Trouble in Malawi Congress Party
Two former Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential candidates in the 2013 convention, have been implicated in the current turbulence in the party.
Nine out of 12 district chairpersons in the Central Region have accused Salima Central MP, Felix Jumbe and former legislator, Lyton Dzombe, of being behind the chaos.
The two are alleged to be sending some people across the country collecting signatures of party leaders in the districts, with the aim of forcing party president Lazarus Chakwera to call a convention to address some issues.
One of the district chairpersons, Ponsilio Foloma Mwale said they could not accept whatever the people are pushing.
“During the convention of 2013, we empowered our president to fill some Nec positions. We know there are some people who have been bringing this confusion in the party. They are people who lost in elections, and there is another person from Dowa,” Mwale said.
He was speaking at a press conference in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
When pressed to reveal the identities of the people involved, the chairpersons named Jumbe, Dzombe and another person they identified as Azam Mwale from Dowa.
The Daily Times has sourced a document they say is being taken to leaders in all districts.
“We, the districts of the Malawi Congress Party, in following the party’s constitution, would like our president to call an emergency convention to discuss some of the sections of the party’s constitution,” reads the document.
There are five issues they want to be addressed.
“We want the convention to endorse some positions that are not in the constitution….to review some sections of the party’s constitution which are not being respected,” read some of the issues.
They also want a scrutiny of the party’s finances, as well as a review of the regulations governing the conduct of regional and district elections.
“[We want the convention] to give powers to the National Executive Committee (Nec) to change positions that were acquired during the party’s convention,” reads the fifth issue.
Appended to it is a form, with MCP letterhead, headlined ‘Petition for convening of Emergency Convention of the Party’.
It has three spaces, for three signatories, chairman (main committee), chairlady (women) and chairman (youth).
The document in our possession, from Chiradzulu, shows that only a regional chairperson signed.
But both Jumbe and Dzombe have distanced themselves from gathering support for the petition.
Jumbe denied any involvement in the matter.
“I don’t know anything about that. I know it must be the work of some people who want to kill Jumbe politically. They want to implicate me in whatever is happening. That’s not good,” Jumbe said.
On his part, Dzombe had this to say:
“I am not aware of that. I am just hearing it from you.”
Azam Mwale could not be reached for comment.
The recent reshuffle of Nec positions in the party has met resistance from some quarters within the party.
Among others, the changes saw both Jumbe and his then deputy in campaign directorate Joseph Njobvuyalema being replaced by Vitus Dzoole Mwale and Mirriam Mzanda.
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