…as DPP threatens to expose fresh corruption allegations against Kabambe’
…UTM says rejected alliance with DPP already due to ‘imposed unfair conditions
By Temwanani Gondwe
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the United Transformation Movement (UTM) are exchanging bitter tirades with the former threatening to expose fresh corruption involvement of the latter and its leader and former Reserve Bank Government (RBM) Dalitso Kabambe.
The bone of contention, Malawi Focus understands, is Kabambe’s adamancy to form an electoral alliance with DPP, a parent party of UTM.
Sources within both parties have confided in this publication that the initial plan and arrangement was for the two parties to ‘re-marry’ but with the torchbearer coming from DPP.
“UTM maintains it will go solo in the September elections as Kabambe believes he has gained popularity now on the political scene,” said one source who is a member of the DPP National Executive Committee (NEC).
He added: “This is against our initial plan where we sent Kabambe as a plant in UTM to take back our votes which were taken away by the late Saulos Chilima, may he continue resting in peace,” said the source.
But to the contrary, the UTM highly placed source has told us that throughout their closed door meeting chaired by Kabambe, the former controversial RBM boss keeps maintaining that he will be on the ballot come September 2025.
“In fact, Kabambe has on several occasions told Peter Mutharika point blank that he thinks he has won favours from many Malawians and that Mutharika but allow him to test the waters by vying for the presidency of the country,” he said.
Distraught with Kabambe’s latest delaying tactics to start preparing for an electoral alliance with DPP, now the blue camp is annoyed and feels betrayed by its plant and ‘blue-eyed’ boy from Thyolo and also a close relation to Mutharika.
UTM Secretary General Willet Karonga has confirmed the feud with DPP through a strong-worded statement issued on Monday, stating that it is shocked and dismayed by ‘baseless’ allegations leveled against their President Dalitso Kabambe.
“We strongly believe that these attacks are orchestrated by officials from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),” reads the letter in part, and signed by Karonga himself.
“As a registered political party, UTM has every right to contest the upcoming General Elections independently. We had previously rejected DPP’s proposal for an alliance, citing the unfair conditions imposed upon us. Having recently exited a tumultuous alliance with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), we cannot afford to enter another ill-fated partnership.”
Karonga says the party strongly believes DPP officials have instructed their operatives to launch a series of vicious attacks on their president, warning that they will not tolerate “this nonsense.”
Now as the latest missile on UTM, DPP has resorted to using its widely followed social media page, Bakili Muluzi TV which has threatened to expose fresh allegations of corruption involving Kabambe and the late Chilima.
In the latest post, the page claims to have incriminating audio recordings and documents linking the two politicians to various financial scandals including the procurement of 200 vehicles belonging to UTM and also the mismanagement of foreign exchange at RBM by Kabambe.
“If we want to expose someone, we release audio recordings and documents so that Malawians can judge for themselves,” reads the post.
“If you want to know more about the corruption of Chilima and Kabambe, keep testing us. I mean you, who call yourselves UTM champions. We have details on the 200 vehicles and the audios of Chilima and Kabambe issues, but we have been showing respect. So be careful,” warns the page.
The post, which ends with the statement “history is the best teacher” has already stirred a lot of debate on many social media platforms with some demanding evidence and others concluding that it is DPP which has now turned its ugly head on UTM.
However, commenting on Bakili Muluzi TV, UTM’s Karonga says their party is urging ‘the so called’ TV to withdraw their defamatory content within 72 hours, warning that failure to comply will prompt UTM to take reciprocal actions.
Kabambe has faced scrutiny over financial mismanagement at RBM which led him to be arrested and answer criminal charges.
The global creditor, International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has now blacklisted Kabambe over the same, reportedly set the arrest of Kabambe as one of the preconditions for the resumption of their financial support to Malawi under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) which is now on course under the Chakwera government.
Meanwhile, a political Analyst from Zomba Masuzgo Munthali, who studied political science at the University of Durban in South Africa, says the fresh revelations and tug of war between UTM and DPP speaks volumes of deeper under current between a political ‘son and father’ fathering, inferring to UTM as a baby of DPP.
He said;” It is similar to a biblical story of a prodigal son. In this context, Kabambe is choosing to be a prodigal son and the father, Mutharika is bitter knowing that he wants to use his son for his political motives now that the son is grown up and mature.”