Mtambo says his political movement will not evolve into party

Citizens For Transformation (CFT) political movement leader, Timothy Pagonachi Mtambo, has said his grouping will not evolve into a political party, saying its short-term objective is  to make sure that President Peter Mutharika is booted out of power.

Mtambo is part of the  nine-party Tonse Alliance whose  presidential candidate  is Lazarus Chakwera, who is also Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president and  his running mate, UTM leader Saulos Chilima, in the upcoming fresh presidential election.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Times Television host, Brian Banda,  Mtambo stated that  he left Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) to join frontline politics as CFT  leader  to make sure that DPP is booted out of power because it has turned itself into a virus that is causing suffering and stagnation of the country.

He said  the long-term agenda is to achieve transformation of the political landscape into a society where people knowledgeably demands and get good leadership that thrives on service delivery and accountability.

Further responding to a question of whether he joined frontline politics to seek position of government power when Tonse Alliance wins elections with reports that he is repositioning for a second-vice-president, the self-styled ‘commander-in-chief’ categorically dismissed it as a dull allegation by emphasizing that he is not power hungry.

“I am a kind of leader who does not want to abuse powers. NGO rules do not allow being political. When you are working in NGO-based institution you always have to be apolitical. Unfortunately, in the scheme of governance of democratic nations, politics determines how the nation progresses or not. When there is poor leadership in politics, the rest of governance affairs of a country collapse. Economy and public service delivery of a country collapses.

“That is why Malawi is in this state of collapse and people’s suffering. I realized that the main problems besieging Malawi are rooted in politics because the political leadership governing the affairs of Malawi has failed this nation. I felt duty bound to be part of the political solution by identifying leadership that can deal with all these malaise. This is why I decided to endorse the leadership of Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and Dr. Saulos Chilima,” he narrated.

Mtambo further described the Tonse Alliance torchbearer,  Chakwera, as a man of integrity with clean record, good thinker and visionary.

He hinted that Chakwera’s declaration is to ensure that three years into his leadership as State President, Malawians should taste real change that the country deserves in the progressive direction.

In describing Tonse Alliance running mate, Mtambo said Chilima has a proven performer who registered commendable performance in the public reforms and civil service assignments in the 2014-2019 administration.

During the interview, which spectators have described as outstanding,  Mtambi emphasized that CFT, which is formed and styled as a political movement, will never transform into a political party.

“CFT is here as a package of culture to be installed in the Malawi political setting. When children are born and are growing, they should be adopting the knowledge that they belong to the culture that is transformation. They should see the CFT as their tool to demand responsible leadership on affairs of the country,” he said.

Mtambo further disclosed that CFT will not hesitate to rise against any leadership that departs from its expected responsibility and conduct irrespective whether the CFT assisted in its establishment.

He particularly emphasized that the endorsement of the Tonse Alliance does not mean CFT would be on the sidelines when they misgovern the country.

Speaking to Nyasa Times after the interview, CFT Communications and Public Relations Strategist, Negracious Justin, highlighted that the exclusive interview, which was aired last night on TTV, took place on Wednesday 20 May when the CFT was in Blantyre launching the campaign in the Southern region.

“You might be wondering why in the interview the CIC sounded not to mention a fact that Jane Ansah resigned when he was addressing on her required resignation. This was so because the interview occurred 20 May when the CIC was in Blantyre and that was before Jane Ansah’s resignation,” Justin said.

Malawians are expected to got o polls on June 23.

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