UTM Party has sidelined the former governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) from the memorial service for former vice-president Saulos Chilima who died in a military plane crash in June 2024 alongside eight others.
In an interview yesterday, UTM Party spokesperson Felix Njawala said the party, which Chilima led as its founding president until his death, has invited all the other political parties, except MCP.
“It is open to the public. All UTM supporters and other political parties are also invited. The only leadership that has not been formally invited is the MCP leadership,” he said.
The memorial service is scheduled for June 13 2026 at Ntcheu Stadium, about 15 kilometres from Nsipe where Chilima was laid to rest on June 17 2024.
Njawala claimed that MCP members invited to a similar memorial last year were booed; hence, the organisers were avoiding a repeat of the incident. However, he did not elaborate regarding the identity of the MCP members booed.
“We do not want that. We want to avoid it,” he said.
UTM Party has sidelined the former governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) from the memorial service for former vice-president Saulos Chilima who died in a military plane crash in June 2024 alongside eight others.
In an interview yesterday, UTM Party spokesperson Felix Njawala said the party, which Chilima led as its founding president until his death, has invited all the other political parties, except MCP.
“It is open to the public. All UTM supporters and other political parties are also invited. The only leadership that has not been formally invited is the MCP leadership,” he said.
The memorial service organised by UTM Party is scheduled for June 13 2026 at Ntcheu Stadium, about 15 kilometres from Nsipe where Chilima was laid to rest on June 17 2024.
Njawala claimed that MCP members invited to a similar memorial last year were booed; hence, the organisers were avoiding a repeat of the incident. However, he did not elaborate regarding the identity of the MCP members booed.
“We do not want that. We want to avoid it,” he said.
But MCP publicity secretary Jessie Kabwila dismissed assertions that the party’s members were booed at last year’s event, saying she personally attended the ceremony.
She said MCP would have loved to be part of the event to honour Chilima, who was Vice-President in the Tonse Alliance administration led by MCP and ushered into government through the June 23 2020 court-sanctioned fresh presidential election.
“We would be very willing to be there, but if they do not want us, it is a free country and that is their choice,” said Kabwila.
Bad blood between MCP and UTM Party has existed ever since the June 10 2024 plane crash in Nthungwa, Viphya Plantation in Nkhata Bay with some UTM functionaries suspecting foul play.
However, Kabwila yesterday insisted that two inquiries into the plane crash concluded that it was an accident.
Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences political analyst Chimwemwe Tsitsi said it is unfortunate for a political party to organise a national memorial event while excluding specific political groups.
He said a memorial event for a former vice-president should not exclude others.
In 2025, the first anniversary of the plane crash, there were two separate memorial events, one led by then president Lazarus Chakwera at Lunjika Turn-off in Mzimba, about two kilometres from the crash site and another by Chilima’s family in Nsipe.
After the Nsipe memorial mass by the family, UTM Party organised a candlelight memorial attended by representatives of then opposition political parties, including Democratic Progressive Party, UDF, Alliance for Democracy, People’s Party and Freedom Party.
