By Deogratias Mmana:
UTM party has said it will decide on who takes over the party’s presidency at a meeting scheduled for Friday.
This follows the death of party president Saulos Chilima, who was also the country’s State Vice President, in a plane crash on Monday, June 10 2024.
The UTM constitution provides for the ascension of the party’s vice president— a position currently being held by Natural Resources Minister Michael Usi—to the position in the case of death and other factors.
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Article 8(b) of the UTM constitution stipulates thus: “The person the President nominates under Article 13(2)(g) as the running mate to contest as such in a national election under the laws of Malawi and who shall, kin the basis of such nomination, becomes the Vice President of UTM.”
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Article 13(3) adds: “In addition to Article 8(2) and Article 13(2)(g), the Vice President shall assist the President and shall, in the case of delegation by, or absence, resignation, incapacitation or death of the President exercise the powers and functions conferred on the President by this constitution.”
UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala told The Daily Times that the party would meet to discuss the leadership issue.
“We want to discuss how we move forward after the death of our president. It is not the first time that we have discussed [the issue of] our leader. We used to meet and discuss Dr Chilima. Don’t you discuss with your MD [managing director] at a meeting? I cannot divulge more information. We may preempt the agenda,” Njawala said.
He added that they want the party’s constitution to move in the right direction.
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Njawala said, for example, that while the party’s constitution says the person appointed by the president to be his running mate in a national election becomes vice president, who takes over the leadership in the case of the president dying or being incapacitated, it also gives the National Executive Committee power to meet within 90 days and discuss the issue of leadership.
However, the section he mentioned talks about the Nec meeting to appoint the acting president when both the president and vice president are not there.
Article 13(4) reads: “In the event of resignation, incapacity or death of the President and the Vice President, the National Executive Committee shall, as soon as it is practicable but not later than 90 days from the event, appoint an acting president until such as the National Delegates Conference shall convene until such appointment is made.”
When contacted, Usi said he was still mourning the departed party leader.
“I am still mourning. Right now, I am grappling with the assignments Dr Saulos Chilima gave me. I was supposed to report to him. So, I need wisdom and I am praying for wisdom,” Usi said.
According to the party’s constitution, it is the president of the party that chairs meetings of the central committee.
During the 2019 elections, Chilima picked Usi as running mate.
Chilima said at that time: “For the running mate, I have taken one of our own from the organisation, UTM. He is Michael Bizwick Usi. We believe we will not disappoint you or let you down.”
UTM came third after presidential election results were announced.
And during the June 23 2020 court-sanctioned presidential election, UTM went into a political alliance with the Malawi Congress Party.
The alliance also had partners such as Alliance for Democracy, Umodzi Party, People’s Transformation Party, People’s Party, Freedom Party, among others.
In that election, Chilima was President Lazarus Chakwera’s running mate.
He was the country’s vice president until June 10 2024, when Chakwera announced his death and that of eight others following a plane crash in Chikangawa Forest, Mzimba District.
He was laid to rest on Monday, June 17 2024, at his Nsipe home in Ntcheu District.
How Chilima established UTM
According to the UTM Strategic Plan for 2022-27, resignation of Chilima on June 6 2018 from the Democratic Progressive Party galvanised the idea of a movement to turn into a political party.
Subsequently, UTM was formed and Chilima became its leader.
The United Transformation Party, under the leadership of Newton Kambala, and the ‘Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu’ political network led by Usi, became part of the movement that had, in the meantime, renamed itself as the United Transformation Movement, which was launched on July 21 2018.
