Malawi has for the past 24 hours, registered two new Covid-19 deaths and 20 new cases.
Addressing members of the press in Lilongwe, Co-Chairperson of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 Dr. John Phuka, said a senior government official who was working in Chitipa and a 26-year-old man from Mwanza District have died of Covid-19.
“The senior government official passed away today in Mzuzu and the other one [the 26-year-old man] has passed on at Mwanza District Hospital just upon arrival from South Africa. This brings the total number of deaths to eight.
“Let me convey my deepest sympathy to bereaved families and particularly government officials in Chitipa. May their souls rest in peace” said Phuka.
Phuka said of the new registered cases, eight are health care workers, seven from Mzuzu and one from Lilongwe. Five more cases have been registered in Mzuzu, three in Blantyre, two in Chitipa, one each in Mzimba, Nsanje and Mwanza.
“This means Malawi has cumulatively recorded 592 cases including eight deaths. Of these cases, 456 are imported infections [people coming from outside the country] and 118 are local transmissions. We are still investigating 17 cases,” said Phuka.
The Co-Chairperson further stated that a total of 74 cases have recovered, bringing the total of active cases to 510. He then informed members of the press that 385 Malawians who left South Africa a few days ago are expected to arrive at Mwanza border.
“They are being ferried in nine buses and we expect them to arrive tonight [night of Thursday, 18th June, 2020],” said Phuka.
The Commander in chief of CFT Movement Timothy Mtambo has told people of Dedza that a vote for Dr Lazarus Chakwera and his running mate Dr Saulos Chilima is the only vote that will liberate Malawi . He was speaking when he conducted several whistle stops together with Deputy Speaker and MCP member of parliament for Kasungu East Hon Madalitso Kazombo.
Mtambo announced his arrival by declaring that he has come to deliver a message of Dr Lazarus Chakwera. He attacked the leadership of DPP and UDF citing that it is an alliance that lacks proper leadership and cannot compare to the Tonse Alliance team. “A leader needs to be intelligent, loving and humble and this is what you find in Dr Chakwera and Dr Chilima, and you can’t compare these leaders to Mutharika and Atupele who lack any of the leadership qualities” charged Mtambo. He went further by highlighting that the DPP regime has significantly showed how lacking it is, with its failure to investigate the killing of albinos. He described Mutharika as a someone who has no respect for the rule of law citing his latest attempt to get rid of the supreme court judges.
Mtambo and Kazombo in Dedza South
Addressing crowds that gathered at Chikuse, Mtambo heaped praise on the local MP for the area but highlighted that there is little he can do to the people if the country will remain under DPP regime. Mtambo warned people against voter apathy “ I know sometimes we get discouraged and don’t want to go and vote just because we think our vote will be stolen and we will lose, but let me encourage you that we will do our best to safeguard the vote and no vote will be stolen this time “ said Mtambo
Mtambo said he feels sorry for Malawians and the many hardships people both in the urban and rural areas are facing every day. He equalled the many problems people are facing as the other biggest threat to their lives just as covid19 is . “The biggest Covid19 challenge we have is Mutharika and DPP and that’s why we have to get rid of them on June 23 “
Also present in Dedza South was Hon Madalitso Kazombo . Popularly known as Kamatcheni, Kazombo went on to remind people that Dr Lazarus Chakwera and Chilima is the dream ticket that will take care of the many of the problems that people in the villages face. He blamed the DPP government and their predecessors UDF for not doing enough to bring any meaningful development in Dedza. He spoke of the many families that cannot afford to pay school fees for their children when they reach higher education. The state of the roads in the district was another issue as majority of the roads are of poor quality.
Mtambo will be in Lilongwe on Friday where he is expected to address people Lilongwe City South East, a constituency under MCP legislator Ulemu Msungama. He is expected to visit Kachere Ground, Kaliyeka Market, Area 23 Market, area 44 before addressing a rally at Gologota
The new winter season that Malawi is experiencing risks a rapid spread of COVID-19 across the country, Blantyre District Health Office (DHO) Chrissy Banda has said.
