DPP in mass firing as 100 Kasungu officials purged over Chilima-for-presidency

Troubled ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has fired over 100  members over support for Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s candidature in 2019 and replaced them with a whole new district committee in Kasungu.

District Secretary Fyson Makina said he is one of the fired official in the district.

He alleged that the fired district committee members attended a meeting which was convened by Anna Makuta, a former presidential aide now turned a Chilima campaigner for party presidency.

“Officials from national governing council came on Saturday to fire 113 district committee members and replaced them immediately,” he said.

Makina described the firing as illegal and said they have given the party five days to reinstate  them or they will seek an audience with President Peter Mutharika.

Party spokesman Francis Kasails said he could not comment because he did not have details on the matter.

The DPP is sharply divided into two camps; those that want Mutharika to be the party presidential candidate and those who favour Chilima.

The  former first lady Callista Mutharika, wife to the late president Bingu wa Mutharika, was the first person to openly support Chilima’s presidential candidacy, arguing her in-law, the current President, was too old to run for the presidency in May next year and that DPP cannot win with him.

Catholic bishops, in their latest pastoral latter titled ‘A call for a new era’, appealed to political parties to embrace intra-party democracy.

Chilima, until now, has not said anything after former first lady encouraged him in April to represent the DPP in next year’s polls.