Some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) followers have alleged that President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera is plotting to arrest their party leader, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, and two Catholic bishops on ‘trumped up treason charges’ to frustrate his comeback campaign.
The supporters, who asked for anonymity, claimed that Mutharika and the Roman Catholic Church are Chakwera’s biggest threats to bid for a second term in September 2025 General Elections.
“President Chakwera used to fear Chilima a lot. But now that he is gone and out of the race, Chakwera believes APM and the Catholic Church, especially the bishops and priests, are the ones standing in his way to securing a second term in office,” alleged the supporters.
According to the DPP sympathizers, Chakwera has already chaired two meetings at which he gave instructions to crack down the opposition by creating treason.
“The target of the reason charges will be Peter Mutharika. But to make their target less suspicious, many people will be arrested including two Catholic Bishops, three Catholic priests, retired and serving military officers, senior DPP and UTM officials plus senior government officials considered to be anti-MCP.
“Chakwera is fearing that public demand for truth on Chilima’s assassination plus discontent with the rising cost of life will soon lead to nationwide demonstrations that he cannot control. The plan is therefore to create a big treason case and make arrests in order to change public opinion. Chakwera is also trying to find a way to stop Mutharika after the Age Limit Bill failed,” claimed the supporters
They further said Chakwera instructed Attorney General and members of the Judiciary who attended the meeting to brainstorm and create treason charges.
They said this is why President Chakwera recently promoted pro-MCP judges and raised salaries 60 percent in the judiciary as incentives for the judiciary to save his government.
Chief Government Spokesperson and Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu, had not yet responded to our questionnaire, which we sent him to get his reaction.