Ex-Tonse partners fault MCP apology

Two of the former Tonse Alliance partners have faulted the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) apology for failure to adhere to the agreement, noting that it means nothing now.

During an interview with Zodiak Broadcasting Station on Sunday, MCP publicity secretary Jessie Kabwila asked opposition political parties to unite and work together to defeat the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the 2030 General Election.

She apologised to Tonse Alliance partners for any party’s wrongdoing and said MCP was ready to work with all opposition parties, including those that were part of the Tonse Alliance ahead of the next general election.

“We have learnt some lessons from the past experience and we will never repeat the same. We have learnt to listen from others and alliance is the easiest way we can boot out DPP of power in 2030,” said Kabwirl, whose party was the lead partner followed by UTM Party.

Njawala: Dr. Chilima died a sad man.| Nation

But UTM publicity secretary Felix Njawala, in a written response yesterday, said MCP’s latest position vindicated his party’s long-standing complaints that the agreements reached within the Tonse Alliance were not respected.

He said UTM would have been more satisfied if MCP allowed the two parties to jointly run the government and implement the manifesto on which they campaigned.

“Dr [Saulos] Chilima died a sad person because the MCP leadership failed to live to the agreement. They tormented him left, right and centre. At least, we are alive to take the apology, but SKC [Chilima] cannot, since he left us,” he said.

In a separate interview, Freedom Party president Khumbo Kachali said MCP’s apology and invitation to opposition parties did not amount to anything for his party.

He wondered why MCP was now using the media to communicate its desire for opposition cooperation when it did not use the same approach when negotiating the Tonse Alliance.

“Why can’t MCP use the same approach to communicate when we were discussing on these alliances? So to me there is nothing,” said the country’s former Vice-President.

When asked to explain exactly what went wrong in the Tonse Alliance and which agreements MCP failed to honour, Kabwila was elusive but said the party researched into the matter and will communicate its findings at an appropriate time.

Political Science Association of Malawi spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi said MCP’s overture came too late, arguing that significant damage was done to relationships among the former alliance partners.

He said the latest position was also difficult to reconcile with previous statements from senior MCP officials concerning the existence of agreements within the Tonse Alliance.

Bamusi cited remarks by former MCP secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka who previously indicated that there was no agreement with UTM Party and other Tonse Alliance partners of the nature being claimed.

“So MCP’s position now, it is a gesture that cannot mend the broken agreements,” he said.

The alliance included MCP, UTM, Freedom Party, Alliance for Democracy (Aford), People’s Party (PP), Mafunde and People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), among others.

Former UTM Party president Saulos Chilima, who was also the country’s Vice-President after the alliance’s victory in the June 2020 court-sanctioned fresh presidential election, was on record as having said UTM would take charge of the alliance from 2025.

MCP, however, disputed the assertion that there was an agreement for UTM to take over leadership of the alliance.

Chilima died in a military plane crash in June 2024 alongside eight others while serving as Vice-President.

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