Chilima’s UTM Party hits hard at its critics; Describing them as “torpid malignant political minds that are feeble and rotten”

Saulos Chilima, Vice-President and Minister of Public Reforms

* The UTM and its leadership has remained calm amidst all the mercenary afflictions that are being waged on its leadership

* Through propaganda of political vitriol aimed at lampooning the UTM leadership

* This is creating a negative picture that suggests that the UTM is in a hurry for power and hence fomenting discord in the Tonse Alliance

* One can clearly see that these political hallucinations are born out of cowardice and desperation, whatever the motivations

* We were given a co-mandate, alongside all our Tonse Alliance partners, to lead Malawi into a better place and future

By Duncan Mlanjira

Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s UTM Party has come out in the open to put the record straight that it is not involved in the alleged divisions of the Tonse Alliance, saying this is the work of some “mercenary” politicians to discredit the party’s leadership.

In a statement issued by publicity secretary, Frank Tumpale Mwenifumbo dated March 21, distances itself from accusations of trying “to foment discord in the Tonse Alliance”.

Mwenifumbo said “the UTM and its leadership has remained calm amidst all the mercenary afflictions that are being waged on its leadership through propaganda of political vitriol aimed at lampooning the UTM leadership”.

This, says Mwenifumbo, is “creating a negative picture that suggests that [the UTM Party] is in a hurry for power and hence tormenting discord in the Tonse Alliance”.

“This narrative is evidently the work of clearly torpid malignant political minds that are feeble and rotten. One can clearly see that these political hallucinations are born out of cowardice and desperation, whatever the motivations.

“For us in the UTM, our response to such immaturity is that we were given a co-mandate, alongside all our Tonse Alliance partners, to lead Malawi into a better place and future.”

Mwenifumbo assured its faithfuls and the general citizenry that the Party “remains committed to that mandate and remain steadfast” in helping President Lazarus Chakwera to deliver the Tonse Alliance promises.

Mwenifumbo first reminded the citizenry that on June 23, 2020, Malawians “braved the winter chill and went to vote enmasse for a dream of a better future that was fervently promised by the unprecedented Tonse Alliance”.

“Their hopes for a better future were brisk and the determination to bring about requisite change to anchor it was abundantly evident by the vigilance with which every adult Malawian citizen monitored around the June 23 electoral process.”

Thus, the UTM says it has to go forward by ignoring “these misguided maladventures and attacks on our leadership because we would rather invest our energies in fighting Malawi’s real enemies of poverty; hunger; illiteracy; disease; environmental degradation and the horrible impacts of extreme weather events like the recent Cyclones”.

It also highlights other enemies of country such as the plight of women, the girl; child people living with albinism and all marginalized groups; creating employment and business opportunities for the youth as well as “resolving the litany of ills and evils that affect pain and anxiety on our people”.

“We leave the political hallucinations to those who have no clue and essence to offer Malawians anything but grief and insults.

“May God bind us together with love as we face and deal with our challenges as a nation. We shall overcome, together by the Grace of the Lord,” said the statement under the headline, ‘We Focus on Building a Better Malawi’.

The unfounded speculation of divisions in the Tonse Alliance became intense soon after Chakwera reshuffled his Cabinet in January in which the then Finance Minister Felix Mlusu was dropped and replaced by Sosten Gwengwe in a merger portfolio with that of Economic Affairs — which was under Chilima’s Public Sector Reforms.

This was judged like the Vice-President had been stripped of powers and following the majority of portfolios occupied by the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), people just speculated that there were divisions in the Tonse Alliance.

The silence from Chilima himself seemed to compound the speculation, thus the UTM coming out in the open to set the record clear.

Chilima went on with his business as Vice-President and Minister of Public Sector Reforms as just last week, he was involved in a number of public engagements in which one of them was touring various sites of Lilongwe District Council’s reforms in enhancing agro-processing and value addition of agricultural products.

During the tour, Chilima described the Public Sector Reforms Programme as a catalyst in job creation as the country gears up to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) by 2030 and the Malawi 2063 agenda.

He also presided over Government’s launch of LC3 Project, an innovation through which a new type of cement will be produced from locally available materials using the blend of clinker, limestone and calcined clay. The project is expected to cut down on importation of cement production materials.

He also visited dairy farmers in Dedza where he was told that over 70 farmers from Chitsanzo Dairy Farmers Cooperative were destitute as they are yet to get K8.2 million payment for the milk they supplied to two processing companies, Katete Farm and MDI, between November 2021 and February 2022.

This shocked the Veep who told the media that the development was retrogressive to the development agenda of the country’s leadership, saying these are small time businesses that the nation needs to support

“Defaulting on payment is strangling their businesses and eventually leading them to total collapse,” Chilima had said in interview with journalists, adding“…if we are not paying the farmers we are not only killing them, but we are also killing the 2063 agenda and, that way, we cannot even achieve the MW2030 Agenda”

He promised to relay the message “through relevant channels” so that the farmers should get their payment.