Mutharika shakes up DPP campaign team: Nankhumwa in charge of elections, Ben Phiri not included
With the May 21 tripartite elections just three weeks away, the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has set up two special stand-alone elections campaign committees to boost its campaign and ensure victory is right in their bag at the polls.
Local Government and Rural Development Minister and DPP vice president for Southern Region, Kondwani Nankhumwa, confirmed President Professor Arthur Mutharika had constituted special technical and operations committees in order to decentralize DPP campaign at national level.
The President has appointed him (Nankhumwa) to chair both committees.
Nankhumwa has become a political force to be reckoned with within the upper echelons of the ruling party.
He has recently been appointed by President Mutharika to represent him at various State functions, articulating the DPP’s vision for this country with above-average zeal and temerity.
In his message delivery, Nankhumwa outlines the development that the DPP government has accomplished under Mutharika in various sectors such as energy, infrastructure development, health, education, agriculture, among others.
According to Nankhumwa, the elections campaign committee members include senior DPP officials, technocrats as well as various opinion leaders.
He declined to mention names.
“There are many of us who sit on these committees. I would not be able to mention all the names,” Nankhumwa told Nyasa Times in an interview on Tuesday.
He said the President realizes that the DPP national secretariat and the party’s lower structures cannot fully implement the campaign alone and hence the need for stand-alone committees, which must complement the party’s efforts to reach out to each and every voter ahead of the polls next month.
Nankhumwa said, for example, the upcoming polls will be “youth elections” because the majority of registered voters are youths.
Women also make a significant number of those that have registered to vote in this election, added Nankhumwa.
“It is critical, therefore, for the DPP to come up with youth and women mobilization strategies in order to consolidate its winning chances. So, massive youth and women mobilization is one of the responsibilities of these committees. Obviously, we will also be looking at resource mobilization as well as other crucial areas that would constitute a successful elections campaign,” explained the VP-south.
He said President Mutharika is aware that most DPP politicians will be preoccupied with campaigning to win in their respective constituencies. Hence members of these stand-alone committees, most of who will not be running for any political office, will engage with different population groups and form relationships with them in order to ensure that Mutharika and DPP indeed win with a landslide victory on May 21 2019.
As part of this ‘strategy’, the party has also identified “party linchpins” and appointed them as Zone Champions to manage, coordinate and oversee elections campaign in two districts each across the country.
According to Nankhumwa, in southern region the party has appointed Foster Khuleya as Zone Champion for Mwanza and Neno, Rashid Issa for Nsanje and Chikwawa, Brown Mpinganjira for Thyolo and Mulanje, Leston Mulli for Phalombe and Chiradzulu and a Mr. Busiri for Blantyre.
The DPP campaign was being spearheaded by Ben Phiri as director of elections, but following the appointment of Nankhumwa to be chair of the elections, he has technically been dropped.
This follows his recent offensive remarks to the former First Lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri during a DPP campaign in Balaka.
Both the DPP and First Lady Gertrude Mutharika e reprimanded Phiri over the remarks in which he said former president Bakili Muluzi divorced Shanil because she is not good in bed.
He was also scandalised by Sandra ‘Andu’ Ntonya a famous Manchester- based escort girl who posted on social media of his x-rated pictures.
Andu, who normally films her “clients” posted the nude photos on Twitter and scandalised Phiri on Facebook through her ‘live’ shows.
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This is disgraceful for a man kneeling to a like this. This was happening in Kamuzu time, why should it be happening now. This is not ulemu but subordination. PLEASE ONLY KNEEL TO GOD not to another human being.
Yehova akutimenyera nkhondo, the president is blind he thinks like those pple they are sailing together the same boat, akhumudwa anthu amene ali nawo pafupi atamuthawa mark my words
They should have formed a third committee as a big number of voters will formed by “thieves”
Ben Phiri ammeta mavu… 👙 😜
Now with two before elections dpp yapakiradi I wonder why Malawians don’t want the name of dpp. Look mmeene abera ku MEC offices eeeeeesh these thieves better go please.
where have you been,? you just woke up from the deep slumber, you have a lot of work to catch up!!!
pano tikukamba za UTM a Malawi uniting factor….nkhani za DPP zitichedwetsa ….amangidwe komanso chuma chao chibwezedwe kwa a Malawi eni ake …..kutheratu DPP ngati makatani…..kuvotera DPP nkusalikonda dziko lathu
Mpaka kugwada abale? Can’t he offer a seat next to or opposite him? I wonder whether Trump’s or May’s ministers do that? That said, Nankhumwa is OK by me but he should tame the likes of Chimulirenji, Wa Jeffrey, Mchacha etc and should not allow Ben Phiri anywhere near a microphone.
