Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has fired the current army chief and replaced him with the commander who was dismissed in March by Chakwera’s predecessor, former president Peter Mutharika.
According to Chakwera during his live TV address on Tuesday, Mutharika’s sacking of Gen. Vincent Nundwe was not procedural.
“Although the former president had the ultimate responsibility for the Malawi Defense Force as the commander-in-chief and was vested with powers of appointment, it was improper to use such powers without cause. I have therefore redeployed Gen. Nundwe as commander of the Malawi Defense Force,” Chakwera said.
Mutharika fired Nundwe in March for allowing the military to protect demonstrators protesting the results of last year’s elections.
Chakwera said his decision to reinstate Nundwe is to restore justice to the operations of the Malawi Defense Force.
“In doing this, my purpose is to heal the injury and injustice of an unfair decision inflicted on our entire military as a professional institution,” he said.
The Head of State further announced that he will soon convene a meeting of the Defense Council to discuss the appointment of the new deputy commander of the Malawi Defense Force and other key positions.
