Banda inspires ‘confidence’ as next MCP leader: survey

In a snap survey with a sample of members of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in a number of randomly selected districts across Malawi, Chris Chaima Banda has emerged to be insipiring confidence to replace veteran politician John Tembo at the helm.

MCP is the party that represents the main face of opposition in Malawi; its president is the leader of opposition in Malawi.

Since the last general election, the party saw the emergence of the Taskforce for Leadership Change which has received mixed feelings from the party faithful. Others have branded it as a breakaway group being influenced by external forces bent on destroying the party. There are also those that feel that the Taskforce triggered the necessary debate which otherwise could not have originated from inside.

During the Nyasa Times survey, it was clear that members of the party are concerned that the wrangle may in the long run weaken MCP  and that it should not be allowed to go on forever.

The survey was conducted by Nyasa Times correspondents as informal chats, but the interviewers had a set of pre prepared questions they were pursuing and all recording was done after they had left the scene of the research. It is therefore possible that could allow an error margin of some sort like in any research.

After the warm up discussion on what the impact of the wrangles might be on the future development of the party, the survey focussed on a set of three key questions:

*What do you think about the leadership of  John Tembo in MCP?

*Should Hon Tembo continue to lead the party to 2014 general election?

*If Hon Tembo decided to hand over power in the party, who would you vote for and trust to be the next leader of MCP?

On the first question, party members were unanimous in agreeing that Tembo had done a great job in leading MCP and keeping alive and strong, they were also clear that they think that MCP won the presidential election of 2009 and that Tembo was robbed of his victory.

On the second question, on whether Tembo should continue to lead MCP to 2014,  85% of respondents felt that despite the fact that he has done a great job, he should now retire and handover leadership to a democratically elected new leader through a convention.

Almost  75% felt it would be wise for Tembo to hand over power to someone before the local polls in November to allow the new leader to start his leadership with a hard knock by leading the party into the local polls.

They think that would allow the new leader to be exposed quickly and he would also quickly understand the true capacity of the party before he starts developing it further.

On the third question, regarding who should be the next leader, the discussion became interesting because Nyasa Times correspondents heard of many names of people who are doing campaign for the leadership of MCP.

On top of those who have been known such as the Secretary General of the party, Christopher Daza, the Treasurer General of the party Makala Ngozo and the Taskforce Strategist Chris Chaima Banda. Other names that emerged in the discussions that they are also canvassing for MCP Presidency  are the Chief Justice Lovemore Munro, the former Deputy Secretary General of the party Beston Majoni  and former Speaker Louis  Chimango.

On who should next lead the MCP, 55% of those contacted felt that Chaima Banda has made a good impression on them as a leader. They sighted the quality and politeness in his speeches made while in Malawi.

Most of them also stated that they listen to him on the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Channel Africa  where he is regularly interviewed in the Chichewa programmes as being the sources of his influence on them to think he is the best candidate.

A further section of those interviewed also sighted his consistency in approach and his brevity to tackle the issue of leadership change in MCP without getting emotionally absorbed or being tangled in bad language against Tembo and the rest of the leadership.

Most of those contacted also said that he regularly calls them from London to encourage them to keep the party strong. There was a feeling that he needs to return to Malawi in order to strengthen his chances of becoming the next MCP President

The party Secretary General Daza  had the approval of 35% of those contacted. They felt that the Secretary General should naturally takeover the party and they would vote for him.

They sighted his spiritual background and that it would bring a calming effect in the party and that through his position as Secretary General, people had already known him.

Most of them said they scored him lower because he has  not been close to party leaders and he does not address meeting since he was elected the Secretary General. But they felt that he somehow brought new hopes in the party.

About 5% felt that if Munlo had returned to MCP and wanted the leadership, they would vote for him.

The remaining 5% was split among the other mentioned candidates with Chimango taking 3% of the lot.

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