Ex-UDF governor south joins MCP: Mia prides himself on political experience

Former regional governor for United Democratic Front (UDF) for the south, Macdonald Symon has joined Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and has been welcome by the party’s vice president Sidik Mia in Blantyre.

Symon was given a party cloth as he joined with other defectors from other parties.

“I have joined MCP because it has shown that it is well organised and ready to win the elections”,  Symon said.

UDF spokesman Ken Ndanga said the party has not been informed by Symon about the defection.

“If he has indeed joined MCP we will respect  his decision,” Ndanga told Nyasa Times.

Ndanga confirmed Symon is the former regional governor, saying he lost at the party’s convention last August when he contested as director of elections.

He said the Regional Governor post was occupied by Dorothy Masinga.

Meanwhile, Mia has said his experience as a Cabinet Minister in different portfolios and successfully running businesses are some of his strengths as runningmate for Lazarus Chakwera in the forthcoming elections and subsequently as Malawi’s Vice President when voted into power.

Speaking during a rally at Ntungulusi Primary School ground in Zomba on Wednesday, Mia said he would rather focus on the combined strength of himself and Chakwera rather than talk about the other candidates and their runningmates.

“The experiences I gained from the different ministerial positions and successfully running businesses, have prepared me for the vice presidency, “said Mia.

Political commentator, George Phiri concurred with Mia on his success as a businessman and serving in different ministerial positions but was quick to point out that success in one environment may not guarantee success everywhere.

“There are different factors that constitute to success so in this case the success of a Vice President depends on the leadership since the position is delegated and if the leader does not want to delegate certain positions maybe because he feels there will be a conflict of interest between him and his follower, it may lead to successful people failing, but this is not always the case, some are failures from the start,” said Phiri.

Phiri added that the problem is with the constitutional position of the Vice President and people  fail to excel if they are not given the opportunity.

“Unless we deal with the constitutional mandate of this office, the issue of being successful somewhere may not be translated to success in politics,” he concluded.

Mia was first elected as Member of Parliament for Nkombezi constituency in 2004 and since then he has served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security, Deputy Minister of Mines, Natural Resources and Environment, Minister of Irrigation and Water Development as well as Minister of Transport and Public Infrastructure .