Kaliwo has no mandate to call convention — MCP

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has said party secretary general Gustav Kaliwo has no mandate to call for  a national convetion, the party has said.

On Saturday, Kaliwo declared that the MCP constitution gives him powers to call for a convention even without consulting with the party’s president.

He said MCP will hold a convention from July 7 to 9 this year.

But the party’s Central Region Chairman, Patrick Chilondola,  and  second deputy secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka, who has now turned into the party ’s spokesperson, have  all quashed Kaliwo’s  declaration.

Kaliwo has not been attending the party’s National Executive Committee (Nec) meetings where he should have raised issues if he had any, according to Chilondola.

“We will go to the convention when the time is right not when Kaliwo calls for a convention. He has no mandate to call for a convention,” Chilondola said at a political rally which part president Lazatous Chakwera addressed in Ntcheu on Sunday.

On the other hand,  Mkaka trashed Kaliwo’s statement arguing that the decision as to when the party should hold a convention is made by the National Executive Committee (Nec) not the Secretary General alone.

“National Executive Committee is the highest authority and as of now it has not communicated about the convention,” Mkaka said.

However, Kaliwo said according to the mandate given to him by the party’s constitution, he has the power to make the announcement.

He said according to Article 40 of the MCP constitution, an emergency convention can be called by the party’s two thirds majority of NEC or at the request of more than half of the district committees.

“Therefore, for this decision I have taken the mandate given to me by the party’s district committees who are calling for the convention.

“I am sure there are some people who will not agree with me, but we stand on a strong legal ground because the constitution permits my doing this,” said Kaliwo, an experienced lawyer.

But Mkaka explained that according to section 28 of the MCP constitution, when district structures meet and make decisions they are supposed to submit minutes to NEC because they work on behalf of NEC.

“So their decisions are endorsed by NEC, the district committees cannot just make decisions without the attention of NEC,” he said.

Mkaka also said the party was not surprised with Kaliwo’s conduct having written a letter to the party president Chakwera in which he “made strong allegations” when he had an opportunity to meet him in person on his concerns.

 

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