LILONGWE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Malawian President Peter Mutharika Tuesday appointed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) parliamentarian, Aggrey Masi, as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.
According to a press release dated March 14 and signed by the country's Chief Secretary to Government, Lloyd Muhara, the appointment is with immediate effect.
The appointment follows the sacking of George Chaponda as Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development late February to pave way for investigations on the former minister's involvement in the procurement of white maize from Zambia.
A commission of inquiry the president had instituted in January to investigate the country's maize procurement from Zambia recommended that the minister should be investigated as his dealings with a company called Transglobe was "suspicious".
Later in February a day before his firing the country's graft busting body, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), raided Chaponda's residence where stacks of cash in local and foreign currency amounting to about 225,000 U.S. dollars were reportedly seized.
Aggrey Masi was Deputy Minister for Defense before his new appointment.
The new appointment has been received with mixed reactions with some quarters querying why Mutharika has not made an appointment of a full minister to head the agriculture ministry instead of a deputy.
