…can the party unite after six Ministers lost
…did Chakwera vote for Mumba?
President Lazarus Chakwera is right-handed or used his right hand to vote during the just-ended Malawi Congress Party (MCP) convention, and some of the losing candidates swear he ticked for Engineer Vitumbiko Mumba when voting. However, those are the allegations from losers after former Director of Youth Richard Chimwendo Banda rose to prominence, as the camp he was associated with scooped all prized seats at the just-ended convention.
It is a fact that Chimwendo Banda is not popular with a large section of fellow Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentarians- many of whom openly supported Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda, who spent billions of kwacha on the campaign only to fall short of victory with 141 votes lower than the other Banda’s 670.
How powerful is Chimwendo now
Team Chimwendo has gained a representative in almost every region. As explained later, the Regional and District Chairmen across all regions played games with other candidates, just as he pledged support and loyalty to many of the candidates—some of whom he ended up competing against, such as Eisenhower Mkaka.
He got around 40% of the party vote and most of his candidates or those he supported gained over 45% which is significant considering how crowded the contest was at every level including 1st Deputy President and Secretary General position.
Only two got 100% without competition- President Lazarus Chakwera and Madalitso Kazombo, one got over 70% George Kadzipatike, Jessie Kabwira and Henry Mumba around 60% and Sam Kawale, Elias Chakwera, Gumba and John Paul hovering 50% of the 1401 convention delegates.
The results show that half of the party seems to be directly under his control, and others, like in any other Malawi politics, would have already jumped and hugged him, swearing before their own gods that they voted for him.
Only the late Saulosi Chilima and John Tembo were 100% in control of their parties; otherwise, the centres of power shifted quickly when the question of succession arose.
What the power means for Chimwendo and MCP
Within the MCP, there are five distinct camps—one loyal to President Chakwera, one Lilongwe camp headed by the fallen SG Mkaka, the Dowa Chimwendo camp, the Kasungu-Kamuzu camp, which is seen largely as Kasungu-based, and now the Mumba camp.
From these, President Chakwera’s successor will emerge, and this time, the Dowa camp, now in charge of the party and government, is likely to have an advantage over most of the other camps.
Chimwendo Banda has gained the power to be the kingmaker. He has the advantage that he will run the party in the next five years. Depending on his conduct, he can build his network or destroy it. But judging by the election results, he will consolidate power.
This power can even make him lead the party one day, as the central region will produce the next party president for MCP, just as it has consolidated its hold of key positions during this convention.
President Chakwera needs Chimwendo Banda now. The next cabinet reshuffle could reflect the convention changes, and he will need the party machinery to campaign for his second term. The convention losers are likely to focus on their re-election in constituencies.
The only thing Chimwendo needs is to build bases outside the central base of MCP.
Is the new executive tribal-based?
Allegations of tribalism and the sidelining of other regions—Speaker Catherine Gotani NyaHara is the only northerner in the management team, and the south has Abida Mia and Moses Kunkuyu. Nobody is from the Eastern region, while Jessie Kabwira will represent the Lake Shore region of the party—are already emerging, marking a challenge for Chimwendo Banda to assert his newfound power.
However, the allegations that the party is dominated by the centre have no premise, as it has always been. Our recent analysis shows the same pattern in all major parties except UDF and UTM, which attempt to balance regions of origin for their top-tier members. The DPP President and Secretary General come from different regions. The other positions, such as Treasurer General and most Directors, are from one region.
At the last MCP convention in 2018, which elected the executive, the top four positions of President, Secretary General, Treasurer General, and Director of Women and Youth were occupied by people from the same region. Chimwendo Banda has moved from Director of Youth, while Jean Sendeza and President Chakwera have maintained their positions. Jessie Kabwira is a newcomer, as is John Paul, who has moved from research.
While many from other regions will be offered Deputy positions, addressing the issue of regions could be a priority for Chimwendo Banda as the party heads to campaign and facing 50% plus 1 system, the MCP rivals are likely to play politics with the composition and whip tribal votes line.
