By Taonga Sabola, Rebecca Chimjeka & Pemphero Malimba:
A mixture of joy and anguish engulfed Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Friday afternoon when the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) announced results of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) polls held on Thursday night.
Among other things, the elections saw six Cabinet ministers—namely Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, Moses Kunkuyu, Simplex Chithyola Banda, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Titus Mvalo and Jacob Hara—losing while four others recorded victories.
It was an election which can be described as free and fair, held under the watchful eye of President Lazarus Chakwera, who stayed awake the whole night on Thursday when other candidates and delegates opted to sleep.
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On the position of MCP second in command, Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara shrugged off stiff competition from eight other contestants to emerge victorious after amassing 438 votes.
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Gotani Hara becomes the first woman in history to hold the position of MCP first vice president.
She was closely followed by engineer Vitumbiko Mumba, who got 313 votes, while Ahmed Dasu came a distant third with 168 votes.
Kunkuyu was fourth, with Zikhale Ngoma emerging fifth.
On the position of secretary general, Local Government Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda lived up to his billing as bulldozer when he razed down six giants to emerge victorious with 670 votes, beating closest competitor Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda with about 141 votes at 529 votes.
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The then-secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka was a distant third with 61 votes.
Chakwera was the first one to vote.
