UTM has expressed regret after one of its branded vehicles was spotted ferrying Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters to a rally held by some DPP leaders in Ndirande Township, Blantyre, on Sunday.
UTM publicity secretary Felix Njawala said the vehicle in question has, for several years, been under the custody of Louis Ngalande, who announced his defection to the DPP at the Ndirande rally.
Njawala said UTM was not in an alliance with DPP to reach the extent of using its party property for DPP campaigns.
He said the party had already started the process of getting party property from Ngalande, who lost at the party’s convention that was held in Mzuzu in November this year.
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“Indeed, this was our vehicle which Honorable Ngalande was given to use for operations. He lost at the convention but we had not yet reassigned the vehicle.
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“We regret how he has used our vehicle and it is our request to others who are keeping our party materials to surrender them to the party,” Njawala said.
At the rally, Ngalande admitted that supporting President Lazarus Chakwera in the June 23 2020 court-ordered presidential election was a mistake.
He apologised to Malawians, acknowledging the current economic hardships and claiming that they had convinced the majority of voters to elect an inexperienced leader.
Efforts to reach Ngalande for further comment were unsuccessful, as he did not answer his phone or respond to our messages.
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Similarly, Malawi Congress party (MCP) publicity secretary Jessie Kabwila did not respond to our calls Monday when we sought her comment on the allegations by Ngalande.
However, Kabwila recently said Malawians would not vote the DPP back into power, accusing the party of messing up the country’s economy, which she said the Chakwera administration was fixing.
Speaking after being elected UTM president during the party’s convention in Mzuzu, Dalitso Kabambe declared that UTM would contest independently in the next year’s elections.
