President Peter Mutharika whose presidency appears to be slipping away has said he is prepared not to accept defeat if results doesn’t go his way
Mutharika, speaking to journalist said the level of violence that has preceeded this election is worrying |” The commissioners are doing a great job, we have had alot of violence especially in central and northen region, i would urge the electoral commission to stop these elections otherwise DPP will not accept the results” a visbly shaken Mutharika said.
Mutharika casting his vote earlier on
Early indications suggest Dr Lazarus Chakwera of Tonse Alliance is taking a huge lead. There has been reports of people who have confessed being sent by DPP , being caught with fake ballot papers
Malawi electoral commission is scheduled to announce the winner by Wednesday afternoon. however the commission has another 8 days if there can been other issues that need sorting out
Malawi hip-hop star Fredokiss, real name Penjani Kalua, has been detained by Malawi Defence Force (MDF) soldiers at Chiweta in Rumphi for allegedly issuing cash handouts to prospective voters in the fresh presidential elections on Tuesday.
Fredokiss, son to Member of Parliament for the area Kamlepo Kalua, was picked together with his two friends.
He was taken to Chitimba police station.
His father Kalua, a Minister of Lands, said he was following up on the same
Elsewhere, a man has been arrested after being caught taking pictures of his ballot paper after marking a candidate of his choice at Mzimba LEA polling station.
According to the Centre’s Presiding Officer, Lawrence Kalinga, the arrested man has been handed over to police in the district for further interrogation.
As the country goes to the polls today, commander in chief of people power movement CFT Timothy Mtambo has cast his vote. Mtambo exercised his right to vote at DC office in Lilongwe. He has however, warned those that are planning to disturb the electoral process
Speaking to Nyasa Times after he voted Mtambo said he was happy that he had exercised his right to vote. Mtambo, wearing his usual baseball cap, this time with words “ Go away” signifying that its now time for Mutharika to go, said he was proud that the battle that Malawians embarked on after last years elections, going to court and getting on the streets to demand for their freedom and right to vote is finally happening.
Mtambo took time to make a rallying call to all the people that haven’t made their way to the polling stations yet “I would like to urge all the people that haven’t gone to cast their vote yet to do so. This is a wonderful moment and people have to take this opportunity and make their voices heard”
However Mtambo had a quick warning to those that are planning to cause disruptions or interfering in the electoral process warning that Malawians are angry and will not let anybody try “ We have heard of reports since yesterday of some people trying to impinge the freedom of Malawians by planning to manipulate or interfere with the electoral process. My warning to them and anybody else who is planning those kind of things is that Malawians are tired and angry and they wont let
Mtambo has urged all Malawians to be vigilant while refraining from violence at the same time
The Deputy Secretary general of Malawi Congress Party who is also the speaker of Parliament Hon Catherine Gotani has thanked Party members in the diaspora for Money donation towards election monitoring. She made the remarks in Mzuzu when a cheque of over K9 million kwacha was presented to the Tambala fund.
As the country goes to the polls on Tuesday The Diaspora wing of the opposition MCP under the banner Malawi Congress Party Diaspora Chapter (MCPDN) today made a donation of MK9 728920.43 million kwacha to the party in Malawi which will help in the cost of election monitoring.
Presenting the cheque to the party was the MCP Diaspora Malawi representative Dyson Chikolera. Speaking to 247Malawi media , Chikolera said his colleagues in the diaspora saw the need to help the party in Malawi. “ It’s a crucial election , we want to make sure we secure our vote by having enough monitors , we have won past elections but didn’t do enough to secure our vote leaving a loophole that led to election rigging, we want to close that this time” said Chikolera .
Hon Gotani Hara and Hon Gracious Soko receiving cheque from MCP Diaspora rep Dyson Chikolera
Also present at the presentation was MCP Regional Chairman for the North Hon Gracious Soko who welcomed the donation describing it as timely and vital. Gotani Hara said the party in Malawi is grateful to its members in the diaspora “ Let me thank all our members in diaspora and all other well wishers for this donation, it has been our wish to make sure we have strong monitoring for the election in order to safeguard our vote “ said Gotani Hara
MCP Diaspora Network is an umbrella group that comprises of regional groups from Canada, Republic of Ireland , USA , Canada, RSA ,UK and members of Malawian origin from various countries a round the world all of whom contributed towards this donation.
The Spokesperson of the group, Chalo Mvula highlighted that the group had to identify an area it could help the party in Malawi with during this election “ We sat down and thought monitoring is key and we embarked on fundraising to make sure we donate something towards this . Let me thank all MCP Diaspora members from all our wings in Ireland, Canada, USA ,UK RSA and all the other countries for their donations despite the challenges that were there -it just shows that though we are not in Malawi still we care for our country” Mvula said.
