Top comedian and politician Micheal Usi has been sworn in as vice president of Malawi during a ceremony in the parliament of the capital Lilongwe.
The 55-year-old replaces Saulos Chilimawho died in a plane crash earlier this month along with eight other people.
Dr. Usi received a standing ovation when he spoke after his inauguration, saying he accepted the role with a mixture of sadness and gratitude.
He vowed to honor the memory of his predecessor and thanked President Lazarus Chakwera for his faith in him as he takes up his position as vice president in the power-sharing government.
His appointment has certainly left Malawians divided.
Some are sharing snippets of his acting career on social media, wondering if he is serious enough to take on such a high-profile role.
Others, however, have praised President Chakwera for appointing Chilima’s party delegate and honoring the spirit of the alliance between their two parties.
Dr. Usi is no stranger to controversy considering his acting career. He is popularly known as “Manganya”, the name of a mischievous character he still plays in the popular TV sitcom Tikuferanji.
His assistant told the BBC on Friday that he was filming an episode last week.
He has been a fixture on national radio and television for over twenty years, making him one of the most recognizable local celebrities.
Dr. Usi has also been a passionate advocate for the development and promotion of the film industry in Malawi, where it is difficult to make a living.
In fact, he first financed his acting career by working as a hospital doctor. He has a qualification in clinical medicine. Most patients in Malawi are seen by a doctor as the country has a shortage of doctors.
This fueled his passion to improve the lot of poor communities and worked for many years at Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra), a Christian non-governmental organization.
He held various positions there, including leading the organization as country director – and through him Adra financed several radio and TV soap operas that also aimed to educate people about HIV and other social issues.
The new vice president, who is married with two daughters, also has a doctorate in youth development from the University of Bedfordshire in Britain.
Despite his position at Adra, his acting career never took a back seat – and he took part in several productions, mostly in the local Chichewa language.
His popularity as a comedian was so great that when he started a political movement about seven years ago, many people thought it was a joke.
This is because he had a reputation of being a cheat; his most famous ploy was to fool people into believing that he had been a good boxer in high school and was eager to return to the ring.
He organized a non-title fight against a prominent local boxer. A huge crowd showed up for what they thought was a real boxing match, only to discover it was a scene in one of his television plays.
However, it turned out that his political ambitions were real. His movement was called Odya zake alibe Mulandu, which can be loosely translated as “he who does not take what belongs to others, but eats only what belongs to him, is a free man.”
It soon became part of a newly formed political party, the UTM, led by Dr. Chilima.
This was in the run-up to the 2019 elections – and Dr Usi and Dr Chilima started addressing rallies together.
Both are very eloquent speakers, their rallies often drawing large crowds and in February 2019, Chilima appointed his new political aide as his running mate for the vote.
The pair came third, but the results were subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court due to irregularities.
In new elections held in 2020, the UTM joined eight other opposition political parties to form an electoral alliance, which chose Dr. Chakwera as its presidential candidate with Dr. Chilima as running mate, who subsequently emerged victorious.
Dr. Usi was Chilima’s deputy at the time and was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Nature, a position he held between July 2020 and February 2023.
He later became Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change, a position he held until his elevation to Vice President.
Some leading members of the UTM were conspicuous by their absence from his inauguration on Friday, signaling divisions in the party over his nomination.
Dr. Usi did not shy away from the issue when he was sworn in, promising to bring the party together so that they could heal and honor the legacy of Chilima, who was considered a magnetic politician with a special bond with people, especially the youth.
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