Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Central Region chairperson Patrick Zebron Chilondola yesterday withdrew remarks disparaging UTM Party senior official Patricia Kaliati in which he poked fun at her makeup.
But Chilondola, speaking in an interview, said he was walking back his words on condition that Kaliati also tames her tongue regarding how she addresses others, including President Lazarus Chakwera.
“I am withdrawing on condition that she does not attack the President. There are many examples. I cannot defend what I said if the public is condemning it. Let us focus on issue-based campaign,” he said.
Chilondola has since come under fire over his utterances at a rally in Ntchisi North Constituency on Sunday where he said Kaliati, a former UTM Party secretary general and Cabinet minister in the Tonse Alliance administration, uses heavy makeup, which he said turns out scary.
He said: “Ali ndi maonekedwe awo, amapaka njerwa zofiira m’masayamu. Azimayi akapaka zimene zija ndi pomwe timakopeka koma iwo aja momwe akupakira, tikudziwa kuti uku nkutiopseza. [She has her own distinct looks as if she applies red brick powder on her face. Make-up is meant to attract men, but in her case it is scary].”
Chilondola justified his attack of Kaliati, saying it was his way of responding to Kaliati’s attacks against President Chakwera.
But the remarks have drawn criticism from political analysts who have called for issue-based campaign in the run up to the September 16 2025 General Election.
In a written response yesterday, Political Science Association spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi said Chilondola’s remarks represent a retrogression of political tolerance and demonstrated failure to embrace issue-based politics.
“This is uncivilised politics that does not align well with democratic values. The remarks must be condemned in the strongest terms because they are also an insult on human dignity and are an attack on the principles of gender inclusive politics towards the elections,” he said.
On his part, electoral and identity politics expert Ernest Thindwa said maturity demanded that electoral politics should be issue-based to promote competition of ideas on governance.
However, he observed that attaining that level has remained a challenge in Malawi owing to multiple factors, including lack of clear policy and programme differentiation among contesting parties.
In a separate interview, political analyst George Chaima described Chilondola’s remarks as vengeful language not persuasive enough to hold the attention of civilized voters.
“We need campaign messages which can shape the public opinion to come up with the right choice during an election,” he said.
Kaliati, who is now adviser to UTM Party president Dalitso Kabambe, was not available for comment yesterday.
Malawi is a signatory to various protocols that seek to promote women’s participation in politics and general decision-making processes, including the Beijing Platform for Action, which calls for equal participation in decision-making and leadership.
However, there is slow progress towards achieving the desired targets with researchers attributing the situation to barriers created by patriarchal norms, the high cost of campaigning due to commercialisation of politics, gender blind governance systems within political parties and gender inequalities alongside degrading attacks on women.
