Chilima urges Malawi citizens to register enmass for 2019 polls: ‘You don’t change breed of chicken by plucking hen’s feathers but changing a mating cock’

State Vice President Dr Salous Klaus Chilima (SKC) has urged Malawians to go and register enmasse when the voter registration exercise starts next week to enable them vote in large numbers during the May 2019 watershed Tripartite elections.

Chilima made the call when he spoke at Kagwa Parish in Lilongwe where he prayed on Sunday.

He  said: “I encourage you all to go and register in large numbers for the voters’ registration so that you can be able to vote for the change you want in the forthcoming general elections in 2019.”

“For things to change for the better, we will all need to play a part and the only way to bring that change is to vote for the leaders we want and therefore I ask all of you to take part in the drive to make Malawi, our only home, a better place again. Let us all register so we can all vote and bring about the change we seek,” said Chilima.

He said voting is the only weapon people can use in 2019 to put in place leaders and a government they desire and deserve.

“Kusintha mtundu wa nkhuku sikusosola nthenga ayi koma kusintha tambala [You  do not change a breed of chicken by plucking the hen’s feathers but by changing a mating cock],” said the tough-tounged youthful vice president amid heavy hand-clapping and ulalation.

Chilima said elections are not like football where you only participate by cheering, saying registering to vote is one crucial step in ensuring that you will be eligible and able to vote in 2019.

Said Chilima: ” In the election you participate by voting for the team/candidate you want. This is why I am urging all eligible Malawians to come out in  large numbers and register.”

The Chilima movement has taken Malawi by storm since  former First Lady Callista Mutharika came out in the open in April to urge DPP to change leadership of the party if it were  to win the 2019 elections, urguing the party will not win with her brother-inlaw, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika as its presidential candidate “because he is too old to run affairs of the state.”

Former First Lady, Madame Callisita Mutharika, the wife to late President Bingu wa Mutharika said: “I know my brother-inlaw is a very good man as a person but he is not the right man for this country. He is too old. He is no longer in control. He is surrounded by vultures and thieves.”

“This is not about me siding with my family or supporting my brother-inlaw, this is about putting the interest of the country first. Therefore, I cannot support Professor Peter Mutharika because he is my family, I will have to support someone who will take this country to a better place – a good leader and for me that person is vice president Dr. Saulos Chilima because he has all ingredients for a leader that Malawi needs,” she said.

The movement has been spreading like bush fire since its formation two months ago with its senior members holding several meetings across the country where multitudes have been in attendance and declared support for Chilima.

The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has announced that voter registration in preparation  for the 2019 elections will be carried out from June 26, 2018 to November 9, 2018.

The first phase of the exercise will be conducted in Kasungu, Dowa and Salima from June 26, 2018 to July 9, 2018.

Chilima is yet to speak out about his next move and the country is eagerly waiting with a baited breath for his announcement regarding his political decision.