Blantyre City East Member of Parliament Noel Masangwi has added his voice in the ongoing infighting in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) following the remarks made by former first lady Callista Mutharika endorsing the Vice President Saulos Chilima as a torchbearer for the 2019 polls.
Writing on DPP National Governing Council (NGC) WhatsApp group Masangwi said confusion has rocked the party as anyone can woke up and hold a press conference to speak for the party.
“It seems anyone can just wake up and hold a press conference to speak for the party, particularly about the candidature of Saulos Chilima or Peter Mutharika in the elections next year. There is just a cacophony of voices and it is hard to discern as to which message is which. The mixed messages are only confusing our members and machining us look like we are leaderless with no proper direction.
“There was a press conference by the so called senior members of the party, including the so called Regional Vice Presidents; another one by regional youths; another one by representative of women, another one by the northern region representatives. This is simply wrong. Unfortunately it is the people that are close to the President, the so called Advisors like Dr Chaponda etc that are misleading our President,” said Masangwi.
He added: “It is certainly not on that we should be waking up every day to be greeted by a duel of Chaponda and Ngalande playing out in the newspapers on matters of the DPP constitution. Really? Does that mean a whole big party like the DPP is failing to create a forum where these outstanding issues can be internally resolved?
“The so called senior members said they conducted their press conference as representatives of NGC, i ask which NGC? Some of us are also members of DPP’s NGC but we were not consulted. In fact Ngalande can say he was speaking on behalf of NGC because he is also an NGC member. Now which NGC is which? Ngalande’s reasons that he went to the media because the party did not provide a forum where members can air out their concerns is quite legitimate.”
Masangwi categorically pointed out former Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Dr. George Chaponda as the main confusionist.
“These so called senior people are misleading the President. Are they the ones advising him not to call for an NGC meeting? What are they afraid of?
“As a lawyer, Dr Chaponda should have been the first person to accurately interpret the DPP constitution and provide guidance to our members about what it says regarding the holding of convention and presidential contests. It is a tragedy that he is the first one who is on the forefront misleading our members,” said Masangwi
He added: “When the voice of the people is suppressed for a long time, it often comes in a fashion that others may not like, which is the case in our party right now. There should have been a forum where members are allowed to express themselves freely in a deliberative manner. If this forum was provided for, we would not be having all these press conferences.
“But as a party we have never held any National Governing Council (NGC) meeting since 2013 because the so called senior advisors are ill-advising the President. They are selfish individuals who are ready to sacrifice the party at the altar of personal aggrandizements. They are afraid to tell the President the truth because their positions will be threatened. It is that simple in the DPP right now.
“Dr Chaponda should also not have been speaking on matters of the DPP constitution because his very position is not provided for in the constitution. In fact many of those that are misleading the president today were merely appointed to their positions and not elected at any convention. This is the reason why some of us want to meet the President and explain to him properly about the concerns of the people in the party and explore the direction that we can take.”
