By Cathy Maulidi:
Things keep turning and turning in the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
When the party’s National Governing Council (NGC) met on July 3, 2023 where it made a number of resolutions which included that it would hold its elective conference in July 2024, some might have thought the party had gone past three years of bitter squabbles that are largely driven by ambitions for its leadership.
It turns out that that conference wasn’t really a problem solver as such but a compounding effect of the wrangling that has rocked the party since it lost presidential elections in June 2020.
Friday, the High Court’s gavel fell on the party with a categorical thud, sending the party back to square one.
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In a ruling on an application filed by some of the party’s senior members led by its Southern Region vice president, Kondwani Nankhumwa, the court declared null and void the party’s proceedings and resolutions of its July NGC meeting.
High Court Judge Simeon Mdeza also ruled that the party should hold a properly-constituted NGC meeting and an elective conference within 90 days.
According to the ruling dated September 29 2023, only candidates who are eligible under the party’s constitution must contest or stand for positions at the convention.
In addition, the court has also stopped DPP from implementing, putting into effect or taking any action based on the resolutions that its NGC meeting made on July 3 at Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi.
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At that meeting, among other things, the party set up a disciplinary committee one of whose most recent tasks was to fire Nicholas Dausi as member of the party and its publicity secretary.
Last week, Dausi obtained an injunction against his firing. With this court ruling, his action was not necessary as it renders the disciplinary committee that kicked him out of the party invalid.
In their application, the claimants who are Nankhumwa, Grezzelder Jeffrey, Jappie Mhango and Yusuf Nthenda, argued that the current DPP NGC was not properly constituted and cannot therefore make any legitimate resolutions.
They further said that the endorsement at the meeting for Peter Mutharika to represent the part in Malawi’s elections in 2025 was a sham as it was made for someone who has already served two terms as the party’s president.
Furthermore, Nankhumwa and company argued that the party was undermining democratic values by not calling for a convention despite it being due by 2nd July 2023.
In an interview Friday, lawyer for the claimants, Cassius Chidothe, said the DPP has to comply with the order.
“The finding of the court is that the NGC meeting that was held in July 2023 did not comply with the directions of the court and because of that, the proceedings and resolutions have been nullified,” Chidothe said.
He added that his clients are pleased that the court has ruled in their favour.
“This is a court order so they should comply by implementing what the court ruling has stated,” he said.
In his response, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba said the party will come up with a proper response once it is done with scrutinising the court ruling.
“We have just received the ruling; we are looking at it trying to make sense of what is in it. The party will come up with a proper response later,” Namalomba said.
The ruling is the latest of the developments in the turmoil that has rocked the party since it went out of power in June 2020.
At the centre of the anarchy are manouvres by some of its senior ranking members to take over the leadership of the party from Mutharika.
The moves have led to feisty rifts and clear factions in the party.
Nankhumwa who eyes the leadership of the party has a number of senior party members in his ranks. They include Werani Chilenga, Nicholas Dausi, Mark Botomani, Joyce Chitsulo, Yusuf Nthenda and others who have spoken publicly of their support for Nankhumwa.
Then some regional committees in the North, South and Centre have also publicly endorsed Mutharika to be the party’s torch bearer in the country’s elections in 2025.
While admitting being flattered by the endorsements, Mutharika himself has not been committal on those calls, arguing he is still consulting before he makes his position known.
Also putting themselves up for the job are former Reserve Bank Governor Dalitso Kabambe and the party’s vice president for Eastern Region, Bright Msaka.
