Tembo meets challengers
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo on Tuesday met some of his challengers and said his candidature to seek a re-election as the party’s leader is not a very serious affair compared to the task of keeping the party on the right track before the convention.
Speaking in an interview after meeting the party’s presidential aspirants from the Central Region and answering whether calling for such a meeting would not compromise the forthcoming elections, himself being a candidate, hence an interested party, Tembo said his two positions—as candidate and president are different.
He said: “People have to understand that to begin with, I am president of the party and I have the task to ensure that everything is done in a proper manner. My position as candidate is not a serious one.”
Tembo said as MCP president, he has a programme to meet all the aspirants for the party’s top position.
He said on Tuesday he met those from the Central Region, while today he would be meeting those from the Southern Region before meeting those from the North on Thursday.
“I want to indeed confirm that these are the people who have registered to contest. I will only come up with a statement after I have met all the aspirants,” said Tembo.
He, however, could not say who attended the meeting which was held at his Area 10 residence in Lilongwe.
Tembo comes from the Central Region as well.
Other contestants from the Central Region are incumbent secretary general Chris Daza, former Malawi Assemblies of God president the Reverend Lazarus Chakwera, former Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) president Felix Jumbe, former Cabinet minister Jodder Kanjere, former secretary general Betson Majoni, the party’s members of Parliament (MPs) Edwin Banda (Nkhotakota Central), Joseph Njobvuyalema (Lilongwe Mapuyu South) and Watson Makala Ngozo (Lilongwe Mpenu).
The Southern Region has retired chief justice Lovemore Munlo and the party’s former director of political affairs Eston Kakhome.
Almost all the aspirants who The Nation contacted on Tuesday refused to speak on record on what was discussed, but some of them disclosed that the meeting centred on Tembo advising the aspirants on how to conduct themselves as they campaign for the presidency of the party.
Said one aspirant: “In essence, we can say it was a meeting aimed at bringing unity in the party among the aspirants. The president dwelt much on the need not to castigate and insult each other during the campaign.”
Another presidential hopeful said at the onset, Tembo declared that he had called for the meeting as a president of the party and not as a candidate.
