Usi denies speaking against anti- Ansah protests: ‘Old audio clip doctored by propaganda machinery’

UTM Party vice president Michael Usi has vehemently denied speaking against the anti-Jane Ansah protests, saying the clip which has gone viral is doctored and work of the regime propaganda machinery.

Usi said the clip, in which he is heard saying it was senseless to hold demonstrations, was part of an interview he did five or six years ago when rights activists wanted to protest against the National Aids Commission giving of K5 million to Beautify Malawi.

He described those who doctored the clip as opportunists who just wanted to dent his image and that of UTM.

He said the producers of the clip took advantage of his absence at the Wednesday protests.

“This is an interview I did long time ago, six years ago and it is irrelevant now. It had to do with embezzlement of money at NAC allegedly by the current First Lady,” said Usi.

Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) chairperson Timothy Mtambo has described the doctoring of the clip as an act of desperation.

In the audio clip, Usi then while an activist before joining front line politics, said demonstrations are a useful tool to influence policy changes but then organizers diluted them as they were overdoing the demos, and it was almost like using a gun to kill a rat.

Usi said people must learn from founding president Kamuzu Banda on contact and dialogue, when there is a problem the first thing should be concerned parties meeting and try to agree on one thing.

He went philosophical when he said “ukamaliza mfuti daily to scare dogs, they get used to it’s sound and they don’t run away.”

Usi then advised the civil society organisations to work together and consult widely so that their civil activitism benefits the people whose interest they are fighting for.