Nankhumwa’s party, PDP, set for convention in September this year
The People’s Development Party (PDP) says it is ready to hold its first ever convention from 13th to 14th September, 2024.
The party says at least 1,800 delegates will attend the elective convention in Blantyre.
Acting National Publicity Secretary for the party, Rhodes Msonkho, told the local media that the delegates will come from all the regions of the country, adding that the party was conducting various activities in preparation for the convention.
“Sub committees were formed and they are now on the ground working on the tasks that were assigned to them and preparations are going on well,” he said.
Commenting on the matter, Dr Chrispin Mphande who is a Senior History Lecturer at Mzuzu University told Nyasa Times that this was a welcome development because this has been a trend when the country approaches national elections.
“It’s a normal process that any party has to go for a convention for the positions to be legitimised because right now the positions in PDP are on interim basis,” said Dr Mphande.
Dr Mphande however expressed worry on the trend that parties in Malawi are strongly based on founders.
“You will notice that DPP is synonymous with the Mutharikas; UDF, the Muluzis; PP, Joyce Banda; PDP, it’s Nankhumwa. That’s the main worry that we have now. When the founder is out the equation, the party dies. We need parties which will now depart from relying on founders, parties that are owned by the people and with command across the nation,” remarked Dr Mphande.
Quizzed on what PDP can do to get out of the founder reliance syndrome, Dr Mphande came up with two points.
“First, there must be a balance in the positions across the regions. Secondly, sell ideas of the party and not individuals. They should not go for names. Rather, they should go for individuals who have capacity to mobilise people, people who can go down and sell the party’s ideology,” remarked Dr Mphande.
PDP was launched earlier this year by Kondwani Nankhumwa who was Vice President responsible for the southern region in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
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