Misanet / The Chronicle, 20 June - The one month in office for Malawi's new President, Bingu Wa Mutharika, could best be described as busy and tough. He spent most of his days shunting between Malawi's two main cities, Lilongwe and Blantyre, to carry out different tasks to win the hearts of Malawians - nearly 70 percent of whom did not want him to be their leader.

President Mutharika also had to make sure that he wins the support of the churches who campaigned heavily against him, the donor community who froze their aid because of lavish spending by his predecessor, corruption and abuse of power by the previous regime, a highly critical civil society and the opposition which got more MPs in Parliament than the ruling party.

Mr Mutharika, an economist with vast experience both at local and international level, was sworn in as the country's third multi-party President on Monday, 24 May, two days after the Malawi Electoral Commission declared him winner of the 20 May general elections in which the ruling UDF party was accused of rigging, misuse of public resources and an abuse of the public media for their campaign.

The opposition under the Mgwirizano electoral coalition is still challenging the election results and asking the courts to call for a rerun, arguing that the ruling party stole their victory from them.

In his celebrated acceptance speech after being sworn in, Mr Mutharika won the hearts of many, including civil society organisations, the opposition and the churches when he spelt out a tough economy recovery programme, called for reconciliation among all Malawians and political parties and offered an olive branch to the opposition, inviting them to work with him in order to get Malawi out of the abject poverty that the last regime got her into.

In the speech, President Mutharika also promised Malawians and the donor community a lean cabinet, which he said would be appointed based on merit and professional competence only and will strive to entrench a "zero tolerance" on corruption.

- I shall ensure strict investigation of politicians and public officers at all levels, and I repeat, at all levels, who are found in corruption, theft, mismanagement and abuse of power in all its forms, said wa Mutharika with a smattering of applause from a near empty Chichiri Stadium in Blantyre, the country's second city.

One month down the line, President Mutharika still continues to win the hearts of many as he starts implementing his promises. Just a week after offering an olive branch to the opposition, Mr Mutharika on Monday the 31 of May met one of the most respected opposition leaders, Gwanda Chakuamba at the UDF National Chairman Bakili Muluzi's BCA Hill house in Blantyre.

Mr Chakuamba, who earlier disputed Mr Mutharika's win and declared himself winner, has since joined the UDF in a Government of National Unity {GNU}. It is alleged that, apart from trying to beef up numbers of MPs in Parliament, the UDF party roped Mr Chakuamba in to ease the possibility of a rerun because of the elections case.

People are still wondering as to how President Mutharika could have decided to work with Mr Chakuamba who, in his first day in office described Mr Chakuamba as "more of a gangster leader and not a mature politician." During campaign, ex-President and UDF leader Muluzi had also described Mr Chakuamba as a murderer who killed people at the time he was a leader in the MCP reign - the Malawian dictatorship that was only ended in 1994.

President Mutharika has also lived up to his promise of a lean cabinet. His appointment of a 28 member cabinet has won both praise and criticism from Malawians. Some are saying the cabinet is still too big considering that they are eight deputies and also includes some of those who were in Mr Muluzi's former cabinet and who did not perform sufficiently to earn another cabinet post.

He has been praised for taking on board professionals to head the ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs. On revamping the economy, President Mutharika has so far shown that he is serious.

He has so far told all ministers to operate from the capital, Lilongwe, to cut costs, has told them to set targets in their respective ministries and report to him on the progress or the lack thereof once a month. Mr Mutharika has also warned the ministers and senior government officials to desist from making unnecessary foreign and local trips and also to be exemplary by working hard and reporting to work from Monday to Friday at 7:30 sharp every morning.

He has made a number of consultations with different stakeholders, including traditional leaders, business captains, the IMF and the World Bank as well as the clergy. He is however yet to meet representatives from the media, the civil service, teachers, nurses and most importantly, the oppositional MCP's John Tembo, who is likely going to be the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly unless he decides to become Speaker of Parliament.

However, after all has been said, so far things seem to be moving in the right direction and Malawians are willing to give President Mutharika the benefit of the doubt. They want him desperately to succeed and to prove that he is worthy of trust.

However some Malawians are wondering why Mr Mutharika, who promised to operate from Lilongwe, is still holding most official and private functions in Blantyre. For instance his meetings with the chiefs, the clergy, business captains and the swearing in of cabinet ministers have all been conducted at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre.

It is only the meetings with the IMF and the World Bank as well as officials from the army, which were conducted at Lilongwe's Nthunthama State Lodge. The argument is that there is absolutely little hope for his ministers to implement his directive for them to operate from Lilongwe if he continues to conduct government business from Blantyre. It is a case of "walk the talk, Bwana nkubwa," before we can follow in your footsteps.

Malawians also expect him to detach himself from the politics of appeasement, nepotism and character assassination, which his predecessor is renowned for. Ex-President Muluzi is seen by many as the "fly in the ointment", the "spanner in the works" for Mr Mutharika, which would limit his potential to succeed.

President Mutharika's new cabinet, which included a good number of previous ministers who have been largely unproved, has shown that ex-President Muluzi is still pulling some strings.

Malawians are also waiting with abated breath to see him show his commitment in the fight against corruption "at all levels" as he has promised, by taking action on the many corruption cases, which have not been concluded.

In fact, his seriousness and departure from Mr Muluzi's style of leadership will be measured by the seriousness that he will show by probing allegations of abuse of power by the previous regime, of which he acknowledged when he was sworn in as well as when his cabinet ministers were pledging their vow of loyalty when he said that Malawi is accused of "spending as if money grows on trees."

President Mutharika will also have to make sure that farm inputs for the next season are more affordable, and that progress is seen in the areas of education, health and agriculture. Under the previous regime, these essential areas were sadly neglected and were largely used to award large contracts to party faithfuls.

Anything short of that will draw people's anger. President Mutharika needs to always remember that if he fails to deliver, he will vindicate the over 70 percent of Malawians who did not want him to be their leader. Any failure will also prove ex-President Muluzi wrong who, during the campaign continually promised that Mr Mutharika - who is an economist - was what Malawi needed.

As an economist - he told the nation - Mr Mutharika would turn the economy around for the benefit of all Malawians. All is well only when it ends well, and ex-President Muluzi is a good testimony on this.

By Levison Mwase

© The Chronicle (Lilongwe) / afrol News

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