Terror in Salima: UTM supporters injured after DPP thugs ambush

At least 10 UTM party supporters were injured on Sunday, one seriously, after they were ambushed at Mlambe Trading Centre as they were about to set off for a rally held by party leader  Saulos Chilima.

Mike  Mikiri, UTM constituency champion for Salima central said the UTM supporters were in a truck which was about to set off for the rally at Nsalura when some men, believed to be ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) thugs emerged from a nearby bush and attacked the unsuspecting supporters.

“They had panga knives, they attacked the supporters with the aim of forcing them not to attend the rally,” he said.

Salima Police spokesperson Jacob Salim said he had not yet seen a report on the matter but DPP officials could not be reached for comment.

UTM secretary generak Patricia Kaliati said at the end of the party rally in Salima that some of its members were nursing injuries at the hospital after the attack.

“We condemn this  barbaric acts.  We urge police to take action,” she said.

However, the UTM had been a target of DPP attacks since Chilima resigned from the  governing party  to form the UTM and exposed high corruption practices in the ruling party.

Chilima accuses the Peter Mutharika administration of corruption, nepotism, cronyism, tribalism, regionalism, favoritism, arrogance, impunity and plunder of public resources, among others.

Findings of a survey conducted by Zomba-based Institute of Public Opinion and Research (Ipor) released last week showed that UTM and its leader are the third most popular grouping after DPP and opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

The survey report, dated October 28 2018, was conducted between August and September—barely weeks after UTM was launched—to assess the political environment in the country with 10 months to the elections and give an understanding of the political and economic environment in the country.