* Kabambe was the first mover — he announced his intention at a very early stage to compete with Michael Usi, this gave him first mover advantage
* The campaign to market himself started even before SKC’s death as he has numerous public lectures in universities
* Kabambe has been meeting the grassroots and secondly, UTM cadres are generally a bit more literate maybe stemming from where the party started from
* UTM delegates did or do not want the “we founded the party mentality”, which was very evident as supported by the position clashes that was involved between Michael Usi, Kaliati, Kambala and Mtumbuka
Analysis by Duncan Mlanjira
Few could have predicted that Dr. Dalitso Kabambe could have won the UTM elective convention by such a landslide victory of 636 votes against such heavyweights as founding members of the party, Patricia Kaliati (21) and Newton Kambala (26) — along with Matthews Mtumbuka (22).
Commenting on a closed group technocrats, one gave an insight of a few points that were the indicators of Kabambe tactics that endeared the delegates, which include:
1. Kabambe was the first mover — he announced his intention at a very early stage to compete with Michael Usi, the then UTM president after the tragic death of the founder, Saulos Klaus Chilima in June. This gave him first mover advantage;
2. Being on spotlight in every happenings — Kabambe was almost everywhere during the course of the campaign. A few things showed him seriousness in this business are being the guest of honour at a Catholic Church dinner and dance in Blantyre while he is a bonafide Seventh Day Adventist member. There, he donated a total of K17 million. Showed some sort of financial stability in him;
3. At UTM fundraising dinner, he showed another seriousness by being the highest bidder of the SKC’s portrait — this again, aligned well with his perceived financial literacy and stability;
4. Not being aligned with either the Catholic church or Chilima’s bereaved family so much in his campaigns, made him the best suitor. The party shall not be taken as being influenced by the church, nor by the family. He never claimed any closeliness to SKC or the church.
5. It also means socially, he knows how to interact with the masses. He managed to convince more delegates in less than 4 months — not easy, said the observer.
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On August 30, Kabambe hosted media editors to a breakfast meeting at Amaryllis Hotel where he presented a video documentary on how he plans to transform the country once elected as the State President.
His manifesto on the transformation of the country’s economy is absolutely magnificent; simply out of this world but Kabambe stuck by it, pledging that it’s not rocket science.
The editors were truly impressed and when Kabambe was asked what his Plan B was if he loses the UTM presidency; that what will he do with his awe-inspiring manifesto, he just answered: “I am going to win”; just like that and never expounded it — “I am going to win”, he repeated.
The campaign to market himself started even before SKC’s death as he has numerous public lectures in universities. After his engagement with the editors, he proceeded to Malawi University of Business & Applied Sciences (MUBAS) for a lecture.
From other people’s observations, UTM delegates must have started to note that the beacon of the party pre-2015 elections is ‘experience’ and that Kabambe has the qualities in public service being an economist with a proven track record.
“His political ambition stemmed in 2011 when Bingu wa Mutharika was alive,” said one analyst. “You could feel the courage in him while in a social gathering. Check his movements in public sector placements since 2011, then know that he was making an advancement.
“There were a couple of names in 2013 that came up as running mate for Arthur Peter Mutharika and I wouldn’t be surprised if his was also on the list.
“He is a fine economist. Having a background in agricultural economics has also helped him. Those that worked with him at the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) say he is a good manager. He transformed the central bank. That’s minus the controversial loans to Muli Brothers and alleged cooking books, which many countries including USA and Greece do.”
Another curious thing being asked is about the calibre of delegates that were at the UTM convention, whose majority wouldn’t have the sophistication of the analysis above in informing their decisions on who to vote for.
But it has been noted that Kabambe has been meeting the grassroots and secondly, UTM cadres are generally a bit more literate, “maybe stemming from where the party started from”.
“The UTM cadres are smart and the UTM politics is different from that we see in Malawi Congress Party (MCP) or the Democratic Progress Party (DPP). UTM style is advocacy, and issue-based,” said the analyst, who didn’t want to be mentioned.
The take of the observer-public is that the UTM delegates did or do not want the “we founded the party mentality”, which was very evident as supported by the position clashes that was involved between Michael Usi, Kaliati, Kambala and Mtumbuka.
Born November 17, 1973 Dalitso Kabambe served as the 13th Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi from from 2017 until 2020 and prior to his governorship he worked in the Malawi Government economic service for a period of 19 years from 1998.
He held different positions such as principal economist, chief economist, deputy director of economic planning and budget director in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning & Development.
He was the director of planning and policy development at the Ministry of Health from 2013 to 2015, where he was also in charge of the national health budget.
He served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation for close to two years before being appointed RBM Governor by former President Peter Mutharika.
He holds a PhD and a Master’s Degree in Development Economics from Imperial College, University of London in the United Kingdom which he obtained in 2008 and 2001 respectively. He got his first degree from the University of Malawi in 1998.
Kabambe publicly announced his decision to join active politics on December 31, 2020 when he was unveiled as a member of the DPP and in 2024, he joined UTM after the death of SKC.
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