By Wezi Gausi & Rebecca Chimjeka
President Lazarus Chakwera has appointed Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) president, Betchani Tchereni, as Secretary to the Treasury.
Tchereni, an associate professor of economics at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas), replaces McDonald Mafuta Mwale, who has since been appointed as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
In a statement signed by Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba, dated January 12, 2024, the appointment of Tchereni is with immediate effect.
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“By virtue of His powers under Section 8 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2022 (Act No. 4 of 2022) and Section 16 (2) of the Reserve Bank of Malawi Act, 2018 (Act No. 3 of 2019), respectively, His Excellency the President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has made the following appointments: appointed Professor Betchani Tchereni as the Secretary to the Treasury and Dr. MacDonald Mafuta Mwale, who has been appointed as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi,” reads part of the letter.
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Blantyre-based economist Marvin Banda said the position of Secretary to Treasury needed some fresh blood adding that Tchereni is an established name in Malawian economics, with an impressive resume.
“Having said that, I wish him all the best in his new position. He has orated a lot about the minutiae of Economics; now it’s time for him to perform the most important job in the economic sphere for there are a lot of issues that will confront him from day one.
“It will be interesting to see because he has been on the monetary side, now it’s the fiscal side. Some issues include the powers the office has over statutory corporations, which are seen to be chronically underperforming as seen in the revenue portfolio where less than 10 percent of total revenues are owned to State Owned Enterprises among other avenues,” Banda said.
Chairperson of Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament Glady Ganda said technically, the move is fine as Therein has been analysing economic developments and suggesting some solutions to the many challenges that the country is facing.
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“Now that he has a platform, he can implement his ideas and probably assist to address the many challenges our country is going through,” she said.
She commended Mafuta Mwale too for doing his part at Treasury and that his return to Reserve Bank means he can continue advising the government on monetary policy.
As we went to press, it was not clear as to whether or not Tchereni would still continue with his position as Ecama president.
Throughout his economic commentary, Tchereni has been a strong advocate of boosting Malawi’s production and value addition.
