Newly elected UTM Party president Dalitso Kabambe has hit the ground running by declaring that the party will go it alone in the September 16 2025 General Elections and will soon start mobilising supporters.
In an exclusive interview when he visited the site where the party’s founding president Saulos Chilima along with eight others died in a military plane crash at Nthungwa in Nkhata Bay, he said UTM Party has “been abused and embarrassed” in the governing Tonse Alliance where it was a key partner alongside Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
Kabambe exuded almost the same confidence Chilima had when, while serving as the country’s Vice-President during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, he challenged his boss president Peter Mutharika at the ballot. However, Chilima finished third in the presidential race after 10 months of UTM existence, but the elections were nullified over irregularities following a petition Chilima and then MCP candidate Lazarus Chakwera filed.
Said Kabambe: “We are very confident we will go it alone and win the 2025 General Elections. When I was going into this contest [UTM presidential race], I never thought I would win by 92 percent; that should send a signal to other parties that we will go alone and win it.
“There is no party in Malawi that went behind another party and succeeded. Look at what happened to Aford [Alliance for Democracy] and the recent case with UTM. The leading party eats you up, embarrasses and abuses you. UTM has suffered enough and if others want us, we will go as a leading partner.”
He pledged to work with those who lost in the elections during the UTM Party national delegates conference held in Mzuzu on Sunday.
“We pledged that those who will lose have to work with the winners because we have diverse talents that need to be combined for us to campaign effectively, win and run the government. I will be talking to them to make sure this happens,” Kabambe.
The former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor stepped into Chilima’s shoes for a five-year term after amassing a massive 636 votes against 26 for Engineer Newton Kambala, 22 for corporate executive Matthews Mtumbuka and 21 for former UTM secretary general Patricia Kaliati.
But reacting to Kabambe’s triumph on Sunday, Ernest Thindwa, an expert in electoral and identity politics, said it will not be easy task for him and team to rebuild UTM Party and regain the electoral appeal it acquired under its fallen charismatic leader Chilima.
He said: “Kabambe has to present to Malawians his vision and a clearly measurable roadmap to actualise that vision than presenting mere slogans for the envisioned future if he has to win the support of many whose electoral preference is largely fixed and less likely to shift.
“Tolerance and accommodation will be key for his leadership style if he is to rebuild the party. Adhering to provisions of the party constitution and other policy instruments will be decisive in achieving party unity and promoting intra-party democracy.”
In a separate interview, University of Malawi (Unima) associate professor of political science Boniface Dulani said Kabambe faces the challenge of convincing Malawians and UTM’s many supporters of his credentials as a true and genuine successor to Chilima.
He said: “It’s not going to be easy though to emulate the late Chilima’s charismatic leadership and his personal appeal. Remember that even with Chilima at the helm, the party performed miserably, especially in the parliamentary elections of 2019.
“In many instances, Chilima as a presidential candidate secured more votes than the party’s parliamentary candidates.”
Unima-based legislative, electoral politics and public policy expert Gift Sambo, in a separate interview, said losers during the Sunday convention should demonstrate that they were not mere opportunists but genuine members.
“The first task for Kabambe should be that of bringing unity by reconciling all the antagonistic factions that emerged after the demise of Chilima. This will help the party to move as a united force,” he said.
On Monday, Kaliati pledged to work with the new leadership while Kambala and Mtumbuka have opted not to make public statements.
The country’s Vice-President Michael Usi, who succeeded Chilima both at the party and national levels in line with the law, did not submit his nomination after raising several reservations about the manner the convention was planned.
He cited alleged flouting of the party’s constitution as one of the reasons. However, the party proceeded after a national executive committee meeting chaired by Usi in Lilongwe.
In the 2019 Presidential Election, Chilima picked Usi as his running mate. At the time, Usi had a movement Odya Zake Alibe Mulandu, but was working with the UTM Party.
