President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has fired Agriculture Minister Lobin Lowe and his deputy Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima for “incompetence and gross negligence.”
President Chakwera made the announcement on Tuesday evening during a televised address.
The agriculture ministry is accused of botching the implementation of a programme in which Malawian rural farmers are provided with subsidized fertilizer and farm inputs.
Mr Lowe has not commented on the accusations.
The president has since appointed Sam Kawale, formerly the lands minister, to replace Mr Lowe.
The president said more changes in his cabinet would be coming in due course.