UTM cautioned on a numbers’ game, tipped on winning strategy
United Transformation Movement (UTM) has been cautioned not be carried away by he huge turnout at their rallies during its three recent launches in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu but strategise to win the battle of hearts of masses with the transformative content of the movement.
Vice-President Saulos Klaus Chilima, now marketed as SKC by his followers, has emerged as a fresh voice worth following since he accepted to the UTM after dumping the rulling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), accusing it of embarssing corruption and nepotism.
In all the three rallies SKC has held, supporters mostly the youth and women came and packed like sardines. And they formed a sea of people.
Journalist and social commentator Idriss Ali Nassah cautione d that UTM should not fall into the trap of counting and celebrating crowds at rallies.
“Gloating about numbers is really the lowest form of self-serving political strategy. It also usually ends up in tears. I have seen eminent UTM supporters, who otherwise should know better, going gaga over Masintha and Mjamba rallies [as well as Mzuzu]. Large crowds will intoxicate the politically naïve, but the sober ones are well aware that our history is replete with candidates who performed poorly at the ballot despite having pulled impressive crowds at rallies,” pointed out Nassah.
He pointed out that UTM has gotten off “an explosive start–better than anyone could have imagined.”
Nassaer, nonetheless, said the true test is in reaching out and engaging “pockets of resistance outside these rallies, and working hard to win them over with the transformative content of the movement.”
The 45-year-old, who appeared too slow to speak of his political future after dumping t DPP has been hailed on his messaging and manner of delivery at these rallies.
“SKC has done exceptionally well: his talking points have hit the right buttons and, more importantly, have largely been well received,” said Nasser, adding “ But the same can’t be said of the others. The District Governors, the Secretary General and others have to be careful not to sound like they did when they were in DPP,UDF, MCP… or wherever it is they came from.You don’t want to give the impression that the trees have changed, but the monkeys have remained the same.”
Chancellor College political scientist Ernest Thindwa has said key challenge for UTM is to sell the movement to the rural masses “because that is where most votes are and people rarely change their electoral preferences.”
Thindwa said “elections are decided by rural voters, not urban voters.”
Social and political commentator Emily Mkamanga said the movement needs to strategise on penetrating into the rural population because if they stick to urban areas, they will soon lose momentum like other parties.
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Taonani Chilimayo wanuyo is not even comfortable carrying the Ngoni war utensils! He’s acting like he just discovered that he is Ngoni.
He should be even pretend to be happy, if only for the cameras; but no, he would rather be at a business meeting rather than with what he considers illiterate people or villagers.
How can we then expect him to lead a country of people he is NOT proud of?
miracle jobs. 1,000,000 jobs????????
SKC ali mmboma why not give us coz u r in government now. Ice takana bodza.
Kuyankhula kwabakili uku. Later u chnge
STUDY THE GAME IN ZIMBABWE
CAREFULLY GUYS OTHERWISE THE
SAME SCENARIOS WILL HAPPEN IN
MALAWI COME 2019
DON’T BE OFFENDED OOOOH !!
Zimbabwe it is a clear case of a military induced electoral victory. If you want to talk numbers Nelson Chamisa was way way ahead. Mnangagwa has never had crowds since time immemorial. He was busing crowds and using trains and trucks to beef up numbers while most MDC Alliance rally goers did so voluntarily. Tell you something Malawi is not Zimbabwe and if Mutharika wants to burn the country he can try rigging his way to Sanjika. People will respond appropriately.
The guy (Chilima) looks unstoppable as he has a real message to tell the Malawian.
Both Chilima and Atupele have been preaching about unity amongst Malawi and yet both of them are unable to practice what they preach. UDF and UTM ideologies, prop-poor policies and developmental imperatives are all the same. The leaders are young and hungry to lead. If that’s the case then why can’t the two parties unite and forge an alliance for the 2019 elections. One can be the torch bearer for the alliance from 2019 to 2024 and the other can tae over in 2024. If that’s too much for these young leaders to take then we know they’re also as greedy as what we have referred to as “madala team”. They are all greedy for positions to loot the coffers without being questioned. How else can you explain why the two young people/leaders can’t work together for the good of the country the claim they love. We are watching you like hawks. Don’t lie to us that you are servants of the people but all you want to take up a seat at the state house and loot by remote control. This is selfish and we can see it from a distance.
