DPP accused of defying court

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice-president (South) Kondwani Nankhumwa has accused the party of defying a court order and threatened to sue former president Peter Mutharika and others for contempt.

His sentiments come in the face of a meeting DPP held yesterday at Mutharika’s lakeside home in Mangochi, but left out him and secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey.

In an interview yesterday, Nankhumwa, who is also Leader of Opposition in Parliament, wondered why DPP was acting against the May 5 2022 court order.

He said: “Our lawyers wrote Mutharika that proceeding with the meeting which excluded us was a clear contempt of court issue, but they proceeded. So, we will proceed with contempt.”

Nankhumwa was referring to the judgement by High Court of Malawi Judge Simeon Mdeza which reinstated him and Jeffrey into the party and their positions.

The court further ordered Mutharika to call for national governing council (NGC) and central committee meetings within reasonable time.

But Mutharika’s spokesperson Shadric Namalomba has said the party only held a technical committee meeting to critique the Functional Review Report. He said it was not the central committee as claimed by Nankhumwa.

He said: “There wasn’t a central executive committee meeting as per the constitution. What we had was a technical working group to look at the Functional Review Report. The central executive committee is yet to be called.

“People should wait and will be called for that central executive committee meeting. We simply looked at the constitution and the

Functional Review and after that is done, it’s when the Central Committee will be called.”

A warning letter from Nankhumwa’s lawyer Cassius Chidothe dated June 13 2022 urged Mutharika, a professor of international law, against proceeding with the meeting or face contempt charges.

He said Nankhumwa and Jeffrey were members of the committee and by law were supposed to attend the meeting.

Reads the letter in part: “Your excellency, by leaving out these two senior members of the committee in its activities, the party is committing acts of contempt whose consequences are common place.

“It has also come to our attention that the party has been and continues to organise and conduct rallies without involving the secretary general of the party. This is also against what was ordered by the court.”

On her part, Jeffrey wondered why the DPP politburo, which has eminent lawyers, had chosen to disrespect a court ruling. She also wondered why the party left out Nankhumwa on a planned rally in Blantyre.

She said: “All along, people thought Nankhumwa and myself are confusionists, but we stopped holding rallies after the one in Lilongwe. They went to the Eastern Region, Central Region and Northern Region where VPs led. Now they are going to the South, but decide to sideline Nankhumwa. What does that mean?”

Article 9 (2) of the DPP constitution stipulates that members of the central committee are the party president, vice-presidents, secretary general, treasurer general, national directors of women and youths. The president may also invite a member of the national governing council to a meeting where the administrative secretary also serves as secretary to the committee.

Political analyst George Phiri said if the DPP continues to be arrogant and remain disjointed, it should forget about the 2025 elections because Malawians ‘are getting tired’ of it.

He said: “The arrogance in DPP, the disunity in there is not good for the party and the nation at large. People expect a united DPP to help provide checks and balances on the Tonse government, yet they are busy infighting.”

Earlier, Blantyre-based political analyst Ernest Thindwa said the DPP is trekking into the abyss because of growing rifts within the party and that the situation threatens to force supporters to lose interest in it.

He said: “It affects DPP because it continues to be divided and it is a disincentive to followers of the DPP who may see their party disintegrating and may look for other avenues. It cannot go into theelection as divided as it is.”

DPP’s Functional Review Committee warned that divisions are condemning the party to its slow death.

Cracks in the former governing DPP came to light in August 2020 after Jeffrey told The Nation that Mutharika, who lost the June 23 2020 Presidential Election to President Lazarus Chakwera, had done his part and that the party needed a new person to lead it into the future, calling for an early convention.