Divisions over PP leadership

Former governing People’s Party (PP) leaders are divided on the status of former vice-president Khumbo Kachali whom the party’s provincial governor (North) the Reverend Christopher Mzomera Ngwira on Monday unveiled as interim leader.
However, PP secretary general Ibrahim Matola said Kachali’s proclaimed status was news to him despite being a PP member of Parliament (MP).
During a planned news conference that ended up being a political rally at Mzuzu Victory Temple, Kachali, dressed in a black suit with a matching red necktie, was unveiled to about 2 000 PP supporters as caretaker leader in the absence of former president Joyce Banda who has been abroad since her loss in the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections.
Ngwira described Kachali, the man Banda booted out of PP executive for endorsing President Peter Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the elections, as “our chosen leader”.

In turn, Kachali stunned onlookers when he said he was back as “an active party member to help revamp the party”.
Making his first appearance in PP colours since Banda replaced him with Mzimba West legislator Harry Mkandawire, Kachali said: “Go and tell the people that the Khumbo you sent on break is back after a deserved rest.”
However, Kachali, who urged PP members to learn from the past mistakes and move forward as one people, came short of accepting the party presidency.
“I’m not here to grab anybody’s position, but to play an active role in reviving my party, the People’s Party to which I belong. We want to restore the party’s glory nationally, starting with the North where the majority of its MPs and councillors are based,” he said.

In an interview, Ngwira said: “We invited the former vice-president as a PP member and the Northern Region has settled for him to be our leader because the party is shaky.
“People have been asking us: where is our leader Joyce Banda? What is the way forward after losing the polls in 2014? We are saying the former president came with our son and his name is not new. Khumbo Kachali is the answer.”
He said PP’s rebuilding will begin in its stronghold in the North and spread to the rest of the country.

When asked about Banda’s future, he said: “We don’t know where she is and we don’t want the party to die.”
However, Ngwira gave a glimpse of deepening power struggles in PP, saying the party executives agreed to elevate Kachali at its politiburo two weeks ago, but those from the Centre, South and East were reluctant to endorse the decision due to “fear of the unknown”.
When contacted on Monday, PP spokesperson Ken Msonda referred the matter to Matola, saying: “I was supposed to attend the [Mzuzu] meeting, but I stayed put because I had to attend a funeral in Blantyre.”
On the other hand, Matola told The Nation: “As the chief executive officer of the party, I am not aware of the meeting. I know honourable Kachali is a PP MP, he sits on our benches in Parliament and is working with us to rebuild the party. As to the interim thing, I’m hearing it from the media and protocol does not allow the regional governor to announce such appointments.”
Political analyst Mustafa Hussein described the succession plan as chaotic, saying what looks like a desperate attempt to fill the vacancy left by Banda’s absence should have been made by a wider gathering in form of a convention or an extraordinary general meeting with nationwide representation, not one region.
He said: “The situation is chaotic. Such decisions have to be made following the due process and every party has a constitution which stipulates guidelines for electing its leaders whether on interim or permanent basis. Usually, they have to be done at a wider gathering.”
The drama comes months after the resignation of the party’s vice-president in the North Harry Mkandawire and his South counterpart Brown Mpinganjira.