The new president of Malawi Lazarus Chakwera has ordered the dissolution of the boards of directors of more than half of the hundred public institutions and enterprises in the country, suspected of mismanagement or corruption.
“I have received reports on the situation of state institutions which will feed into the decisions I will make to ensure that these institutions have the means to put an end to the anomalies and bad practices in progress,” said Mr. Chakwera in a statement released Tuesday evening.
A total of 60 public entities are targeted by the presidential measure, including oil and electricity companies, universities and radio and television.
“The president wants to ensure that everyone respects the law and good governance practices,” spokesman Sean Kampondeni told AFP.
At the head of the main opposition party, Mr. Chakwera won the disputed presidential election on June 23 with 58.5% of the vote, largely before the outgoing head of state Peter Mutharika.
This ballot was organized after the cancellation for fraud of the re-election of Mr. Mutharika last year.
The new head of state campaigned against the corruption of the old regime and its economic bankruptcy.
According to analyst Henry Chingaipe, ex-president Mutharika assigned the management of public companies to many close to his party in thanks for their political support.
“Most of the appointments did not take merit into account. It was a patronage system intended to ensure the sustainability of his regime,” he added, “the new appointments will have to show that these companies will now be managed. in accordance with the law”.
In the same vein, the presidency also announced on Wednesday the suspension of public contracts “to verify that they have not fueled corruption and that they have been awarded according to the rules”.
Mutharika was accused in 2018 of receiving $ 195,000 in bribes from a company that won a public contract, but he was never formally prosecuted.
He came to power in the 2014 presidential election, succeeding Joyce Banda, also implicated in a corruption scandal. Ms. Banda is today one of the supporters of Mr. Chakwera.
The Parliament also adopted a provisional budget on Tuesday which provides in particular for an increase in the minimum monthly salary from 35,000 to 50,000 kwacha (from 46 to 70 US dollars).
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