Paramount chief Lundu blasts CSO, opposition: ‘DPP landslide expected in 2019’

Paramount chief Lundu has  unequivocally thrown his weight behind President Peter Mutharika and also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), saying opposition parties should not be allowed to win the elections in 2019 “because some of them have tormented us in the past”.

“We continue to suffer from the deep wounds that had been inflicted on us by the very same people that want us to vote for them in 2019. These wounds have been difficult to heal. Instead of promoting unity,
they specialize in political insults and promote hate-speech and violence. Say no to them.

“Some people will claim I am interfering in politics; I am not but as a traditional leader I have to support the government of the day,” said Lundu, to the amusement of thousands people who attended the final
meeting at Marka.

He also dismisses the Civil Society Organisations under the banner of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC who  held  anti-government demonstrations across the country last Friday, saying Malawians are now focused on elections in eight months time, which he said DPP will claim a landslide victory.

Lundu was speaking when DPP’s southern region vice president Kondwani Nankhumwa  addressed  people  at Bangula in Nsanje on Friday September 21, 2018 during a whistle-stop tour he undertook in the district.

On his part, Nnakhumwa  said President Mutharika was “deeply concerned” over the worsening food crisis in the Lower Shire and has since directed that during this lean food season, emergency food stuffs should be distributed to all vulnerable households, not only in Nsanje but the entire country.

“The distribution exercise has already started in other parts of the country and it will soon be here,” he said.

The food crisis was as a result of natural disasters such as flush floods, drought as well as fall army worms, which caused crop failure in the 2017/2018 farming season, he observed.

Nankhumwa said is initiating a 142-hecture Shire Valley Irrigation Project to enable farmers practice winter cropping thereby maximizing harvests.

He told reporters during the whistle-stop tour that Malawi has made various developmental gains under President Mutharika and DPP “hence Malawians have every reason to give us another five-year mandate when we go to polls next year”.

“On the economic front, Malawi has achieved macro-economic stability as exemplified by the stability of the Kwacha, single-digit inflation, 6 months import cover, stable exchange rate resulting in stable fuel
prices and stable prices of basic commodities.

“Other visible gains have been made in sectors of the economy such as transport, information and communication technologies (ICTs), health, education, tourism, mining, trade and industry, agriculture, rural development and energy, among others,” he said.

Nankhumwa added that the investment climate is much more improved now, which has seen many local and international investors registering businesses with others commencing projects in various sectors of the economy from energy, mining, tourism and manufacturing, among others.

Since DPP lost to Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the October 17 2017 by-elections, the party has tried hard to gain back popularity in the area.