MCP plans constitution change to accommodate Chakwera

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leadership insists that Chakwera will be on the presidential election ballot in the 2030 General Election.

MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila said in a telephone interview yesterday that the party’s constitution will likely be amended to allow Chakwera to stand again in the election.

The party’s constitution bars Chakwera, who was booted out of power in the September 16 General Election, from leading MCP in the 2030 election following his loss in the 2025 election, after winning the 2020 fresh presidential election.

But Kabwila said the party has agreed, at all political levels, including the national executive committee (NEC)that Chakwera’s mandate is “solid and intact” and that he is the “best shot” at reclaiming government.

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She said: “This is not an opinion of someone, it is an opinion of representatives of the party from all the structures of the party.

“I would like to make it very clear that we are not saying we do not know what our constitution says. We are very aware of the constitution, but people must understand that laws were made by people and we as a party will sit down and do what we feel will give us a best shot to save this country.”

Kabwila said any “credible” MCP member and other citizens understand that Chakwera brought development and that his tenure was better than the current leadership, hence, he will be voted back into power.

She cited rising cost of fuel, shortage as some of the failures of the current government that would warrant Chakwera’s comeback.

Kabwila, however, said those with different views within the party are expected to voice them through party structures, not on social media, including Facebook.

Apart from individual MCP supporters expressing their wish to have a new MCP candidate in the 2030 presidential election, Mzimba Central legislator Vitumbiko Mumba, who was Chakwera’s running mate, recently also called for a change in the NEC.

During an exclusive interview on Times Television, he said the current MCP NEC has to be blamed for the party’s loss in 2025 and has to be changed, starting from the top leadership.

Mumba resigned from the MCP NEC in June 2025 and went on to contest as an independent Member of Parliament for Mzimba Central, where he won.

Meanwhile, political analyst George Chaima has noted that the leadership crisis in the main opposition party started immediately after the September 2025 election, in which Chakwera lost to the current President, Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party.

But he said MCP members are the ones who have the right to choose whether Chakwera can continue or be dropped, and whether the constitution should be amended, not an individual.

“When you start tampering with a policy document [constitution] to suit particular individuals who have got greed for power, it does not create consistency of governance of a particular party,” he said.

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