Members of Parliament for the troubled Republican Party from the Lower Shire fear Chakuamba so much that they cannot work against him or they may lose their political popularity and eventually their seats. The MPs expressed the fear in the wake of divisions among the MPs after party president Gwanda Chakuamba joined the newly formed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for President Bingu wa Mutharika. Mr Chakuamba has a reputation for violent outbursts and has spent most of his adult life either on the political platform or in prison. "If I was a young man, there could have been blood in this country," he said after losing the election to President Muluzi in 1999. He claimed he was robbed of victory after polling half a million fewer votes than his opponent.

While a senior minister in 1982, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for trying to assassinate former leader Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Although found with a pistol, the political gladiator has protested his innocence. "When I went into prison, I was so bitter that if I had a gun I would have shot everyone," he said. He was released after 12 years when Banda was under intense international pressure to improve his human rights record. The white-haired hyena-presidential hopeful claims age and religion have mellowed him. While enjoying strong support from his native south, Mr Chakuamba is also expected to poll well in the north.

Mr. Gwanda Chakuamba Phiri. "A convicted criminal, violent, power-hungry and a corrupt politician"........read more.

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Not only was Chakuamba once commander-in-chief of the famous Malawi Young Pioneers, he was widely known as architect of the so called Crocodile feeding.