Vice-President Michael Usi has shunned the UTM Party presidential race by not submitting his nomination papers by on Monday’s deadline citing gross violation of the party’s constitution by the national executive committee (NEC).
Responding to The Nation’s question on his political future following his decision to shun the party’s elective convention slated for November 17 in Mzuzu, he said politically he still felt okay.
“I lose nothing by not participating in a process that will put me on the wrong side of the constitution,” declared the UTM Party president in an interview from Baku, Azerbaijan where he is attending the United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change.
Usi, who assumed the UTM presidency following the death of the party’s founding leader and the country’s Vice-President Saulos Chilima in a military plane crash at Nthungwa Hill in Viphya Plantation said he does not want to be tainted by unconstitutional decisions the party’s NEC has made ahead of the convention.
The Vice-President said he is still in UTM, but he cannot be party to an unconstitutional process.
He said: “As State Vice-President, I cannot be involved in a process that is proceeding with serious violations of the party constitution because doing so would make me complicit and if I am seen as complicit in the violation of a party constitution, how can people trust that I will uphold the Constitution of the Republic?”
Usi cited moves to change the party constitution without due process, altering the composition of delegates to the national conference and proceeding with the convention before similar exercises are held at constituency, district and regional levels where the constitution says delegates to the national conference should come from as some of the violations.
He said at the last NEC meeting last week, he pointed out these violations to members who signaled agreement and committed to rectify the situation only to do the opposite and proceeding with the flawed process.
“So, yes, I have not filed my nomination papers because I have no time for unnecessary fights,” he said.
Article 23 of the UTM Constitution provides that a notice to amend the constitution be submitted to the secretary general (SG) three months before the National Delegates Conference starts.
Thereafter, the SG shall submit a notice to amend the constitution to NEC immediately upon receipt of the notice and no later than two months before the commencement of the national conference. After that, NEC is required to give the delegates to the national conference a one month notice of the proposal to amend the document.
According to Usi, there have been no notices of proposed amendments to the SG, NEC and delegates.
An amendment to the party’s constitution can only be made at the National Delegates Conference—the party’s supreme body—by a two-thirds majority of delegates present and voting in favour, according to the party’s supreme rule book.
Usi further claimed that NEC, for example, has removed officials, which Article 7 of the constitution designates as delegates to the national conference and replaced them with unsanctioned officials.
He said the constitution recognises three officials from each political district committee as delegates to the national conference—the governor, secretary and treasurer. But he said NEC has removed the secretary and treasurer and replaced them with directors of youth and women.
When contacted on Monday UTM Party administrative secretary Augustine Mtendere declined to comment on issues raised by Usi, referring The Nation to party spokesperson Felix Njawala.
However, he said the party will proceed with the convention as planned.
On the other hand, Njawala said Usi was better placed to speak on the issues he has raised.
Ironically, Njawala told a press conference in Lilongwe last Wednesday that the party’s NEC meeting, which Usi chaired earlier that day, had resolved any disagreements surrounding the forthcoming conference, including nomination fees and other arrangements.
Meanwhile, political scientist George Chaima has said the party has lost direction, claiming that it has a crop that has no respect for their constitution and leadership.
He said: “People who have no respect for the constitution are a threat to society. If they cannot respect the authority and power they established, and if they can also choose not to respect and obey the constitution, who are they going to trust when they get into government?
“If you choose to break the constitution it means you have no respect for human beings. I want to agree with what the party president has said; he has chosen not to side with the law breakers.”
Chaima said Usi can take the party to court to stop the convention or have the convention nullified after it has been conducted.
Another political analyst Chrispin Mphande said the conflict in UTM is about self-interest and feared that it will lead to its death.
“Tolerance is required if this issue is to be resolved. Otherwise we will see Usi going one direction with his followers and the other camp going the other direction,” he said.
To date, four aspirants have filed their nominations for the presidency. They are incumbent SG Patricia Kaliati, Engineer Newton Kambala, former Reserve Bank of Malawi governor Dalitso Kabambe and corporate executive Engineer Mathews Mtumbuka.
Efforts to engage the UTM Party presidential aspirants on this development were fultile as their phones went unanswered.
