Former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Esther Mcheka Chilenje has opted out of a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) primary election re-run scheduled for today in Nsanje North Constituency.
Ironically, she wrote the party on June 3 2025, through her lawyer Mauya Msuku, demanding a re-run after losing to incumbent legislator Enock Chizuzu.
Mcheka Chilenje, who once served as legislator for the area and got 53 votes against Chizuzu’s 798 in the primary election, alleged in her earlier letter to the party that the poll was mismanaged to her disadvantage.
And in her letter yesterday addressed to MCP director of elections Elias Chakwera, she alleged that her followers were being threatened ahead of the re-run.
Mcheka Chilenje, however, said she felt vindicated that the party heeded her request for the re-run.
According to the letter, copied to MCP secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda, she will support the winning candidate.
Reads part of the letter: “Upon announcement of the said re-run, our client [Mcheka Chilenje] informs us that there has been actual and threatened violence allegedly perpetrated by our client’s opponent(s) towards people considered loyal to her, threatening their safety.
“In the circumstances, we have been instructed to advise that for the sake of unity within the party and to ensure that the constituency is retained by the party, our client will not be participating in the planned re-run and will support whoever candidate emerges victorious thereafter.”
In her June 3 2025 letter, Mcheka Chilenje cited numerous irregularities in the holding of the June 2 2025 primary election, claiming that a group of men allegedly affiliated to Chizuzu disrupted the poll midway when only half the delegates had cast their votes.
It reads in part: “Surprisingly, officials from the [MCP] regional office who presided over the election allegedly took the ballot boxes to an unknown destination in the company of Chizuzu and his monitors.
“Our client later learnt that the votes were counted at Thekerani in Thyolo [District], and a winner was declared.”
Our efforts to get a comment from Mcheka Chilenje, Chakwera and Chizuzu yesterday afternoon proved futile as their known mobile phone numbers were out of reach.
Mcheka Chilenje won the 2019 parliamentary election on a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket.
Unsatisfied with the outcome of the election, Chizuzu filed a petition with the court seeking nullification of the votes, citing a myriad of irregularities.
On February 4 2021, the High Court of Malawi in Blantyre nullified the Nsanje North Constituency parliamentary election and subsequently ordered for a fresh poll within 60 days. Chizuzu won the fresh poll held as directed by the court.
Since the commencement of the MCP primaries, there have been waves of court injunctions obtained by aspirants who feel shortchanged by the conduct of party officials in regards to the polls.
But in an interview last month, Chimwendo Banda said it is not strange for candidates to have issues with primaries and that the party will deal with it.
He said: “You cannot have primaries in 229 constituencies and not expect a dispute in one of the constituencies.”
Political analyst Wonderful Mkhutche earlier said the chaotic primary elections in both MCP and DPP would result in a lot of independent aspirants.
He said it is sad that some political party leaders like imposing candidates on people as if they know better in regards to what the electorate wants.
“If this route is taken, we are going to continue seeing more members of Parliament entering the National Assembly as independent candidates which is not wrong on its own.
