By Silvester Ayuba James
Zandale pang’ono…
Vitumbiko AZ Mumba, Pr Eng had to resign from MCP National Executive Committee in order for him to be able to context as an MP without being entangled by the MCP constitution, precisely because the primary elections for MCP in his constituency had been marred by personal interest of a person or two who thought and, perhaps, still think(s) they own the party.
Yet Vitu had already been called up as President Chakwera’s running mate in the presidential race. The President watched his Secretariat mess up stuff and never intervened. The Thyoleras even went to Mzimba Central, knowingly Mumba was outside the country on official duties, and conducted a sham primary election where they had him lose and gifted the purported victory to one little-known Adamson Mkandawire. The party sank to its lowest level of self embarrassment, but the President, still, just watched from a safe distance, applying his non-interventionist approach to leadership, avoiding responsibility.
Well, Vitu resigned and went on to humble Mkandawire, Thyolera and their bosses. Dr. Chakwera, on the other hand, as widely expected, led MCP to its usual loss. For a record second time, his figures hoovering around the same 1.7 Million that has been our trademark over the years.
The general feeling of the public is, certainly, that MCP’s loss, internally, was down to the indecisiveness of the President. And, with that indecisiveness came three or four guys around him who borrowed his power while he relaxed in his red armchair and wielded it without any control. These fast metamorphosed into the official image of the party and, with their notorious character, disillusioned the objective swing voter.
Post election, MCP promised reform and rebranding. It needs this, anyway. And, in view of the revolving nature of our politics as a nation, with the emergence of a new generation that appeals to very untraditional and unconventional ways of doing things, some people’s expectations were that MCP’s reform and rebranding would be disruptive enough to start a revolutionary process of complete overhaul of the central engine in order to achieve modernity and diversity of perspective in the boardroom.
But when the first opportunity to start showing real reform and rebranding arrived, Dr. Chakwera single-handedly appointed Chithyola as Leader of Opposition. The same Chithyola that lectured us about SOSISA Economics. No class at all. Just an appointment grounded in loyalty, patronage and handclapping. I hear he kneels before the President and the President loves that quite a lot. Akuti adha aja amakonda kupembedzedwa osati sewero.
Damn it!!!
And then came the second opportunity. The filling in of vacant NEC positions. Vitumbiko has been left out solely because he has not joined the praise team after the elections. The man wants to have a NEC that doesn’t give him an alternative view. A NEC that doesn’t challenge his thinking and one that will rubber-stamp his wish to sodomise the party constitution one more time and allow him to remain in charge until 2034 and even beyond.
A shrewd politician would have seen that Mumba has been growing politically after the 2025 elections. He would also have naturally felt the need to atone for the mismanagement of the primary elections that led to the involuntary resignation of a very important member of the NEC. On these two considerations, it should have been a very easy decision to make to redraw Mumba back into the NEC. But even before that, an apology was necessary to him for the manner in which the primary elections were managed, leading to Mumba’s resignation.
Leaving out people like We Gat This from the NEC appointments in MCP is simply a statement that “we cannot reform and we are not prepared to rebrand.” Of course, the appointments are typical of President Chakwera: unmeritorious, uncharismatic, tribalistic, uninspiring, intellectually average and politically insipid. A recurrence of an age old problem. A perpetuation of the failed status quo.
Ultimately, MCP can never reform or rebrand with President Chakwera still in charge. Reforming a party that is century-stuck in stone-age thinking requires a multidimensional, open-minded, intelligent, liberal and disruptive leader. It is not for people who enjoy being praised even when they don’t perform. Not for men who love patronage and cronysm.
Our current situation at MCP is pure GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out. And the wait for a new brand is, definitely, longer than thought of.
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