MP Mwenifumbo bemoans intraparty democracy in Malawi

Karonga Central Constituency parliamentarian Frank Mwenifumbo has expressed his discontentment over the state of intraparty democracy in the country saying it is deplorable.

Mwenifumbo, presently an independent Member of Parliament (MP) since the fall of the People’s Party (PP) from power in the May 2014 tripartite elections, disclosed to Nyasa Times that the phenomenon is hampering the country’s socio-eco-political progress.

“There is no intraparty democracy in our parties,” he said. “Members, including MPs, are mere hand clappers such that they fail to voice out their concerns on issues of national importance for fear of displeasing a few in party’s top notch positions.”

According to Mwenifumbo, this appalling nature of the country’s politics that makes him remain independent.

“None of them convince me,” he said. “That’s why I cannot convince them.”

The politician-cum-entrepreneur, however, hinted that should a certain party convince him as far as the ideologies he is rooted in are concerned, he “will join.”

Said Mwenifumbo: “Some MPs behave as if it is their parties that sent them to parliament. The problem is the lack of democracy within the structures of our parties.”

He further blamed the country’s litany of problems of the manner in which the country’s affairs are run, opining that a complete overhaul of the system is way to go.

“We need to empower our people,” he opined. “People must work hard for themselves, and not because government will have to pay them at the end of the day. That’s how we can end our problems of employment, food shortages et cetera.”

He showed Nyasa Times more than three hectares of land which he has leased out to subsistence farmers in his constituency to grow rice under his Mikoma Greenbelt Initiative.

“I used to give them seeds and fertilizer but I’ve since stopped for sustainability’s sake,” he said. “Now I ask them to save some money from their sales and buy on their own whilst they are using the rest for survival.”

The initiative has 120 men and women benefitting.

Mwenifumbo has been active in politics prior to the May 2004 elections when he was first elected MP for Karonga Central Constituency. He lost to Dr. Cornelius Mwalwanda in the 2009 general elections only to reclaim it in the May 2014 tripartite elections.

He was strongly attached to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and People’s Party (PP) where he is also believed to have been a financier.