Atupele advises UDF members ‘let us be motivated to serve the people’

United Democratic Front (UDF) president Atupele Muluzi has advised his members seeking public positions that they should be motivated by the spirit to serve the interests of the people for whom UDF exists for and not to “eat”.

The UDF leader said this on Sunday at Malindi in Mangochi when he addressed a political rally a head of the launch of the official campaign for the Malindi Ward by-election.

“Do not aspire for these public positions to eat but to serve the people with transparency and honesty,” said Muluzi.

He said that voters are no longer patient with leaders who only think about themselves and not the voters.

The UDF leader said the thinking of the voters has changed and the those who aspire for elected position need to have that at the back of their mind.

Muluzi, who is Minister of Health and Population Services in President Peter Mutharika’s Cabinet, advised the people of Malindi to vote for a UDF candidate as a councillor in the by-election saying he will work well with the member of Parliament for the area who is also UDF.

He said in areas where Ward councillors and the member of parliament come for different political parties, development is derailed as the two spend most of their time outdoing each other.

The UDF leader said as such a good relationship between a councillor and the member of parliament is very important for the development of the area.

At the rally,  Muluzi, whose father Bakili Muluzi ruled the country between 1994 and 2004 as the first post-independence multi-party Head of State,  was accompanied by his wife Angela and a number of UDF members of parliament and councillors.

There was jubilation as he arrived at the venue of the really in a long convoy which is more of a tradition when he visits lakeshore district.

The rally was also patronised by scores of traditional leaders.

The area has a political history where scores of people were arrested during the late Masauko Chipembere rebellion after the 1964 cabinet crisis.

Although other speakers spoke about it, Muluzi did not comment much choosing to lecture on the role of the councillor and issues of transparency and accountability for those in public service.

The UDF party is being represented in the by-election by Cassim Limamu.

Others parties contesting are; People Party (PP), Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and an independent while the Democratic Progressive Party has endorsed a UDF candidate.

UDF and DPP became bedfellows soon after the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections after Mutharika drafted Muluzi into his first Cabinet. Muluzi has been maintained since then.