Mixed reactions on Chilima’s running mate
Five years ago, Vice-President Saulos Chilima walked down the aisle of the Chichiri International Conference Centre, widely known as Comesa Hall, to present presidential nomination papers alongside President Peter Mutharika as a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) pair.
Fast forward to almost five years later yesterday, Chilima walked into the same hall amid anticipation from his political allies and foes alike on who would partner the estranged Vice-President as running mate in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections.
Chilima, promoted by his initials SKC for Saulos Klaus Chilima, ended the speculation about his choice running mate at about 9.12am. He named Michael Usi, director of strategic planning in UTM Party who now becomes the party’s vice-president as per the UTM Party constitution.
In the run-up to the presentation of the UTM Party presidential nomination papers, there was suspense on who would partner Chilima, a former Airtel Malawi managing director brought to the political scene in 2014 by Mutharika. On Friday, UTM announced an electoral alliance with People’s Party (PP) of former president Joyce Banda, Tikonze People’s Movement—an alliance of six parties—and Alliance for Democracy (Aford).
However, on Monday PP pulled out of the agreement, citing UTM’s refusal to give the running mate position to the party. It later emerged that PP proposed Banda’s son, who is also PP vice-president and Zomba Malosa legislator, Roy Kachale, as the candidate.
Inside a Comesa Hall filled to the brim by a partisan red sea of UTM Party faithful, Chilima made the announcement to a deafening applause and standing ovation. He ended the speculation on whether UTM Party would partner with United Democratic Front (UDF) president Atupele Muluzi in the race.
“For the running mate, I have taken one of our own, from the organisation, UTM. He is Michael Bizwick Usi. We believe we will not disappoint you or let you down.”
Usi, a former country director for Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) Malawi, holds a doctorate from the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom. He is also widely known by his nickname Manganya, a character in the Tikuferanji series. He is basically an actor and playwright, besides working as a corporate executive.
Reacting to Chilima’s choice, Mzuzu-based political analyst Emily Mkamanga said Usi was “a good choice”, considering that Chilima has picked him from within UTM Party.
But she was quick to point out that some people might not take Usi seriously for the position of the country’s vice-president because of his acting.
However, Blantyre-based political commentator and strategist Humphreys Mvula, while also commending Chilima’s choice, dismissed suggestions that Usi’s acting role would weigh against him.
He said: “Usi is a man of all season. I would want to believe that he won’t be mixing the two because demands of the post of vice-president are different from demands of a comedian.
“However, he is good at whatever he does. When he is a comedian, he does it best and when it is serious business he also does the best.”
Mvula also noted that the fact that Usi comes from the so-called Lhomwe belt and Chilima from Ntcheu in the Central Region makes a good combination. He said the combination poses a serious challenge to the DPP in an area regarded as its stronghold.
He described Usi as a technocrat with experience in humanitarian work, civil society well educated and with a clean track record in as far as the politics of the country is concerned.
Rafiq Hajat of Institute for Policy Interaction observed that choosing a running mate is the prerogative of a presidential candidate and that he believes Chilima consulted on his choice.
He said: “I am sure there are sound reasons for appointing him as a running mate. After all, this is a very high stake game. The choice of a running mate is crucial.”
Hajat also said Usi’s connection to drama was not an impediment to his professional life.
Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya, a UTM Party member who did not vie for a position at the party’s elective conference and was widely tipped to be among potential running mates to Chilima, did not attend the presentation ceremony.
When asked whether his absence meant frustration at being left out, he said he was not frustrated and hailed Chilima’s choice.
Msowoya, who was MCP president Lazarus Chakwera’s running mate in 2014, said: “I was not expected to be appointed as running mate, therefore, I am not frustrated. The choice of a running mate is the prerogative of the president and the president has made the right choice.”
When his five-minute speech time came, Chilima chose to speak in Chichewa, but circulated a copy of the prepared speech to journalists.
In the address, he appealed for support, urging Malawians to “allow a new generation to take charge”.
Chilima said the elections offer Malawians “an incomparable once-in-a-generation” opportunity to fix the country and set it going.
He said: “We must pull down the cobwebs of corruption and nepotism and unleash this nation’s true potential.”
Barely minutes after Chilima and Usi left the Comesa Hall aboard a tractor which SKC drove, it started raining heavily. Traffic on the Masauko Chipembere Highway came to a standstill as UTM Party faithful braved the downpour chanting songs in praise of their leaders. The presidential ticket pair then boarded an open pickup truck and were seen drenched, with no umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain.
This stunt apparently excited their followers who jubilantly chanted: “Tikunyowa nawo limodzi! Tikunyowa nawo limodzi! [What more would you ask for in a leader? We are getting soaked in the rain together].”
In her address during the ceremony, MEC chairperson Jane Ansah reiterated her appeal to candidates to engage in issue-based campaign and motivate voters, especially the first-time voters born after the year 2000, to vote.
