DPP concedes mess in primaries

Tom Sangala January 3, 2019

428 1 minute read

By Jameson Chauluka:

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has acknowledged the mess that surrounded its primary elections, especially in the Southern Region.

DPP vice president for the Southern Region, Kondwani Nankhumwa, made the admission when the party engaged aspiring candidates who were disgruntled with the way the primaries were held in some constituencies and wards.

The meeting was held at the party’s regional offices in Blantyre.

Nankhumwa described the mess as unacceptable, especially that some of the incidences took place in the Southern Region, which is known to be the party’s stronghold.

“The way some presiding officers worked during the primary elections left a lot to be desired. It was clear that some were bribed and positioned themselves as interested parties. Imagine some presiding officers left this office [DPP regional offices] at 8 o’clock [in the morning] with the entire committee and all the resources only to arrive in Ndirande at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, some seven hours later. What were they doing all that time?” He queried.
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During the meeting, Nankhumwa urged disgruntled aspirants to bring up their concerns, and the party hinted at possible reruns in constituencies and wards that had controversies during primaries.

“As the vice president [of the DPP in the Southern Region], I am moving in because we have seen the mess that has surrounded the elections in our region. The first step in dealing with any problem is acknowledging that there is a problem. There were so many problems in some of the constituencies; the media wrote about them and we want to deal with them through this meeting,” he said.

Nankhumwa, however, said the disputed elections are a sign that the party remains strong in the Southern Region, saying any candidate who wins primary elections in the south on the DPP ticket is almost certain to win the elections.

DPP was rocked in disputed primary elections in a number of constituencies in the Southern Region such as Chiradzulu East, Phalombe South, Thyolo Thava, Neno South, Nsanje Lalanje, Mulanje South, Blantyre City West, Blantyre West and Ndirande Malabada constituencies.