‘JB can’t be running PP by remote control’

BONIFACE PHIRI engaged People’s Party (PP) provincial governor for the north CHRISTOPHER MZOMERA NGWIRA on his actions to install former State and party vice-president Khumbo Kachali as the party’s interim leader.

How do you justify your claims that PP is lacking leadership in the absence of party president Joyce Banda and your subsequent enthronement of Kachali as interim leader?

When Joyce Banda went away she left us in suspense; we didn’t know which direction to take as a party. On her departure, we were told she had gone to attend a few functions and we didn’t expect her to stay away for so long. Now, the type of leadership she left behind was a bit tricky in the sense that all the regional vice-presidents were at par in terms of power and authority. This caused some kind of a power struggle such that we were even failing to hold rallies. It proved too difficult for one vice-president to conduct a rally in another region. Meanwhile, I saw that the only missing link was Kachali because he has all the attributes of a leader. He can ably take over the mantle of leadership because he and Banda started this party together. He is the right person to strengthen and revamp the party and he can’t make such mistakes as appointing people into senior positions without consulting the national governing council (NGC). We want to bring back sanity to the PP so that when Banda returns she should find a strong party because as it is, she can’t even dare to come to Malawi with the party in tatters. For your information, we recently convened an NGC meeting in Lilongwe where we unsuccessfully discussed the issue of an interim leader to run the party.

Are you convinced that Kachali is a trustworthy leader considering that he supported President Peter Mutharika during the 2014 general elections?

The support Kachali gave to Mutharika was out of anger and frustration following his being left out as presidential running-mate. In politics, there is what we call sharing of positions and if this is not done fairly and in recognition of somebody’s contribution, people get frustrated; it’s a game of who will get what, when and how. By leaving out Kachali, PP lost the plot and it’s a shame that some still want to wait for someone who continues to make wrong decisions. To confirm this you will notice that all the people she appointed into leadership positions keep on resigning.

Have you communicated this decision to Joyce Banda?

I even went there to meet her and we discussed this at length. I put it to her that the only way we can revive the party is to bring back Kachali and Sidik Mia because these are the pillars of the party and I told her that it was a mistake for her to forsake the two giants. She knows about this and it’s not strange to her ears. She can’t even ask me about it because I told her in the face.

Does the PP constitution give provincial governors the mandate to announce or unveil a party leader?

I am a leader of the people. If someone can appoint party leaders from outside the country by remote control, what do you expect from someone like me who lives with the people? My ears are always on the ground and I listen to what they say and I believe what I did is in their best interests.

Have the Central and Southern regions endorsed your decision?

The people’s tears and cries are the same in all the regions, only that they are being blocked by some other people who also have eyes on the leadership. We want to have somebody to lead us and we can’t wait for 2017 when we shall hold a convention. I won my parliamentary seat on a PP ticket and I cannot allow the party to die because of somebody who is not here.

You sound like a confusionist and some people are even suggesting you have been ‘sent’ to confuse the PP. Would that be a fair assessment of your actions?

I am not a confusionist and I have never been insane. Let those who claim that I am sowing seeds of confusion tell me the exact date Banda will return. I can’t be bought by anyone because I eat my own money. The problem in most parties is that leaders don’t like telling their people the truth when things go wrong. Let Banda tell us when she is coming because we can’t allow her to run PP with a remote control while seated on a chair somewhere. I don’t have any personal grudges with her, but it’s her style of leadership that I am uncomfortable with.