Synod condemns violence, candidate endorsements
The Church and Society Programme of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Blantyre Synod has condemned the prevailing political environment, especially violence and endorsement of party candidates ahead of the September 2025 polls.
The programme’s concerns come days after Malawi Congress Party (MCP) national executive committee on Wednesday endorsed President Lazarus Chakwera as the party’s presidential candidate in the September 16 2025 presidential election. MCP is a key partner in the governing Tonse Alliance.
In a statement titled ‘Dissecting Malawi’s political landscape on the road to the 2025 Tripartite Elections’ signed by the programme’s executive director Master Jumbe, the synod’s watchdog said lack of intra-party democracy will choke voices and rights of other contestants and ordinary Malawians during party conventions.
It further observed that party conventions, which are not guided by the rule of law, have become a traditional rite of passage used by political parties to finish off political competitors.
Reads the statement in part: “It is sad to note that endorsing candidates is becoming a determinant path to political party leadership.
“Whilst endorsement of candidates is not illegal, in our considered view, it is a political practice that renders noble values of health political competition and choice useless.”
The programme also denounced continued pockets of political violence among parties while faulting law enforcement agencies such as the Malawi Police Service (MPS) for cluelessness in dealing with perpetrators especially those from the ruling party.
Reads the statement: “Unfortunately our law enforcement agents seem to have no clue as to how to address the situations. Five years down the line police are still investigating thugs that torched two UTM Party vehicles in Mangochi on 18 August 2019.
“Police have not yet arrested any thugs connected to the political violence that took place last month in Zomba and Lilongwe.”
The synod’s arm also feared that next year’s elections could be marred by voter apathy as the electorate has lost trust in leaders.
Some opposition Democratic Progressive Party members have also endorsed former president Peter Mutharika as the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential poll ahead of their planned elective convention.
Reacting to the synod’s statement, political pundit Wonderful Mkhutche said the church’s observations may not go a long way to change the country’s political trajectory as people have heard of such recommendations before.
He suggested that the best way forward is for Malawians to ask for more political change beyond mere voting.
Said Mkhutche: “What they have said is a reflection of issues on the ground. Indeed, political violence is taking centre-stage and political parties are manipulating the rules to endorse their own candidates and remove political rivals.
“It is a chaotic and toxic political environment. But the real change rests on the hands of Malawians.”
Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Gift Trapence said the issue being raised has been an ongoing concern for quite long and has been a culture against democratic principles.
“The challenge has been to break the culture tied to founding leaders or family ties syndrome,” he said.
The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) last Sunday hit hard on the Tonse administration, saying lack of visionary leadership, corruption and a failed judicial system have stalled development and let down Malawians now grappling with a myriad of socio-economic challenges.
In their pastoral letter, the Catholic bishops noted that instead of arriving in the ‘Promised Land’ of Canaan, the current administration has taken Malawians to Bagamoyo, a town on the east coast of Tanzania where a slave lost all hope of being free again.
