enables him to wield
enormous
power, particularly in hiring and firing senior civil
servants.


3. (C) Mutharika's two adult daughters are serving in
positions inside State House. One is working as his personal
assistant, and the other as a special assistant to the First
Lady, as executive director of the Ethel Mutharika
Foundation, which works to increase women's economic
empowerment. The Foundation also serves as a political
mobilization organization for the president and his party.


4. (C) Mutharika is believed to have appointed the Inspector
General (IG) and the deputy IG of the police because they
come from his home district of Thyolo in Southern Malawi. IG
Mary Nangwale is the widow of a policeman from Thyolo.
Nangwale's deputy, Often Thyolani, is also from Thyolo. When
Parliament recently rejected Nangwale's appointment earlier
this year, Mutharika responded by quickly appointing Thyolani
acting head of the police.


5. (C) Comment: Nepotism has a long tradition in Malawian
politics, and these family appointments follow a pattern
established by both of Mutharika's predecessors. Former
President Muluzi's wife, for example, also had a foundation
that in practice acted as an arm of the United Democratic
Front political party. However, Mutharika appears to be
employing the practice because he does not fully trust his
subordinates. Family members have remarked to Embassy
officers that the president is troubled by infighting in his
cabinet and is unsure which of his ministers can be fully
trusted. In the complex and treacherous world of Malawian
politics, Mutharika cannot be too careful in deciding where
he decides to place his confidence. Considering Mutharika's
very thin base of political allies, perhaps the surprise is
that he has not resorted more heavily to nepotism.
GILMOUR