Chaponda faces resistance in DPP on becoming Malawi President

There is mounting opposition to Foreign Affairs Minister, George Chaponda  in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) structures led by their governors across the country that he is being groomed to become the next president, saying  he will not be allowed to succeed President Peter Mutharika through the back door.

There is wide speculation that Chaponda is running the show in both DPP and government.

And the DPP governors have since expressed their dismay over the conduct of Chaponda, who they say is creating parallel structures and fundraising for personal motives on behalf of the party.

But Chaponda has ydenied harbouring ambitions to succeed Mutharika, pledging instead to support the incumbent in next presidential bid.

“I have no presidential ambitions,” said Chaponda who has become increasingly powerful .

He accused “some jealousy people” of  having a figment of imagination on him become the next Malawi leader.

During a meeting in the Southern Region over the weekend, district governors revealed to all party structures that some cabinet minister is busy undermining their powers by working with ordinary members when dealing with party matters.

The governors further said that the said minister deliberately disregards party protocol of recognizing the party President and party slogans during meetings.

“He is simply making sure that his goals are achieved by side-lining the duly elected and sanctioned structures. Instead he is either working with our deputies who he is giving so much power to run affairs of the party in our areas. Chaponda is surely up to something fishy if you ask me,” lamented one senior party official from Blantyre.

The parliamentarian from Mulanje is also been accused of be getting moneytory support from Indian traders to boost his financial chest in preparation for  a  campaign at a party convention.

Despite his itching for the party purse, Chaponda lost miserably at DPP convention for the post of Treasurer. He was later on appointed by Professor Mutharika as Vice President of DPP in the South.

The dismayed party officials also reported Chaponda to the meeting saying he has been telling them that he holds enough power to change things in the party.

“He has been going around the country telling our committees that he wields so much power in President Mutharika’s government to the point of having powers of appointing his fellow ministers. He seems to have convinced some members that he is the one who proposes cabinet names and that the President only endorses them,” says one governor from Phalombe who has been visited by Chaponda several times.

At government level, Chaponda is being accused of openly demeaning influential Principal Secretaries and working with their juniors as a way of undermining government’s structures and efficiency in their dealing with the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC).

Some of the PSs and senior government officials who have fallen under Chaponda’s hate spell include Dr. Patrick Kabambe, Chinthu Phiri, Ben Botolo  and Chief Secretary to Government, George Mkondiwa, Erica Maganga, Sandram Maweru, Dr. McPhail Magwira and Justin Saidi.

To make matters worse, Chaponda has over the past year been convening news conference where he has been discussing matters that are not under his jurisdiction both at party and government level.

He has previously held briefings where he has tackled issues under ministries of Energy, Agriculture, and Health among others, a duty that is set aside for either line ministers or Minister of Information who is government spokesperson.

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