MALAWI: PRESIDENT FIRES TWO IN CABINET RESHUFFLE

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000094

SIPDIS

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SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KMCA MI
SUBJECT: MALAWI: PRESIDENT FIRES TWO IN CABINET RESHUFFLE



1. (SBU) Summary: President Mutharika reshuffled his cabinet on Feb.
8 for the sixth time since taking office in 2004. Mutharika removed
Minister of National Defense Bob Khamisa, who is involved in a
fertilizer subsidy coupon scandal, and Minister of Health Marjorie
Ngaunje. Despite criticism from the press and the opposition,
Mutharika retained the positions of Minister of Education, Science,
and Technology and Minister of Agriculture for himself. The
position of Minister of Presidential and Parliamentary Affairs was
abolished. The former occupant, Davies Katsonga, was moved to
Minister of Labor, signaling that the President's brother,
Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law Professor Dr. Peter
Mutharika, may now be the President's closest advisor. End Summary.


2. (U) On February 8, President Mutharika announced a new cabinet,
his seventh since taking office in May 2004, and the first reshuffle
since May 2007. The move appears to have been precipitated by the
December death of the Minister of Women and Child Development and
the recent embarassment of the Minister of National Defense, Bob
Khamisa, in a fertilizer subsidy coupon scandal. In December,
Khamisa was exposed giving fertilizer subsidy coupons to opposition
party members. The coupons were reportedly given to all government
ministers for use in their districts, sparking a controversy over
the misuse of the subsidy for political purposes (septel).


3. (SBU) In addition to Khamisa, Mutharika removed Minister of
Health Marjorie Ngaunje from the cabinet. Ngaunje alienated her
civil service staff and refused to delegate to them, despite having
no medical training herself. Ngaunje's lack of understanding also
undermined the previously successful sector-wide approach developed
by the government of Malawi and donor nations to implement a
six-year comprehensive health plan. Ngaunje is also engaged in a
leadership struggle with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Eastern
Region Governor Lucius Kanyumba in the constituency to which she was
elected as an independent in 2004.


4. (SBU) President Mutharika retained the positions of Minister of
Education, Science, and Technology and Minister of Agriculture
himself despite vocal criticisms from the media and opposition about
the poor performance of these ministries during the past nine
months. The Ministry of Education was undermined when staff leaked
the national secondary school examination and answers to the public,
resulting in a costly re-write of the exam and delays in testing of
graduating students. The Ministry of Agriculture was also beset by
problems in the distribution of fertilizer subsidy coupons and bags
of fertilizer amid claims of favoritism. Many have further claimed
that Mutharika's decision to sell surplus maize to Zimbabwe is
contributing to the current high prices of the commodity in Malawi.


5. (SBU) In total, Mutharika shuffled seven existing ministers and
elevated two deputy ministers to ministerial posts. While some
moves were minor, the post of Minister of Presidential and
Parliamentary Affairs was abolished. The new Minister of Labor,
Davies Katsonga, formerly held the post and was seen as the
right-hand man to President Mutharika. Katsonga recently led the
Malawian delegation that negotiated and signed the memorandum of
understanding to recognize the People's Republic of China. Media
and opposition suggested the demotion of Katsonga means the
president's brother and special advisor on legal affairs, Dr. Peter
Mutharika, is now the president's closest advisor.


6. (SBU) Additionally, Mutharika moved Henry Mussa, who had served
as Minister of Transport, Public Works, and Housing for the past 4
years, to Minister of Industry and Trade. (Comment: Mussa is widely
seen as a dependable administrator and some have speculated that the
move is in response to private sector concerns about the Ministry of
Industry and Trade.) This move forced a chain reaction with Henry
Chimunthu-Banda, the former Minister of Energy and Mines, replacing
Mussa at Transport, Public Works and Housing; Ted Kalebe, former
Minister of Economic Planning and Development, replacing
Chimunthu-Banda at Energy and Mines; and Ken Lipenga, former
Minister of Industry and Trade, replacing Kalebe at Economic
Planning and Development. Two of our most frequent Ministerial
contacts, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe and Foreign Minister Joyce
Banda, retain their positions.


7. (SBU) Comment: Mutharika has changed his cabinet roughly every
8-9 months since taking office, so the timing of the latest
reshuffle is not unusual. Both Khamisa and Ngaunje were
long-rumored to be on their way out of the cabinet. The surprising
demotion of Katsonga to Minister of Labor, a post that represents in
Malawi a warning that the incumbent is on the last slippery step to
an exit from Cabinet, could stem from published accusations (denied
by Katsonga) that he had taken a "sweetener" from the PRC during the
negotiations over the switch from Taiwan. It also may represent the
increased involvement of the president's brother in politics and
leadership squabbles within the president's Democratic Progressive
Party as planning and posturing for the 2009 general election begins
in earnest.

EASTHAM