The movement campaigning for Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s presidential candidature in 2019 has gone flat out persuading the influential Catholic Church to back their devout member, a development which is reportedly brewing tension with some Catholics who have different political affiliations.
Callista: Chilima is a hope for a better Malawi and can rule this country to a better direction because of his young age
Former First Lady Callista Mutharika who was the first person to openly support Chilima’s presidential candidacy, arguing her in-law, the current President, was too old to run for the presidency in May next year and that DPP cannot win with him, reported to have visited Blantyre Archbishop Thomas Msusa on Tuesday May 1 and then proceeded to meet Bishop George Tambala of Zomba on Sunday May 6 to seek their support for Chilima.
In reaction, the laity and some politicians in the church are registering their discomfort at Chilima being given the support at the expense of other Catholic politicians and some of the Christians warned the Bishops against using the church to campaign for politicians.
“After all, Chilima is not the only politician in the church. There are many Catholic politicians. Are they going to campaign for them also? Are we going to use the church to divide people,” said one worshipper in Blantyre.
Catholic bishops, in their latest pastoral latter titled ‘A call for a new era’, appealed to political parties to embrace intra-party democracy.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secretary general (SG) Gressielder Jeffrey in a leaked telephone conversation with Cabinet minister Kondwani Nankhumwa, said Chilima, a Catholic, has been using his office to seek support for his presidential ambitions.
Jeffrey said former first lady Callista Mutharika is not mad and is a top-notch politician and wife to the late president Bingu wa Mutharika, hence the underground movement is gaining momentum.
In December last year, Chilima read out a letter the Bishops wrote, urging people to support the anti-government demonstrations which Public Affairs Committee organized. The demonstrations failed.
Last week, the Catholic bishops issued another pastoral letter which the movement supporting Chilima is reported to have described it as “the launch of Chilima-for-president campaign.”
The Bishops letter was expected to be read nationwide but Priests from some churches did not read it. At one church in Mwanza, the priest stopped the reading half way through arguing that it can be read next year when Malawi gets close to the elections.
In Balaka, some worshippers booed, and some walked out of the church at Mponda as the letter was being read out.
People accused the bishops of not including cases of moral decay in the church. One highlight that the letter left out was that of albino killings in the country in which one of its Bishops in Zomba has been arrested.
During the 40th Anniversary celebration for the Zomba Theological College on Saturday, President Peter Mutharika said his government will always listen to the advice of the church.
“I want to assure the church that we will listen to your advice. That is why I agree with the recent pastoral letter from the Catholic Church on its focus on morality and change,” said Mutharika.
He agreed that there is indeed need for change in morality and mindset but stressed that the change should begin with those in the church.
“The church should never expect that people will change in their businesses and places of work when they can’t change in the church,” said Mutharika.
Mustafa Hussein, a political commentator based at Chancellor College, said there is a clear sign that all was not well in the governing party.
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