DPP indaba set

BY JAMESON CHAULUKA

All is set for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) elective convention at Comesa Hall in Blantyre today which is expected to endorse President Peter Mutharika to be the party’s torchbearer in the 2019 tripartite elections.
Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Nicholas Dausi, who is chairperson of the convention’s organising committee, confirmed that all was set and delegates were already in Blantyre for the indaba.
“All is set. The delegates have come and we have been accrediting them at Kamuzu Stadium,” he said.
Dausi, however, could not disclose all the names of candidates vying for various positions at the convention, saying he did not have the list at hand.
But, as it stands, President Peter Mutharika will go unopposed on the position of party president and consequently becomes the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 tripartite elections.
The hotly contested seat so far is that of party vice-presidency for the South in which incumbent George Chaponda will battle it out with Agriculture Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha, Trade Minister Henry Mussa and Local Government Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa in a winner-takes-it-all bout.
In the Centre, incumbent Hetherwick Ntaba will face off with Uladi Mussa, Justice Minister Samuel Tembenu and DPP deputy secretary general Zeria Chakale for the vice-presidency.
It is not yet clear as to who will compete with the party’s vice-president for the North, Goodall Gondwe.
Jappie Mhango also remains the only candidate on treasurer general which the party reserved for the Northern Region.
Political analyst Mustapha Hussein has warned that the convention will plunge the party into further divisions if freedom of expression and intraparty democracy does not flourish.