Kamlepo says Mutharika on countdown to go: Chihana condemns coup charade

Firebrand politician Kamlepo Kalua  has repeated  a call made  at a high-level conference of civil rights and religious leaders and academics, who met recently  under the aegis of the quasi-religion Public Affairs Committee (PAC) and called on President Peter  Mutharika to resolve Malawi’s myriad economic problems immediately or resign the presidency within 90 days.

Speaking at a rally Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president and leader of opposition, Lazarous Chakwera held in Lilongwe with Peoples Party (PP) and Alliance for Democracy (Aford) leader Enock Chihana, Kalua who is PP vice president and Rumphi east MP, said the clock is ticking for Mutharika to “pack up and go.”

Kalua said Mutharika is exceptionally inept and the honourable thing for him is to step down before the expiry of his 90 days ultimatum.

“He must pack up and go, Tshwee, mwana Tshwee,” said Kalua as the crowds cheered.

“We are tired of this type of leadership, Mutharika must go within 90 days,” said Kalua.

Kaluwa said Malawians are now suffering because of  “clueless” DPP, saying every Malawian knows that his administration has completely failed the nation.

He said “We will not wait for 2019, we want Mutharika to go within 90 days.”

Kalua charged that Mutharika has “failed in two years to manage the economy, he has failed to show leadership, he is ruling this country by remote [control].”

He also accused DPP government of shielding corrupt barons in its rank and file involved in the K577 billion cashgate scandal, saying the administration is on selective prosecution of cashgate by only targeting K28 billion between 2012 to 2014.

“These people are thieves. They have looted billions, “ he said.

Member of Parliament for Lilongwe South West, Peter Chakhwantha, and last week  moved the motion which the House passed  which sought that an Amendment Bill on the cited Section of the Act be drafted forthwith and presented to the House to transfer the powers of appointing the said  Anti Corruption Bureau office bearers to the Public Appointment Committee of Parliament.

It further sought that the appointment should be based on merit and through an open recruitment process and that the Director be reporting and answerable to Parliament through the Public Appointment Committee.

The parliamentarians observed that the Amendment would grant the office of the ACB total independence to investigate and bring to book anybody in conflict with the Act regardless of his or her status.

Kalua said he will speak the truth and will not be scared of arrests which are politically motivated.

“I have been arrested in one party state. I contributed to bring multi-party democracy in this country. I was arrested during Bakili Muluzi regime, I was arrested several times fighting Bingu dictatorship. I am ready to be arrested, I can’t fear ,” he said.

In his address, Chihana, son of pro-democracy hero late Chakufwa Chihana, condemned government for using what he called scare tactics in arresting opposition politicians.

He said government should stop hallucinating that President Mutharika can be removed violently, saying he will go peacefully as he has failed.

Chihana accused the Police for arbitrary arrests, daring security forces to target him and “see”.

“Mutharika must step down for failing to run the country,” said Chihana.

Both Chihana and Kalua said the DPP top brass  were enjoying the fruits of democracy which they did not fight for.

“They were not involved in any struggle for democracy but they want to slide country back to dictatorship. We will not give them that comfort,” said Chihana.

And Kalua said: “We are getting a united front for opposition, Dr Chakwera take heart, you are government in waiting.”

He said Mutharika better act quickly to resolve the social-economic challenges as his days in office are numbered.

Kalua said Presidency is constitutional office and that the President governs on trust, saying that has eroded.

He said Mutharika is losing legitimacy to govern as he is betraying the public trust and stated that no President including Mutharika is immune to resignation under the circumstances of loss of public trust as provided by law.

He said Section 6 of the Constitution stipulates that ‘the authority to govern derives from people of Malawi as expressed through universal suffrage in elections held in accordance with the Constitution, section 12 (iii) states that the authority to exercise power of state is conditional upon the sustained trust of the people of Malawi.

“A President that no longer has the sustained trust of the peoplehas no authority to govern, and people have the mandate to remove it in accordance with the law,” he said.

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