Dust is refusing to settle in the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) following the suspension of seven district chairpersons for allegedly forming parallel structures.
The suspended members are all from the Central Region and include Foloma Mwale from Mchinji North, a Mr Chisenga from Kasungu West, a Mr Sekani from Dowa West, Tengeletu from Dowa East, Chichitike from Ntchisi, a Mr Kachule from Lilongwe West and C.K Banda from Mchinji South.
In an interview Thursday, spokesperson for Central Region Committee, Richard Chimwendo Banda, confirmed that the officials were informed about their fate at a meeting held on Tuesday in Lilongwe.
Banda, however, denied reports that the members had been fired, saying the matter is being misrepresented.
“It is an internal matter and the issue has been referred to Nec [National Executive Committee] for appropriate action. We cannot, therefore, disclose everything right now, wait until Nec meets and makes its decision based on the issues we have raised,” said Banda.
But MCP Publicity Secretary, Jessie Kabwila, faulted her own party for the move, saying she also had heard that the members had been fired.
Said Kabwila: “I am surprised that this has happened; it is not in line with our constitution. These people were supposed to have gone through a normal disciplinary process as rules of natural justice state. I don’t know where people at the regional committee level are getting all these powers from.”
According to Kabwila, the party needs to embrace principles of democracy and prioritize contact and dialogue, instead of silencing every dissenting view.
She added that i n the meantime, the party president Lazurus Chakwera is in the United States of America for two weeks and wondered how some people at the regional level seem to have taken over powers by making such decisions.
“I believe the best way forward is to sit down and talk and not what is happening. We need to keep the party together and not split it. I’m expecting that when our president returns, this will be one of the issues that he will address,” she said.
Sources within the party confided in The Daily Times that the purportedly expelled members had allegedly been holding secret held on Tuesday in Lilongwe.
Banda, however, denied reports that the members had been fired, saying the matter is being misrepresented.
“It is an internal matter and the issue has been referred to Nec [National Executive Committee] for appropriate action. We cannot, therefore, disclose everything right now, wait until Nec meets and makes its decision based on the issues we have raised,” said Banda.
But MCP Publicity Secretary, Jessie Kabwila, faulted her own party for the move, saying she also had heard that the members had been fired.
Said Kabwila: “I am surprised that this has happened; it is not in line with our constitution. These people were supposed to have gone through a normal disciplinary process as rules of natural justice state. I don’t know where people at the regional committee level are getting all these powers from.”
According to Kabwila, the party needs to embrace principles of democracy and prioritize contact and dialogue, instead of silencing every dissenting view.
She added that i n the meantime, the party president Lazurus Chakwera is in the United States of America for two weeks and wondered how some people at the regional level seem to have taken over powers by making such decisions.
“I believe the best way forward is to sit down and talk and not what is happening. We need to keep the party together and not split it. I’m expecting that when our president returns, this will be one of the issues that he will address,” she said.
Sources within the party confided in The Daily Times that the purportedly expelled members had allegedly been holding secret In a letter dated 9 January, 2016, the chairpersons, among other things, said they are concerned with the silence from Chakwera after the party’s Administrative Secretary, Potipher Chidaya, and other party officials were beaten up in Blantyre.
The group also accused Chakwera of nepotism, claiming that the majority of positions in the party are held by people from Lilongwe, where Chakwera also comes from.
But MCP Public Relations Officer (PRO) Alekeni Menyani trashed the accusations, arguing that the chairpersons had no mandate whatsoever to speak as they held their positions illegally.
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