Chilima would be weak candidate for DPP — Mutharika 

April 30, 2018 Wanga Gwede- Nyasa Times 27 Comments

President Peter Mutharika has declared himself torchbearer of ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) during the 2019 Tripartite Elections, trashing those calling for him to leave the stage and favours Vice President Saulos Chilima to represent DPP, saying they want a weak candidate to give Malawi Congress Party (MCP) the presidency on a silver platter.

President Mutharika and vice president Saulos Chilima

Former first lady Callista Mutharika said recently that Mutharika, 79, would be too old to carry on as he would be 84 at the time of leaving office in 2024 if re-elected next year.

Callista, who is the President’s sister- in-law, favours Chilima, 45, to represent DPP in 2019.

Some senior DPP members, such as director of youth Louis Ngalande and legislators Bon Kalindo, Allan Ngumuya and Noel Masangwi have also come out in support of Callista’s sentiments.

But speaking on Saturday at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) on arrival from the United Kingdom where he had gone to attend a Commonwealth meeting in the presence of Chilima,  the President described those calling for him to leave the stage to young people as “Judas Iscariots” who do not wish him and the DPP well.

“There some who want to destroy DPP, the MCP are running scared of DPP because they fear that if I will be candidate ndizawanyenya [I will defeat them]. From 2012 when Bingu [wa Mutharika] died the party had died but you and me continued  with the party securing victory in 2014 and we will do it again in 2019,” said Mutharika.

“There are some Judas Iscariots who say they want to boot me out of the party.  I am going nowhere, I will not go as people have said, I will stand come 2019, contest and win with a landslide,” he said.

He added: “These Judas Iscariots would like to give MCP the presidency on a silver platter. I will not allow that. That is why I say let us stop the betrayals, tiwanyenyanyenya, tiwapondaponda, tiwangonjetsa.”

The President called on the members in his party “to stop the habit of betrayal and aim at working together to build the party”.

DPP vice-president for the South George Chaponda is on record  as saying President Mutharika will go unopposed at the party’s convention and represent the party in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.

Finance and Economic Planning Minister Goodall Gondwe  also said running the President’s office and government affairs is serious business that requires the old who have experience and not “babies” who are novices on State matters.

Ngalande has however wondered there are  pronouncements  on candidacy when DPP has not had a National Governinng Counci (NGC) meeting since 2013 where such issues could be discussed.

He asked President Mutharika  to set the date of the convention, saying “self-declarations are not democratic.”

But presidential press secretary and spokesperson Mgeme Kalilani dismissed accusations that the President was being dictatorial, saying there was nothing dictatorial about an individual announcing his or her availability for re-election.

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27 replies on “Chilima would be weak candidate for DPP — Mutharika ”

  2. When they say you are old they trying to be polite with you. At that age it’s like added time in football. The referee being God can blow the whistle for alamu and Goodall. Do you remember you came back from UNGA a sick man. Mugwasotu Inu. Lekelana wana. Ferguson Alex adazisiya in 2012. Wenger is going too. Dziko mwaliwononga.

  4. So Chilima is weak??/ that is he is perceived by DPP. Iwe ukuti bwa Saulosi? Uyalukatu ukakamila

  5. Join the discussion
    dpp has no supporters who follow it on principle there those who hang dpp clothes infront of their cars to avoid traffic police those that are looking for favours those that dont want to pay mra and those that want business advantages basi its a pity our brother Chilima has found himself with these masqunderers but dont undermine him

  6. The political ground doesn’t favour DPP, it favours MCP. Kubalalika ndi pamene president wa DPP anena kuti Chilima is a weak candidate pamene agogo Gondwe anena kuti Chilima ndi baby, ndipo muyelekeze kumutaya Chilima mugulitsa Ntcheu.

    1. Before he become President analibe Mano but he managed to bitr MCP, PP, DPP, etc. so whats wrong with you, Idiot . u didn’t vote for him and this time around don’t again. we will do the same as 2014. APM 2024 woooooooooo….

  10. I must applaud Peter Mutharika for how he’s managed to paralyse and put very smart and intelligent people, within DPP, into a trance-like state. Its like they have been hypnotised to act like zombies with no brains of their own. You listen to them from the podiums and during radio and TV interviews, and you wonder where their spirit has gone. They look like zombies, they speak like zombies, the walk like zombies, they laugh like zombies………no sign of human spirit. Someone needs to click a finger to bring them back to life. Unfortunately most of us citizens are also under Muthairka’s spell. We are clapping hands for a witch without even realising it. When Mutharika refers to Chilima as weak; I totally understand what he is saying. He is hyponised and is under Peter’s spell. How else can you explain his lobodo lobodo actions. He’s only good enough to represent DPP at funerals, disasters areas and cutting ribbons for useless projects. As if that is not enough; he is reduced to making speeches that only praises his leader and DPP (nothing is off the approved script). He is a convenient tool and mouthpiece for Peter and DPP. He is like a condom to be used and dumped in the dustbin come the next convention late this year or if he is lucky, during or before 2024. He just lacks cognitive and critical thinking skills this Chilima man. He may be incredibly smart in the corporate world but he is certainly very dull in politics. He is no match to corrupt and tactician Peter.

