“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” – James 1:5
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” – Matthew 25:40
Globally the month of October is known as breast cancer awareness month; men and women normally wear pink to show solidarity with medical research for a cure, or the memory of a loved one that either succumbed to or survived the incurable disease. Locally, October is the month Malawians commemorate Mothers’ Day. The year 2025 goes down in history when President Arthur Peter Mutharika is sworn in for the third time as President of Malawi, in October! 2025 is also a historic year when Malawi has a former high court judge elected as vice president. But sadly it is also a year when women and young voters are openly snubbed, sidelined in ministerial picks as the new President packs his cabinet and other leadership positions with men; mostly older men.
Truly a mix of political veterans, trusted friends, and technocrats (despite any stain or checkered past), women have again been left on the wayside, or perhaps relegated to the proverbial kitchen. While I can join many to celebrate Mutharika’s win, many people in reaction to the cabinet picks have said that the president’s appointments have been made as if he does not know, consider or have been briefed about the role women and young people played in his historic win in the 2025 elections.
Let us recall and reason with the naysayers of the above stand (that the women’s and youth’s roles were crucial in the historic Mutharika/Ansah electoral victory). Out of a total 7 million registered voters, 4 million were women. In tallying cast votes, there were 4.1 million Malawians that voted, with women out-numbering the male voters that cast their votes on September 16, 2025. Equally in large proportions, were scores of young voters. According to the United Nations Fund for Population Fund (UNFPA) young people make up the largest and fastest growing proportion of the general population in Malawi. Also turning out to cast their votes in The general elections, witnessed scores of the youth and the women turning up at election centers to cast their votes.
Analysts have waxed lyrical stating that the Mutharika cabinet appointments are of credible, competent, and loyal people to the President and DPP. All of them. Men only, and all, except one, are old vanguards, and elderly. Do you mean to tell the country and the world that there are no competent, credible, and even loyal women in the DPP? Are there no young men or young women to fill these ministerial positions? There are apparently not. Below are the 2025 ministers and other high offices in the country that President Mutharika has appointed:
1. Alas, a post that has laid waste for 21 years in the corners of the State House is the position of Second Vice President. The honors have landed on Right Honourable Enoch Kanzingeni Chihana, who takes over from where his father the late Chakufwa Chihana left off in 2004. The Late Second Vice President Chihana was appointed as the country’s hitherto first and only Second Vice President of the Republic of Malawi. His son’s appointment to this seat “reflects a calculated effort to embrace regional inclusivity and build bridges with northern political blocs” analysts have said.
2. Veteran Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member George Chaponda returns to his former portfolio as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is one of Mutharika’s staunchest allies, although riddled with past controversies.
3. Another veteran DPP member, Joseph Mwanamvekha who has been reinstated as Minister of Finance, Economic Planning, and Development; another sure sign of the confidence Mutharika has in the seasoned ally’s expertise to wade through the murky waters of Malawi’s current fragile economic environment.
4. Alfred Ruwan Gangata has been appointed for the post of Minister of State, injecting a sense of new dynamism into the cabinet, and potentially appealing to younger voters and emerging constituencies, analysts have said.
5. The post of Chief of the Malawi Defence Force has gone to Lieutenant-General George Alexander Jaffu Jr., former Military Attaché at the Malawi Mission to the United Nations in New York. Lieutenant-General Jaffu is the son of Malawi’s first Chief Secretary (known then known as “Secretary to the President and Cabinet”) George Austin Jaffu, under former Life President Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda.
6. Dr. Justin Sadack K. Saidi will serve as Mutharika’s Chief Secretary with the main role of strengthening “administrative coordination, reaffirming the president’s faith in experienced civil service leadership” according to analysts.
7. Stuart Naison Medison Ligomeka, is Deputy Chief Secretary.
8. Kiswell Dakamau appointed Director of State Residences to uphold efficiency and order in the management of state assets.
9. Moving to local law enforcement, Mutharika has appointed Richard Chakupaleza Chikoko Luhanga as Inspector General of Police, with two Deputies Stain Bamusi Chaima and Mlowoka Noel Kaira.
10. The appointment of Chaponda and Mwanamvekha has been said to be a missed opportunity for generational renewal and gender balance in power positions in the country. These are what, during Muluzi’s administration, were labelled as recycled politicians.
Moving to regional representation, a fair and inclusive attempt has been made with representation drawn from the Northern, Central, and Southern regions, with the South still maintaining a notable dominance in key portfolios. But it is on gender and youth representation that the cabinet is lacking in stature; so heavily filled with elderly men, the sole woman is the elected VP; the Mutharika cabinet is wanting as it lacks gender balance in key and top leadership positions. It lacks balance in young voices in key and top leadership positions.
Bwana President, please consider women in cabinet and other top positions. Bwana President, please consider young people in cabinet and other top positions.
This is what democracy looks like!
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