Gwengwe, Zulu return to MCP causing infighting

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is facing a mist of rumours that a reshuffle is looming in the National Executive Committee (NEC)where former Peoples Party (PP) vice president Sosten Gwengwe and George Zulu are set to be incorporated into the system.

Factions are said to have emerged in the largest opposition party.

Nyasa Times understands that Gwengwe and Zulu are replacing Felix Jumbe and Joseph Njobvuyalema as Director and Deputy Director of Campaign respectively.

The factions are divided on the decision by NEC to endorse the current president and leader of opposition Dr. Lazarus Chakwera as their candidate in 2019 general elections.

“Those who are close to the president feel that Jumbe and Njobvuyalema are campaigning for the party presidency and the party leadership is geared to silence them by removing the two from the NEC,” said a NEC member who opted for anonymity.

It is understood that during the party’s management meeting on Wednesday, Nyobvuyalema was asked to confirm if he is going to challenge Chakwera, a notion he denied.

Njobvuyalema could neither confirm nor deny the rumours of his intended removal from the NEC.

“I have not heard anything on the leadership’s intention to replace me in the NEC but there have been reports that am campaigning against our president Dr Chakwera which is not true,” he said.

Put to him if the return of Gwengwe and Zulu has brought confusions within the party, Njobvuyalema said:“That’s true because there are MCP Members of Parliament from the areas which the two come from.”

MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwira refuted the rumours of infighting insisting that the Wednesday meeting was about strategizing for the by-elections.

“Let me tell you that the meeting was not for public consumption bu tbe assured that there was nothing like having someone to replace such a person in the NEC. We discussed elections strategies during the by-elections and that’s all,” she said.

Gwengwe and Zulu have been away from the MCP for a long time and they just came back to re-join the main opposition party two weeks ago during a function which took place at Kamwendo Primary School ground in Mchinji.