The Maravi Post

John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, him who has been in Parliament for as many years as Malawi has been a country, believes he is the “be all and end all” of Malawi Congress Party politics.

Tembo thinks being president of the oldest party in the land he has the right to vet who gets in and who gets out. No wonder when his fellow political relic, the Lower Shire sleeping political gladiator, Gwanda Chakuamba, announced he was going back to the original Ngwazi’s party JZU grew goose bumps.

We were about to forget Mbuya. He contested the presidency on MCP ticket and failed, tried once more on M’gwirizano ticket and failed again.

But his feud with Tembo was classic. A convention in Blantyre ended with chairs flying about as the two leaders split the Ngwazi’s party.

Gwanda somehow ate the humble pie. He left the MCP for Tembo.

Gwanda successfully founded the Republican Party which chalked some successes as it had more than a dozen MPs in Parliament.

Of course RP later morphed into the New Republican Party before it melted into nothingness.

But now Gwanda, after announcing he would become a pastor – may be some prophet as it has become the in-thing nowadays – announced he was getting back to the good old MCP.

And Tembo had the audacity to say Gwanda cannot go back to the MCP because he is untrustworthy. Really? For all we care both Tembo and Gwanda are untrustworthy.

Both Tembo and Gwanda have no moral right to lead any party on the land, let alone the MCP. The two old gladiators have to work together to find someone – or some people – who can take the MCP to the next level.

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