Did Chimwendo Rig?
There have been numerous attempts to mention Chimwendo Banda in all the bad things the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is associated with. From party thugs attacking people, the Malawi Police and refugees and even funeral money for late party leader John Tembo.
In the Zuneth Sattar matter, he was mentioned as having been part of those who tried to sabotage Martha Chizuma’s appointment and later allegedly made a pact with ACB to be their witness instead of facing prosecution.
Most of the allegations are baseless and have no merit, but they speak of the fear of his rivals within the MCP, who knew how powerful he was becoming with his crisscrossing the country. He was, as we are informed at one point of being accused of being “over-ambitious.” This is a term used to finish rivals in Malawi politics.
It is the tag politicians have used to inflame tensions between Vice Presidents and Presidents. Having ambition in politics is a cardinal sin.
The bad boy of MCP, however, has built loyalty among the party base. When they mattered, they turned up to vote for him and crown him the party Chief Executive. There are allegations of rigging.
Chimwendo rivals claim real delegates were denied and strangers took their place. The chaos in the production of identity cards, where even reporters from media houses such as Nation Publications Ltd. did not have identity cards, has fuelled the notion that strangers voted.
Were there strangers in the convention hall, or amateur politicians served?
Politics—literally meaning “ndale” in Chichewa—was at play during the campaign and eventual elections. Save for Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, who fell for a dummy, the rest are amateurs in real politics, and Chimwendo Banda, combined with the Speaker, seemed to play it well.
For starters, the Chimwendo camp did not use media- it reached out to delegates on the ground and made sure the message was on point. Everyone coming to distribute the items wanted power for other reasons.
The most dangerous double agents in the game are Regional or District Chairmen or Governors. Our analysis shows that most of the candidates have videos with regional or district chairmen in attendance.
But those are the only common faces in Zikhale, Mumba, Chithyola, and Mkaka photos and videos, as these dominated social and mainstream media.
These chairmen actually bring different people for each candidate—pretending they are delegates. Candidates who have never travelled to districts actually meet strangers posing as delegates. They leave cash for regional teams to distribute—the chairmen have had an early Christmas.
If people want to blame anyone for eating their money, they should meet the Regional and District Chairmen, who assured every candidate that they would vote for them. Stupidly, the candidates bought the dummy delegates, and they are now crying that the delegates who were at the convention were not real MCP delegates.
The ID system might raise questions, but if there had been more than 100 delegates, there could have been an uproar from the districts they claimed they were coming from. It was just simple Machiavellian politics.
The only rigging Chimwendo Banda might have had is to pretend to support other candidates, including former Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka, with whom at one point appeared to be the formidable duo for the MCP appearing at rallies together.
What happens next
The first will be cabinet reconfiguration. Only three top guys are non-MPs and non-elected, namely John Paul, Kabwira, and Kadzipatike, who are unlikely to make it into the cabinet. The only lawyer in the cabinet without a parliamentary seat is Titus Mvalo, who is unlikely to be replaced. The President needs stability and continuity in government.
There might be some movements, but it is very unlikely that the other five ministers who lost, Jacob Hara, Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, Moses Kunkuyu, Khumbize Kandodo, and Chithyola Banda will be fired any time soon.
The positions of Treasurer General and Publicity Secretary for MCP were out of the cabinet, and it is very unlikely that things will change, though Paul could end up having a seat. He has the ear of the State House, and so goes the saying in MCP.
The MCP can unite under Chimwendo Banda and pump their support to President Chakwera to start developing a formidable team to fight other parties in 2025, which promises to be tough for the party whose economic and food record is quite poor.
But knowing Malawi politics, we can predict an avalanche of new scandals for the Secretary-General and even attempts to arrest him. If Chakwera listens to others, he will be removed from cabinet like Mkaka to focus on “building” the party.
The President is likely going to keep most of the losing Ministers are they are personally loyal, while Engineer Mumba and others will have to find new platforms to sustain their politics beyond 2025.
