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President Bingu wa Mutharika and his Minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services Joyce Banda on Sunday absconded a UDF national executive meeting (Nec) which took place at party chairman Bakili Muluzi’s residence at BCA Hills in Blantyre.
UDF secretary general Kennedy Makwangwala said on Sunday the meeting was held to discuss how the party should handle recent arrests of its executive members and how it will campaign for the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections.
“As secretary general, I get all apologies that people make if they won’t be able to attend the Nec but I did not get any apologies from Mrs Banda and the President. Maybe the President talked to the party chairman but I don’t know about it,” said Makwangwala.
Banda was expected to be fired from the Nec together with Director of Research George Chaponda but Makwangwala said the issue to fire people was not discussed.
In another development, Makwangwala says the country is drifting back to the old one-party state where people were put behind bars on flimsy excuses and without charge.
Speaking in an interview yesterday he said something needs to be done to bring the situation back to normal.
He, however, said the Nec meeting agreed to ask government to stop keeping people in custody for over 48 hours without charging them.
“This is an abuse of human rights and we’ve asked our legal advisor Honourable [Peter] Fachi to handle this matter,” said Makwangwala.
“Just imagine, [Humphrey] Mvula has been kept in custody for almost three weeks without being charged. It is the same old style of one-party rule,” he said, reminding government that a person ought to be charged within 48 hours after arrest. He said he does not know when Mvula will be formally charged.
“We do not even know why he was arrested and how long he will be there. It is really pathetic,” he said.
Makwangwala said by keeping Mvula in Lilongwe when the case took place in Blantyre, the whole process creates suspicion.
“Why are people being arrested in Blantyre and kept in Lilongwe? It is cruel and this should not be allowed in Malawi,” he said, further accusing journalists of playing a silent game when things are going wrong.
“You journalists are supposed to speak out these things but you are quiet. You need to expose the inhuman activities that are taking place in the country. But you are silent; may be you will speak when government starts arresting you,” he said.
The Director of Public Prosecutions could not be reached for comment.
The secretary general also disclosed that the Nec meeting appointed former NDA spokesman Salule Masangwi as UDF spokesman replacing Humphrey Mvula who is under police custody facing a murder charge.
Makwangwala said the appointment has come about because of the situation the current publicist is in.
“The situation Mvula is in has forced the party to choose a replacement. He cannot speak for the party while locked in a cell,” he said, adding that Masangwi’s appointment was temporal till the fate of Mvula is known.
Asked if the appointment of Masangwi is the beginning of rewarding former NDA members, Makwangwala said the appointment was on merit.
“The executive sat down and looked around to see who could replace Mvula and they settled for him. There is nothing like rewarding people with positions,” he said.
Commenting on Mutharika’s failure to attend the Nec meeting, Masangwi said, “it could be because he is a State President and, therefore, a busy man”.
“The government was represented by the Vice President [Cassim Chilumpha],” said Masangwi.
Mutharika’s chief of staff Ken Ng’oma refused to comment on the matter yesterday saying he was at his house and did not want to be disturbed.
Since he was sworn into office, Mutharika has failed to attend many Nec meetings and in July refused to go to a gathering held to discuss strategies for the forthcoming by-elections and to have the meeting held at his Lilongwe State Lodge.
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