Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has demanded President Lazarus Chakwera to appoint new parastatal boards to allow the public institutions to operate legally, saying the wait for the boards has gone on for too long.
CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa made the call today at a press briefing today.
Chakwera who was elected as President of Malawi in June, dissolved at least 67 boards of statutory corporation and state owned enterprise over a month ago.
He later appointed new boards for Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).
CDEDI’s Namiwa said it was the expectation of Malawians that since the Tonse Alliance government spoke very highly of the need for a fresh beginning, the parastatal boards would be reconstituted swiftly in order to give room to the cleanup exercise of the parastatals.
“The zeal, energy and political will displayed by the country’s Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima soon after assuming office, gave a strong signal to Malawians that change was indeed here! But as we speak now, that dream for new look parastatal boards seem to be a farfetched one! Malawians should brace for the same old story, business as usual kind of approach when tackling issues of national importance,” he said.
Namiwa posited that the delay is due to disagreements in terms of how political parties under the Tonse Alliance want the positions to be shared among the nine parties.
“or it is a deliberate ploy to allow for extended abuse of funds so that the blame should be heaped on the previous boards and administrations,” he said.
He, however, added that the delay, for whichever reasons, contradicts the impressive political rhetoric by Chakwera and Chilima during the campaign period
“CDEDI is appealing to President Chakwera to immediately appoint the board members for all the parastatals in order to dismiss these unknown fears and allow the public institutions to operate legally,” said Namiwa.
He further urged Chakwera to always have the plight of the youth at heart every time he is considering making public appointments in his government.
Namiwa also called on Dr. Chilima to consider providing regular updates regarding progress recorded in the public sector reforms he is championing so that it should become very easy for the general public to take stock of what the Tonse government is doing.
CDEDI is a non-partisan, nongovernmental organization that was established in a quest to attain a well-informed and organized citizenry that can ably demand their social and economic rights at the same time hold duty bearers accountable for their actions.
