Mulanje traditional leaders dare Akweni over Ngolongoliwa and Mulli

Traditional leaders under T/A Juma in Mulanje west constituency have asked the incumbent parliamentarian Patricia Kaliati, fondly called Akweni,  to stop uttering derogatory messages against Paramount Chief Ngolongoliwa and cultural ethnic group Muhlakho wa Alhomwe chairperson Leston Mulli or risk being evicted from the area.

T/A Juma speaking at a media briefing at his headquarters said Kaliati and other members of United Transformation Movement (UTM)  -where she is secretary general – have reached extreme levels.

“We have been tolerating them to insult our cultural leaders but now, enough is enough” said T/A Juma.

He wondered how the free speaking parliamentarian would manage to woo votes from a community she is badmouthing its leaders.

He said chiefs are supposed to serve the government of the day not otherwise.

Traditional Authority Juma pointed out that respect amongst politicians is paramount in achieving a peaceful society.

“If these attacks continue, then it will be disaster! So before the worse comes to worst, she should either stop those utterances or leave this area” charged T/A Juma.

Another traditional leader who spoke at the briefing, group village headwoman Muhiyo said Kaliati has lost the plot.

She said the incumbent parliamentarian is now wandering in political wilderness.

But in an interview monitored on a local radio, Kaliati challenged the Lhomwe leaders to challenge her at the ballot not through crooked media briefings.

She said those going to her constituency to confuse voters won’t yield anything.

“This should be your last call to me to comment on issues regarding my constituency. Ask me after 21 May 2019,” she said..

Kaliati’s is on record to have said   during the UTM rally that Mulkho wa Alhomwe chairperson Mulli and Paramount Chief Ngolongoliwa were behind the formation of UTM which initially started as the ‘Chilima’ Movement within the governing DPP and lobbied for support to have Vice-President Saulos Chilima as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.

In apparent reference to a meeting at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre attended by President Peter Mutharika and co-chaired by Mulli and Ngolongoliwa where Kaliati and fellow ‘Chilima’ Movement members Noel Msangwi and Lewis Ngalande were asked to withdraw their support for Chilima, she told the UTM rally that the chief and Mulli initiated the movement.

Kaliati sticks to what she said during the UTM rally and dared Mulhako wa Alhomwe to summon her alongside Mulli, Paramount Chief Ngolongoliwa, Masangwi, Ngalande, Mulanje South legislator Bon Kalindo, former first lady Callista Mutharika, Chilima and Ben Chidyaonga to get her response.

University of Livingstonia political analyst George Phiri said given the current circumstances where Lhomwe chiefs have willingly accepted to actively participate in politics, it would be difficult to separate the grouping from politics.

Former president and founder of DPP Bingu Mutharika was instrumental in the formation of the tribal group and he was also its first patron. His borther, incumbent president Peter Mutharika, is also a member Muhlako and attends its annual activities.

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