Minister of Transport Jappie Mhango and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary General Griselda Jeffrey failed to sail from Nkhata-Bay to Likoma to preside over primary polls due to transport challenges.
Mhango who is also the Treasure General for DPP Jappie Mhango and Jeffrey were among the delegates expected to conclude the party’s primaries at Likoma Community Hall in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mkumpha 3 on Wednesday to elect aspirants to contest in the forthcoming tripartite elections on May 21.
Confirming the matter in an interview, DPP Regional Governor for the North Kenneth Sanga said there has been a twist of proceedings due to reasons beyond the capacity of their control.
Sanga said: “It is true that we were supposed to be in Likoma district by today [Wednesday] but we have failed to make it due to communication breakdown between us and the Vessel which we opted for (MV Chilembwe).”
Proceeding with his explanations, Sanga said the party wanted to visit the Islanders to authenticate endorsement of its candidates who will represent the party in Likoma and Chizumulu Islands.
“Our initial objective was to conclude our primaries by officially ratifying those to represent us in the district during the tripartite elections then other programs will follow,” he stated.
Commenting on the matter, district governor for DPP in Likoma Golden Chikhanda said the hired ship MV Chilembwe failed to make it from Monkey-bay to Nkhata-bay under speculations that the vessel developed a problem.
He said: “We have communicated with our friends in the mainland but they are unable to come as scheduled due to some reports that MV Chilembwe is not fit to travel.”
However, Chikhanda insisted that the ruling DPP will still hold the function on Friday when the problem is solved.
“We have made consultations everything is already in place and the event has been postponed to take place on Friday.”
Meanwhile, no political party in the country has yet conducted its primary elections in Likoma and Chizumulu Islands with only four months remaining to this year’s May 21 polling.
