The president of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera has come under heavy criticism for appointing her daughter to serve as Secretary in the office of Malawi’s Embassy in Brussels, Belgium.
Reports suggest that Chakwera has appointed Violet Chakwera Mwasinga as third Secretary in the officer of Malawi’s Ambassador in Brussels.
The development comes barely weeks after Chakwera also appointed State Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima’s in-law as Ambassador.
This has angered many Malawians and some have taken the issue to social media to condemn Chakwera’s malpractice.
Ironically, before Chakwera was elected into office, he heavily criticised his predecessor Peter Mutharika for nepotism.
Writing on his official Facebook page social commentator Onjezani Kenani accused Chakwera of repeating Mutharika’s mistakes. Said Kenani:
_At the podium, they took turns accusing Peter Mutharika of practising nepotism. What they meant was nepotism was bad for only as long as those being put into government positions were not their own family members. Once they were voted into power, we are now told that it’s not nepotism because the relatives they are appointing have qualifications._
_Did those people Peter Mutharika appoint not have the so-called qualifications? Besides, the last time I checked, Peter Mutharika never appointed any son or daughter of his to any taxpayer-funded position. His daughters, by the way, are lawyers, with their own legal firms. He also never appointed any in-law to any taxpayer-funded position. But hearing them say it, one would have thought he was the worst nepotist that ever walked the earth. Tell me: why should your nepotism be considered better than Mutharika’s nepotism?_
Nepotism is not unique to Malawi as a host of leaders across the globe have been accused of practising the same.
The practice can have a huge adverse impact on the growth of an economy, especially if the individuals who attain jobs through nepotism are incompetent to execute their duties and responsibilities.
More: Pindula News; Zambian Observer