UTM Party says its electoral alliance negotiations with former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) failed after it became clear that the arrangement would sideline its manifesto and reduce the party to a junior partner.
The party’s spokesperson Felix Njawala told a rally at Katoto Ground in Mzuzu yesterday that UTM responded to calls from the public, just as it did in the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election in June 2020 when its then president Saulos Chilima accepted to be running mate to Malawi Congress Party president Lazarus Chakwera.
He said: “We listened. Our president [Dalitso Kabambe] formed a committee to explore an alliance and I was appointed chair.
“But when DPP insisted on taking the presidency, running mate, leaving UTM with just ministerial portfolios, we knew our voice would be drowned.”
Njawala said that for UTM, the issue was never about positions, but about whether the partnership would carry forward the party’s policy agenda.
He said: “It’s not enough to share power, we must share purpose. Will the alliance serve Malawians or simply recycle the same poverty?
“As the late SKC [Saulos Chilima] used to say, forming an alliance is easy. The real test is whether you agree on what you want to achieve.”
DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba was yet to respond to our questionnaire.
In an interview after the rally, Kabambe said: “We were open to enter into an electoral alliance. But some of the demands were ridiculous. We don’t entertain ridiculousness. If an alliance cannot serve the people, we won’t be part of it.”
However, political analyst George Chaima cautioned that UTM risks isolating itself if it continues to reject potential partnerships.
“Having a solid manifesto is not enough,” said Chaima. “Manifestos are tools to serve the public good, and many opposition parties have launched credible ones that could be merged.”
The Institute of Public Opinion and Research pre-election survey released last week said DPP president Peter Mutharika had a 43 percent approval from voters followed by incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party with 26 percent and Kabambe on third with five percent.
Unveiling the party’s promises during the rally, Kabambe, a former Reserve Bank of Malawi governor, vowed to lift Malawians out of poverty and reverse what he described as a deepening national crisis.
“Malawians have suffered enough with 91 percent are jobless, 75 percent live in poverty and 65 percent go hungry every year. We are burdened with debt and our currency has collapsed,” he said.
Positioning his party as the one with a credible plan to fix the economy, Kabambe said UTM is pursuing an “economic revolution” anchored on massive investment and structural reforms as well as a modernised agriculture system.
On mining, Kabambe promised to allocate K500 billion annually to establish more than 10 new mines nationwide, arguing that Malawi’s untapped mineral wealth can be a game-changer.
He also proposed a K100 billion annual allocation to every council for the next five years, aimed at fixing roads, expanding electricity and water supply, and rehabilitating schools and hospitals.
To accelerate industrialisation, Kabambe said his government would channel K500 billion into manufacturing, with a focus on building factories and reviving local production.
Another K500 billion, he said, would go toward revitalising the tourism sector by upgrading key destinations and infrastructure.
