John Tembo

John Zenus Ungapake Tembo (born September 14 1932) [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-05/19/content_1478461.htm "Profile: John Tembo, presidential candidate of opposition Malawi Congress Party"] , Xinhuanet, May 19, 2004.] is the president of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the strongest opposition party in Malawi. Tembo comes from the central region of Malawi in the Dedza District, and he is a teacher by profession. He has been variously described as "physically slight, ascetic, fastidious" and "cunning" (Malawian historian, David Dudwa Phiri).

Early career

Tembo was born on Sept. 14, 1932 in the central region district of Dedza. His father, Zenus Ungapake Tembo, was a minister of the Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP). He attended several primary schools before being graduating to Blantyre Secondary School. He later went to study at the University of Roma in Lesotho, graduating in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts in political philosophy. He had a brief stint as a teacher at Dedza Secondary School and later taught for two years at Robert Blake Secondary School in the central region district of Dowa in 1958.

In 1960, two years after Dr. Banda's arrival in the country from Ghana to lead the independence struggle from the British colonial rule, Tembo was invited to take up a parliamentary seat in Dedza South constituency, a seat he has occupied to this day.

Tembo was elected to the legislative assembly of Nyasaland in 1961, three years before the country gained its independence and became the Republic of Malawi. He was the second Minister of Finance in Malawi after independence, succeeding Henry Phillips (later Sir Henry Phillips) in a post for which the intended candidate had been Dunduzu Chisiza. (Chisiza died in 1962 in a car crash). He was the only cabinet member not to resign in the notorious "Cabinet Crisis" of 1964, after which most of the President's closest lieutenants, their opposition to his policies thwarted, fled the country.

Relationship with Banda

Tembo's closeness to the President of Malawi, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was reportedly strengthened by the fact that Banda took Tembo's niece, Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira, as his mistress and the official First Lady of Malawi (also known as "Mama"). Tembo also acted as an interpreting, translating Banda's public speeches live into Chichewa during and after Banda's campaign for secession and independence.

When Malawi became a republic in 1966 after attaining independence in 1964, Tembo was appointed minister of finance. He later did postgraduate studies in central banking in Britain, France and the United States before returning to take up the post of governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, which he held for 13 years.

As a trusted advisor, Tembo was a force to be reckoned with in Malawi politics for most of Banda's 30-year tyranny, his power apparently growing as his mentor grew older and more frail. Surprisingly, Banda anointed Tembo's rival, Gwanda Chakuamba, to be his running mate in Malawi's first multiparty elections, held on 17 May 1994. In January 1995, some months after Banda lost the election to Bakili Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF), he, Tembo and "Mama" were put on trial for the murder of four prominent Malawi politicians in 1983 (the so-called Mwanza trial). While there was little doubt that the four politicians had met their violent end (also allegedly in a "car crash") at the hands of state security forces, there was no direct evidence linking the accused to the murders and they were acquitted. After Banda's death in 1997, Tembo attempted to take over the presidency of the Malawi Congress Party from Chakuamba and defied a high court injunction preventing him from holding a convention to do so. Because the high court ruled him in contempt, he was expelled from the legislative assembly the expulsion of which was successfully challenged and he remains a member of Parliament today in which he holds the position of Leader of Opposition.

2004 election

As the candidate of the MCP, Tembo officially came in second, with 27% of the vote, in the presidential election held on May 20, 2004, behind the winner, UDF candidate Bingu wa Mutharika, and ahead of Chakuamba, who ran as the candidate of the Mgwirizano Coalition. [ [http://africanelections.tripod.com/mw.html Elections in Malawi] , African Elections Database.] A number of political analysts in Malawi say that Tembo has a strong chance of winning the 2009 presidential election. [http://www.nyasatimes.com/index.php?news=278/]

On August 28 2007, Tembo rejected an appeal from Chakuamba for Tembo to become the running mate of Muluzi, the UDF's candidate, in the 2009 election. Tembo said that the MCP would have its own campaign and would not participate in a coalition. [Daniel Nyirenda, [http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=6429 "I can’t be No. 2 --JZU"] , "The Daily Times" (Malawi), August 29, 2007.] [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=iol1188333043328B254 "Malawi groups fail to agree on poll candidate"] , AFP ("IOL"), August 29, 2007.]

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