By Jones Gadama
A new rating of cabinet ministers in the DPP-led government of Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has put Deputy Minister of Homeland Security Norman Saulos Chisale at the top of the list, just ten months after his appointment in October last year.
The conversation started online last week as Malawians reviewed performance in the first year of the administration.
For Chisale, the praise has focused on both his work in the last ten months and the loyalty he showed to Mutharika during the years in opposition.
Appointed in October 2025, Chisale has spent the past ten months working closely with the police, immigration and prison services on internal security matters.
Colleagues in cabinet describe him as calm, respectful and easy to work with. “He consults widely and delivers quietly,” one fellow minister said.
Security experts say the foundation of his performance was built during the opposition period.
When the MCP-led government under former President Lazarus Chakwera pursued cases against Professor Mutharika, including freezing accounts, arrests and searches of his home, Chisale remained at his side.
During that time Chisale was also arrested. Court records show he was granted bail, and according to those close to him, he was rearrested shortly after by police.
Each time he was released he went straight back to Page House to continue providing protection to the former President.
“That kind of consistency is rare,” a security expert in Lilongwe said. “Loyalty like that does not come from a manual. It comes from conviction.”
A political analyst added, “People say he is the kind of man who would stand in front of a stray bullet for Mutharika. In ten months he has brought that same dedication into government.”
With good relations across cabinet and a record that spans both opposition and office, many are now rating Chisale as the best Deputy Minister of Homeland Security and presidential bodyguard the DPP has had under Professor Mutharika.
