A race for power has emerged between the Attorney General Ralph Kasambara and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Interim Secretary General (SG) Ken Zikhale Ng'oma following reports that Kasambara has shown interest in the influential SG post that is yet to filled permanently, The Chronicle has learnt.

According to a source in the DPP who was speaking on condition of anonymity, Kasambara and Ng'oma are not in talking terms because of this development.

He said the hostile situation between the two had come about after Kasambara showed interest in Zikhale's interim post. "Kasambara and Ng'oma are not seeing eye to eye because Ng'oma is not happy that the Attorney General wants to unseat him from the DPP SG post that he wants to occupy permanently," he said. Zikhale has been unwilling to terminate his civil service position as Chief of Staff because he is unsure of whether he can beat other contenders to the SG post. With Kasambara now entering the fray, it is highly unlikely that Zikhale could beat him in an even contest. As a result he will no resign from his lucrative post in government.

Kasambara when contacted did not deny or confirm if he is interested in Zikhale's post or not. He accused The Chronicle newspaper of writing negatively about him in the past. "What is going on, first you wrote one thing about me and then you wrote another and now you also want to write about this," he said before hanging up.

DPP Publicity Secretary Hetherwick Ntaba said he was not aware that Kasambara was interested in the post of Secretary General. However, Ntaba said any interested member could contest for the position of SG in the party because Ng'oma was only holding the position temporarily.

He said a convention first had to take place in order to determine who was going to take up the post of SG. "The position of SG in DPP is currently being held temporarily by Ng'oma and any member can contest for the position, a thing that will be determined at our convention. However, I do not know the people who are interested in contesting for the position of SG," said Ntaba.

Ng'oma could not be reached for comment on the matter as one of his mobile phones went unanswered while he kept hanging up each time we contacted him on the other number. Kasambara, who resigned from Peoples Progressive Movement (PPM) to join DPP, and Zikhale who was once in UDF both come from Nkahta Bay district.

There has been a lot of jostling for positions and frustrations ahead of the establishment of a National Governing Council (NGC) of the DPP which will be the party's influential national executive committee and policy making body. Two camps, one loyal to Zikhale and the President and another to DPP Vice President Gwanda Chakuamba have emerged.

The Gwanda Chakuamba camp, comprising mainly of former Republican Party officials are accusing the Mutharika camp, comprising of mainly those who followed the President from the UDF of being sidelined in DPP activities.

The DPP Northern Region committee has also expressed anger and are frustrated because they were not officially invited to the party's national launch in Blantyre recently. They state that all who attended from the North did so on their own and the current party leadership were deliberately leaving them out of political activity.

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