‘Back to sender!’ UTM’s Mtumbuka fires back at Kachali’s “2060” jibe in blistering response

UTM Vice President Dr Mathews Mtumbuka has hit back furiously at former Vice-President Khumbo Kachali after his cheeky “2060” jab at party leader Dalitso Kabambe, dismissing the remark as either “a pure (insensitive) joke” or “a senior moment” — or possibly both.

The sharp rebuke comes after Kachali left crowds at the Livingstonia Synod elective conference in Kasungu in stitches, joking in Tumbuka that Kabambe would have to wait until 2060 before rising to political prominence — remarks widely interpreted as a swipe at UTM’s electoral ambitions.

Refusing to let the jibe slide, Mtumbuka took to social media with a pointed and unmistakably defiant response, insisting the party would not be knocked off course by what he characterised as tired political theatrics.

“Let us recalibrate this,” Mtumbuka wrote. “Hypothetically, 2060 was either a pure (insensitive) joke or a ‘senior moment’, or an accidental hybrid of both.

“If others are planning for 2060, that’s their game. Ours is a 2030 DK Project and we don’t need external advisors.”

The UTM number two didn’t stop there, telling Kachali and his generation of politicians in no uncertain terms to step aside.

“Tisiyeni. And we can’t be bullied. Zachikale zimenezo,” he wrote, translating loosely as an appeal for the old guard to make way.

“We are modern progressive politicians — allow ung’ono ung’ono the space too. Malawians want real change — new blood!”

He closed his blistering statement with a defiant rallying cry: “2030, here we come!! 2060 back to sender!”

The exchange marks an escalation in the increasingly personal tone of Malawi’s evolving political rivalries, with younger figures within UTM appearing determined to push back hard against what they see as dismissive remarks from establishment politicians about their leader’s prospects.

Kachali has not yet responded to Mtumbuka’s counterattack, and it remains to be seen whether the war of words will draw further comment from senior figures within either the MCP or UTM camps.

The spat comes amid growing speculation over the shifting alliances and generational tensions shaping Malawi’s political landscape ahead of the next election cycle, with questions over leadership succession, age and “new blood” increasingly taking centre stage in public discourse.