Malawi: Banda starts tough amidst crucial challenges

Malawi's new President Ms Joyce Banda, has taken some bold steps in her first week as President. She started by firing Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito, who was appointed by the late President Bingu wa Mutharika two years ago.

Inspector General Mukhito was accused of instilling a climate of fear in Malawians including arbitrary arrests and the shooting of 19 people during anti-government protests last year.

President Banda has reportedly also fired the Information Minister Patricia Kaliati who peddled falsehood that former President Mutharika was still alive days after his actual death, and Perks Ligoya, the reserve bank governor who pursued the rigid exchange rate policy that has been cited as a cause of Malawi's current economic crisis.

She has filled the critical posts with Moses Kunkuyu, a progressive parliamentarian who broke from the DDP to press for reforms, and Mary Nkosi, who becomes the first woman to hold the post of reserve bank governor.

The newly inaugurated President faces two major internal challenges in her efforts to address the country's political and economic calamity.

The first hurdle is winning over enough members of parliament (MPs) so that parliament will not block her efforts to govern, especially after she was removed from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for refusing to support the late President Mutharika's move to groom his younger brother, Professor Peter Mutharika, as the successor to the presidency.

President Banda has swiftly demonstrated her resolve to tackle the second major challenge, which is to win back donor confidence and support for Malawi's suffocating economy. The country's relations with foreign donors have been strained by accusations of the late President Mutharika being authoritarian and responsible for human rights abuses.

President Banda, who has vowed to reconcile with Lilongwe's external donors, yesterday asked Britain and the United States (US) to resume funding as part of her moves to heal breaches created by the late president Mutharika. She subsequently said London will send a new high commissioner to restore relations after a tit-for-tat expulsion of top diplomats last year.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said discussions on the suspended $350 million Millennium Challenge Corporation funding would resume soon. President Banda will also engage the IMF to ensure resumption of the Bretton Woods Institution programme for Malawi. It remains to be seen whether President Banda will be careful in her efforts to mend bridges with the West in order not to be seen as an unconditional supporter of the West. Such a perception risk isolating her government in a region where liberation movements turned ruling political party camaraderie and anti-imperialist solidarity still holds sway in some countries.

Another challenge that President Banda will soon face will revolve around Malawi's position to allow Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to enter the country in July to attend the African Union summit in Lilongwe after the International Criminal Court (ICC) referred the Southern African country to the United Nations Security Council for refusing to arrest the indicted Sudanese leader during his visit to the country in October of last year.

As it stands, President Banda's tenure is going to be very interesting as she tries to implement democratic reforms and some austerity measures to restore the country's economy while at the same time hoping to ensure parliament's vote of confidence and positioning herself for a win in the event she stands in the next presidential elections.

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* Naisola Likimani is Head of Advocacy, African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).
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