Mutharika and Ansah
* Jane Ansah presided over the most chaotic elections in 2019 leading to a re-run that was costly
* It is unthinkable for AFORD to support someone who nearly threw the country to the blink
By Kondwani Magombo, MANA
Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) vice-president has distanced himself from the electoral alliance that AFORD president Enock Chihana announced a few days ago with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), saying he, together with the members of his Citizens for Transformation (CFT) are not part and parcel of the alliance for the September 16 general election.
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Mtambo, who touts himself as CFT’s commander in chief said this last evening at a press briefing in Lilongwe, saying “the wounds afflicted by the DPP during its reign, and the party’s impunity are still fresh” — adding that he respects Chihana’s leadership for AFORD but differs with his decision to support DPP’s bid for presidency.
“We feel we cannot work with the DPP as the party has a very troubling legacy between 2014 and 2020, when they ruled with impunity,” Mtambo said. “DPP has shown no remorse, and the party has never apologised to Malawians — we feel that a party which fails to acknowledge its failures has no moral grounds to rule this country.”
Mtambo said he could not trust DPP as, according to him, the party betrayed late Chakufwa Chihana, the founding president of AFORD, after the party went into an alliance with UDF back in 2004 on the understanding that Chihana would be State Vice-President but later “dumped” him.
On Mutharika’s choice of Jane Ansah as running mate, Mtambo said he could not stand on podium to drum support for her owing to how the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) handled the 2019 general election under Ansah’s watch.
“Jane Ansah presided over the most chaotic elections in 2019 leading to a re-run that was costly,” said Mtambo, adding: “It is unthinkable for AFORD to support someone who nearly threw the country to the blink.”
The AFORD vice-president further said CFT signed an agreement to partner AFORD to strengthen the party “that forms part of the country’s history” and that he will continue campaigning for AFORD’s parliamentary and local government aspirants across the country, but not DPP and running mate, Ansah.
Accompanying Mtambo were AFORD legal advisor, Khwima Mchizi and CFT publicity secretary, Kinnear Mlowoka, who echoed Mtambo’s remarks against the DPP-AFORD alliance, saying the move is unacceptable.
Mchizi said it is undisputed fact that AFORD is a collective unit and that, if it is to go into an alliance, the party has to consider its members as well: “You can’t go into an alliance leaving your vice-president behind,” said Mchizi, adding that Mtambo suffered in many ways, including petrol bombing, during the DPP reign.
The AFORD legal advisor added that in September 2024, DPP president Mutharika also expressed his reservations to work with Mtambo and that the matter has never been resolved.
On his part, CFT publicity secretary, Mlowoka described Chihana’s decision to partner DPP in the forthcoming general election as “conspiracy and betrayal of trust”.
Chihana (left) sitting two chars away from Mutharika at BICC yesterday
When Mutharika sat down yesterday after arriving at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) to present his nomination papers to MEC, Chihana occupied a seat two chairs away from the DPP leader before Ansah came forward to sit next to her president.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Chihana expressed his “disappointment at the total number of presidential candidates vying for the highest office in the land”, saying: “With 20 individuals seeking the presidency, it is clear that many are driven by personal ambition rather than a genuine desire to serve the nation.
“In a country struggling with pressing economic challenges, this dissonance of candidacies is a luxury we can ill afford. Therefore, I have decided not to join this calamity of greed individuals who are eager to satisfy their personal interests and not that of a common man.
“It is imperious that we prioritise unity, stability, socio-economic development and collective progress over individual interests,” says Chihana adding that Malawians have “suffered as a result of skyrocketing of prices, scarcity of fuel, lack of employment among the youth, deliberate creation of hunger due to exorbitant price of fertilizer, sheer arrogance, nepotism, mismanagement of resources through corruption and failure to adhere on austerity measures”.
Independent candidates and their running mates so far who have presented nomination papers
“Additionally, our democracy is under threat and if not careful as leaders, Malawi will turn into a one party State. We have had enough of empty rhetoric and failed policies.
He thus announced the electoral alliance with the DPP and other parties, which he said after “careful consideration and deliberation by AFORD’s national executive committee”.
“This bold step is driven by our obligation to the welfare of our great nation. We believe that by joining forces, we can harness our collective strength to drive meaningful development, promote peace and ensure stability in our country.
“We are filled with hope and willpower as we move forward. We are confident that this Alliance will bring about a new era of prosperity and progress for all Malawians. Let us rise above the failures of the past and forge a new future for ourselves and for generations to come.”—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express
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