Social media reports are indicating that a human rights activist based in South Africa who has been a critic of the MCP led Tonse Alliance government since 2020 when President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera was voted into government is coming to Malawi to join the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
Ben Longwe has now been proved to be a darling of the MCP, his audios have turned against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) the party he has been advising on what best to do and news of his coming to Malawi to join the MCP, is not a surprise.
Charles Ben Longwe
He has been praising President Chakwera for his policies claiming that his government is now moving well because of good policies praying to the Almighty God to continue bless him to walk the talk to reach the promised land of Canaan.
Speaking through an audio clip from South Africa circulating in various social media platforms, Ben Longwe, faulted some people wrong for fabricating lies that he is coming to Malawi to join the MCP following Commandant Redson Munlo who was welcomed into the MCP during a rally held in Mwanza by President Chakwera.
Longwe said he can not join the MCP but he is MCP himself appealing to those who wants to prove him wrong to contact the Malefula family in Zomba and they will be told that Ben Longwe is MCP and cannot join any other party apart from the MCP.
He said he turned against his party-MCP from 2020 for practicing bad policies but since President Chakwera is now implementing good policies for the development of the country, he has joined him in his quest to build a new Malawi.
The activist has thanked President Chakwera for not signing Political Party bill of funding parties” observing that the Bill was passed in Parliament by all members but President Chakwera thought it wise of not signing it into law saying this is what a good leader must do putting Malawi, first.
Longwe said had President Chakwera started not signing other Bills which seems to be infringing rights of the citizens into law soon after being sworn in as President of the country, Chakwera would not have enemies as seen today.
He has appealed to President Chakwera to continue not signing useless bills when they come to his table for Malawi to remain in peace, the country is lacking good policies, saying if they don’t have money to run their parties, they should disband the parties and not waiting for Parliament to give them money.
“Malawi is sailing through a sea of economic challenges, people have no money in their pockets and Parliament funding political parties, that’s nonsense,” said Longwe.
On a sad note, Longwe has expressed his grave concern over MPs who speaks during President Chakwera’s rallies that they don’t of speak of hunger which is biting hard their people but speaking more of their parties reminding them that people attending their rallies have no food and will not eat politics of their parties.
The Mozambique government has suspended two border police officers suspected to have assaulted a Malawian truck driver, Elaston Ngonyani last month.
Mozambican officials disclosed this during a Joint Technical Committee of Officials Meeting on the Malawi-Mozambique Border Reaffirmation Exercise and Emerging Issues in Mangochi on Monday.
Elaston Konyani being assaulted by Police officers
The Mozambican delegation told the meeting that they condemned the actions of the Police officers at Zobue, adding that the concerned officers have been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation that has been instituted by the Mozambican authorities.
According to minutes of the meeting which 247 Malawi News has seen, the Malawi delegation informed the Mozambican delegates that due to the incapacity suffered by Ngonyani, there should be consideration of payment of damages to him.
The two delegations agreed that the investigation report will be shared with Malawi once concluded.
Meanwhile, Malawi Consulate in Mozambique’s Tete Province Happy Saka has welcomed the suspension of the two police officers
“As Malawi Consulate we are very happy that Mozambique government has actually accepted and managed to condemn the behaviour of the police officers,” said.
He added that the Mozambique government has made a commitment to ensure that the investigations are conducted without interference.
Embattled Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa has dragged former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to court, against his firing from the party.
Through his representatives led by prominent lawyer Wapona Kita, Nankhumwa argues that the party did not follow proper procedures when the decision was being made.
Meanwhile, the matter has been slatted for interparte hearing on February 12, 2024.
Nankhumwa and APM
But speaking to 247 Malawi News, DPP Spokesperson Shadric Namalomba insisted that they did not follow rules to remove Nankhumwa from the party.
He said they are ready to face Nankhumwa in court to show him the right path they used to remove him from the party.
“We followed the party’s procedures and we are ready to face him in court,”said Namalomba.
Nankhumwa and other senior members among others Grelzedar Jeffery, Nicholas Dausi,Ken Nsonda were fired from DPP for leading an ‘illegal’ National Governing Council meeting on December 6, 2023 at Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe.
Since the court sanctioned June 23, 2020, presidential election, the past ruling DPP has been caught in the infigh, something experts say can end the party.
President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera last Sunday treated his former primary school headmaster at Kaning’a Full Primary School, Mr. Michael Chatsunda Banda to a luncheon at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.
President Chakwera said he decided to invite Chatsunda Banda to celebrate him for a huge role that he played in his life both as a student and a person.
President Chakwera with former teacher Michael Chatsunda Banda
“Many decades later, and after an enriching chat with him, I still admire his outright dedication to education,” said Chakwera through his Facebook page.
“We will continue utilising people of his calibre as the reference point in our pursuit of better education standards.”
It is interesting to look at the political graph of Kondwani Nankhumwa as he moves from Leader of Opposition and DPP benches to his new seat and as a backbencher as Parliament meets this February, 2024.
Backbenchers are members of parliament who are not ministers or shadow ministers; in other words, backbenchers are members of parliament who are not ministers or shadow ministers; they sit in the rows of seats behind the frontbench. We can also rightly say that backbenchers are members of parliament who do not have any influential position in the opposition and that’s where Nankhumwa belongs. A backbencher with no recognition in the National Assembly. This automatically is a complete demotion for Nankhumwa but this has been long overdue.
There’s a difference between front and back benchers. The spokespeople for each side, government and opposition, will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench (or front bench) and are described as frontbenchers. Those sitting behind them are known as backbenchers.
