A political commentator has advised the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to tread carefully on how it would want to reward its former president John Tembo.
The analyst observed that giving Tembo a position in the party would likely create power confusion that could break the party.
Chancellor College political analyst Blessings Chinsinga gave the advice following remarks made at the just-ended party convention where MCP regional chairperson (Central) Daniel Mlomo said the party will at an opportune time discuss the possibility of giving Tembo a position in appreciation to his contribution.
Chinsinga said in as much as he agrees that Tembo has helped to keep the party since 1994 when it lost its 31-year grip to power, giving him a position would be creating parallel power structures in the party which in the end would be complicated to manage.
Tembo handed over the leadership of MCP after he was barred by a national convention from seeking re-election for a third term. He has been at the helm of the party for 10 years and also played a key role since the party went out of government almost 20 years ago.
Chinsinga said Tembo’s important role in maintaining the party could not be undermined considering that most pre-independent political parties that lost elections at the dawn of multi-party in most of the countries in the southern Africa region were no longer as active as MCP.
He said the best examples of how such arrangement have nearly destroyed parties is what has been happening in the United Democratic Front (UDF) where its former leader was given the position of national chairperson after being replaced as president.
Speaking on behalf of the delegates at the close of the three-day convention, Mlomo said that the party would consider giving Tembo a position within the party in recognition of what he has done to the party.
“This is what all districts have agreed on and we would want just to discuss as what position we can give you as a retired President. We could not come up with such a decision today since that is something that we have to sit down and discuss but MCP owes you a lot,” he said.
In the run-up to the convention, some party national executive committee members also made similar suggestions, saying that they would have loved if Tembo were made chairperson of the party after retirement.
In his remarks, Chakwera pledged to honour the retired leaders in the party, but said that the honouring should not be just in a way of ‘thank you’ but rather with tangible amenities.
