PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW US AMBASSADOR AND OTHER

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000761

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2010
TAGS: KDEM MI PGOV TBIO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW US AMBASSADOR AND OTHER
APPOINTMENTS

Classified By: Political Officer Tyler Sparks for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (SBU) On Monday, September 5, President Mutharika
announced a number of new diplomatic appointments in the
Malawian Foreign Service. Topping the list is the
appointment of Francis Moto, former Principal at Chancellor
College, as Ambassador to the U.S. This is the first that
the Embassy has heard of the appointment, which will still
have to be approved by Parliament.


2. (SBU) Moto has been at the center of controversy the past
six months centering on Chancellor College, the major
University in Malawi. The President, who holds the title of
Chancellor of Chancellor College, met with students last
week to discuss various grievances, including an extended
faculty strike. At that meeting Mutharika announced that
Moto would be removed from his position. The appointment as
Ambassador appears to be a way to quietly sideline him.


3. (SBU) Another prominent appointment is the naming of
Agrina Mussa as new Ambassador to the U.K. Mussa is the head
of Malawi's Chamber of Commerce and the former Chair of
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM),the
electricity parastatal corporation. She is also the wife of
Minister of Transport and Public Works Henry Mussa. Agrina
Mussa had recently been at the center of a scandal
surrounding the contract awarding process at the ESCOM.


4. (U) Other appointments include the naming of long-time
Clerk of Parliament Roosevelt Gondwe as Ambassador to Japan;
former Nairobi High Commissioner Benson Tembo as HC in
Harare; Sam Kandodo Banda, the former head of the Movement
for Genuine Democratic Change (MGODE) political party, as HC
in Maputo; and Professor Richard Phoya, older brother to
Minister of Justice Henry Phoya, as HC in Dar-es-Salaam.


5. (SBU) Comment: Mutharika seems to be both sidelining
problem cases (Moto, Mussa),while rewarding supporters
(Banda, Phoya). In either case, he has certainly moved
further away from his stated desire to promote qualified
career diplomats. All appointments will still have to be
confirmed by Parliament's Public Appointments and Declaration
of Assets Committee. (End Comment)
EASTHAM