“Sitikupita Kulikonse The Party Doesn’t Belong to Your Parents”: Ayuba Blasts MCP Gatekeepers in Epic Feud

There is a particular kind of madness that strikes some Maheu men and women when they lose power. It is a quiet, creeping bitterness. First, they pretend the defeat was just a bad dream.Next, they look around the party structures and try to evict anyone who dares to ask why the ship hit the iceberg in the first place.

Such is the timeless comedy currently playing out inside the grand old building in City Centre: the Malawi Congress Party.

When Vitumbiko Mumba recently raised his hand to suggest that the MCP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) needed a complete overhaul, he was doing what any traveler does when an engine breaks down: he was pointing out the smoke. But in Malawian politics, pointing out smoke after a brutal electoral defeat is treated as rebellion.

“Pointing out the smoke”: Mumba’s demands for a NEC shake-up were met with fierce resistance from party loyalists, sparking an unprecedented public feud.

Dr. Jessie Kabwila and Secretary-General Richard Chimwendo Banda swiftly took to the podium with a familiar, tone-deaf refrain: “𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗽𝘁, 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲.”

Not Your Parents’ Party”: Chimwendo and Kabwila face a storm after Sylvester Ayuba James publicly reminded them that holding positions in the MCP NEC does not give them “landlord” rights over the institution.

It was the classic rhetoric of gatekeepers who treat a national political institution like a personal social club forgetting conveniently that Malawians already locked them out of State House back in September 2025.

If Kabwila and Chimwendo expected meek apologies or quiet exits from the reform camp, they clearly misread their audience. Sylvester Ayuba James did not just reject the invitation to leave; he threw it back in their faces with a bucket of cold water.

Taking to his platform with unfiltered defiance, Ayuba reminded the loyalists of a bitter truth that even lost power makes men forget

“𝗦𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗸𝘂𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮 𝗸𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗮. 𝗧𝗶𝗹𝗶 𝗺𝘂 𝗠𝗖𝗣 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝘄𝗲𝗺𝘂,” 𝗔𝘆𝘂𝗯𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱. “𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗮 𝗻𝗱𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂 𝗮 𝗸𝘂 𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶. 𝗜𝗻𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘂. 𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂 𝗮𝗱𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶.”

Translated from the raw political vernacular, Ayuba was telling the party hierarchy that the MCP was not founded in their family compounds, nor was it inherited as a personal estate. It was built on a coalition of nationhood, one that drew its very first breath from the North and across the country long before these latecomers (anthu adyera) arrived to treat the structure as their personal kitchen.

What makes Ayuba’s outburst so piercing is his cold forecast for the future. He warned the ruling faction of yesteryear that their stubborn refusal to reform will keep them locked out of power.

“𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟬 𝘁i𝗱𝘇𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱,” 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲. “𝗧𝗶𝗱𝘇𝗮𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗸𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗸𝗮 𝗸𝗼𝗺𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝘆𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘂 𝘂𝗸𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗼, 𝗶𝗻𝘂 𝗺’𝗯𝗼𝗺𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗸𝘂𝗯𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗮.”

It is a chilling reality check. Ayuba is telling the inner circle that while they agonize over lost glory, the reformists are playing the long game. Come 2030, if the party refuses to change, the reformists will still have their lives and businesses running smoothly while the loyalists will remain stranded in the political wilderness, permanently locked out of government.

Lazarus Chakwera: The MCP leader at the heart of the growing post-election rift between party loyalists and defiant reformists.

He closed with a parting jab aimed squarely at their intellect: “𝗞𝗮𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶 𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗶 𝘆𝗮 𝗱𝘇𝗶𝗸𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶 𝗺𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗺𝘃𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘇𝘂𝗻𝗴𝘂” a suggestion that those pretending to own the party ought to spend a little more time reading history and a little less time playing landlord to an empty house.

Life, as we know, is a journey of questions and answers. Those who lose elections and look in the mirror move forward; those who do not, well, we know where they end up.

The MCP finds itself at a humiliating crossroads. A political party out of power cannot afford internal purge threats. When a party begins to tell its own builders to leave simply because they asked for structural repairs after a major ballot box defeat, it is a sign that the roof isn’t just leaking; it has already caved in.

Ayuba James and his cohort have drawn their line in the dust. They are staying put. The gatekeepers have been told in plain Chichewa and sharp English that the keys to the house do not belong to their parents.

For now Ayuba has declared “𝗦𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗸𝘂𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮 𝗸𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗮. 𝗧𝗶𝗹𝗶 𝗺𝘂 𝗠𝗖𝗣 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝘄𝗲𝗺𝘂,”

Tiyeni Malawians | Your Voice Your News.