Mulanje Bale councillor dumps DPP to join UTM

Mulanje Bale ward councillor Nettie Namaona has withdrawn her membership from the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to join UTM Party, citing lack of leadership and direction in the DPP.

Namaona said DPP is  now operating in a situation of great uncertainty and confusion.

She said that there is need for all well meaning Malawians to get concerned in the manner in which the DPP  is governing the country.

“I have joined UTM together with many others here in Mulanje Bale because  we are disenfranchised with the  mismanagement of the affairs of the country by the DPP,” said Namaona.

Welcoming the Councillor in UTM fold, party secretary general Patricia Kaliati said under the leadership of Dr. Saulos Chilima, who is also State Vice President,  UTM is the only party along aside its alliance partners capable of transforming Malawi.

The joining of Namaona from DPP to UTM comes barely days after Kaliati also welcomed dozens of DPP members who have joined UDF from Thyolo Central.

Since its launch in July 2018, it has not been an easy road for UTM.

Barely weeks after its launch, government reviewed the VP’s security detail, a move commentators said was due to the bad blood between Mutharika and Chilima. In August, the VP’s security detail was reinstated following a High Court order. Later the same month, the two parties agreed on an out of court settlement.

As if that was not enough, the registrar of political parties in October 2018  rebuffed UTM’s registration on the basis that the use of the abbreviation instead of the full name was a deliberate scheme to mislead the registrar because there is another registered political party using a similar name. It turned out the other party was Newton Kambala’s United Transformation Party (UTP). Kambala is an executive member of UTM.

However, High Court Judge John Chirwa on November 2 2018 ordered the registrar of political parties to register UTM as a party within seven days. Attempts made by then Attorney General Charles Mhango to have the registration turned down proved futile as the court said there was no justification for the appeal.

The same month, lawyer Bob Chimkango of DPP also appealed against the registration but the same court also threw out the application on the basis that it was “hopeless”.

Finally, UTM Party was registered, and later held its convention on December 17 2018 where Chilima went unopposed as president. He was party’s torchbearer in the May 21  2019 Tripartite Elections.

After Tippexed elections, Chilima challenged the results at Constitutional Court as first petitioner and the court ruled for  fresh elections which are slated for July 2, subject to an appeal ruling in the Supreme Court of Appeal where President Peter Mutharika and Malawi Electoral Commission are appellants.

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