Chilima holds 2 rallies, 5 whistle stops on campaign final day

Barely a day he addressed a mammoth crowd at Mzimba Boma drumming support for Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera who leads the nine-party Tonse Alliance, Vice President Saulos Chilima on Saturday hit the road again and had his first stop at 7:30 am at Ntcheu making final promises in exchange for votes.

From there he proceeded to Chirimba in Blantyre where he connected with the youth by speaking through their language, urging them to be bold and own the future of this country.

Chilima’s next stop was Mpemba then Nacholi. From Nacholi he went to Nyambadwe Primary School in squatter township of Ndirande where he also had a rally.

Several speakers at the rally including traditional leader Somanje Makata, a Rastafarian, endorsed Tonse Alliance and urged the youth to vote in large numbers on Tuesday.

Calling himself a Ghetto youth,  a 46-year-old energetic Chilima then assured the people of Ndirande that several development activities will be initiated in Ndirande once Tonse Alliance is ushered into power.

He was welcomed by hundreds of people and had further endorsement from Barry One aka Ndirande One who said the youth in the hood are up in arms to rescue the country from inpunity and corruption through the ballot.

From Ndirande, Chilima led a Freedom Walk – walking from Ndirande to Njamba Njamba where he addressed the main rally.

Chilima said the walk was a statement that Malawians were redeeming their country on Tuesday.

In Tuesday’s election,  Chakwera alongside Chilima; are seeking votes to unseat President Peter  Mutharika with his runningmate  Atupele Muluzi.

Another candidate on the ballot is Peter Kuwani of Mbakuwaku Movement for Development (MMD) and whose running mate is MacLeonard Kalawang’oma .

About 6.8 million Malawians registered to vote in the election which the High Court sitting as a Constitutional Court on February 3 ordered to be held within 150 days after it nullified the May 21 2019 presidential election due to what it described as “widespread irregularities”.

The Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the ruling after President Peter Mutharika and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC)appealed to the higher court.