A senior member of People’s Party (PP) says the Malawi ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) hated Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe when he was alive.
Ackson Kalaile Banda, who is spokesperson for PP, claims that the DPP-led government and the ruling party snubbed calls to send Chikulamayembe outside Malawi for treatment.
“The fact remains that DPP never loved our departed chief, the Paramount chief battled for his life at Mzuzu Central hospital for some days without govt’s attention, yet we have seen other chiefs been airlifted for better medical attention abroad using our taxes. According to the eulogies made on Monday (before the burial) at St Andrews CCAP church by Principle Kazamawe, no government official came to check the progress of our chief at the hospital but Livingstonia Synod through Rev Nyondo frequently visited our departed chief at the hospital” he alleges.
The PP mouthpiece, while writing in his personal capacity, has also alleged that Mutharika only attended the funeral ceremony held at Bolero last Thursday upon Lazarus Chakwera, Saulos Chilima and Joyce Banda
“President Peter Mutharika didn’t want to attend the burial ceremony of our late chief, instead he delegated his right-hand man Nankhumwa. Upon hearing that Dr Joyce Banda, Dr Saulos Chilima and Dr Lazarus Chakwera will attend the burial ceremony they changed their program and forced him to come and attend the burial” alleges Kalaile Banda.
Kalaile Banda claims that the fact President Mutharika had never attended any of the Gonapamuhanya cultural ceremonies is enough evidence that the ruling DPP and Mutharika in particular did not hold the chief in high esteem like other paramount chiefs in other tribes.
“The DPP led govt never promoted the late Chief Chikulamayembe as Paramount chief despite that he deserved that, they labeled the Tumbuka chief as bad as someone who was against their wishes and President Mutharika never patronized his Tumbuka cultural event called Gonapamuhanya” said Kalaile Banda on a facebook post.
According to him, Joyce Banda decided not to attend the funeral after knowing it would be turned into a political battlefield.
Kalaile Banda also claims that government has palm-oiled traditional with K40 thousand to fight the Synod to score a political point.
