The scandals that rocked the Malawi Congress Party were fuelled by insiders fighting for power, former Trade Minister Vitumbiko Mumba has claimed, exposing what he describes as a bitter battle within the party over positions and influence.
Mumba has accused some Malawi Congress Party (MCP) insiders of fuelling controversies surrounding the Nsanje-Marka railway project and the passport issuance system, claiming the allegations were rooted in internal power struggles.
Mumba said the accusations did not originate from opposition parties but from within the MCP, where some members were allegedly competing for positions and influence by discrediting one another.
“These issues were emanating from inside MCP. You will never hear DPP or UTM people talking about these issues. They come from MCP, and people outside get the information in a different way.
“This happens because of the scramble for positions in the party, where people want to discredit each other,” Mumba said.
On the Nsanje-Marka railway project, Mumba said China Railway Group secured the contract through a bidding process after an earlier contract awarded to Mota-Engil was revoked following an investigation into alleged irregularities.
Mumba, who said he worked as China Railway’s business development manager in 2017, argued that the company participated in the railway project during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration without facing similar accusations, which he said intensified after the MCP took power in 2020.
The railway project subsequently attracted scrutiny over its implementation and proposed cost adjustments. The government declined to approve an additional K28 billion requested by the contractor in 2023, citing concerns over the proposed increase.
On the passport controversy, Mumba denied that his trip to Serbia with Nick Chakwera and Raphael Msowoya was connected to the passport issuance contract.
He said he travelled to Serbia for a different purpose and did not know that Msowoya had been awarded a contract relating to the passport system, which faced public criticism amid delays in passport production.
Mumba further challenged authorities under the current administration to investigate the allegations, questioning why those who had predicted his arrest after MCP lost power had not seen it happen.
“People were saying that when MCP goes out of power, I would be arrested. Now it is a different government. Let them investigate that. Where are they now?” he asked.
Mumba’s claims about the origins of the allegations have not, by themselves, established whether the concerns surrounding the railway and passport contracts were justified.