Mia says Lower Shire for Chakwera: Chilima assures steady market for cotton, end hunger

Vice President Salous Chilima has urged people of Lower Shire to vote for  Tonse Alliance presidential ticket pair of torchbearer Lazarus Chakwera and him as running mate, saying the Tonse Alliance will ensure that there is steady market and better prices for cotton and address issue of hunger  in the lower shire.

Chilima, the country’s estranged Vice-President—who is also UTM Party president—was speaking at a Tonse Alliance joint rally at Nsangwe in Chikwawa on Tuesday.

He said the Tonse Alliance will not swallow parties but that it was agreed that individual parties will remain intact.

Chilima said the alliance was formed to make sure the opposition wins with a wide margin to avoid resorting to the courts again.

He said Tonse alliance apart from identifying steady markets for cotton, will also establish factories in Lower Shire to process the cotton and beef.

Chilima also admonished those who are trying to devide the country on tribal and religious lines, saying “Malawians are one and love unity.”

He said employment of people in the civil service, including the Malawi Defence Force and Police should be done on merit and not based on ones tribe and region of origin.

Addressing the people earlier, MCP deputy president Sidik Mia said the huge crowd at Nsangwe in Chikwawa is a clear testimony that people in Lower Shire are still behind MCP.

“Those are votes for Dr Chakwera. It is a clear testimony that what  Malawi Electoral Commission announced in 2019 that MCP lost in Lower Shire was false. Their votes were stolen,” said Mia.

He said it was worrisome that hunger is already bitting people of Lower Shire, just a month after harvesting.

Mia urged the Tonse Alliance to assist people of Lower Shire with food and also identify markets for cotton which is the only cash crop for lowershire.

He said people of Lower Shire are ready and eager to vote for Chakwera and  are solidly behind the Tonse alliance.

On Tuesday’s Tonse Alliance rally was the third  for the Chakwera-Chilima pair to hold together since the launch of the official campaign period. Their first joint rally was at Mzuzu Stadium upper ground on May 2. The duo was scheduled to jointly address other rallies in Kasungu and at Lukuni in Lilongwe, but Chakwera could not make it due to a bereavement in his family. They held their second rally on Monday in Blantyre.