The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been thrown into fresh confusion over the campaign trail of its presidential candidate, former President Arthur Peter Mutharika, after his doctors issued fresh advice against him embarking on the whistle-stop tour scheduled to begin over the weekend.
On Monday, DPP Secretary General Peter Mukhitho confidently announced that Mutharika would begin his whistle-stop campaign tour on Tuesday from Page House in Mangochi, with scheduled stops in Nsipe, Ntcheu, and Diyampwe in Dedza.
However, within hours, Mutharika’s spokesperson Shadrick Namalomba poured cold water on the announcement, dismissing Mukhitho’s itinerary as “overzealous and inaccurate.”
Namalomba insisted the former president would instead hit the campaign trail over the weekend.
The party’s contradictory statements left DPP supporters and Malawians at large wondering whether Mutharika, now frail, ailing, and under constant medical supervision will ever actually mount the campaign podium.
By press time, Mutharika was traveling to Lilongwe, although this is against doctors’ advice.
Sources within the residence confided to The Pangolin that the former president had been advised by his doctors, effectively camping at his private home, not to risk traveling due to ill health.
The Pangolin Online is currently following the journey to Lilongwe and will be updating you.
According to sources at Page House, the former president is battling health challenges that have significantly limited his mobility and stamina. It is understood that he has recently developed a condition of incontinence, which requires constant medical attention and assistance, making extended travel and prolonged public appearances difficult.
Incontinence is a condition in which a person is unable to fully control the bladder or bowels. One common form of care for this condition is the use of adult diapers to help preserve dignity.
Analysts warn that the party risks further embarrassment if it continues to downplay or conceal these realities.
“Malawians are sympathetic to age and health. But they are unlikely to entrust the presidency to someone who is visibly struggling with basic physical demands,” one political observer noted.
The contradiction between Mukhito and Namalomba has only heightened tensions within the DPP, where insiders say a tug-of-war is raging between those pushing Mutharika to demonstrate he is still fit to lead and those, including his wife Gertrude Mutharika, Norman “Pythius Hiwa” Chisale and Mukhito, who continue to shield him from scrutiny and those who are concerned and want APM to withdraw from the campaign.
Gertrude herself has already been forced to step into the vacuum, recently addressing rallies on behalf of her husband in Mangochi, in a bizarre arrangement.
Party officials privately admit the arrangement is damaging. One senior member fumed: “The voters want to see the candidate, not the First Lady acting as proxy president. This confusion is killing us.”
Doubts about Mutharika’s health and fitness intensified two weeks ago at the DPP manifesto launch, where the former president failed to walk to the stage and had to address supporters while seated in his car, flanked by Gertrude.
The incident was widely described as a humiliation and left the party scrambling for damage control and the new revelation of his inconsistent explain why it was safe for him to address the people from the open-roof vehicle.
Now, with doctors advising caution, Mukhitho announcing phantom itineraries, Namalomba issuing contradictions, and Gertrude doubling as stand-in candidate, DPP’s campaign is starting to look more like a family crisis management operation than a political machine.
As one analyst put it: “At this point, Malawians are no longer asking about DPP’s policies. They are asking whether their presidential candidate can walk, stand, and speak without collapsing. And the party has no convincing answer.”
