150 DPP members defect to AFORD over Wa Jeffrey ‘insulting’ remarks

Over 150 members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Karonga, led by deputy director for the youths in Karonga North West constituency Petros Mtonga, on Wednesday defected to Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) over what they call “insulting remarks” against them by Jeffrey wa Jeffrey – DPP’s secretary general.

Controversial Jeffrey wa Jeffrey said during a political rally she held in the district recently that North Malawi should forget of producing a president for the country.

Speaking during a press briefing announcing defection Wednesday, Mtonga said they believe joining AFORD will make the party mighty again, and will help in making sure that people of the region are not looked down on.

“We were die-hard [members] of the DPP but Jeffrey wa Jeffrey’s remarks are beyond our control,” said Mtonga.

He added: “We’ve been inspired, among others, also by [Frank] Mwenifumbo who was also a senior member of the DPP but has now joined AFORD to help not only North Malawi but the whole country become great again.”

Over 3 000 PP members join AFORD

At the same presser, deputy regional governor for the northern region in the People’s Party (PP), Bentry Winga, also announced that he and 3 000 other PP members has also joined AFORD.

Winga said the defection was because of the party’s “weakness” in the region.

In his remarks, DPP deputy regional governor for the northern region Smart Kayira admitted the developments were recipe for disaster for the ruling party.

“If the SG [Jeffrey wa Jeffrey] will not apologise for this, DPP should expect the worst from the north,” Kayira told Nyasa Times in a telephone interview.

In his remarks, Frank Mwenifumbo – legislator for Karonga Central who also joined AFORD at an event in Lilongwe recently – said he was “happy” with the developments.

“I’m here in Lilongwe, but I’m happy to hear that communities back home are behind me,” he said.