Nankhumwa
Political party
Being fired from the DPP has substantially weakened Kondwani Nankhumwa politically and like others before him including Joyce Banda, Saulos Chilima, who left the DPP, Brown Mpinganjira who left the UDF and Gwanda Chakuamba who left the MCP, they never became president after they quit their main parties.
Without political parties, electors would have to individually evaluate every candidate in every election. But political parties enable electors to make judgments about just a few groups, and then apply their judgment of the party to all the candidates affiliated with that group.
Loyalty
As seen in recent days, some have dropped Kondwani Nankhumwa and changed their allegiance. There are four sequential levels of loyalty (respectively; cognitive, affective, conative, and action loyalty).
As it has been predicted before, his holding of the NGC meeting on 6th December was political suicide, what options does he have to survive in politics?
Nankhumwa’s actions became unpopular and controversial, engaging in unethical and illegal behavior, besides he failed to address the needs and concerns of the public.
Presidency
Everyone has a dream to become someone in life but can Kondwani Nankhumwa become the next President 18 months from now before elections? His Excellency President of the Republic of Malawi and Commander in chief of the armed forces, Dr Kondwani Nankhumwa.
The Constitution of Malawi
*Section 6.* Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the contrary, a person shall only be qualified for nomination for election as President or First Vice-President or for appointment as First Vice-President or Second Vice-President if that person-
a) is a citizen of Malawi by birth or descent; and b) has attained the age of thirty-five years.
I think Kondwani Nankhumwa is qualified and entitled to exercise his constitutional right to contest in the coming election. We cannot stop his dream.
*Section 7.* No person shall be eligible for nomination as a candidate for election as President or First Vice-President or for appointment as first Vice-President or Second Vice-President if that person-
a) has been adjudged or declared to be of unsound mind; b) is an undischarged bankrupt having been declared bankrupt under a law of the Republic; c) has, within the last seven years, been convicted by a competent court of a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude;
38 of 1998
d) owes allegiance to a foreign country;
e) is the holder of a public office or a member of Parliament, unless that person first resigns;
f) is a serving Member of the Defence Forces or Malawi Police Force; or
g) has, within the last seven years, been convicted by a competent court of any violation of any law relating to election of the President or election of the members of Parliament.
Election
The next general election is scheduled for September 2025 and some political parties have already started criss crossing the country with their next campaign agenda. In the fire curbing p front is the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) which camped in the Southern Malawi Fire almost a month with yet another list of promises.
Election to the presidency
The president is elected by a majority vote (50% + 1) of the electorate through direct, universal and equal suffrage. All Malawian citizens that have attained the age of 18 are eligible to vote in all elections. Perhaps Nankhumwa is complacent of getting a 50+1% majority to win but my opinion is that he is indeed just dreaming as he cannot amass such votes. The so called young leaders have failed miserably to lead Malawi today.
Performance
As the former Vice President for the Southern Region and Leader of the Opposition (LoP), it is a total political downfall, probably the end of his political career. For beginners, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in a wave of action recently, not only dismissed him ( Nankhumwa ) but also expelled several other officials associated with him, including the former Secretary General and Central Region Vice President Grezelder Jeffrey, former Publicity Secretary Nicholas Dausi, former Political Director Mark Botoman, and former Presidential Adviser Cecilia Chazama. This hard hitting blow comes after a disciplinary hearing, investigating various alleged misconducts by the officials.
The consequences for Nankhumwa are particularly serious, extending beyond mere expulsion. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) now gears its focus on stripping him of the position of Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. This position carries significant prestige, along with both financial and political advantages. As per parliamentary protocol, the dismissal of these officials, who also serve as Members of Parliament (MPs), necessitates the party to approach the Speaker of Parliament for the reassignment of these affected MPs to new seats in the House.
Former Leader of Opposition and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Vice President for the South Kondwani Nankhumwa committed political suicide, by exposing himself and his right hand men within the party, and splitting from the DPP after a number of National Governing Council members failed to turn up for his meeting. That was a risk taken too far to be tolerated.
Political pundits urged estranged Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) senior members, Kondwani Nankhumwa and former secretary general Grelzelder Jeffrey, among others, to stick with the party, despite going through what they termed as rough time but the centre cannot hold and things fall apart. Things are still falling apart as the twist takes another angle to bring down Nankhumwa in his canvas in the House of Assembly.
Nankhumwa, among others, have been removed from their positions in the DPP by their leader Peter Mutharika, they are no longer members after determinations of the disciplinary committee which decided their fate for allegedly being part of the December 6 2023 national governing council (NGC) meeting.
It is now all about falling down to the ground with a complete thud after failing to take over the DPP leadership as the next force is waiting to be exerted and felt in Parliament.
Nankhumwa recently addressed people in Ndirande Malabada where he assured them that he would be addressing the nation that week where he would make his own stand known on his political future.
“The country will be shaken once I address it this week. My dismissal from the DPP stemmed from my audacity to vie for the party presidency against its established hierarchy and eventually as President in 2025. However, I would like to assure you that the dream for me to contest for the Malawi Presidency in 2025 has not died. Come what may, I will be on the ballot in 2025,” said Nankhumwa.
Will it be the country which will be shaken once Nankhumwa makes his address it will be the former leader who will be shaken even further this week as Parliament convenes?
I’m off the bus that it will be interesting to see how the former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will oppose in Parliament under the new leadership of Dr George Chaponda while former Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa is advised of displaying unsatisfactory performance.
A motion to have Nankhumwa removed was tabled by Blantyre City Central member of Parliament (MP) Chipiliro Mpinganjira during the party’s closed-door caucus called by Mutharika at his Page House in Mangochi. The motion was seconded by Thyolo Thava legislator Mary Navicha. Another hard slap in the face is waiting for Nankhumwa !
