Mutharika visits flooded Salima as DPP’s SG politicises event

Vice president Saulos Chilima on Monday cut a lonely figure at a function in Salima where President Peter Mutharika went to visit flood victims as the government took the veep out of the programme.

Instead, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) secretary general Glazier Jefrey spoke to the flood victims and other people before she asked Mutharika to speak to the people.

Chilima is minister responsible for disaster affairs and was supposed to speak, giving an account of what his ministry is doing to ease the suffering of the victims and was responsible of asking Mutharika to talk to the over 2000 flood victims in chief Pemba’s area.

This is in sharp contrast to what the DPP has in its manifesto which says when in power, they would make a clear difference between party and government business.

In her speech, Jefrey teased opposition party leaders whom she said visit flood victims empty handed.

“You don’t visit the grieved empty handed, that is not our culture,” she said.

It was an indirect reference to Malawi Congress Party president Lazarus Chakwera who on Saturday visited flood victims in Lilongwe.

He gave them 50 bags of maize and K350000 cash.

In his speech. Mutharika paid tribute to two men at Mtandire in Lilongwe who drowned whilst trying to rescue some people in the Friday floods.

He also paid tribute to Chilima, whom he said responded to a presidential order promptly to visit flood victims in Salima and Lilongwe.