Muvi wa Chilungamo Party wants political parties to boycott 2025 elections because they are ‘unconstitutional’

Newly-registered Muvi wa Chilungamo Revolutionary Party (MRP) president, Bantu Saunders Jumah has hit the ground running by accusing that President Lazarus Chakwera-led Tonse Alliance government breached the Constitution of the Republic in 2020 when it changed the terms of office of President and Members of Parliament from 5 to 6 years after the Constitutional Court nullified President Peter Mutharika’s one-year term from 2019.

Thus he says the MRP “and hopefully all other new parties upcoming, will not recognize the 2025 elections unless citizens of Malawi endorse the changes through a national referendum before 21st May, 2024”.

The new Party further demands that Parliament should cease to operate on the May 21 until fresh elections are held — or else “any extension of the 5-year constitutional mandate of the President and MPs to September 16, 2025 will be done under the leadership of an interim or government of national unity on condition that the Constitution is going to be reviewed and amended where sections 64, 65 and others be reactivated and deactivate section 91 subsection 1 and 2”.

In his statement, Jumah described Chakwera’s leadership and governance as clueless, saying in the close to four years of the Tonse Alliance government “has been a waste of time and resources in as far as economic growth and human development are concerned”.

He maintains that the Tonse Alliance government was ushered into power under protests; countrywide destruction of property and loss of lives but has now disappointed almost all citizens except a few in the system of Chakwera’s administration.

“President Chakwera’s government has been a complete fiasco and cluelessness on the leadership and governance,” Jumah says. “He has also failed on administration of the State and government.

“The entire 4 years, President Chakwera has acted as a passenger in the government [system] — not a pilot or captain or a mere cabin crew — he has acted as a ordinary passenger.”

He further says the administration of Chakwera and his Vice-President Saulos Chilima has been all “rhetorical period of false pretense”, adding that the President “thought government can be run on trial and error” while his deputy “shared the cake with an approach of ‘let him fail so that I can triumph and discredit him when I ascend to power’ as per the rotation of power agreement”.

He alluded that Chilima must have a observed Chakwera’s change of character as according to the ‘rotation of power agreement’ when the President’s Cabinet was dominated by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) members with UTM only having less than five.

He further alluded that Chilima chose not to complain or express his “dismay over the breach of agreement” signed by the two partners that was witnessed by many people including former President Joyce Banda and AFORD President.

Chilima is further accused that he exposed terms of the agreement after he was implicated in the corruption case involving businessman Zuneth Sattar and did not pursue the matter further probably because “Chakwera may have cooled him with promises that satisfied him”.

Jumah also alluded that Chakwera went on to vilify Chilima over the Sattar scandal as in 2022 the President revealed that 84 civil servants were involved in the corruption case without naming them but just his Vice-President 

He further alludes that Chilima seems to have woken up from his slumber after “rumours making rounds” that the MCP will put Chakwera as their torchbearer to contest again in the 2025 elections— which has shocked Chilima and is seen to seek sympathy by presenting his grievances to the people.

“None of his campaign promises have been realized and there is no day he has stood up and threatened that if his partner cannot include his programs (campaign manifesto) he was going to take action.

“Their government has just completed 4 years without any complaint or any say even though he witnesses the hardships Malawians are going through because of the government he is part and parcel.”

Jumah further accuses that under Chakwera’s administration, “the country’s economic trajectory has lost track and is in oblivion as inflation has super risen to almost 40% [and] the buying power of the currency has gone down with the devaluation of up to almost 80%”.

“Poverty has tripled, if not quadrupled, infrastructure development is nowhere to be seen, those done with campaign minds are washed away and many roads are stuck or on standstill uncompleted 

“The consequences of all these have been suicides of our people and hinder-borne and unhygienic-borne diseases such as cholera, leprosy and polio — not mentioning malnutrition and kwashiorkor killing many under-5 children across the country.

This economic collapse has happened under the watch of President Chakwera and his Vice-President Saulos Chilima resulting in skyrocketing of all commodity prices of goods in every sector of the society.”

He continues to accuse that Chakwera blames Chilima’s UTM of sabotage — hence hiding the reform project the President himself directed his deputy to formulate and that the only time they agree to work together is through corruption “by awarding scandalous deals or contracts to Indians, butcheries and pharmacies” in the procurement of fertilizer.

He further alludes that Chilima might be acquitted in his corruption case because the court will have no evidence since the Malawi Defence Force applied to be barred from appearing in the case to present their facts citing that it was a matter of state security.

He accuses that none of the culprits involved in the dubious K30 billion fertilizer deal with a butchery were taken to account — neither those that “swindled K17 billion and 5 billion in CoVID funds are in jail” — including those involved in Romanian pharmaceutical company Eastbridge in the procurement of fertilizer worth K155 billion and those in the infamous K7 trillion Bridgin Foundation deal made in August last year.

“Today, each and every policy they make fails and faults themselves. AIP has completely failed for 4 years and shamed the leadership, corruption has increased or multiplied, the economy has collapsed, living standards of citizens have worsened, development of the country has rotten.

“Malawi has lost 5 years of economic development. There is no hope in sight and the very same people that have destroyed the country cannot be trusted to rebuild it in 18 months” towards the 2025 elections.

MRP maintains that it has come aboard the political arena “to change the political, economic and social strategy” — emphasising that “Malawi is not a country that must starve its people and visitors, neither is it a country that must crave for development”.

He also said students should not fail to pursue their academic dreams because of financial constraints but brains, saying: “Malawi is one of the blessed nations on Earth for we have every resource needed for development.”

The Party demands that in order to circumvent the adversities the country is undergoing, Chakwera must reshuffle the Cabinet and “bring in new people as a matter of urgency”, saying: “the current Cabinet has completely failed.”

“Civil servants hired through nepotism, tribe and party affiliation “must be fired with immediate effect; lifestyle audit must commence to determine how government officials are spending taxpayers’ money”.

“All government contracts awarded based on political affiliation must be dissolved; all culprits in money-gate of K17, K5, K155, K59, K30 billion and the K84 Zuneth Sattar-gate, Crossroads-gate must all be in prison 

The MRP — formerly Malawi Engagement Group (MAENGA) led by the late Dr. Hazwell Bandawe — got registered in December by Registrar of political parties in Malawi, becoming the 14th political party.

In a press statement announcing the registration of the Party, Jumah assured Malawians that MRP is a group of revolutionaries and game changers, saying their’s is a group of people who are realists and the only hope for the future of new Malawi.

He also assured Malawians that MRP has not come to add numbers of parties or increase the volume of impunity, corruption, nepotism, favoritism, tribalism, patriarch and regionalism urging all to join and support it.

He emphasised that it got registered having satisfied the National Planning Commission (NPC) guidelines and rules followed by the requirements of the Laws of Malawi — adding that the Party is born with new thinking based on mindset change and the philosophy of realism which is known as the Utopian.

Its offices are in Blantyre at Phekani House opposite Chibisa House along Sir Glyn Jones Road.

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