In an interview with Xinhua, Banda said that there is no direct relation between winter and COVID-19 but its results could have a huge impact.
“It is common during winter that people tend to stay indoors, this is going to affect issues of social distancing and ventilation requirements that were set by the Ministry of Health. In consideration with how our most homes are set up, we believe the risk of high transmissions will be high.
Every year during winter, Malawi experiences high cases of cold, cough and flu, with this trend, the DHO office believes that this will aid easy transmission of the virus with reference to the fact that the virus is commonly transmitted through fluid droplets, she said.
Similarly, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Dan Namalika said that Malawians need to take further measures to avoid the spread of the virus.
However, he pointed out that Malawi is doing well in the fight against COVID-19 and that there are less cases that are being transmitted locally. Enditem
When Peter Mutharika was declared the official winner of Malawi’s hard-fought presidential elections in May 2019, he would not have expected – or wanted – to be doing it all again just one year later. Yet on 23 June 2020, Malawians will return to the polls to vote, once more, for their president.
This is because, on 3 February, the Constitutional Court annulled the previous elections due to serious irregularities. The judges ordered a re-run and made a list of recommendations to ensure the repeat poll would be free and fair.
President Mutharika called the ruling a “travesty of justice” and challenged it at the Supreme Court. On 8 May, its judges upheld the verdict. This finally prompted Jane Ansah, chair of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), to resign, having resisted months of demands, popular protests and calls from parliament and the Constitutional Court to step down. She was replaced by High Judge Chifundo Kachale, a SOAS graduate whose PhD thesis focused on constitutionalism and the rule of law.
Still, President Mutharika continued to resist the elections. In a move many interpreted as a deliberate move to delay the vote by forcing a legal challenge, he maintained two commissioners on the MEC that had been found to be incompetent and allowed the opposition just two of the three commissioners to which they are entitled. Moreover, in his 5 June State of National Address, Mutharika asked parliament to reverse the court ruling that demanded Malawi switch from its first-past-the-post system to one that requires the victor to garner a 50+1 majority.
President Mutharika’s stance endangers Malawi’s long cherished political stability and risks triggering a constitutional crisis. His comments divide the nation between those who feel the need to protect him as a victim of judicial injustice, and those who believe the ruling was fair.
Political alliances
In the annulled 2019 elections, President Mutharika of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was declared the winner with 38.6% of the vote. Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) garnered 35.4%; Saulos Chilima of UTM came third with 20.2%; and Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) received 4.7%.
The re-run looks like it will be similarly closely contested. All political parties have been campaigning as vigorously as before, despite the risks of COVID-19.
The crucial way in which the 2020 re-run differs from 2019, however, is the adoption of a 50+1 majority system. Instead of the candidate with the most votes winning, the victor now needs to secure an absolute majority.
This has made alliances important and, as Mutharika feared, the opposition MCP and UTM have formed a pact, with Chakwera as the presidential candidate and Chilima as his running mate. If the two parties performed as they did in the official 2019 results, they would expect to gain 55.7%. A recent opinion poll suggested 51% plan to vote for the MCP-UTM alliance, giving it an 18-point lead.
Mutharika on a campaign trail
According to the poll, many of its votes will likely come from the central region, where the MCP is strong, and from the north, which does not have a representative on any of the major tickets. In addition, the alliance is likely to win among the urban youth with whom Chilima’s message has resonated.
To try to combat this alliance, the ruling DPP has teamed up with the UDF. In last year’s results, Mutharika and Muluzi received a combined 43.2%. This alliance appears to be employing a regional strategy aimed at consolidating support in the southern region and hope to pick up some votes in the north.
These tactics may yet prove effective, especially in the south but the DPP-UDF ticket also faces another challenge. President Mutharika is the brother of former president Bingu wa Mutharika (2004-2012). His running mate is the son of former president Bakili Muluzi (1994-2004). This combination has become a hard sell for many voters who assert that Malawi is not a dynasty.
