UTM will pay nomination fees for candidates who cannot afford

UTM Party director of publicity Joseph Chidanti Malunga  has tweaked its leader Saulos Chilima’s promise that the movement  would pay nomination fees for all its candidates, saying  actually the party would only pay for those who cannot afford.

Chilima, who is also State Vice-President, said at Njamba Freedom Park on July 29 2018 during the Southern Region launch of United Transformation Movement—which later registered as UTM Party,  said the party would field candidates in all the 193 constituencies and 462 wards and pay for “all of them”.

But the party which has been holding fund raising activities of late, will not spend  K114 million to pay  nomination fees for both parliamentary and local government candidates.

According to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) nomination fees structure, male aspiring members of Parliament (MPs) will pay K500 000, aspiring female MPs K250 000, youths—those under 35 years—will cough K375 000 while candidates with disabilities will part with K250 000.

In the Local Government elections, male candidates will pay K40 000, females K20 000, youths K30 000 and those with disabilities K20 000. The fees are non-refundable.

Chidanti Malunga said after the primaries,  those that fail to pay, the party would do so.

”However, it is not like everyone will fail to pay because there are some who will pay for themselves, like myself,” said Malunga in quotes reported by the local press.

UTM is set to hold its primaries a day earlier on January 3 2019 in all the constituencies and wards simultaneously.

Chidanti Malunga said the party has set up an independent committee to manage the primaries as a strategy to ensure that there are less challenges encountered as has been the case with other parties which have been holding their primaries.

He said the committee would be chaired by one of the UTM members, Mwanza West legislator Paul Chibingu, who is the party’s director of elections. He said to ensure neutrality and fairness, the rest of the membership of the committee will comprise non-politicians.

MEC will receive nomination papers from candidates from January 4 to February 4 2019.