Nankhumwa says DPP faces an existential crisis, calls on leaders to reawaken party in Lower Shire:

Main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice-president (South) Kondwani Nankhumwa on Sunday October 11, 2020 met Chikwawa urban and rural district, all seven constituency committee members and ward councillors, conveying a message from the party leadership for their hard work, dedication and loyalty to DPP and its leadership as the party starts  to put itself back on track after June 23 presidential election defeat.

The first meeting was with DPP leaders drawn from Chikwawa rural district and Chikwawa West constituency in Chapananga. He then met leaders from Chikwawa urban and Chikwawa East, North and Central constituencies before wrapping up the tour at Ngabu where he had an interface with Chikwawa South and Nkombezi constituency committee members and ward councillors.

Nankhumwa, who also serves as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, was accompanied by some members of the DPP regional committee.

He conveyed a message of appreciation to the leaders and the people of Shire Valley for giving the DPP presidential candidate in the June 23 fresh presidential election, Peter Mutharika, an overwhelming number of votes.

“I wish to extend a message of gratitude to you on behalf of APM (Mutharika) and the party for your unwavering support. My appeal to you is not to relent but work extremely hard to retain the goodwill that the people of Lower Shire have for the DPP and its leadership.

“We lost the fresh presidential election but it is only logical and humane to thank the people that voted for our candidate, APM. I say thank you,” said Nankhumwa.

However, he expressed concern that despite the fact that Lower Shire has been predominantly DPP, especially at the presidential level, the party only has one Member of Parliament in Owen Chomanika of Chikwawa North. He said he would be specially engaging the leaders to “reawaken the DPP”.

Nankhumwa admitted that the party is faced with a leadership succession crisis but he assured the leaders that the matter has not reached a crisis level and that he is optimistic the issues would be resolved amicably.

He said he was elected VP for the party responsible for the southern region and that he remains as such until the next elective national convention is held.

“There have been attempts by a few people to expel me and a few others from the party on unspecified grounds. We sought courts’ intervention and we’re still the rightful holders of our positions.

“It is heinous and despicable for two or three people to just wake up one morning and expel elected members of the DPP without regard to our party constitution. That’s dictatorship and an insult to the intelligence of the members who voted for me and colleagues,” said Nankhumwa, calling on the alleged plotters to respect the party’s constitution before making serious decisions that may affect the stability of the party.

He said DPP can no longer afford the luxury of fighting itself, and must focus on the real political competitor.

Nankhumwa expressed optimism that with unity of purpose present in the party, the DPP would return to power at the next elections.

He reiterated that Malawians feel deceived by the Tonse Alliance partners who promised them “the moon” during the campaign ahead of the fresh presidential polls.

“Malawians are putting the Tonse Alliance under close scrutiny as far as fulfilling their campaign pledges is concerned and they will give their verdict in 2025 when they will vote again for a new government.

“Tonse Alliance promised us a lot of issues but 100 days plus down the road, they have nothing to show in terms of achievements. They promised Malawians three meals a day; 1 million jobs; free electricity and water connection; 14,000 Kwacha passport; and cheap universal fertilizer, among others, but nothing has materialized” observed Nankhumwa, saying Malawians have now realized that they were better off under  DPP.

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