The opposition parties are not immune to similar invocations of history. But while the DPP and UDF have tried to remind voters of the three-decade dictatorship (1966-1994) of former MCP leader Hastings Kamuzu Banda, most voters are too young to have experienced his brutality firsthand. Instead, these youths are more concerned with the current high levels of unemployment and underemployment.
Judiciary vs Executive
Malawi’s current political environment has become increasingly tense and will likely remain so following the election. Many expect the losing side will challenge the outcome of the vote, unless there is a massive landslide.
Perhaps anticipating this, Mutharika has publicly expressed anger at the judiciary and last week attempted to forcibly retire Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda. The move was halted by a high court injunction following appeals by the Malawi Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), Association of Magistrates, and Malawi Law Society. It prompted widespread condemnation from law professors and academics around the world who said the administration’s actions “constitute an unprecedented assault on judicial independence in Malawi”.
The independence of the courts is more important than ever in Malawi. Many opposition voters see the electoral commission as one and the same as the ruling DPP and do not trust it to ensure a free and fair process. Much of their faith in the upcoming president election is down to the nation’s judiciary, which not only ordered a re-run but ensured the resignation of the MEC’s former chair Ansah.
The vote and results will be hotly contested, but whoever emerges victorious after 23 June will need to hit the ground running to fix the tanking economy and handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Malawi has effectively been in campaign mode since mid-2018, with much effort and energy directed into elections rather than governance. Malawi has a second chance in this election, but a third may be too much to bear.
With a few days to go before Malawi goes to the polls to elect a new President, the ever-energetic Commander-in-Chief of the Citizens for Transformation (CFT) People Power Movement, Timothy Mtambo was on the road again. This time Comrade Mtambo as he is popularly known, was in Kasungu encouraging people that time has come when the power of a vote need to be unleashed on DPP and Mutharika.
Earlier in the day Mtambo took time to join the lawyers who we were marching for judicial independence in Mzuzu.
Surrounded by other members from CFT and party officials from the Tonse alliance parties, Mtambo first campaign stop was at Lojwa in Kasungu North. He did not waste time but remind the locals that the Mutharika and Muluzi families are the two families that have ruined Malawi. He attacked DPP and UDF governments for promoting nepotism and regionalism which has seen jobs being given to people from one region. He also reminded the locals not to forget about the high levels of corruption which has been instrumental in crippling the economy of Malawi.
Speaking at a large crowd that gathered at Chulu , Mtambo was quick to point out that God has favoured Malawi and has given Malawians opportunity to vote again. He commended the judges for doing a great job in nullifying last year’s illegitimate elections. Among other officials at the meeting were MCP National organizing secretary and member of parliament for Kasungu South East Khumbi Chiponda and national executive member Wazamazama Katatu
Mtambo dwelled on the issues in the manifesto of Tonse alliance telling the gathering that Tonse government is geared to reduce the price of fertiliser to K4495. “For the same amount that you used to buy 1 bag of fertiliser under DPP, you will be able to buy 4 bags when Chakwera is the president”
He also tackled on the issue of job creation promising that Tonse alliance has set a target of one million jobs in its first year in office. Mtambo called upon Malawians to rally behind the capable and visionary leadership of the Tonse Alliance torch bearers, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and his running mate, Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima ahead of the fresh presidential polls slated for 23rd June.
Mtambo warned people of apathy encouraging them that the forthcoming elections are a once in a lifetime opportunity and that they should go and vote in large numbers “ Mutharika doesn’t like you, doesn’t care about you and that’s why he has to be voted out and that’s why you have to go and vote “
He promised the gathering that Tonse government will make sure business loans are given out without favours. He also reminded them that old people will be receiving pension funds from the government as an initiative to make sure old people are cared for.
Mtambo has been on the campaign trail almost every day, that has seen him do whistle stops in all the districts in the North in the past week.
