Kunkuyu leads pressure group
Transformation Alliance (TA), a newly formed political pressure group, says Malawi urgently needs a complete overhaul of its political system to resolve prevailing political and socio-economic “calamities”.
TA also said politics of patronage and “blind loyalty” leading to creation of semi-gods in the country’s leaders should go as the movement does not want leaders who are detached from the economic realities facing citizens.
Interim chairperson of the grouping is Moses Kunkuyu, the first Cabinet minister to be appointed by former president Joyce Banda when she assumed power in April 2012 after the death of president Bingu wa Mutharika.
Unveiling TA in Blantyre yesterday, Kunkuyu said his group believes that leaders with a better background and understanding of the country’s political and economic dynamics have the potential to bring about the change Malawians desire.
He said: “Malawians are fed up with costly leaders that assume top public office posts, but are eternally on leadership orientation. Malawi should groom its future leaders beginning now.”
The movement has also dared the leadership of the quasi religious grouping Public Affairs Committee (PAC) to prove the relevance of their institution by briefing the country’s citizens on the concerns and recommendations presented during the previous All-inclusive Stakeholders Conference which took place in February this year.
It has also called upon Parliament, through the Public Accounts Committee, “in a similar tone and under the same immunity [if any] or boldness that Honourble [Kamlepo] Kalua has to either refute or confirm the allegations being made by one of its members. Parliament’s silence on this crucial issue is questionable and unacceptable”.
Other demands include the immediate review of the Vision 2020 document and its tabling in the next meeting of Parliament; resolving the “hitches” surrounding the Mchinji West By-elections and release of funds for the holding of the elections; speedy review of the Access to Information (ATI) Bill and its tabling in the next meeting of Parliament, among others.
Kunkuyu has since distanced the group from United Transformation Party (UTP) whose case is in court after a section of its top executives blocked an interim president, former Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) president Newton Kambala, from attaining such status.
This is not the first time for Kunkuyu to be spearheading a pressure group as in 2011, while serving as a member of Parliament (MP) affiliated to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) under Bingu, he also led Hope Alliance, a pressure group within DPP which later announced its working relationship with Joyce Banda following her coming into power.
Many political parties, including United Democratic Front (UDF), Alliance for Democracy (Aford) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), started as pressure groups.
