Nankhumwa, DPP in rally debacle
Infighting in opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is refusing to subside as in the latest episode, the party’s estranged vice-president for the South Kondwani Nankhumwa and other leaders have planned separate rallies 24 hours apart.
Nankhumwa, who is also Leader of Opposition in Parliament, is scheduled to hold a rally on July 31 2022 at Nyambadwe Primary School Ground while other DPP officials, including regional governor for the South Charles Mchacha will hold another DPP rally at the same venue a day earlier.
Nankhumwa on July 21 2022 wrote Mchacha notifying him about his intention to hold the rally, but Mchacha in his response, advised him to seek approval from party’s president Peter Mutharika.
Reads part of Nankhumwa’s letter: “I write to inform you that, I have decided in my capacity as vice-president South to address a mass rally at Nyambadwe School Ground on July 31 2022.
“By virtue of this letter, I will soon be calling for a meeting of the regional executive meeting to start preparations for the rally.”
Mchacha said Nankhumwa could only hold the rally and meet the regional executive committee if Mutharika approved his move.
In an interview on Saturday, Nankhumwa wondered why he was being directed to seek approval from Mutharika when all along that was not the arrangement.
He said: “There is no need to seek approval because since I became vice-president for the South in 2018, I have never sought approval to address a rally.
“I have addressed rallies before in all constituencies and districts without what I am being directed to do now. By the way, party officials in their jurisdiction address rallies without seeking approval from the president. So, my question is, why me and why now? I am surprised.”
On the way forward, Nankhumwa said he will proceed with the rally with or without approval from Mutharika. He said preparations for the rally are at an advanced stage.
In a separate interview yesterday, Mchacha said contents of his communication still stood.
He said: “I stand by the response I have given him [Nankhumwa]. If he decides to proceed with the rally then me and my regional executive committee will not be available for him.
“Perhaps, he must also not forget where he is coming from. Despite Mutharika being out of power, he must still respect him.”
Mutharika’s spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba said he was yet to consult on the matter.
Reacting to the debacle, political analyst Ernest Thindwa yesterday said while Nankhumwa is determined to assume DPP’s leadership position, the contest for the leadership of the party will get brutal, which will adversely affect its preferred status as an alternative government.
He said such developments will further undermine the party’s quest for a rebound in the 2025 general elections.
Thindwa said: “Reconciling competing camps within the party will require, at minimum, adherence to democratic tenets in identification of the party’s torchbearer for the 2025 elections, a very unlikely scenario given that our political parties are devoid of a democratic tradition.”
He said the DPP needed to create an enabling environment where there is free flow of ideas and fair playing field if the outcome of the leadership contest, which is at the heart of the current squabbles, has to have broad and party-wide acceptance.
Cracks in the DPP came to light after its embattled secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey in August 2020 told The Nation that Mutharika, who lost the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election held on June 23 2020 to President Lazarus Chakwera, had done his part and that the party needed a new person to lead it into the future.
The party responded by firing her alongside Nankhumwa, treasurer general and Rumphi North legislator Jappie Mhango and Mulanje West legislator Yusuf Nthenda.
But while the matter ended up in court and was concluded, the party still remains divided.
