Lawyers petition MHRC demanding Mchacha’s firing

Women Lawyers Association of Malawi have lodged a complaint to Malawi Human rights Commission (MHRC) on what they allege is the resistance by President Peter Mutharika to consider their proposal to remove Charles Mchacha from the cabinet.

Two weeks ago President Mutharika reshuffled his Cabinet and roped in Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Regional Governor for the South Charles Mchacha as Deputy Minister of Homeland and Security.

The appointment of Mchacha attracted mixed reactions among Malawians with many describing the appointment as a reward for his resent attack on women especially those in the newly registered United Transformation movement (UTM).

Mchacha is on recorded to have labeled women who are in UTM as prostitutes.

The development forced Women Lawyers Association to petition President Mutharika demanding the immediate firing of Mchacha.

The lawyers also asked President Mutharika to consider increasing the number of women appointed into Cabinet.

Instead of responding to the petition, on Wednesday last week President Mutharika went to town attacking his critics, arguing that most of the private sector such as Public Affairs Committee (PAC) has no women in leadership positions.

Due to this, women lawyers have today petitioned MHRC on the matter, accusing Mutharika of giving a blind eye to their call.

The group is also hoping MHRC would back its stance against Mutharika for not including more women in the cabinet.