The unending battle for the soul of the DPP
By JOSEPH KAYIRA | 8 SEPTEMBER 2023
Whoever put a curse on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must be very dangerous in modern day witchcraft.
When Bingu wa Mutharika formed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) back in 2005, he dreamt of a political party that would be democratic and progressive – and one that would promote prosperity, justice and security. Thus, under Bingu the DPP flourished and Malawi’s economy grew at an average of 6.5 percent. That said, the DPP leadership has not done well in many ways, one of them being failure to uphold democratic tenets and values. In short, lack of intra-party democracy has been the DPP’s biggest problem.
Currently, the party is embroiled in a vicious power struggle, with Bingu’s brother Peter Mutharika [DPP president] on the one hand, and several other prospective candidates on the other. They are fighting for the soul of the DPP. And as they do so, they are destroying the party that Bingu loved most. There are so many things that have pushed the DPP off the cliff to its spontaneous disintegration. Lack of tolerance and suspicion among senior party officials – especially those in the National Governing Council (NGC) – has not helped matters. It is similar to what happened to the United Democratic Front (UDF) when Bakili Muluzi was pushing for an unconstitutional third term presidential bid. Suspicion crept in and destroyed the UDF.
So, why is the DPP in this mess? It all started when Bingu was president. During his second term of office, he made it very clear to everyone in the DPP: he wanted his brother to be the next presidential candidate of the DPP in the 2014 general elections. Obviously, Mrs Joyce Banda, who was the vice president at the time was not amused with this arrangement. Several others in the NGC protested, though quietly. They were accused of being ambitious. Eventually, Mrs Banda was expelled from the DPP.
“My only crime was that I suggested that the convention should elect the DPP presidential candidate. Bingu was not happy with my stand. He told me that whether I liked it or not his brother would be the next DPP presidential candidate anyway,” she said.
Mrs Banda went on to form Peoples Party (PP). Despite her departure from the DPP, she remained Malawi’s state vice president, something those in the DPP, whether knowingly or unknowingly had problems to fathom. That is why when Bingu dropped dead in office due to what doctors said was cardiac arrest in April in 2012, some DPP officials insisted that Peter Mutharika should ascend to the presidency. It was a departure from constitutionalism. Their argument that Mrs Banda was no longer DPP, and therefore would not take-over from Bingu, was not legally binding and misleading.
Some of the DPP officials were locked up in a meeting a better part of the night Bingu died, arguing and strategizing on how to cling to power. It was a waste of time. They were courting disaster. Mounting pressure from local and international organisations forced them to abort their ill-timed plan. That too signaled the beginning of things to come. It was the genesis of lack of respect for the rule of law in a political organisation that boasts some of the most learned legal minds – who include Mutharika himself.
‘Ownership’ versus democracy
There is a tendency in political organisations in Malawi that values and attaches everything to ownership. In the same vein, ‘ownership’ of the DPP has been a very crucial issue in political circles. Those who have tried to be critical of the leadership style of Mutharika have been labelled “anthu owukira ndi osakonda chipani” or people who belong to splinter groups harbouring different interests other than those of the party president.
It is a fact that the Mutharikas have huge influence over what happens in the DPP. One would say they ‘own’ the DPP. Important party meetings are mostly held at Mutharika’s retirement home – Page House – in Mangochi. Also crucial is the fact that the Mutharikas generously fund the DPP operations. While the party gets some financing from the National Assembly, well-wishers and friends of the DPP cough in some funds from time to time. In Malawi, just like anywhere in the developing world, those who keep party financial streams flow with funds earn the respect of party structures. It may sound or look undemocratic and somehow unfair, but the reality is: those who have money are becoming more equal than others; money – unfortunately – is becoming everything in the world of politics.
