‘Clean your house’- Chakwera told to resolve MCP wrangles

A political analyst in the country has advised Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera to work on ending wrangles that have rocked the party rather than rushing to fire members with opposing views.

Last week Chakwera fired from the party his fiercest critics Felix Jumbe and Chatinkha Chidzanja Nkhoma while other members such as the party’s spokesperson Jessie Kabwila and legislator Joseph Njovuyalema were suspended.

The expelled members had been calling for a convention in order to elect a new party president saying Chakwera is undemocratic.

But Chancellor College based political analyst Joseph Chunga condemned the MCP for crushing dissent by firing members who spoke against the party’s leadership. He said disciplining the fired members would have been a better resort so that the party should continue to earn its pride.

Chunga also advised MCP to work on ending the challenges it is facing in order to avoid a crisis.

“We must always understand that we always have misunderstandings wherever but what matters is how we resolve the differences,” said Chunga.

The analyst added that failure to find solutions to the disagreements in the party might affect MCP’s preparations for the 2019 general elections.

Meanwhile, one of the expelled members Chatinkha Nkhoma has insisted that the party’s leadership does not have the power to fire her from the party hence she remains a member of the MCP.

Nkhoma also argued that the firing of vociferous critics of Chakwera from the party is a sign that there is no intraparty democracy in MCP.