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Republican Party interim president Stanley Masauli on Thursday defended erstwhile leader Gwanda Chakuamba against MCP President John Tembo who accused his former nemesis of getting away with MCP vehicles when he resigned from the main opposition party.
Tembo made the allegations on Capital Radio Wednesday when asked why the party was failing to provide a car to its second vice president Nicholas Dausi who is seen shuttling around Blantyre in minibuses.
Dausi himself lent weight to his boss on Thursday, saying the party has since filed for contempt of court against Chakuamba for defying a March 25, 2004 court order to hand over MCP property.
He mentioned the same property that Tembo cited in the radio interview: a BMW, two combis, a Peugeot 605, a Nissan Twin Cab and a Toyota Saloon.
The vice president said the party was in the process of identifying another lawyer to replace John Gift Mwakhwawa who was handling the issue. Mwakhwawa left for the United Kingdom recently for further studies.
Masauli dismissed Tembo’s remarks in a statement, saying: “Gwanda is no longer a problem in the MCP to warrant him such wild allegations.”
“I am responding to this allegation in my capacity as the ex-Deputy Treasurer General and Treasurer General of the MCP, having first-hand knowledge of the matters during my tenure of office,” said Masauli, once a close ally of Chakuamba.
Masauli said all the vehicles, but a Peugeot, were “very old and in a bad state of disrepair” at a garage in Lilongwe. He claimed the Peugeot was allocated to former MCP First Vice President Peter Chiwona “despite Hon. Tembo’s assertions [during the radio interview] that the party never allocated a vehicle to its senior party officials”.
Chiwona, who has since joined President Bingu wa Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), could not be reached for his comment on Thursday.
Masauli added that other MCP vehicles, including Land Rovers, were sheriffed and later auctioned due to enormous debts the MCP had.
“If Hon. Tembo is failing to provide a simple vehicle such as a Toyota Corolla to Hon Dausi under the pretext that MCP’s vehicles were stolen by Hon Chakuamba, then his integrity is under question.
“The MCP now can afford that for its senior members because the party is being funded by Parliament in millions. In addition, MCP is earning hundreds of kwacha per month from office rental of its Chichiri and Clock Tower offices. So using Gwanda as an excuse for not providing transport to Hon Dausi is morally wrong,” said Masauli.
But Dausi argued that the party did not have money as “perceived by Mr. Masauli”. He said most of the party’s revenue is spent on settling debts or paying legal fees for legal disputes Chakuamba left behind. He cited a case where Masauli himself claimed K5 million he allegedly loaned to the party.
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