Whatever side of the story one takes. But the point is that we dont want sekulu /agogo politics. Tivotera chilima. Tupiti apumbwa inu. Mwadya kokwana. kkkkk
ife ndiye tivotela apumbwawo. musatipangile maganizo
Not surprising for pumbwa to vote for pumbwa
All political party launches take place in he cities and spread to the rural areas. The opposite cannot work. Campaign has not started, so do you think SKC will only be campaigning in the cities? Some pieces of advice are very irrelevant. Why not wait when campaign kicks off then come up with this advice. Te problem with Yao is that they know their party UDF has lost track and they would like to find faults with a party that is commanding large following. There are experienced people in UTM who will advise SKC on all campaign strategies. Please spare us an embarrassment. We know you are not happy because Bakili will be one of those to be given a 30 day amnesty to return K1,7bn. Ali Nasser because a fierce critic of government when APM refused to offer him a job as communications Director which Molland got
Good & sound advice.
We want change ya Chakufwa Chihana.
The difference between SKC and all other parties is that this guy has a target. A real leader must have target like will create 1 million jobs . Now these other leaders they dont want to take that risk. He thinks like a business man who always have targets and if you fail after trying its better than failing to try. Secondly he is a risk taker, a leader must take a risk like quota issue. Chakwera was talking about it silently but SKC said it point blank. 1 million jobs is possible in malawi if government pays half of domestic loans it owes companies. Alot of companies are suffering because doesnt pay them their monies and they end up failing to grow. Kumazimvetsa zinthuzi. Its so simple .even ma interest rates akatsika to single digits we will borrow from banks and create jobs. Infact this coming year personally will employ 200 people including graduates, wat about others. Lets support the vision of jump start our economy . Construction of 3 big projects will employ over 250,000 jobs wat about Admarc if its free from corruption it used to employ over 10000 country wide . Its so easy in a well run economy
I beg to differ boss, the difference between Chakwera & Chilima is that Chilima has the monies to invite the media while Chakwera has not. Its not easy to operate from the opposition. Chilima has an advantage because he has government resources at his disposal. They are many corrupt ministers who are donating money to him incase he wins so that he considers them. Chakwera is an honest man while Chilima is a thief..
Komano while it is true kuti we must dream higher, we must also be realistic in setting targets. Goals must be SMART. If USA the world’s latest economy created 2.1 million jobs last year I wonder how a poor country (3rd from bottom) really can create 1 million jobs in 6 or even 12 months. If targets are set too high, they look more like wishful thinking or fantasies or just strategy to get votes. Even this issue of electricity issue, no one can fix in a single day. If you look at it from a helicopter view point, you will notice that it is as a result of energy sector being neglected for decades. No one can convince well reasoning people that someone can solve in a day. Building hydro or coal or nuclear power plant surely can take months or years. Even interconnections require time. So surely some of the promises are worrisome.
Worrisome indeed. May be those in public sectors who have amassed wealth will be told to go on voluntary retirement, assuming that they fail to explain how they came to acquire it, so that they pave way for the recruitment of new staff besides creating the said jobs. May be the total may come to 1 million. The question would be: where will their salaries come from since Malawi’s tax base is very small?
Atcheyanso had a target of distributing shoe and maize which never happened. Talking is very easy but action
asa 1 m employment. that’s a miracle. I choose not to believe until I see with my eyes
Launching a party in urban areas (the three cities in Malawi) is a disaster on it’s own right. The choice is telling and falls into the trap that Idriss is suffering to. It would have been a great tactical move for UTM to have launched its party right in the rural areas or some township to demonstrate it’s allegiance to the poor and the marginalised. They should have driven to the venue not in fancy air conditioned cars but rather ordinary vehicles. The pomp with which these political leaders are approaching rallies already gives the impression that it’s more of the same; they just want kutidyera masuku pamutu. We should be careful of false prophets.
