UTM’s Mikaya hits back at UDF’s Ndanga slur of ‘tiny party’

One of the four UTM Party’s Member of Parliament Steven Mikaya on Sunday launched a withering counter-attack against political banter by United Democratic Front (UDF) spokesman Ken Ndanga that it is a tiny party, saying Ndanga himself tumbled in the parliamentary race together with UDF president Atupele Muluzi.

Mikaya, who is also UTM regional governor for South, was speaking at Njamba Freedom Park in Blantyre before a record crowd during a political rally.

It was the same venue where Ndanga taunted UTM that it has four legislators in the House. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) the main opposition party with over 50 MPs, DPP the governing party, while the UDF has 10 representatives.

In his speech, Mikaya dismissed Ndanga’s banter as “lurid and over the top”, saying one of the problems that Malawi is bedevilled today was because of the reign of UDF which privatised all State companies which created jobs for people.

Mikaya also  said Malawi politics should not be some family affair, referring the alliance between UDF led by Atupele Muluzi, son of former president Bakili Muluzi and governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by President Peter Mutharika, a brother to late president Bingu wa Mutharika.

He said: “Change has come!”

UDF came to power in 1994 after defeating Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in 1994. It swept seats in the Southern Region and most seats in the Central Region.

During the 1999 elections, UDF won 91 seats, but the figures continued to drop in the subsequent elections when it won 49 seats in 2004 and 16 in 2009.

UTM was formed as a breakaway movement form DPP  when it  started with former first lady Callista Mutharika’s leaked WhatsApp message in April 2018 when she said Chilima would be a better candidate to lead the DPP in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections.