I was reluctant to comment on the worsening relationship between President Chakwera and his vice President Chilima. These people thought that they were wise and clever for withholding information contained in their alliance agreement. Little did they realise that truth has its own way to set itself free. But here are the fifteen signs that show that their relationship is not that all rosy:
- When Saulos Chilima pronounced that leadership of Tonse Alliance would take turns and Chilima would be the next torchbearer for Tonse Alliance in 2025, President Chakwera categorically refuted that he was not part of that agreement and that Chilima was just expressing his own opinion.
- President Chakwera went ahead again to refute the wishes of the Vice President Saulos Chilima that he would be the Minister of Finance. In fact, President Chakwera proved his vice Chilima wrong by appointing him Minister of Economic planning and development instead leaving Chilima mouth agape and bamboozled.
- Furthermore, President Chakwera has just exercised his prerogative by stripping the Vice President of his ministerial position of economic planning and development. It never rains but it pours for our Vice President Saulos Chilima.
- President Chakwera has been saying all the time ‘ Dr Chilima and I’ meaning that they were working together. However, there is a change of tune by our president. He has recently asserted himself as the sole driver of the nation. He addressed the recently instituted cabinet as ‘my cabinet’ and ‘you are my ministers’.
- President Chakwera has also directed that all ministers must directly report to him. If UTM ministers thought that it was Chilima who initiated their appointment, Chakwera categorically said it was President Chakwera who appointed them. Their allegiance are to President Chakwera and not to any other person on planet earth. This is interesting.
- President Chakwera deliberately ignored Chilima’s public sector reform report. He has not acted on the report for over six months now leaving Vice President Saulos Chilima dismally frustrated.
- The recent socioeconomic recovery plan engineered by the Vice President Saulos Chilima has not been implemented at all. We are yet to see.
- The absence of the Vice President Saulos Chilima at an important event where ministers and deputy ministers were sworn in speaks volumes of his gargantuan frustration.
- Malawi Congress Party continues to enjoy lion’s share in public appointments including Cabinet. It is not surprising that some disgruntled UTM diehards like Bon Kalindo have expressed their disappointment with the current regime by holding nation wide demonstrations.
- During campaign period Dr Chilima hinted that power would be shared between the President and the Vice. As of now, the office of the Vice President remains a delegated one. There are currently no plans nor a bill to change the constitution to accommodate this notion.
- At one point in time, the Vice President Saulos Chilima embarked on series of tours to inspect road construction projects. Weeks later, President Chakwera followed suit to inspect the very same projects already visited his Vice trying to outdo and outsmart each other at the expense of taxpayers’ money.
- President Chakwera promised Malawians that he would reduce his presidential powers. Nothing has been done. In fact, he is gaining more power. He boasted having power over the removal of ACB Director. He has been assigning duties to the Vice President on a podium such as In-charge of SADC preparation summit, public sector reform Programme, etc.. There are currently no plans to reduce presidential powers. No bill has been drafted yet.
- The bad relationship between President Chakwera and his vice is reflected in their supporters. MCP and UTM supporters are always antagonistic to each other on both social media platforms and on the ground. And yet they belong to the same Tonse Alliance government. It was unfathomable for MCP and UTM supporters to hack each other in Karonga by-elections. Surprisingly, neither President Chakwera nor Vice President Saulos Chilima came in the open to condemn their supporters’ primitive, uncivil and undemocratic behaviour.
- Very rare does President Chakwera delegate his Vice to perform other duties. Of course, there was a time when President Chakwera delegated vice President Chilima to an international conference following a public outcry.
- As an alliance, people expected the President to consult party leaders when formulating a cabinet. It is alleged that the Vice President was not consulted when instituting this cabinet reshuffle. Chilima only heard about cabinet reshuffle on the radio like any other citizen when he was conducting an official meeting in Blantyre as the Minister of economic planning and development. He had to cancel the meeting abruptly as he was dropped from the ministerial position. Wonders never cease.
Enjoy the brand new month. Count your blessings one by one.