Mpinganjira takes Jeffrey to task

The circus continues in DPP as its legislator for Blantyre City Central Chipiliro Mpingangira wants the party’s former secretary general (SG) Greselder Jeffrey to disclose source of funds for the national governing council meeting (NGC) and convention.

The demands come amid allegations that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is funding Jeffrey’s faction, which party spokesperson Ezekiel Ching’amba has denied.

But Mpinganjira insisted that if Jeffrey is clean she should declare the source of funds for the NGC and a convention the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was expected to hold from December 15 to 16 2023 at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

It is alleged that MCP is fuelling divisions in the DPP by financing Jeffrey and Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa, who is also DPP vice-president for the South.

The DPP on Wednesday held the NGC where Jeffrey’s ‘renegade’ faction came up with dates for the party’s convention.

The following day, DPP president Peter Mutharika fired Jeffrey as the party’s SG, but she insisted that she will continue operating in that capacity.

In a confidential memo Mpinganjira sent to Jeffrey prior to the NGC, he wondered how funds for the party could be deposited in a personal bank account.

When well-wishers support the DPP, he argued that they deposit their money in the party’s bank account.

He said: “It is my sincere hope that an honourable lady like yourself can provide necessary deposits of, and present an accurate account of the money. This is in the spirit of DPP constitution’s Article 17.5.

“Similarly, the generality of the Political Parties Act [2018] revolves around transparency and accountability of political parties as to the source of their funding. I urge you to make public the source of the funds of the NGC meeting as well as the subsequent convention.”

Prior to the NGC meeting, Jeffrey told the media in Lilongwe that well-wishers have been giving them money to hold the NGC and convention.

And, she went ahead to announce dates for the NGC meeting, which the Mutharika camp protested and sought a court injunction to stop it.

Jeffrey, however, denied granting interviews to the media at the time. Our efforts to seek her reaction on the recent debacle proved futile as she did not pick up our phone calls, nor did she respond to our messages.

Similarly, Mpinganjira from Thursday did not pick up our phone calls, nor did he respond to our messages.

But political analyst Ernest Thindwa said much as Mpinganjira’s demands are justifiable, he stressed the need to dig deeper into issues surrounding the two factions.

He argued that demanding proof of communication between Jeffrey and Mutharika only exposes the party’s inability to deal with its governance challenges.

Thindwa said the drama unfolding in the DPP should be understood in the context of inadequate democratic tradition within Malawi’s political parties.

He said: “Lack of sufficient democratic space for intra-democracy robs our parties of the inbuilt mechanism to deal with potential and actual party governance hurdles which tend to be heightened and brought to the surface when the patron or president is, owing to loss of State authority or otherwise, devoid of patronage resources with which to buy personalised loyalty.”

In a separate interview, political analyst Wonderful Mkhutche attributed the wrangles to leadership vacuum in the DPP and urged Mutharika to show decisive leadership.

He said: “To fill this vacuum, Mutharika should stop taking sides and rise above individual ambitions to unite the party.

“As it stands, DPP is not ready for the 2025 elections. It is a party in tatters, just counting days before its demise.”

Mkhutche, however, said the challenges can end if Mutharika extends an olive branch to the faction that met on Wednesday.

He said having two factions will only lengthen political bickering which will scatter hopes of DPP supporters.

“Only a candid talk over the issues will save the DPP,” he said.

Squabbles within the party emerged in August 2020 when Jeffrey declared that Mutharika had fulfilled his role and called for an early convention to appoint a new leader.

But the party later fired her alongside Nankhumwa, Mulanje West legislator Yusuf Nthenda and newly-elected vice-president (North) Jappie Mhango, who replaced the late Goodall Gondwe.

Despite the party reinstating them, divisions have persisted in the party with Nankhumwa, Nthenda and Jeffrey in one faction while another faction belongs to Mutharika.