Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is embroiled in abuse of power controversy after grabbing an official vehicle used by Deputy Mayor for Mzuzu City Frazer Chunga and using it for party functions.<\/p>\n
The Daily Times <\/em>spotted Chunga walking in the city on Tuesday. When asked why he had to hoof it, spotting dusty shoes, the deputy city father said his official car had been grabbed by the DPP regional committee for their functions in the region, one of which was campaigning for the party\u2019s candidate in Chibanja Ward by elections.<\/p>\n Chunga said it had become a trend for such a thing to happen, citing a recent example when the DPP also grabbed his vehicle and used it during the recent visit by the First Lady Gertrude Mutharika when she opened a girls\u2019 hostel at Baula School in Mzimba and laid a foundation stone for another girls\u2019 hostel in Chitipa.<\/p>\n And this week, said Chunga, the party also grabbed his vehicle and used it for a function organised by DPP\u2019s director of women Patricia Kaliati in Chitipa on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been a victim whenever the DPP officials decide to hold meetings in the region. They always use my car to carry party supporters or regional executive members. The council secretariat has no say because it is orders from above. Do you think I deserve this? I know that some people even laugh at me in mockery. I am sure this is happening because I am a People\u2019s Party member,\u201d said Chunga.<\/p>\n He said the DPP regional committee always undermines the Mayor\u2019s office because, he and his boss, are both from opposition People\u2019s Party.<\/p>\n Incensed with the DPP\u2019s conduct, Chunga said he approached the council secretariat on Tuesday and shouted at them for their failure to stop the DPP from using his vehicle for party functions, arguing the whole episode was putting the council to shame when residents see him walking in the city.<\/p>\n But DPP Regional Governor for the North Kenneth Sanga said he did not see any problem for the vehicle to be used during the First Lady\u2019s function, arguing that her engagements were official. Sanga hit back at Chunga, accusing him and the Mayor of abusing their official vehicles by using them on personal errands.<\/p>\n \u201cLet him [Deputy Mayor] shut up and concentrate on developing the city. Did people vote for him to be enjoying in the cars? It is him who misuses the city\u2019s vehicle because I met him carrying maize from his farm using the same vehicle. Is that worth it? Between him and the First Lady who went to Chitipa and Mzimba who used the car productively? Chunga and his Mayor are all [sic] failures,\u201d Said Sanga.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cLet them see what their friends are doing in Lilongwe and Blantyre. Our Mayors are busy drinking tea at the council instead of leading fellow councillors in development. Who told them that their job is just to be driven in the car?\u201d questioned Sanga.<\/p>\n Then Sanga said the regional committee has never used the council car to ferry people for party assignments. He said the party is clean and that the Deputy Mayor\u2019s claims are aimed at hiding his failure to develop the city.<\/p>\n In an interview later, Mzuzu City Acting Chief Executive Officer Victor Masina said the council only provides transport to the Mayor and his Deputy when they are on official duties.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you see the Deputy Mayor not on official duty then he does not deserve that. It is just a privilege to be providing him with a vehicle when he is moving in town. We follow Conditions of Service and we are safe,\u201d said Masina.<\/p>\n Quizzed as to why his council gives vehicles to the DPP, Masina said: \u201cThere I cannot comment because it\u2019s him [Chunga] who is saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is embroiled in abuse of power controversy after grabbing an official vehicle used by Deputy Mayor for Mzuzu City Frazer Chunga and using it for party functions. The Daily Times spotted Chunga walking in the city on Tuesday. When asked why he had to hoof it, spotting dusty shoes, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7838,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7835\/revisions\/7838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}