By Isaac Salima:
For the first time since being sworn in as State Vice President, UTM president Michael Usi spoke about issues surrounding disagreements in the party Monday.
Addressing party supporters at his Mudi State residence in Blantyre, Usi claimed that some party officials have been verbally attacking him.
He also responded to some of the issues that some party officials raised when they addressed what they described as a mega rally in Mzuzu City on Sunday.
Usi said he would not expend energy responding to purported attacks, saying it did not make sense for some officials to be accusing him of working with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP)-led administration.
“It is not me who took the party [UTM] to MCP. It was our boss [Saulos] Chilima. At the time of his death, Chilima was in government. Chilima was the one [who would have been able] to see that things were not right in the government but he did not,” Usi said.
He further accused some UTM officials of not engaging him to discuss pertinent issues.
“The Vice President works close to the [State] President and these people could have come to me to get a clear understanding of issues but, instead, they have opted to be speaking elsewhere. Even if they castigate me, I do not have time to hit back at them. I only have time to engage them and forgive them,” Usi said.
The Vice President urged UTM officials to come together and discuss issues, saying finger pointing would take the party nowhere.
His sentiments came barely two days after, in ‘Times Exclusive’ programme on Times Television, Usi did not come clear on whether UTM is still part of the Tonse Alliance.
Recently, some senior party officials announced that the party had left the alliance, which was formed in the run-up to the June 23 2020 court-ordered presidential election.
Usi further said he had been in talks with some party officials.
Meanwhile, political commentator Victor Chipofya has said it would be difficult for Usi to bring sanity to UTM.
“Usi is still considered as an outsider because at the time of his appointment as party vice president, he was not a member of the party.
“He was only appointed by the late [former vice president Saulos] Chilima. I still believe that it will be a tall order for him to command respect within the party ranks,” he said.
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