PAST IMMEDIATE LILONGWE MAYOR—Bikoko
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Congress Party (MCP)’s six ward councillors are reportedly vying for Lilongwe City mayorship.
Sources said the mayorship elections will be held this coming Saturday.
The majority of the councillors that were elected in Lilongwe belong to MCP, giving the party a chance to elect a mayor.
The city has 27 councillors of which 25 belong to MCP while two are for UTM.
All the city’s members of Parliament (MPs) have voting powers at the council.
There are four MCP parliamentarians at the council who will also vote, adding the number of voters to 31.
The MCP councillors that are reportedly campaigning for the mayorship are Lynold Chakakala Chaziya Junior of Chisapo 2 Ward, Juliana Kaduya (Chilinde 1 Ward), Richard Banda (Kaliyeka Ward), Easter Sagawa (Chimutu Ward), Rose Antonio (Chigoneka Ward) and William Nguluwe (Tsabango 1 Ward).
Among the six councillors, Chaziya, Sagawa and Antonio are new.
Chaziya told The Daily Times said he wanted the mayorship as he wanted to transform Lilongwe.
“Among other things [if elected], I would ensure that the city has functional street lights and there are more places for market construction. I also want to see to it that there are new plots for allocations and prioritise the welfare of councillors and Lilongwe City Council staff,” he said.
Desmond Bikoko of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was the past immediate Lilongwe Mayor deputised by Kaduya.
This time, DPP has no councillor in Lilongwe City.
Elsewhere, all nine councillors elected in Kasungu Municipality Council belong to MCP, which means that the mayorship will go to the party.
According to Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec), out of the total 460 Local Government seats, DPP has 161, MCP (160), UTM (39), United Democratic Front (20), People’s Party (four) and Alliance for Democracy (two). There are also 74 independent councilors.