Mr. President,
Tomorrow, you hand over power to Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika. By that act, Malawi Congress Party returns to the opposition benches from where you once lifted it. For that achievement, history will credit you, though in truth, it was the late Saulos Klaus Chilima who provided the missing spark that unlocked the gates of power. Without him, the puzzle would have remained unsolved.
But let us not sugarcoat reality. The party is back in opposition because it lost the plot. And now begins the painful but urgent task of rebuilding so MCP has a fighting chance in 2030. That rebuilding starts with one decision: choosing the Leader of Opposition. Make no mistake, this decision will either breathe life into the party—or bury it alive.
Those who paraded themselves as “generals” of your failed campaign—Secretary General Richard Chimwendo Banda, Moses Kumkuyu, and their clique—should be nowhere near that position. They were arrogant, divisive, and tone-deaf to the cries of Malawians. They mistook brute arrogance for strategy and noise for governance. To put them in charge now would be like asking the same drunk driver who crashed the bus to lead survivors back home. Malawians no longer respect them, and neither should you.
Instead, look at tested champions. Eisenhower Mkaka, for instance, whatever one may say about him, has the record of taking MCP from opposition to government. He is the man who had the foresight to “poach” you from Assemblies of God when others could not see your potential. That shows he has an instinct for spotting and grooming leadership talent—a skill Chimwendo completely lacks. As Leader of Opposition, Mkaka would not close doors but open them. He would spearhead the search for the next credible presidential candidate for 2030, allowing names already circulating among the people—Dr. McBride Nkhalamba, Simbi Phiri, and others—to freely enter the arena and compete. He understands that the party’s survival lies in creating a level playing field where the best candidate emerges.
Chimwendo, on the other hand, would see the role as his coronation. In his illusions, he would imagine himself as the automatic presidential candidate for 2030. Worse still, he would likely “cash in” by gatekeeping participation, charging political tolls to those who dare seek entry, putting personal ambition above the best interests of the party. His past conduct already revealed this toxic instinct—he drove away potential assets like Vitumbiko Mumba and several others, forcing them to run as independents and weakening the party’s numerical strength in Parliament.
New blood is also essential. Lawyer Sylvester Ayuba James is one such rising star. On his very first attempt, he beat a crowded field to win Nkhotakota Central as an independent. That is the mark of a political gladiator, not a pretender. Use him wisely—perhaps as a candidate for Speaker of Parliament or as a legal voice for the party. Champions like him bring fresh energy and credibility the party badly needs.
Mr. President, you must also beware of so-called “strategists” like Sean Kampondeni. Sean is just a wordsmith, not a strategist. What has his English now benefited us? It has cost us the Presidency. Who eats English? If he were a strategist worthy of the name, he would have told you to appoint real Ministers of Finance, not the SOSISA pretenders you paraded. He would have advised you to fix the economy, fix fuel shortages, fix forex shortages—yet there you were on national TV, telling Malawians what you would do when you take power, forgetting you were already in power and could act. He should have told you to deal with saboteurs at NOCMA when everyone whispered that Colleen Zamba was the culprit. Instead, you stood lost, apologising for fuel shortages at the eleventh hour, as though you had just discovered the crisis. What a fake strategist! What incompetence! What a shameful ending. Sean is smart, yes, but not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.
This is why the rebuilding must not be left to political juveniles. Chimwendo filled stadiums in Lilongwe and other big grounds in the central region and mistook those inevitable MCP stronghold crowds for proof of his political genius. Yet, he left the South and North barren, abandoning the tilling of the very political fields where elections are actually won. That is not leadership—that is political myopia.
Mr. President, this is a defining moment. If you hand the party over to the same arrogant cliques who misled you, you will have killed MCP’s hopes for 2030. But if you entrust it to sober champions like Mkaka, Ayuba, and others who can galvanise unity and think beyond self-interest, you may yet give this wounded party a fighting chance.
Proverbs teach us that a fool learns nothing from the storm he created, but the wise rebuilds his house on stronger ground. Do not leave MCP in the hands of those who cannot read the weather. This is the time for champions, not the Wadya Ntoliro choirboys who already proved they cannot lead.
The choice is yours—either rescue MCP from the ashes or consign it to irrelevance.
𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚
𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐘𝐑𝐄
𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑:
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔: johntkathumba@gmail.com
