|
|
|
|
| Columns |
| My Diary |
|
by
Steven Nhlane, 11 October 2004
-
09:06:01
|
UDF still disillusioned
Events unfolding in the UDF clearly show all is far from being well in the party. What is most evident from an observer’s point of view, is that two groups within what is loosely held together as UDF, are in a showdown against each other. The difference is that one is loud, pro-active and tends to throw all manners to the wind, while the other is cautious, reactionary and unpredictable.
On the one hand is the group led by Atcheya. It comprises a number of MPs and most members of the UDF National executive committee (Nec). Owing to the role Atcheya played in putting President Bingu wa Mutharika in office, this group thinks it ought to be calling the shots both on party and government affairs at all times. When not consulted as Bingu did when renaming some structures recently, this group screams.
The thinking of this group as we have heard on several occasions from Muluzi is that the party is superior to government; that there cannot be a government without a party. Recently we heard from UDF Secretary General Kennedy Makwangwala and Mary Kaphwereza Banda, the party’s deputy Publicity Secretary, that UDF would caution Bingu for his decisions to bring back Kamuzu’s name on certain structures and for making some decisions unilaterally.
Statements like these clearly show UDF’s tremendous amount of nostalgia for the ‘good old days’ under Atcheya when there was no separation between party and government matters; when appointments into cabinet and other senior government positions were based not one’s qualifications but unflinching support to the party’s leadership.
This group of UDF members thinks the Bingu administration has got it all wrong from the word go. It is of the view that Bingu’s zero-tolerance on corruption and talk about good governance is but a ploy to settle old scores with the party’s old guard and other party faithful.
And within Atcheya’s UDF is a faction—made up mostly of overzealous and disgruntled members because they were left out of cabinet—called the Fast Track. This is the group that has been making noise against Bingu. This is the group that threatened to sabotage the budget.
Although the party’s new Publicity Secretary Humphrey Mvula has said Fast Track only exists in the media because no one has officially appended his name to it, the fact of the matter is that the group is well and kicking. The truth is that everybody in UDF also knows who is behind it. That is why Bingu last week called for its disappearance from the face of the UDF, if there was to be a semblance of sanity in the party. Bingu is not young or a novice in politics and was not speaking from without.
The Fast Track is the group that is now talking of holding a demonstration against Bingu. It is the same group that tried to march against Bingu two months ago when Muluzi was returning from holiday abroad.
In an effort to strengthen the Muluzi faction, the party’s Nec last week replaced Ken Lipenga as publicity secretary with Mvula, someone who can speak for the UDF without divided loyalty to the head of state and the party as Lipenga was.
These changes in the UDF Nec are indicative of a bigger showdown in the offing. It is a toughening of stance and a flexing of muscles against the Bingu administration. But Bingu has so far not shown any readiness to shift an inch from his stance that government is bigger than a party. His remarks this week about Kamuzu’s name should be a warning to his opponents in the party that he cares less about their grievances against him.
Then there is the Bingu faction of the UDF, comprising a number of cabinet ministers, MPs and some executive members.
The clear writing on the wall is that there is no love lost between the President and some UDF gurus. The only thing that is still holding the Bingu group and that of Muluzi together is the special relationship between the two leaders. Despite the many differences between the two groups, Bingu and Muluzi seem to be communicating well above the din from the loud mouthed in Muluzi’s camp.
A sad development in all this mess is statement from people like UDF Regional Governor John Chikakwiya who these days talk about genocide in Malawi. I take it that someone like Chikakwiya cannot just wake up one day and talk about genocide. Surely, he knows something that his party or some other group might be doing. This is an issue Police may do well to find out more from him. Chikakwiya’s statement cannot be wished away as careless talk or a slip of the tongue. There is no smoke without fire.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
