admin
Khumbo Kachali, the former transport and public works minister, was “appointed as the vice president with effect from today”, said a statement from the presidency read out on state radio.
Kachali was ousted from cabinet along with Banda in 2010, during a purge by Mutharika as he booted rivals from his government so that he could groom his brother Peter as his heir apparent.
Banda and Kachali emerged from the bruising political battle as close allies.
Although Kachali entered politics shortly after the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1993, he remains a little-known figure.
Since taking office on Saturday, Banda has ousted several top allies of Mutharika, who died after a heart attack on 5 April amid growing clamour for his resignation.
His critics accused him of ruining the economy and eroding democratic freedoms, as he centralised power in his office and his family.
Meanwhile, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has sent a message of condolences for its former chief, Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika who died last week after a cardiac arrest, the Post of Zambia reported yesterday.
Comesa Secretary-General Sindiso Ngwenya said the late Malawian leader would be remembered for having crafted the organisation’s treaty whose philosophy and ideological underpinning is that Africa can only develop through collective action and shared sovereignty.
The Comesa chief said the late Mutharika made enormous contribution towards attainment of sustainable economic development and eradication of poverty in Malawi and Africa in general.
“This is a great loss of a true icon who served with distinction as the organisation’s first secretary general and Head of State and Government, vice-chairperson and finally as chairperson of the Comesa Authority,” he was quoted as saying by the paper.
Senior Chinese legislator Jiang Shusheng yesterday mourned the late wa Mutharika on behalf of the Chinese government and people at the African country’s embassy in Beijing.
Jiang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, presented a wreath and signed the book of condolences.
The Malawian side expressed its appreciation for China’s condolences.
l Malawi’s new President Joyce Banda has fired the nation’s police chief and hired a new one, her office said on Monday, two days after she took office following her predecessor’s death.
Banda has “appointed commissioner Lot Dzonzi as the new inspector general of police with effect from 8 April “, replacing former top cop Peter Mukhito, said a statement from the office of the president and cabinet.
The statement did not say why Mukhito, appointed by late president Bingu wa Mutharika two years ago, was axed.
Mukhito, who rose from being a guard commander of Mutharika’s security, had been accused of mishandling anti-government riots last year in which 19 people were killed, as well as the mysterious death of a university political activist who published a news sheet highly critical of the government.
The Malawi police service has about 8 000 officers. — Xinhua/AFP.
Online Reporter