Former president Peter Mutharika is obviously still a bitter man, and in his case, it is normal to behave strangely.
He has a lot to deal with. In the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a party he had announced he would cease leading after his defeat at the court-ordered presidential election, he dominates everything.
Of course, there are people in the party who are capitalising on the old man’s advanced years, where his reasoning seems to be failing, and they are fronting him in their personal battles.
APM, as Mutharika is fondly called by his admirers, is driving his party to perdition.
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His resistance to give up the leadership position and allow fresher minds to lead DPP is creating the mess we are all seeing in the erstwhile governing party.
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A few months ago, at a national governing council (NGC) meeting of his part— which took place at Nkopola in Mangochi—the octogenarian was suspiciously endorsed by some NGC members to lead DPP at the 2025 election.
He expressed excitement at the endorsement and indicated he was flattered by the decision.
It later transpired the endorsement was not an all-team activity, after some members such as Nicholas Dausi and Mark Botomani complained that the whole event was far from being democratic.
The truth is that the battles in DPP are partly being fanned by the former president himself, who is being persuaded by selfish individuals to attempt to lead the party at the next election.
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Activities such as an elective convention are being forced down the party’s throat because its leadership is hell-bent at ostracising some members.
There is a team behind APM that wants its favourite men to lead the party.
Leader of Opposition and DPP vice president for the Southern Region Kondwani Nankhumwa is troubling this team beyond measure.
They are doing all they can to disenfranchise him, including plotting to fire him from the party, but all the shenanigans seem to be miserably failing.
Well, of course, the saddest day in this country’s affairs would be if Nankhumwa ascended to the top seat.
Hindsight tells us we need a mature and responsible person at that crucial position.
But neither do we seem to need a tired and bitter octogenarian who is so obsessed with power that he no longer thinks time to rest arrives in every human being’s live.
DPP is busy digging its own grave because of Mutharika’s insistence to remain the party’s leader.
You see, even the current administration is not so troubled because it has a main opposition party that is in unending battles.
Time is running out and DPP should have been working on putting its house in order now.
A party that wants to return to power must know that constantly fighting gives an opponent leverage at an election.
By the way, DPP seems to be doing everything wrong in this world. At the Mulhako wa Alhomwe Cultural Festival that took place at Chonde in Mulanje recently, the party’s leadership led by Mutharika himself decided they had found a platform to express their political frustrations and campaign ahead of the 2025 election.
Mutharika talked about the worsening economic situation in Malawi, which we all see, of course, and charged he was determined to dislodge President Lazarus Chakwera at the next election.
In a political context, there is nothing wrong with a presidential aspirant, even when he should be dedicating his time to knowing more about his grandchildren, to say something about a possible comeback.
The only difference in the Mulhako wa Alhomwe case is that the festival has nothing to do with politics in its normal setup.
In fact, not everyone who belongs to Mulhako wa Alhomwe is a DPP member. Of course, issues of stronghold matter, but there is nothing wrong with allowing a cultural event to remain one.
The leadership of the cultural festival itself must divest it of political whims and accept its major role is to promote the grouping’s inherent interests.
Imagine, at the event itself, which is supposed to be a traditional affair with traditional leaders leading everything, Mutharika was accorded the highest seat.
That only happens with Mulhako wa Alhomwe, because politics overrides everything there. In fact, that has been the case since the cultural grouping was established.
But, there is a chance to make things right.
It is just a matter of allowing the cultural grouping to stick to its core objectives. At the time of its establishment, Mulhako wa Alhomwe had nothing to do with politics; at least, that should be the normal case.
There should also be a way of controlling Mutharika and all those who turn the cultural event into a political thing so that they stick to the script.
The truth, however, is that such a thing is not going to happen any time soon, just like peace in DPP remains distant in the meantime.