  11. Ur excellency u first work together the next term and start selling Him to party and to the Nation from 2020 o wards but He can stand next year 2019 it will be difficult for party to give him support so after this election it will work

  12. Kunena zoona I didnt appreciate if the President ananenadi what is written above kuti he called his vice weak to lead.You know sometimes its better to be wise by keeping quiet without commenting on anything we hear from the people or through the media.What image is the President portrayimg to his citizens about his Vice??Ngakhale I dont take mbali on their politics,I think kumapatsana ulemu seriously.Basi tiona amene ali wamnzeru ndi ndani between the two!!!

  13. Munthu ukamafa nkhumtu mumagotha , Peter Mutharika wafa makumtu a Malawi takozeka kumubudula adziwe zimenezi. Tikuthokoza Winiko pouza dziko kuti mu DPP muli ng’ona komanso agulukunyinda

    1. I agreed with you. Munthu akamafa amagontha mukhutu. It’s time for change . MCP boma 2019.
      It’s time for corrupt government to go. Wina afune asafune zinthu zizintha basi. Zayamba kaleso.

  14. This is retrogressive thinking from highest office. Is running France not a serious business by giving presidency to young Manuel Macron 39, Is running Austrian government not a serious country to have a 31 lad as a president.

    Malawi you must think at 54 years of independence.

  15. Sweet to our ears. Peter must stand so mcp can have a walk over. Also sweet news is Atupele declaration to stand alone on udf ticket. Now a may must also be encouraged to stand

    1. Sitikukuopa iwe dzuka malawi 2013 umasokosanso kuyankhula monyansa lero ulikuti sikunja kwa boma basi angakhale achakwera akudziwa .Mudikire 2024 koma 2019 aaaa ndiye kuti mulibe nzelu muoona muzalira kuti chwiiiiiiiiii

  16. In Malawi people need civic education , they should not manipulated No.
    How can poor people vote again for munthulika and chaponda is there pa nsonkhano koma akuyankha corruption charges? In Malawi abale palibe anga mumange chaponda? Are you sure palibe?

    Ok tiwona

  18. If Chilima will one day stand for DPP he will be a very good candidate but only if he is endorsed by APM who will convince the Lhomwe belt to vote Chilima for the presidency regardless of being not a Lhomwe. The way Callista and Ngalande want things to be now clearly shows that they have a knife under the carpet. They know that if APM does not stand the majority of the Lhomwes will be disappointed and will not vote for Chilima and in this case giving a chance to Chakwera to win. Callista and his group should not think Chilima is a fool that he cannot know their silly plan. Why is it that the candidacy of Chilima is welcomed and supported by those who hate DPP? MCP and Callista know that if the Lhomwes will not vote in majority it means Chilima will not win. By weak candidate it does not mean that Chilima himself is a weak person but on Malawi standard of politics the party will go into the contest very weak because the base of the party will not go to vote if their man is not contesting. Mentioning Chilima is a political gimmick after trying many ways to weaken it. Time is ticking yet the MCP has not found the strategy to weaken the DPP. The MCP has tried all along to divide Chilima and APM so that they don’t maintain the 2014 pair to 2019. Chilima and his boss knows about this. Will MCP members abandon Chakwera and vote for Chilima if he stands? So why supporting his candidacy? It is an insult to Chakwera for MCP to support Chilima. Mwatchera kumwezi nkhanga zawona.

    1. Its a real pity that Malawi’s political bar is so low that they regard Peter as the best politician to take Malawi forward. This is the same person who was unable to cut it in the US and could barely deliver on his mandate as a minister in Bingu’s government. This same failure is now regarded as the best candidate to take Malawi forward with all the failures Malawi we have witnessed under his rule. Malawi politics has now become tribalistic and regionalistic. Malawi is more divided today than it was in 1964. Anthu obwela kumenyana okha okha. Chewas (and the splinter tribes ie Nyanja, Mang’anja, Ngonde, Tumbuka etc) are originally from Congo, Yao, Sena and Lhomwe from Mozambique and originally from Niger-Congo; we have the Ngoni from Natal. I really don’t think it’s a good idea to go back in history and start fighting amongst ourselves as to which tribe is superior than the other; that’s retrogressive and colonialist politics. This is no time for any political leader to govern the country on tribalistic and regionalistic grounds. We are all Malawians who should be driving a common destiny. Our genes are all mixed and no longer defined by our narrow tribal definitions. Our kids are even more mixed so pointless for political leaders to only preserve one culture against the other. There’s power in embracing diversity. We are all made of diverse cultures. Tribal politics has no place in Malawi.

  19. Selfishness. Was Bingu a strong candidate in 2004. I thought it was Bakili who did the donkey work for Bingu and you. Who were Muthalikas without Bakili. Bingu flopped with his UP. If you support Chilima can’t he make it. Wait with ukalambawo.

    1. Maybe true about Chilima destroying the party but the same can also be said of Peter. In fact DPP will begin its burial ceremony from May 2019.

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