Mwalwanda, Mwenifumbo feud spills to Northwest constituency

New reports indicate the boundary disagreements rocking Karonga Central and North West constituencies are emanating from the political rivalry between central parliamentarian Cornelius Mwalwanda and his predecessor Frank Mwenifumbo.

Speaking in an interview after a voter sensitization meeting he conducted at Nthola Primary School Du Mhango a parliamentary aspirant in the area said that the confusion rocking people of Kasote and neighbouring villages are an overflow of the tension in Karonga Central Constituency.

Mhango who is also in the National Executive Committee of the ruling People’s Party (PP) just like Mwalwanda and Mwenifumbo bemoaned the tension between his counterparts that it is negatively affecting the strength of the party in his area.

“Chiefs of the concerned villages have confided in me that it was not their intention to migrate to the central constituency because they are aware they belong to Karonga North-West, rather they claim that during the 2009 elections Mwenifumbo campaigned in this area and urged them to go and vote at Mwenilondo School which belongs to Karonga Central,” Mhango explained.

Testifying to the allegation, representative for Village Headman Nsadala who opted for anonymity said during the previous election Mwenifumbo who doubles as PP’s provincial chairperson for the north frequented Kasote, Mangweo and Nsadala villages with handouts in order to persuade people to go and vote for him in the neighbouring central constituency.

Mwenifumbo who represented Karonga Central in the August house for two consecutive terms before losing to Mwalwanda during the 2009 elections enjoys support in Lwesha and Mwenilondo that has fewer people as compared to Mlare and Lupembe, which are Mwalwanda’s strongholds.

During the meeting, it was revealed that due to Mwenifumbo’s downfall incumbent parliamentarian for Karonga North West Beatrice Nankhonde who is his wife has since neglected the three villages because she feels they let her husband down.

“For this reason we feel cheated and exploited, as local people we do not know who to trust that is why we might look defiant to other quarters and yet we are not,” narrated the representative.

Mhango however urged the villagers to forget the past and stick to the regulations of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) by registering and voting at their designated polling center.

He said as a son of the area he is aware of the challenges people of the area face in terms of development due to boundary misunderstandings, citing it was the reason is why he pushed for Nthola Primary School to be registered as a polling center.  

“I am calling on all people of Kasote, Nsadala and Mangweu villages to utilize the new polling center because if they don’t it risks closure by the electoral body thus rendering all our efforts to get it open useless,” Mhango explained.

Mhango further told the gathering that the blame game going on cannot help matters as such he advised the people to concentrate on next year’s tripartite elections so that they elect leaders who will serve them whole-heartedly.

Lately, people of the three villages told the media that they will not take part in next years’ election should MEC insist they belong to Karonga North West Constituency because members of parliament from tghere have been a disappointment to them.

However, National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) has pledged to work in partnership with MEC officials in order to ensure that the differences existing are resolved amicably.

END