Queries about MCP NEC’s mandate
There are growing queries about the mandate of the current Malawi Congress Party national executive committee (NEC) to make fundamental decisions when its tenure expired last year.
Some legal experts and members within the party feel any decisions made now are illegal and have to be referred to the convention for the general membership to decide.
Already, the contention relates to a resolution by the NEC to ban those who have served the party for less than two years from contesting for any NEC position at the convention slated for August 8 to 10 2024.
For instance, deputy director of social welfare aspirant Eddie Banda in his argument to MCP secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka, says the current NEC’s mandate as stipulated in Article 35 (1), expired in 2023.
“No convention was organised to extend its tenure. This raises legal concerns regarding the legitimacy of the NEC’s continued presence in office and the scope of its authority to develop party rules, regulations, and policies without engaging party stakeholders through a convention.
“Additionally, the decision to extend its own mandate urges us to contemplate whether such a move adheres to democratic ideals and the established procedures of the party.”
Article 35 (1) of the party’s constitution reads: “Members of the national executive committee, except the regional chairpersons, shall be elected by the party convention and shall hold office for five (5) years.”
Alex Major, a former parliamentarian for Kasungu West, has long argued that the mandate of the current NEC expired and so the committee cannot be making such important decisions.
In an interview, private practice lawyer Gladwell Majekete said the current NEC cannot make conclusive decisions because they are simply holding positions over.
He said: “If positions are filled at an elective conference or convention, and the five years has lapsed, reasonably, these people can hold over so that there is no vacuum. However, they are limited on making decisions which should have been made at a convention.
“They do not necessarily have the mandate because their term expired and are just holding over. It is simply an administrative arrangement while waiting to formalise things at the convention and in that regard, it will be hard and unfair for them to start making fundamental changes.”
Earlier, another legal expert Lonnex Kachamba also dismissed the party’s argument that it shifted the elective convention due to the change in the country’s electoral calendar.
“MCP is guided by its constitutional provisions and not by the country’s electoral laws. The mandate extension is not legally binding,” he said.
Kachamba added: “Article 31(3) as read with article 35(1) of the MCP constitution is clear on electing NEC members through a convention and is binding the members to a five-year tenure.
“For the sake of intra-party democracy, this ought to be respected at all cost. Where are they getting the authority to extend the period?”
Reacting to concerns that the party’s NEC illegally came up with a resolution that disqualifies some aspirants from contesting for NEC positions, MCP spokesperson Ezekiel Ching’oma said NEC has not issued any statement regarding its recent meeting.
In what could be seen as a change of tune, he said the concerns have no basis.
In an interview with our sister newspaper, The Nation on Thursday, Ching’oma said Banda one of the aspirants who has lodged a complaint with the party’s secretary general, should follow the procedure for handling complaints.
He said Banda needs to lodge his query at area level and if it passes, escalate it to constituency, then district and then regional level which if satisfied can take it to the NEC.
