CCAP Blantyre Synod tips flock on candidate choice
Barely days after suspending four clerics for faulting management over its partisan political stand, the Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP) Blantyre Synod has asked its flock to vote f o r candidates wi th exper i ence in the forthcoming fresh presidential election.
In a letter jointly signed by synod moderator the Reverend Masauko Mbolembole and general secretary the Reverend Billy Gama and read in all its churches yesterday, the synod cautioned its members against taking a gamble on matters of leadership, saying in the presidency there is not much time to learn on the job.
Reads the letter in part: “Tried and tested leaders make a big difference in crisis while those that are not familiar with national challenges and the ability to deal with them get overwhelmed because they do not normally know where to start from.
“Malawi needs a leader who is more than a mere politician or a populist.
to see a mere populist or a sweet-tongued politician who will triumph just because he is making promises. This tendency is tantamount to hoodwinking and cheating Malawians.” Therefore, we do not want But reacting to the letter in an interview yesterday, Lilongwe-based political scientist G o d f r e y P u m b w a observed that the synod is directing its members to vote for incumbent President Peter Mutharika who is the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) torchbearer.
He said it is wrong for a church to direct its members to vote for a particular political party because the flock is affiliated to different political parties.
But in an separate interview last evening, Gama said the letter is neutral and does not direct its members to vote for a particular candidate.
He described the letter as a sermon, saying when a church minister preaches people understand the same message differently.
Said Gama: “We have made communication and everybody wants peace in this country. If we were mentioning a person, then that was something different. To me, I don’t see anything political or pointing at any party. This is very neutral.” see anything political or Last week, representatives of the synod’s concerned ministers accuse d t h e leadership of asking some ministers to garner support for Mutharika through the pulpit.
But Gama denied the arrangement and accused the four reverends who addressed the press of flouting the synod’s constitution that designates his office as the spokesperson.
Two weeks ago, a video clip of a reverend in Mulanje went viral on social media showing the cleric preaching at a funeral ceremony and urging people to vote for Mutharika
