Chaponda, Nankhumwa clash over leadership

There was drama at parliament on Wednesday when both George Chaponda and Kondwani Nankhumwa turned up for the business committee meeting.

Nankhumwa was recently fired from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the party appointed Chaponda as the new leader of opposition.

However, he obtained an injunction restricting Chaponda from taking up the new role insisting procedures were flouted when expelling him.

The speaker allowed Nankhumwa to attend the meeting and Chaponda was turned back.

Speaking to Capital FM, Garton Kamchedzera a professor of law from the University of Malawi insists that if the speaker refused Nankhumwa in preference of Chaponda she could have been in contempt of court.

“The speaker needed to respect the decision of the court because as the situation stands now, Nankhumwa is the leader of opposition. This can only change if the DPP vacate the injunction obtained by him.

“The DPP should legally clear all obstacles hindering their preferred candidate from assuming the position of Leader of Opposition,” clarified the legal guru.

Also commenting on the issue, Chimwemwe Tsitsi, a communications lecturer at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) expresses concern with the continued divisions in the party which was supposed to provide checks and balances to the government.

“Malawi is currently going through tough times and there is need for the government to be held to account on issues of national importance but with what is happening in the DPP, Malawians continues to be taken for granted,” he said.

The law currently stipulates that a leader of opposition can only come from a main opposition party in parliament.