State Vice President Michael Usi has accused some officials of UTM party of betraying the late vice president Saulos Chilima by failing to utilise resources.
Usi made the remarks at his Lilongwe Area 12 residence Sunday.
He spoke before departing for Blantyre, where he is scheduled to undertake several official engagements in the Southern Region.
Speaking to Kauma and Ntandile residents, Usi alleged that some UTM officials misused campaign funds entrusted to them by Chilima, leading to the party’s repeated electoral failures.
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“When the late UTM president gave them money for campaign purposes, the money was not used for its intended purpose. They shared it amongst themselves. No wonder, the party kept losing miserably,” Usi said.
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He claimed that during his inauguration as Vice President, he had given money to some officials, who shared it amongst themselves.
“I have evidence of UTM party officials who took the money but I forgive them,” Usi said.
Usi, who is one of UTM’s founding members, said he was not clinging to the party, only that he was one of the people that formed it.
He defended Chilima, describing him as a “good-hearted person” who lost trust in his own party executives due to their lack of integrity.
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According to Usi, this was why Chilima had a parallel campaign director during his leadership, as he could not rely on the UTM executives.
Despite having no influence in the party, Usi assured supporters that he had followers of his own and expressed readiness to move on.
“Even though the party is in some hands now, they can take it. I have my followers,” he said.
He then disclosed that he would hold a rally in Lilongwe for all his supporters.
The accusations have sparked fresh debate about UTM’s leadership and its direction following Chilima’s passing, with many questioning whether the party can recover from his death.
In reaction, UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala trashed Usi’s claims, saying most of the party’s senior officials turned down offers from the Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
“Probably, Honourable Usi has a different meaning of being greedy. If the so-called officials were greedy, certainly they wouldn’t have opted out of the Tonse Alliance to forgo benefits in terms of positions and money. But this far, Malawians can tell that we are not greedy and that is why we left that alliance,” Njawala said.
He further claimed that the people following Usi were MCP and not UTM members.
“We know our women. We know how they dress. I tell you those are not our members. They are MCP. They just change the regalia. Today, you will see them in MCP colours, the next day they are in UTM regalia,” he said.
