Kaliati survives road accident, UTM claims it may have been an assassination attempt

Newly registered UTM party suspected the road accident near Mvera road bock on the Dowa-Salima Road which left the party interim secretary general Patricia Kaliati on Friday unscathed was not a genuine accident was a botched assassination attempt.

The accident, which happened at around 4 pm, left Kaliati’s vehicle a Toyota Fortuner registration BS 6562 damaged beyond repair.

She was in company of UTM official Callisto Khama  Matumbi and four others

UTM supporters spread rumours on social media that ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) , which has a history of political killings, was behind it.

“People don’t want to believe it was an ordinary accident. They wanted to kill Kaliati,” said one UTM member.

Kaliati, Mulanje West parliamentarian, was taken to a clinic in the capital, Lilongwe.

Dowa Police Station spokesperson Richard Kaponda confirmed the accident but said he was yet to get details on the accident from Mvera Police Post.

According to Kaliati’s personal assistant James Manuel, said the UTM Secretary General  and five others who were in the vehicle escaped unhurt.

He said the accident happened when a three tonner lorry which was going in the opposite direction unexpectedly diverted to the right-hand lane of the road and in the process colliding with Kaliati’s vehicle head on.

Malawi’s roads are notoriously dangerous, having deteriorated in recent years through poor maintenance.