It is this reality which is threatening the future of the DPP. There is a group in the DPP which knows that things are going terribly wrong but there is little it can do about it. It lacks power; it has no money. On the other hand, there is the party leadership itself with Mutharika on the driving seat. This is the group that has everything – money and power. It makes decisions willy-nilly without considering repercussions of their actions. It is this group that has been accused of destroying the DPP. Anyone seen to be ‘against’ Mutharika is being kicked out of the DPP. Examples are plenty. Most recently, the party’s publicity secretary and Mwanza Central legislator, Nicholas Dausi was told he was no longer a member of the DPP. For some time now, he has openly criticized the leadership of Mutharika.
There has also been a protracted battle between Mutharika and the DPP vice president for the South and Mulanje Central Member of Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa over who is who in the DPP. Nankhumwa has declared his interest to contest for the DPP presidency at the forthcoming party convention. A few others want to contest too. Somehow, some people in the NGC have not been comfortable with Nankhumwa and are trying all they can to expel him from the party. Until now, he has been saved by the courts. People can only speculate how Nankhumwa, Dausi and others, considered rebels, will survive between now and 2025.
One more problem the DPP must deal with is the emergence of a clique that has surrounded the leadership. Some DPP followers are also concerned with Mutharika’s spokesperson Shadric Namalomba. He needs proper grooming to realise the difference between being Mutharika’s spokesperson and being the DPP publicist. Sometimes, people are under the impression that he is becoming more of liability than an asset. The collateral damage he is leaving in his wake as he discredits those perceived to be dissenting factions, is already becoming too costly to the DPP. But as it were, any wise counsel at this time could fall on deaf ears.
The DPP must quickly embrace democracy. It must put its house in order. The campaign to expel everyone who has dissenting views other than those of people who think that they own the DPP will have serious consequences in 2025. Mutharika announced a few years ago that he would be retiring from active politics. He has repeatedly said that he wants to leave the party in the hands of responsible leaders. In the course of finding those responsible leaders, a group has emerged which is asking Mutharika not to retire as he is still ‘useful’. He is yet to declare his stand on these fresh calls. Commentators warn that Mutharika must tread carefully as his next move could make or break the DPP.
Before the 2019 general elections, Callista Mutharika, Bingu’s widow, made her stand clear on her in-law’s intentions to continue practicing active politics. Her views were that Mutharika was too old to continue steering the DPP ship. The DPP needed to inject young blood in its leadership, she had suggested. It did not end well. She was called names, with some DPP officials saying she was taking the issue of Mutharika’s age too personal. At the time she alleged that Mutharika was surrounded by ‘beasts and dangerous’ people who were confusing the leadership.
What she forewarned at the time has come back to haunt the DPP. The chickens that have come home to roost. But how will the DPP sort out its pressing leadership issues? Is Mutharika ready to leave the stage at this point in time? Will he continue clinging to the party presidency? Increasingly, Mutharika is facing a backlash from within the DPP to do the right: leave the stage while you can and let others govern.
Rebuilding starts with the DPP itself
The DPP is its own worst enemy. While other aspiring presidential candidates have been labelled as sellouts, the truth of the matter remains that the DPP has not worked on a proper succession plan. No one wants to touch this contentious issue lest they burn their fingers. The incumbent DPP leadership seems to have trust issues with certain aspiring candidates. Efforts to come to the negotiations table have hit a blank wall. But the DPP leaders must start talking to each other. Aspiring presidential candidates should not be threatened; they are bonafide DPP members, just as is the case with everyone in the party.
Commentators say the DPP will have problems to convince the electorate to vote for its presidential candidate, MPs and Councillors if the power struggle is not settled in earnest. In all this, Mutharika holds the key. But as Callista Mutharika foretold, a clique that has surrounded the DPP leader is so powerful and could be doing all this for its selfish means. Why is the DPP NGC so mute on all these important matters? Have they been reduced to mere figureheads?
In local politics, cliques or inner circles have destroyed leaders; they have destroyed parties. They feed leaders with wrong information. Capable people suddenly become bad people and are quickly expelled from political parties. Somehow, the system, whose architects are members of the clique, force leaders to live in seclusion. In that scenario, party structures and people have little or no access to the leader. Unfortunately, the present-day DPP seems to have been modelled on such outdated politics.
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