By Mercy Matonga:
Former Tonse Alliance partner UTM has criticised President Lazarus Chakwera for not saying the truth about his administration’s achievements during Friday’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
But government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu has said UTM should tame its hunger and desperation for the public space, saying government is busy running affairs of the country.
In a statement responding to the Sona,
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UTM president Dalitso Kabambe has accused Chakwera of presenting a speech that does not reflect the situation in the country.
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He said the Sona painted a picture of progress and resilience that contradicts the reality experienced by Malawians.
“Today, we stand not just as representatives of the people but as their voice—a voice raised against deception, mediocrity, and the devastating failures of a clandestine government that has repeatedly turned crisis into catastrophe.
President Chakwera has proven himself [to be] a master of excuses, a craftsman of obfuscation, and a leader tragically disconnected from the daily struggles of the Malawian people,” Kabambe said.
Kabambe further said during Chakwera’s time in power, instead of improving Malawians’ lives, he had continued to make excuses, blaming Covid, the war in Ukraine, past administrations and even labelling critics as enemies.
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“What Malawi needs is not a president who does the bare minimum and claims glory, but a leader with vision, economic acumen, and the unwavering determination to fundamentally transform and overhaul this nation for the better,” the statement reads.
The statement further says reports from various districts indicate that some of the highlighted projects were either falsely reported as completed or never took place.
Commenting on the statement, UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala said its aim was to give insights to the government so that it could reflect on what needs to be done for the benefit of Malawians.
“We know that we will have time to respond in Parliament, but the time allocated is not enough to cover all we want to communicate to Malawians,” Njawala said.
Speaking to The Daily Times about the statement, political analyst Chimwemwe Tsitsi noted that some of the demands made were unrealistic, given that the country was approaching elections.
“From my observations, there may be some miscommunication within the government, as seen in the public reactions to the Sona on social media,” Tsitsi said.
Responding to the observations, Kunkuyu said UTM should “tame” its hunger and desperation for the public space, as “government is busy running affairs of the country. A journey we started with the patriotic late Saulos Chilima”.
‘When we see and celebrate all the developments that the President talked about from each and every district of the country in the Sona, we see late Saulos Chilima’s participation in all that. He made that significant contribution as UTM founder and president. His thinking was completely different from what we are seeing,” Kunkuyu said.
He further said if some officer somewhere used the word “completed” when referring to completion of a project when it should have been completion of a process, that did not invalidate the project.
“I believe, by now, everyone has cross-checked what the President mentioned in the Sona with what is on the ground in their districts. Having one project misspelled has not and will not change the fact that all the projects that the President mentioned are facts, save for where some wording was placed wrongly,” Kunkuyu said.
The presentation style of the Sona departed from tradition by providing accounts of major developments across all districts.
The approach has sparked various reactions, including fact-checking by media houses, some of which allege that certain developments are not accurate.
