Newly appointed Cabinet ministers will be sworn today in Lilongwe at 2 in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, President Lazarus Chakwera named a 31 member cabinet which has been a center of critics from various people.

The cabinet has seen Malawi Congress Party (MCP) vice president Sidik Mia and his wife given ministerial positions.

In another family affair, two members of founding President Kamuzu Banda—Ken Kandodo and Khumbize Chiponda—shave been appointed Minister for Labour and Minister of Health, respectively.

Speaking with Britain Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Malawi leader has backed his cabinet saying all the position were appointed on merit.

But speaking in an interview with BBC, Chakwera said he has taken note of the expressed worries, including those from a meeting he held with civil society groups on Thursday.

“When I came up with the list of names, marital status was not even an issue, religion was not even an issue and these other issues that people are raising were never considered. We just wanted to look at merit.

“I will be addressing the nation tomorrow (today) and I will pretty much tackle everything because I am a listening President. As a servant I want to do exactly that,” he said.

Meanwhile Chakwera is set to address Malawians today.