Former minister of Transport and Public Works, Khumbo Chirwa has rejoined the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and has since made a claim that he was hoodwinked by some officials into joining the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Chirwa, who announced his defection back to (MCP) on Saturday, claimed he was informed that President Peter Mutharika wanted to meet him privately, only to be driven to attend a rally at Masintha in Lilongwe.
“I was told the President wanted to meet me in private. I did not refuse bearing in mind that I once served as a cabinet minister during his brother the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration. But I was shocked to hear my name on podium that I have joined DPP.
“I failed to resist because people’s eyes were focused on me. That is why my speech at the podium was in parables,” Chirwa said.
However, Northern Region Governor for the DPP, Kenneth Sanga, has dismissed Chirwa’s statement describing it as baseless. Sanga has countered Chirwa claim by saying that the former minister left the DPP because he was unpopular in the party’s rank.
Sanga said Chirwa has rejoined MCP because the Nkhata Bay South East Constituency in which Chirwa wanted to contest as Member of Parliament had other strong candidates in the DPP.
“It is not true that we took him by surprise at Masintha rally. He joined us through the region and we reported his name at National Executive Committee (Nec) and he was welcomed. Let him just accept that he is not an influential contestant compared to other aspirants in the constituency,” Sanga said.
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