MCP should borrow a leaf from the DPP strategic actions such as these. It is not enough just to hold rallies and whistle stop tours as May 21 approaches.
MCP initiated this strategy long before the start of the campaign period. Awa a Dpp ndi a Utm akubwera pambuyo. I guess you havent been following what Chimwendo Banda and others have been doing through youth conferences and so forth. MCP is up to date in terms of strategy. Enawa ndiomwe azindikira kupelewera kwawo mochedwa. Can a sane person institute campaign teams two weeks before elections and expect the teams to succeed? Nzeru za ukalamba izi. Agwira njakata anzathuwa. Awona kuti campaign yawo siyikuyenda.
Kikikikikiki Shakeup kenako tinva kuti ineso sindiima ayima Ken MSONDA pa upresident chifukwatu ndiye campaign yatentha juuuuuuuu SKC buuuuuuuuuu mbwerekete
Nyasatimes, can you one day post something good of dpp why always post bad things? it means other political party are doing everything good?
These are UTM stakeholders boss if you don’t know! Ndiye amakokera kwao! Analyse their headlines mofatsa bwinobwino, you will agree with me.
Why should Nyasatimes write anything good about a party that is bad. In journalism, good news does not sell. No journalist would write about a good Samaritan giving alms to a beggar, but a gentleman stealing from a beggar would make headlines even on BBC.
A dog biting a man wouldn’t be news, but a man biting a dog would be news that would go viral within minutes on WhatsApp!
Video of APM laying a foundation stone for a road, or video of a naked Ben Phiri “busy ” with Sandra “Andu” Ntonya: Which would you prefer to watch ( ma rewind times times!!! ) ?🤣🤣🤣
You only realizing now that it’s a youth election. Tulo
DPP has strategists and this is why they will win the elections again this year. Mark my word!
Abale tiyeni tilikonde dziko la Malawi….mwayiona koma Airport yamangidwa ku Lilongwe? Sindikuyembekedzera munthu wanzeru ataona zimenezo kumayikira kumbuyo Peter. Uyu Peter uyu alibe masophenya. Mwambwi wa pa 21 May ndiwakuti, Wakwathu wakwathu sabweretsa nsima pa tebulo ndi rent ya nyumba. Ndikhulupirira m’bale uganiza bwino apa. A Malawi sakudana ndi DPP koma utsogoleri opanda maso phenya
iweyo maso mphenyawo uli nawo? of course DPP yatha ngati makatani, ndiye tikavotere chani. MCP? my foot…
That’s a way to go.
Too late. Damage already done. These are signs of accepting things are not adding up within the DPP arrangement. They have realized their campaign strategy has backfired. Yambani kulongeza ena alowemo
Ben Phiri ngofoila uja
Too late baba……………… simungamake Chilima game waiponyera patali
Too little too late, you have surrounded yourself with useless halfwits whose only strategy is to rip down opposition billboards and campaign flags. Madeya okhaokha.
This strategy comes in very late. DPP is waking up from slumber late. UTM has gained much ground and you can see that they begun strategizing soon after registration. We will be talking about 6-8 months ago. To think that the same strategy will work in the coming three weeks hmmmmmmmmm let us wait and see. Persaonally I feel it is very late or too late to mend the broken walls.
Guys, lets talk about MCP winning the coming elections. UTM anthu ake ali kutiko? AMalawi pena pake tisamaganize ngati anthu oduka mitu. Are you truly convinced that UTM will win these elections with the thief Chilima? Guys, lets be realistic about these issues..Chilima sathanso kubera vote yathu this time around. Nthawi iyi ndi ya MCP. Ali ndi maso enieni akutha kuwona zimenezi..