Cabinet minister Vitumbiko Mumba has launched a scathing public attack on Malawi Congress Party politburo. The fallout is as explosive as it is unprecedented, just as the party gears up for the 2025 Malawi general elections.
In a fiery social media post, Mumba announced his resignation from the MCP’s National Executive Committee (NEC), hinting heavily at plans to contest as an independent candidate. Mumba lambasted the party’s internal decision-making as chaotic, undemocratic, and “primitive” indulging in politics of “kuthana”.
Mumba’s outburst suggests that President Lazarus Chakwera who will be the party’s torchbearer in on the presidential race is failing to tame his “political dogs,” which could, in turn, jeopardize his presidential campaign..
“Let those that have majored in that type of primitive politics focus on that while I focus on my constituency,” Mumba declared, accusing the NEC of being stacked with “handclappers” and loyalists who never participated in party conventions.
According to Mumba, over 80 percent of the co-opted NEC members neither paid nomination fees nor campaigned, yet now dominate decision-making, a clear swipe at what he describes as backroom nepotistic behaviour at the heart of the MCP and an erosion of democratic values. These accusations will not help the party which has already been fending off accusations of fuelling political hooliganism.
The former NEC member did not stop there. He vowed to expose what he described as “small-mega lies” peddled by senior party figures once his court case concludes, a thinly veiled threat that has left party insiders scratching their heads.
Mumba is currently locked in a legal battle with his own party over the disputed primaries, a move critics have dismissed as a last-ditch attempt by a sore loser unwilling to accept defeat. “This is someone crying over spilled milk,” one senior MCP figure told Malawi24. “He lost, now he’s throwing tantrums like a privileged child and tearing down the house.”
Questions are now swirling around President Lazarus Chakwera’s conspicuous silence on the matter. With both Mumba and several NEC members holding cabinet positions, political observers are wondering why the president has not stepped in to calm tensions or assert leadership in the crisis.
Pro-Chakwera supporters are reportedly furious, calling Mumba’s public outbursts “reckless” and “destructive.” They warn that his defiance will only embolden detractors and sow further division within the ruling party as it heads toward a crucial election season, putting Chakwera’s prospects as a presidential candidate at risk.
Interestingly, he said he remains loyal to the party and campaign for Chakwera but only qualified his commitment to campaigning for Chakwera who faces a mountain to “wherever possible”.
The Malawi Congress Party has overwhelmingly lost in two public opinion polls conducted by Malawi24. Chakwera came a distant third, with less than 10 percent support from nearly 30,000 respondents. Thus, with the MCP’s popularity on the line, Mumba’s rhetoric and public attack on the party’s politburo paints a very different picture.
