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