President Lazarus Chakwera has fired Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe and Deputy Minister Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima for gross negligence and incompetence in the management of this year’s Affordable Input Programme (AIP).
Addressing the nation on Tuesday night, Chakwera said Lowe has been replaced by Sam Kawale who was Minister of Lands and is currently the chair of a cabinet committee on AIP.
Chakwera expressed the need for reforming the programme in order to protect it from acts of negligence, incompetence and corruption.
In his reaction to Chakwera’s address, Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa said President Chakwera should have taken further steps in addressing challenges rocking the country rather than just firing the minister.
Nankhumwa said Malawians need to know what steps the Tonse government has taken in order to address issues of scarcity of fuel, electricity blackouts and socio-economic challenges.
He also said Chakwera should also deal with the technical people at the Ministry of Agriculture connected to the K750 million Affordable Input Programme (AIP) fertilizer procurement scandal.
