Tonse tackles Rifts, economy

Tonse Alliance bigwigs met yesterday in Mangochi where, among others, they discussed wrangles among the partners and acknowledged that the country is facing serious socio-economic challenges demanding solutions.

While the detailed agenda of the meeting held at  lakeside Chikoko Bay State Lodge in Monkey Bay remain under wraps, People’s Transformation Party president Kamuzu Chibambo confirmed in an interview that they are concerned with the rising cost of living and ongoing rifts among alliance partners.

He said the meeting was chaired by President Lazarus Chakwera as Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader and attendees included the country’s Vice- President Saulos Chilima (UTM Party), Malawi Forum for National Development president George Nnensa, People’s Party leader and the country’s former president Joyce Banda, Progressive People’s Movement president Mark Katsonga Phiri, the country’s former vice-president and Freedom Party leader Khumbo Kachali, United Party president Professor John Chisi and Alliance for Democracy president Enock Chihana.

Chibambo, who was designated spokesperson to the media, said the meeting admitted the many socio-economic challenges facing Malawians and that the nine political-party alliance was looking at how best to address them.

He said: “There is so much at stake in the country with Covid-19 ravaging the country, scarcity of jobs, businesses collapsing and life being very difficult for the majority of our people. These are things that we are concerning ourselves with now.

“The talk about 2025 [the election year], of course, they are things that cannot be totally ignored, but the focus now is on how to deal with socio-economic challenges the country is facing.”

Chibambo said “the country has pressing socio-economic issues”; hence, no point for Tonse Alliance partners to be talking about the election in 2025 when people are suffering on the ground.

The alliance is faced with rifts, especially between supporters of MCP and UTM Party which political and governance experts have said reflects a lack of intra-alliance democracy and misplaced priorities.

On the conflicts among partners, Chibambo said a road map was being worked to ensure that matters do not get out of hand.

He said: “This other day the Vice-President [Chilima] was addressing the same issue in Karonga. So, efforts are underway to properly and fully address that issue. Things will be sorted out.

“Certain things will arise, but it’s just a question of how we manage this process so that things don’t get out of control. There is a broader angle on it that is being looked into. For now, the important thing is for leaders to continue working together and then also ensure that concerns of supporters are addressed.”

In his reaction yesterday, political analyst Chrispin Mphande of Mzuzu University described the meeting as a step in the right direction, especially with squabbles among the parties’ followers.

He said: “The meeting has told their supporters that they [the leaders] are still working as a group with a common agenda. But they need to decisively deal with divisions because while leaders seem to be united, their supporters are not on talking terms.

“Sadly, the leaders are not condemning their supporters as expected. We expect the leaders not to just meet, but to engage their supporters on these issues because it is the supporters who are key players.”

Mphande also hoped that the Tonse Alliance will come up with tangible solutions to relieve the suffering of Malawians.

He added:”They really need to come up with solutions, Malawians want better living standards, it’s no longer campaign time, but a period to implement.

“Look at vendors, they are struggling, businesses are collapsing, people do not have enough disposable income, so they need to occupy themselves with solutions. Malawians wanted change, and they must get it.”

On his part, Ernest Thindwa of the University of Malawi (Unima) said the wrangles within the alliance were a result of failure by the leadership to share their agreement with supporters.

He said: “It will be important if the alliance shares the agreement with supporters because if it remains a secret, the lower levels will continue to compete and fight.

“There is no problem at leadership level, maybe because they know what they agreed. It is good that they met. However, let them sort out things among their supporters because it is meaningless for leaders to be united when their supporters are divided.”

In an earlier interview, political analyst Humphrey Mvula said the rift is a result of poor inter-alliance dialogue and lack of a definition of the alliance.

He said: “When starting the alliance, they did not put together an elaborate memorandum that would guide the alliance. If they did, they have not operationalised it in a manner that possibly they are regularly meeting to sort out small issues.”

In April this year, Chilima, while on duty in Karonga, knelt down and asked followers of the alliance to let government work, saying time for politicking was over. He said government needed to deliver what it promised during the campaign.

Recently, economists warned Malawians to brace for more hard times following the World Bank’s downward revision of economic growth prospects.

In its Global Economic Prospects Report for June 2021, the bank has revised downwards to 2.8 percent Malawi’s growth rate against the Malawi Government’s 3.8 percent projection made last month.

While responding to the 2021/2022 National Budget earlier this week, opposition DPP finance spokesperson for the Joseph Mwanamvekha said Malawians were suffering.

Unima economics professor Ben Kaluwa said Malawi’s economic growth of less than three percent is not meaningful because it results in negative gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth with the population growing at an alarming rate.

The Tonse Alliance administration, led by Chakwera and Chilima, dislodged the former governing DPP administration in the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election on June 23 2020.

The fresh election followed a successful challenge of the May 21 2019 presidential election results mounted by Chakwera and Chilima. A five-judge panel of the High Court of Malawi on February 3 2020 nullified the election of former president Peter Mutharika and ordered a fresh election. The judgement was upheld by a seven-judge panel of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal on May  8 2020.