Kodi mu city mulibe aphawi???
Awa adzalira awa. Let them wait. Many young pipo with SKC will be taught politics hard way…
We are ready for that baba the rural masses are the ones who are suffering with these apumbwa no ma clinic miseu ya grevulo milatho masukulu magetsi angozimazima daily azimayi akumagona kuchigayo mpaka 4days chifukwa cha apumbwa
Musamaname, it’s not APM’s fault. Sorting out magetsi is a long term thing. The energy sector was neglected for decades.
Muni chilungamo nchowawa magenets aja ndi long term solution poti its far worse than before apumbwa adya zonse mpaka the great Pumbwa anapita kukasainira kuti 70% ya the loot ikhala yake kunama kuti surprise visit ku ma office a ESIKOMU lelo siizi it flopped big time apa ndiye iwe Muni kaya Mdima ukulubwalubwa kuti its not APUMBWA !! Kkkkkk
ndiye energy sector ili under ndani awanso mngopusa bwanji energy ndi person anthu inu ndi omwe tulo sitizakuthelani kumudzi mkuti paja baba
KKKKK opusisisatu apa ndi inu baba kkkkkk
You being not pumbwa what have you done to sort out this problem of black out? If the country has brain rusted engineers do you expect a lawyer by professional to give solution to that? Even the way how some of you put your comments here, it just clearly shows that you have nothing to offer if given chance to.
Good Advice. The City population give false Hope’s while they know they will not vote. Please embark on door to door campaign in the rural areas. Our rural population take long to make changes and even Bakili Muluzi knows this
Who is going to vote for thieves in 2019 . Chilima should know that people in rural areas are more intelligent than those in the urban areas. To have confidence that he is going to win the 2019 elections for him is a complete fallacy because he too is a thief and surrounded by thieves.
Furthermore, he campaigned for Chakwera by telling Malawians that kusintha mtundu wa nkhuku sikusosola nthenga koma kusintha Tambala, ndiye paja Tambala timakatenga ku khola lina to avoid inbreeding. Himself has just damped the DPP & claim it is too corrupt yet he has been in DPP for 4 solid years without condemning it. Fisi ndi Fisi ngakhale atasintha tchire. These thieves were busy castigating Chakwera when he called Muthalika prince of thieves, so what’s so special we should expect from UTM. Onsewa tithana nawo 2019.
I dont see any difference between this new party and the rest. SCK does not even have tangible solutions for addressing problems Malawi is facing. These people are the same and its easier to criticise someone’s grammar that your own. The same people will be surprised once in power and fail to deliver what they are promising.
kkkkkkkkk…Chilima will win because of large masses…? Chilima is having a volatile urban support…these volatile supporters will soon go back to their mother parties once their mother parties roll out campaign.. however some will still remain UTM but very few
Correct, we are already decided. Tikungowayang’ana. They will cry like babies.
Great advice For SKC! After you are done with Mangochi, plz hit the rural areas hard, spread the word to all corners of Malawi no matter how remote it is !! You got this! Just leave no stone unturned!
Shut up Monday coaches! UTM anyamuka basi
..true real test is yet to come koma acheoetse bodza mmmalonjezo awowo, 😌 zambiri zomer akunena nxovuta kuxikhulupilira chifukwa cha mmeme economy yathu ilili.
Akumangilani sitima za pantunda zothanga kwambiri zopita Ku Lilongwe anatero.Zamukhutu! lyeyo akulankhula mwa chibwana .Anzanu ntchito akugwura Ali duu .Kodi mukudziwa kuti chitukuko chalemba ntchito anthu ambiri.
Mukuti ndidzalenha ntchito anzanu akuti talenga ntchito