Mphepo underfire for illegal appointments in DPP

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administrative secretary Francis Mphepo has come under intense fire from senior officials of the party for making appointments into the party national governing council without consulting the central committee.

The central committee of the DPP makes crucial decisions for the main opposition party, including making appointments.

In a letter signed by eight central executive committee members; Bright Msaka, Goodall Gondwe, Grezelder Jeffrey, Dyton Mussa, Kondwani Nankhumwa, Jappie Mhango and Martha Chazama, Mphepo has been told to withdraw the appointments with immediate effect.

“In the absence of a meeting and decision by the committee , please be requested to withdraw the letters immediately because they misrepresent the central committee,” says the letter.

The letter says the central committee did not meet to make such appointments and that no other structure of the DPP has powers to make such appointments.

Mphepo over the weekend appointed Ephraim Mganda Chiume as deputy secretary general of the party and also other appointments in the national governing council.

Mphepo was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, DPP Director of Research and Training Ken Msonda says he is going to contest for the position of the party’s Vice President for the northern region during the party’s convention slated for July this year.

Announcing this at a media briefing in Mzuzu today, flanked by the party’s Director of Operations Joe Thomas Nyirongo, Msonda says he is aware of the party’s hidden agenda to remove the regional Vice Presidency positions which he says they are ready to contest it.

The party’s functional review report released in June 2021 and yet to be adopted by the NGC, has a clause that says the party will only have one vice president.

Msonda says, currently he is yet to pick which camp of those vying for the party’s presidency to align himself with.

So far four people have shown interest to contest for the DPP Presidency namely Kondwani Nankhumwa, Joseph Mwanamvekha, Bright Msaka and Dalitso Kabambe.