The main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera is being accused of swindling MK50 million donated to the party by construction magnate Simbi Phiri.
The party has been going around begging for financial and material support from its sympathisers to prepare for the 2019 elections.
In this campaign, Chakwera travelled to South Africa last week where the Khato Civils owner donated MK50 million (R1 million) towards the party’s activities.
Two sources have independently confirmed the donation and is appropriation.
A top official at Khato Civils told The Maravi Post that indeed, Simbi, who comes from Mchinji, gave Chakwera R1 million for the party.
But when he came back from the trip, Chakwera told his colleagues in MCP that Simbi did not give him any money, according to another official close to Chakwera.
Accoridng to him, the matter was only revealed later when Simbi disclosed to MCP Director of Finance Rhino Chiphiko that he had given Chakwera R1 million. Apparently, Chiphiko had asked Simbi Phiri for support for the party.
Interestingly, while the party is circulating letters asking for help which state that any financial help should be deposited in the party’s account, Chakwera has been going around to the financiers asking them to draw cheques in his name.
The source said Chakwera is aware that MCP will not win the elections next year and that members of the party have resolved not to elect him again at the party’s next convention.
“So he is using the party to generate money which he is investing in personal businesses to fall back on. He is creating his own pension, while everybody else is fighting for the party,” said the source.
When he was picked to lead the party in 2013, the expectation was that, as a pair of new hands, he would strengthen MCP and make it a force to reckon with.
But since they lost the elections in 2014, Chakwera has dragged the party into the worst divisions through his dictatorial actions and abuse of party finances.
He has kicked out those that have been questioning his decisions, demolished the NEC, replaced its top officials with people from his home district and allowed the other positions to be hijacked by People’s Party renegades led by Sidik Mia.
Chakwera has just taken his divisive actions to the party’s primary elections where he set up a committee that does his bidding by imposing candidates and removing those than do not toe his line.
At the moment, MCP parliamentary primaries have been rocked with violence and huge discontent among the electorate.
Due to bitter disagreements, the party has suspended the primaries and many candidates which Chakwera does not want have vowed to stand as independent candidates while they still remain MCP members.
For five times in a row in the past two years, the London-based think tank Economist Intelligence Unit has predicted that MCP would lose the elections in 2019.
Apart from that Chakwera does not provide any convincing policy alternative, EIU says MCP would lose because Chakwera has tampered with the structures of the party and left the party far more divided.
Efforts to get MCP President’s side of the story proved futile as his mobile numbers were not available as we went to press.
