Nicholas Kachingwe
At the peak of the wind of democracy that blew in the early 90s, Nicholas Kachingwe led many politicians into detention.
Not that he was defending the falling dictatorship of founding president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda and Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
Not because he was an agent of the one-party rule, reporting dissidents to police, but because he had the deftness to silently sneak into the dead of the night and distribute letters calling on Blantyre residents to revolt against Kamuzu.
Those spotted with such letters could be arrested. However, this approach could not stop the winds of change.
“I really feel I contributed to downfall of dictatorship. I was on the side of change—of history,” says Nicholas Kachingwe, who was among the founders of United Democratic Front (UDF).
Before the historic 1993 Referendum in which Malawians chose multiparty politics over dictatorship, UDF was operating as a pressure group.
In 1994, Kachingwe was elected Member of Parliament for Blantyre West Constituency.
He held the seat until 2004 when he was voted out.
According to him, his decade in politics brought roads, schools, boreholes and other vital facilities for the wellbeing of his constituents.
“I was quite pivotal in all this,” he says.
In 2003, he was appointed deputy minister of Water and Development. He held the portfolio until 2004 when he lost the parliamentary seat.
Over the years, Kachingwe was down but not out. Apart from running his businesses, he was in UK pursuing his studies and also pondering and strategising return to politics.
“Once a politician, you remain a politician until you die,” he declares.
Today, Kachingwe is one of the brains behind Friday Jumbe’s New Labour Party.
As a matter of fact, he is now working hard to reclaim his Blantyre West parliamentary.
“I am confident that 2014, I am going back to parliament. I have been in this constituency, and I know what my people needs, and they know I can deliver. 2014 I will be their MP again,” he declares. Constituency, and I know what my people needs, and they know I can deliver. 2014 I will be their MP again,” he declares.
