UTM Party leader Michael Usi’s decision to shun the presidential race at the party’s November 17 convention over alleged constitutional breaches puts the party in a legal quandary, lawyers have indicated.
But while noting that Usi, who is the country’s Vice-President, has the right to stop the convention through a court order or just issuing instructions to the party, the legal minds also wondered why it took him long to make the decision.
In an interview yesterday, private practice lawyer John-Gift Mwakhwawa urged Usi to be clear on whether he has completely waived his rights to compete, communicated and given direction about alleged constitutional breaches as well as if he has warned against going ahead with the convention.
He said: “Usi can either prevent them from proceeding with the convention by way of an injunction, or indeed just telling them that they shouldn’t proceed because of the pointed out illegalities if there are any.
“This will also be enough to later on turn-around and nullify whatever will happen at the convention. He can also not sit back and allow things to happen and say, I will challenge later.”
In a separate interview, lawyer Justin Dzonzi challenged the entire leadership in UTM to think about what their founding president the late Saulos Chilima would have wanted, adding that any court battles will weaken the party ahead of next year’s polls.
He said in the first place, the UTM started departing from the constitution when it appointed Newton Kambala to lead after Chilima’s death on June 10 2024, leaving out Usi who was Chilima’s deputy.
Said Dzonzi: “The constitutional issues being raised needed to be resolved internally and they can do that even before the convention. It would be regrettable if some faction seeks legal redress because the party may never recover and heal.
“Going to court to provide guidance would be that the party has no sufficient leadership to deal with internal issues. Let them reflect on this and decide rightly.”
Dzonzi said the squabbles are a betrayal to Chilima’s dreams, urging the top leadership to immediately seek guidance from their lawyers.
University of Cape Town professor of law Danwood Chirwa, in a separate interview, said Usi should have acted in good time as the convention schedule was known for a while.
In a written response, he said: “The main procedural steps are the legality of the notice of the conference and invitation to submit nomination papers. If these were done properly, the conference is valid. The issue of delegates can be examined later.
“So far the delegates haven’t showed up at the conference and so one cannot speculate on how the conference will be constituted.”
Chirwa said if Usi can show that he objected to certain processes as and when they unfolded, he could have a case, but cautioned against using the courts to stop the indaba.
“Courts are now cautious about stopping political meetings via ex parte injunctions. Their view is that they do not want to politicise the Judiciary. Political parties must find ways of resolving their disputes internally,” he said.
Usi had not yet responded to our questionnaire by press time yesterday, so too party spokesperson Felix Njawala.
Meanwhile, uncertainty still surrounds the venue for the meeting in Mzuzu as reports indicate that the party may not hold it at Grand Palace Hotel as planned.
The party’s administrative secretary Augustine Mtendere said the party will give an update on the venue.
Four aspirants have filed their nominations for the presidency. They are incumbent secretary general Patricia Kaliati, Engineer Newton Kambala, former Reserve Bank of Malawi governor Dalitso Kabambe and corporate executive Engineer Mathews Mtumbuka.
