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Hope Jonathan Chipangu
The mother of all political parties in Malawi, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) will hold an explosive electoral conference on the 8th of next month.day Almost all the positions in the National Executive Committee (NEC) will be up for grabs in August. The convention is bound to be exciting as political heavyweights are expected to jostle for the NEC positions.
This article focuses on the Secretary-General position, where three political heavyweights – current Secretary-General Eisenhower Mkaka, Finance Minister Simplex Chichola-Banda and ‘former’ Presidential Advisor Chris Chaima-Banda – will be in a fierce battle.
Yet, like the papal election, white smoke seemed to be coming out of the MCP delegates. The message was clear: Finance Minister Simplex Chichola-Banda would decisively overthrow incumbent Prime Minister Eisenhower Mkaka, heralding a major shift in the party’s leadership.
To understand why Chithyola-Banda prevailed in the SG post, let’s delve into the background. The MCP’s upcoming convention on August 8, 2024, has been hyped by delegates as a critical moment akin to Judgment Day. Delegates are determined to purge the MCP NEC of poor performers, retain high performers, and hire those they believe are capable of advancing the party’s agenda.
From this point on, dissatisfaction among delegates with Mr. Eisenhower Mkaka’s position as the CPM Secretary General came flooding in with regard to the important role of CPM Chief Executive. The dissatisfaction with Mr. Mkaka was not anecdotal; ask any entrenched CPM circles or those associated with the party and they will confirm that there was widespread disappointment with him within the CPM.
First, the delegates complained loudly that Mr Mkaka had neglected those who fought tirelessly during the MCP’s 2019 and 2020 campaign for government positions. Many foot soldiers, regional, district and constituency bodies, including the party’s media members, fought valiantly in the trenches only to be abandoned after the electoral victory. “Anhu anatayidwa paliponse after victory”. The delegates pointedly accused Mr Mkaka that as the party’s secretary-general, he should have documented in detail the efforts and sacrifices of these dedicated campaigners during his time in opposition. They accused Mr Mkaka of abandoning not only the headquarters staff but also the foot soldiers at the regional, district and constituency levels. According to them, 8day August 2024 is the time when Mr Mkaka will pay the price for his political crimes.
Secondly, the political crimes Mr Mkaka was accused of were not only against forgotten party fighters, but worse, he also targeted his colleagues and people of considerable influence within the party. Delegates claimed that Mr Mkaka exercised a tight rein on President Lazarus Chakwera, effectively controlling access to the President. This practice was known as “ring-fencing” or “gate-keeping”, whereby Mr Mkaka established protocols that restricted direct access to the President unless approved by him personally. This allowed Mkaka to pick and choose who could meet with the President, thereby excluding those he disliked, including his colleagues.
While one might think that these allegations are just political propaganda, recent events suggest otherwise. A video circulating online showed young MPs Ulemu Msangama and outspoken Alfred Giya openly supporting and campaigning for Simplex Chithyola-Banda, lending credibility to the allegations. The video highlighted the growing opposition to Mr Mkaka’s leadership. Reports suggest that many other MPs have similar ideas and have supported Msangama and Giya’s call to replace Mkaka with Chithyola-Banda.
Figures such as Msangama and Giya are known for their political acumen and have a history of strategic political maneuvering. In previous cases, they successfully supported the late Mohammed Sidique Miah over former Speaker Richard Msowoya, leading to Msowoya’s political downfall. As the saying goes, history tends to repeat itself, suggesting that Mr Mkaka could face major challenges in the future.
Third, delegates were deeply unhappy with Mkaka’s alleged involvement in the Sata corruption scandal, where he was accused of using his position as Secretary General for personal gain. The severity of these allegations led to Mkaka’s removal as a punitive measure. To mitigate the impact, UTM Secretary General Patricia Kaliati accompanied him on his departure, creating the lie that both the Maharashtra Union and the UTM had lost their Secretary Generals, seemingly to downplay the severity of the situation. This move was widely interpreted as a vote of no confidence by President Chakwera, who viewed Mkaka’s actions as a liability that threatened the integrity of his government. Delegates believed that Mkaka had not gotten away with these allegations, claiming that he had used his position and influence to evade scrutiny by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). This perception prompted the President to decisively remove him from office.
Regarding Chris Jaima-Banda, delegates criticised him for his lack of public appeal and involvement in corruption scandals which, like Mkaka, have tarnished the party’s reputation. Despite Jaima-Banda’s close relationship with the president, delegates insisted that the president had no power to appoint the CPM secretary-general as that power belonged to them. Therefore, they were not ready to allow such a liability as the party’s chief executive to come to power.
The remaining representative is Simplex Chithyola-Banda, the MP from Kasungu Constituency who has a historical connection to the Father of the Nation and Founding Father of Malawi, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Chithyola-Banda’s meteoric rise within the party has come as a surprise to everyone. When President Chakwera assumed office in 2020, Chithyola-Banda was still relatively unknown to most Malawians. However, his appointment as Minister of Trade and Industry during a Cabinet reshuffle raised some eyebrows across the country. However, Chithyola-Banda’s rise to the position of Minister of Finance in the midst of a severe economic crisis caught the attention of the party and the country. Let’s face it, appointing someone to the position of Minister of Finance signals the highest level of respect and trust that the President has given to that person in the Cabinet hierarchy.
Let’s be honest: the economy has improved significantly since Chithyola-Banda became the finance minister. His confidence in the state budget speech gave hope to the MCP MPs, who applauded and praised his every word. The problems of fuel shortage and foreign exchange shortage that had previously plagued Maharashtra seemed to have eased significantly.
While President Lazarus Chakwera should be credited for these improvements, it is undeniable that his decision to appoint the relatively unknown Chithyola-Banda to such a key position was a success. The move not only demonstrated the President’s confidence in his abilities, but also won praise and support from loyal party members and parliamentary colleagues.
It appears that Simplex Chithyola-Banda, a dedicated party member, identified a major problem where party loyalists felt neglected by those charged with looking after them. Using his own hard-earned resources, Chithyola-Banda began supporting these loyal party members whose lifestyles had not improved since the days of the opposition. This move underscored his commitment to listening to their concerns and working towards resolving them.
When Chithyola-Banda expressed his intention to run for the post of party secretary general at the upcoming party congress on August 8, delegates from the northern region showed their enthusiastic support, delegates from the central region were ecstatic and delegates from the southern region were excited. All members of the party saw him as a potential savior.
The above analysis attempts to gain insight into the current state of affairs at the post of Secretary General within the ruling CPM. The tide is clearly turning in Simplex Chithyola-Banda’s favour and his victory is not surprising given the general mood among the delegates. There are signs that Eisenhower Mkaka is about to be removed from the post of Secretary General due to allegations that he has neglected party members since entering his current ivory tower. The delegates intend to forcibly remove him from this lofty position so that he will not have any chance of rising in the party for the next five years.
The battle lines have been drawn! On August 8, 2024, an all-out war is about to break out. This is a real convention, unlike the chaotic party convention that is about to take place, where the incumbents manipulate proceedings to ensure victory by sidelining their rivals. This party is a threat to our democracy and must be prevented from returning to power at all costs.
The next step of the analysis will focus on the party’s first vice chairman, then the second vice chairman and finally the first deputy secretary general position.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author, Hope Jonathan Chiphangu, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication. Feedback: Email: hopejonathanchiphangu@gmail.com
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