Internal squabbles continue to rock the opposition People’s Party (PP) in the Northern Region, where the expelled regional leader, Christopher Mzomera Ngwira, and the incumbent Second-Vice President, Kamlepo Kalua, have been embroiled in political bickering.
The war of words resurfaced following a low turn-up of supporters at a rally organised by Kalua in Karonga over the weekend.
The outspoken politician, who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Rumphi East, accused Ngwira of orchestrating a campaign to snub his maiden rally since his appointment.
“I am reliably informed it’s him [Ngwira] who has organised this mess. He will be glad when the PP will be wiped from the face of the Earth. But he should think again because he and his other comrades are only strengthening our resolve to rebuild our party,” Kalua retorted.
He added: “Ngwira is always on my back, wherever I go for political endeavours he does follow me. I don’t know why he is so bent on destroying me.”
The two politicians were pitted against each other amid a power struggle between estranged leader, Joyce Banda and his former deputy Khumbo Kachali.
Ngwira was fired for coming out in the open proposing that Kachali should take over party leadership in the absence of Banda currently in self-imposed exile.
Asked about the accusations of launching a smear campaign against the party, Ngwira on Wednesday described Kalua’s sentiments as laughable and gave reassurance that PP remains his party despite the turmoil.
“The accusations are childish. How can I invest my energy to sink a ship that has already hit the bottom of the sea? Need I mention that Kamlepo has no following since the days of his Malawi Democratic Party, so fighting him is a waste of time,” charged Ngwira who is MP for the Mzimba Hora Constituency.
In a rather surprising display of revolt, Ngwira said chances of regaining popularity and getting back into government are almost nil for the PP and that numbers will continue to dwindle as long as Banda remains abroad.
“The PP is done. The decision by JB to abandon ship at the critical hour has had severe implications. If there is one to blame, it’s her, not me,” He said.
However, Kalua alleges that Ngwira’s comments are a confirmation he has allegiance towards the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Ngwira acknowledged some parties have indeed been approaching him to join them.
“Major parties have been approaching me, of course. But that should not invalidate my judgement of the party I helped build,” added Ngwira.
Speaking in an earlier interview on the internal cracks in the PP, political commentator Boniface Dulani blamed it all on the power vacuum triggered by Banda’s abrupt departure without proper hand-overs.
“The squabbles are symptomatic of a lack of a systematic succession plan. Things are disorderly and the situation could have been avoided if buy-in was sought from the major stakeholders,” said Dulani.
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