RESPECTED OPPOSITION FIGURE DIES

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000525



SIPDIS



SIPDIS

SENSITIVE



STATE FOR AF/S GABRIELLE MALLORY

STATE FOR INR/AA



E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, MI

SUBJ: RESPECTED OPPOSITION FIGURE DIES





1. (U) Opposition MP and former Second Vice President

Chakufwa Chihana died on the morning of June 12. Chihana,

leader of the once mighty but now tiny Alliance For

Democracy (AFORD) party, died in South Africa after surgery

to remove a tumor from his brain. The former labor union

leader had been one of the main proponents of multi-party

democracy for Malawi.



2. (U) Many assumed that Chihana would become President of

Malawi in 1994, after he had led the fight for multi-party

elections from abroad. However, he was arrested upon his

return to Malawi in 1993. Released from prison only a week

before the 1994 elections, he came in third. His party,

AFORD, captured northern Malawi's parliamentary seats and

became a junior partner in the coalition government of the

day.



3. (U) While AFORD initially had a firm grip on the north,

including Chihana's home district, it slowly began to lose

both MPs and rank-and-file supporters. As is normal in

Malawian politics, Chihana and AFORD often switched their

political allegiances in their efforts to maintain the

party's influence. Each move drained away more AFORD

support, and the party eventually lost almost all political

relevance in general. Today AFORD has only two seats in

Parliament, and President Bingu Mutharika's Democratic

Progressive Party (DPP) has filled the vacuum AFORD left in

the north.



4. (U) Comment: Despite his party's slow downward spiral,

Chihana is still hailed as the freedom fighter and fiery

union-man he was. Government has announced a formal

mourning period and that he will receive a full state

funeral on June 17. Malawians, and especially those from the

north, regard Chihana as a hero and advocate of the average

Malawian. End Comment.



EASTHAM