VIEWPOINT

MADAM President will need a new cabinet, preferably soon after the funeral of President Bingu wa Mutharika. How she does it, indeed is her own prerogative and I am sure she has professionally capable people to advise her but she will need to be both careful and tactful. If I were her, I would prefer to do the following:
 
1. Appoint a Vice President who is a technocrat, one who doesn’t even need to be a serving politician. I would avoid recycling those with doubtful credibility or those who would go into office with an axe to grind because they would drag me into pursuing personal vendettas as if they were my main governance policy goal.
 
2. The smaller the cabinet the better for resource saving and for efficient management. This would also be done to show a break with the past.
 
3. Good mixture of politicians and technocrats or what one commentator referred to as an all possible talent (APT) cabinet. In doing this, I would stay away from the likes of Kaliatis, Vuwas, Dausis, Ntabas, Kanyumbas, G. Gondwes, Mpinganjiras, Baguses, Chinkwitas of this world. Change should be seen to be effected.
 
4. Think beyond 2014 - appoint those with potential to win in 2014. The majority of the current DPP ministers and MPs are unlikely to make it back to Parliament after the May 2014 elections, unfortunately!
 
5. Be extremely cautious of the DPP-PP difference and rift. One is legitimately in parliament while the other isn’t. There’s a real danger of creating an opposition party out of a governing party! It will be a repeat of the 2004-2009 scenario which created the foundations for bad governance.
 
Much as Madam President has promised or rather "prayed" for no politics of revenge or retribution, I am dead sure Malawians will need and demand accountability. She’ll have to avoid unnecessarily shielding those the Malawian people will need to account for their actions. They will include those behind the July 20-21 killings, those behind the killing of Robert Chasowa, those behind the closure of Chancellor College for almost nine months, those behind the attmpted move(s) to stop her from taking over the Presidency against constitutional provisions (which in fact is treason); those behind shady deals such as the Malawi Housing scandal to name but a few. If she decides to carelessly shield those characters she may have to answer to the voters in May 2014.

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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment