High comedian-turned-politician Micheal Usi has been sworn as Malawi’s vice-president at a ceremony held in parliament within the capital, Lilongwe.
The 55-year-old replaces Saulos Chilima, who died in a aircraft crash earlier this month, together with eight different folks.
Dr Usi acquired a standing ovation when he spoke after his inauguration, saying he accepted the function with a combination of disappointment and gratitude.
He promised to honour his predecessor’s reminiscence and thanked President Lazarus Chakwera for believing in him as he takes up his place as vice-president within the power-sharing authorities.
His appointment has definitely left Malawians divided.
Some have been sharing clips of his acting career on social media and questioning whether or not he’s critical sufficient to take up such a senior function.
Others nonetheless have praised President Chakwera for appointing Chilima’s celebration deputy and honouring the spirit of the alliance between their two events.
Dr Usi is not any stranger to controversy given his appearing profession. He’s popularly often called “Manganya”, the title of a mischievous character he nonetheless performs in in style TV sitcom Tikuferanji.
His aide instructed the BBC on Friday that he was filming an episode as lately as final week.
He has been a staple on nationwide radio and tv for greater than twenty years making him probably the most recognisable native celebrities.
Dr Usi has additionally been a passionate advocate for creating and selling Malawi’s movie business by which it’s tough to make a residing.
In truth, he first funded his appearing profession by working as a hospital clinician. He has a qualification in scientific drugs – most sufferers in Malawi might be seen by a clinician because the nation has a scarcity of docs.
This fuelled his ardour to enhance the lot of poor communities and for a few years he labored at Adventist Growth and Reduction Company (Adra), a Christian non-governmental organisation.
He served there in numerous capacities, together with heading the organisation as its nation director – and thru him Adra funded numerous soaps on radio and TV that additionally aimed to coach folks about HIV and different social points.
The brand new vice-president, who’s married with two daughters, additionally holds a PhD in youth improvement from the College of Bedfordshire within the UK.
Regardless of his place at Adra, his appearing profession by no means took a backseat – and he was collaborating in numerous productions, largely within the native Chichewa language.
Such was his reputation as a comic that when he based a political motion round seven years in the past – many individuals simply thought it was a prank.
It is because he had a popularity as a trickster – his most well-known ruse was fooling folks into believing that he had been a superb boxer at highschool and was trying to return to the ring.
He organised a non-title bout towards a number one native boxer. An enormous crowd turned up for what they thought was an actual boxing match, solely to find it was a scene in certainly one of his tv performs.
Nevertheless, it turned out his political ambitions had been actual. His motion was known as Odya zake alibe Mulandu, which loosely interprets as “he who doesn’t take what belongs to others however solely eats what’s his is a free man”.
It quickly grew to become a part of a newly shaped political celebration, the UTM, headed by Dr Chilima.
This was forward of the 2019 elections – and Dr Usi and Dr Chilima began addressing rallies collectively.
Each being extremely eloquent audio system, their conferences usually drew big crowds and in February 2019, Chilima named his new political affiliate as his operating mate for the vote.
The pair got here third, however the outcomes had been then nullified by the excessive court docket due to irregularities.
In recent elections that had been held in 2020, the UTM joined eight different opposition political events to kind an electoral alliance, which picked Dr Chakwera as presidential candidate with Dr Chilima because the operating mate, which went on to victory.
Dr Usi, was by this stage Chilima’s deputy and was named in cupboard as minister of tourism, tradition and wildlife, a place he held between July 2020 and February 2023.
He later moved to develop into the minister of pure sources and local weather change, his function till his elevation to vice-president.
Some senior members of the UTM had been notable by their absence at his inauguration on Friday – signalling division within the celebration over his appointment.
Dr Usi didn’t evade the difficulty at his swearing-in, promising to get the celebration collectively in order that they may heal and honour the legacy of Chilima, who was considered a magnetic politician with a particular reference to folks, particularly the youth.
