Aspirants dig deeper for party conventions

Aspirants for positions in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) are expected to dig deeper into their pockets to contest during the parties’ elective conferences this August.

While DPP aspirants are yet to start paying, those in MCP did so when presenting their nominations.

For the MCP presidency, the fee is K5 million while those in DPP are expected to pay K4 million.  First vice-president aspirants coughed K2.5 million in MCP and in DPP they will pay K3 million.

Those aspiring to be directors in MCP paid K500 000 while in DPP they will pay K2 million. In case of  deputy directors, the fees in MCP is K250 000 while in DPP it is K1.5 million.

However, both parties have allowed women and youths to pay half down.

But yesterday, DPP convention committee chairperson George Chaponda said the fees were not prohibitive since aspirants for positions such as president, vice-president, secretary general and directors will afford to pay.

He said: “When we look at the value of the money following the devaluation of the kwacha, it is not much. Moreover, we are in the opposition and we will pay for the convention from the same nomination fees.”

Through the nominations, the DPP and MCP, which are the largest parties by parliamentary representation, are poised to raise millions.

Speaking yesterday, Zomba Malosa legislator Grace Kwelepeta (DPP) and Thyolo Thava legislator Mary Navicha (DPP) who are seeking positions of deputy national director of women and national director of women respectively, said they have no issues with the fees.

Said Kwelepeta: “The fees for DPP may be higher than fees for other parties but our party is in opposition, so we have to raise funds for the convention.”

The DPP is set to conduct its convention on August 17 and 18 2024 and apart from the nomination fees, candidates are also required to pay K50 000 form collection fees.

For the MCP convention set for August 8-10, the nomination process closed on July 15.

The party’s convention steering committee chairperson Kezzie Msukwa said the committee is satisfied with the process as over 100 nomination forms were collected and aspirants paid the respective fees.

He, however, did not provide the number of aspirants for each position saying the figures were still being consolidated.

Meanwhile, political analyst Ernest Thindwa has cautioned political parties against using nomination fees as a source of revenue.

In an interview yesterday, he said democracy is designed as an inclusive form of governance but reality suggests that the less resourced generally cannot access influential positions.

He said: “The income divide is a huge constraint in adhering to the inclusive character democracy ought to exhibit.”

Another political analyst Wonderful Mkutche said the fees are acting as a control to make sure that only those with resources access the positions.