The newly elected President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has come out of his cocoon to back his 31 Member Cabinet which include a husband and wife.

On Thursday night, Chakwera released a full Cabinet list with Muhammad Sidik Mia and his wife Abida Mia being included in the Cabinet.

Mia is the Minister of Transport and Public Works while his wife Abida is deputy in the Ministry of Lands, which is headed by former parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee chairperson Kezzie Msukwa.

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.

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.