Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera (C) shakes hands with Michael Usi in Lilongwedownloadblackoutbingo, Malawi, on June 21, 2024. Malawi on Friday inaugurated new Vice President Michael Usi after President Lazarus Chakwera appointed him Thursday to replace Saulos Chilima who died in a plane crash on June 10, creating a vacancy in the office of the Vice President. (Photo by Roy Nkosi/Xinhua)

LILONGWE, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Malawi on Friday inaugurated new Vice President Michael Usi after President Lazarus Chakwera appointed him Thursday to replace Saulos Chilima who died in a plane crash on June 10, creating a vacancy in the office of the Vice President.

Usi, 56, took the oath of office in the Parliament Building Chamber in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, in front of President Chakwera, the Speaker of Parliament, members of Parliament, Judges and heads of foreign missions, among others.

The new vice president pledged commitment to serving Malawians by helping the president find solutions to the challenges facing Malawians.

"I accept the challenge and I'll work hard to make Malawians happy: I'll spend more time thinking about Malawians than thinking about myself," said Usi in his acceptance speech.

The new vice president described his predecessor as a leader "whose shoes were too big to fill" and that he (Chilima) always had the welfare of Malawians at heart.

Usi joined mainstream politics when the late Chilima, who was president of the United Transformation Movement (UTM), handpicked him as vice president and running mate in the 2019 elections before the UTM entered into a winning alliance with the Malawi Congress Party in the 2020 presidential rerun poll.

Before being appointed Vice President Thursday, Usi was the country's Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change and, before that, he also served as Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Wildlife.■