Mvula was also quick to acknowledge members of others parties from Tonse alliance who patronised some of the fundraising events “We are very thankful for the support from our colleagues from Parties in Tonse alliance , there support helped us reach the amount we have reached and it just highlights the unity and positive working relationship that is there in Tonse Alliance”
Malawi goes to the polls on Tuesday 23 to elect a new president With Tonse Alliance Torch Bearer Dr Lazarus Chakwera , the favourite to win.
As I found myself sitting down and watching the final rally of Tonse alliance running mate Dr Saulos Chilima at Njamba on that Saturday afternoon, one thing came to my mind. Here was a patriotic Malawian who was taking a bow after delivering yet another masterclass of campaigning. It is a common secret now that Chilima is arguably one of the best Campaigners Malawi has ever had. Often times , politicians come and make their promises, others use handouts to try to convince people to vote for them, but rarely do you find a politician who blends in passion for his country like Chilima does.
But what makes Chilima tick and connects well with the people? Well , he is a good orator. and an excellent communicator. Public speaking is not just about delivering a high pitched statement to the people , it is about engaging the people, connecting with them so that they understand what you are saying and connects with what you are saying. Chilima speaks the language of the people, a boy in the village will connect to Chilima speech just as a boy in town will. His ability to know his audience cannot be underestimated. Small things like speaking a little Tumbuka when he is in the North, some Yao or Lomwe when he is in the South matters and psychologically opens up the audience to welcome whatever he has to say. In summary he knows how to get the attention of his audience.
The 2020 Campaign has been an interesting one. It has probably worked to the advantage of Chilima as somebody from a Marketing and Sales background. The alliances that were formed meant the parties had to sell a new brand at the back of their own political party brands. Who can do it better than the master marketer himself Chilima? He knew that his party alliance with MCP was not 100% welcomed by his supporters and he knew he had a huge task to convince the disgruntled and those who had no faith in the alliance. He knew, his message has to be cleverly crafted. As a salesman, he quickly devised a slogan “ Mfana oganiza bo!” There was so much power in this slogan, as it was a direct message to anyone who was doubting and questioning his decisions. It was a clear message to them that they should not worry as he’s had to take much careful thought in whatever decisions he has made. It didn’t take long after this that all those who doubted him quickly got onboard of the alliance train.
The next task for Chilima was to sell the Tonse alliance brand. He had to make sure that his supporters didn’t feel like the promises that he made in his 2019 manifesto were now all gone . From this we saw Chilima embark on his usual whistle stops. Displaying so much vigour and energy, going into unreachable areas, he would do a number of whistle stops in a day . Visual representation matters and as such it was not surprising seeing Chilima carrying a bag of fertilizer on his shoulder while trying to hammer through his flagship promise of reducing fertilizer to K4495.00. He cleverly used this opportunity as well, to introduce the candidacy of Dr Lazarus Chakwera to his loyal supporters.
Chakwera and Chilima
You can never be a strong politician if you cannot stand heat from your opponents. Stand out moments of Chilima campaign was his ability to hit back if opponents attack him with ungrounded accusations. One man to feel that wrath was a fella called Everton Chimulirenji. At Masintha, where Atupele Muluzi addressed a rally, Chimulirenji whose vice presidency ended after Court nullified last year’s election results introduced himself as a campaign director of Mutharika/Atupele team. Chimulirenji thought it was his opportunity to hit at Chilima, accusing Chilima that he is the one who made him lose his vice presidency when he went to court to challenge last years election results . Chilima has one word for Chimulirenji and that was a reminder that Malawi history will never remember Chimulirenji as Vice president. Poor Everton was not seen in public again since.
Another battle was between Chilima and former President Bakili Muluzi. Bakili unleashed silent war with Chilima. Initial arrangements were that Bakili would join Atupele on the campaign trail , Chilima unleashed a bombshell- accusing the former president of pocketing over 500 thousands dollars from a foreign tobacco company deal. Infact Chilima threatened that Muluzi should pay back . What followed were attempts made on Chilima life with attacks on his convoy in Phalombe and Liwonde that was allegedly engineered by Bakili . While at a rally in Zomba , Chilima made another revelation, that Bakili had arranged for a Mr Mtenje to kill him when he goes to Mangochi. Well , in summary Bakili Muluzi never came out of his hiding place . Chilima’s public criticism of him and reminder of the corruption cases that he is due to answer made Muluzi never dare to go public and campaign for his son Atupele.
The campaign is over and people will be voting , but Chilima should be applauded for delivering another excellent campaign. The patriotism he showed by his display of the Malawi Flag and how he would do anything to defend the freedom of Malawians , the human side that he showed that just like any other person he can face threats but has to stand up and be fearless, his public display of his faith in God and not forgetting his sacrifices for the good of Malawi in accepting to be a running mate to Dr Lazarus Chakwera. Chilima has once again proved that he is an asset to Malawi and Malawian politics
