Chilima addressing the media in Malawi
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)- The Malawi Vice President who is also UTM party leader Saulos Chilima is confident wining the May 21 tripartite elections.
This is testified during the press conference he carried on Wednesday in the capital Lilongwe.
Chilima however failed to name his running mate saying will be made available to the nation in a few days to come.
UTM leader therefore denounced political violence escalating in the country.
Below is the full statement read during the press conference;
STATEMENT OF RT. HON. CHILIMA ON THE STATE OF GOVERNANCE IN MALAWI
All colleagues present
· The UTM membership
· Distinguished members of the Media ·
Ladies and gentlemen Good morning My fellow Malawians, I have felt morally compelled and politically responsible to call this press conference to address crucial matters affecting our country, threatening the foundations of our democracy – mostly aimed at circumventing the will of the people of Malawi at the forthcoming Tripartite Elections in May 2019; thus threatening our future as a country.
My fellow Malawians, I speak to you today as this country’s duly elected Vice-President; I speak to you today as the President of UTM and as a presidential candidate; most importantly, I speak to you today as a concerned citizen, ngati mbadwa yokhudzidwa. My fellow Malawians, there is now a generally agreed truth that good governance is a pre-requisite to any nation achieving sustainable development and the uplifting of the standards of its people’s lives. Indeed, the constitutional scheme which we adopted in the early 90’s puts good governance at its centre.
Good governance remains the cornerstone the sacred relationship between this country’s governors, elected or otherwise, and the governed, the ultimate beneficiaries of this country’s great bounty. For the avoidance of doubt, when I say good governance, I mean the entrenched and universally accepted principles of transparency and accountability in government, civil society participation, and respect for human rights, democracy, and rule of law.
2 My fellow Malawians, I have been compelled to make this statement having noted a calculated, not inadvertent, and sinister erosion of good governance in this country. There is a lot I can say on this topic and I shall be coming back to it between now and May. But for today, allow me to concentrate on the resurgence of political persecution, intimidation and violence in our otherwise peaceful country.
My fellow Malawians, once again we have recently seen the resurgence of tried and failed evil strategy of rigging an election using intimidation and violence to stifle political dissent and suppress popular discontent. Through the use of compromised law enforcement agencies, surrogate gangs of uncouth gangs, the DPP leadership has unleashed a wave of satanic terror and violence on its own people But, my fellow Malawians, and like I have said before, we must always remind ourselves, that the freedom that we enjoy today; that the peace and tranquility that we enjoy today was not given to us on a silver platter.
Many of our forebearers paid a heavy price. Some with their own lives. They paid the ultimate price. There was nothing inevitable about the re-introduction of multiparty democracy in this country. Some of these people leading us today may not have been there in the early 90’s. They were elsewhere in the so-called land of milk and honey. Indeed, some of the people leading the law enforcement agencies and ministries may have been part and parcel of the tyrannical administration that oversaw the mass violation of civil rights of Malawians. But in 1993, some of us were there when we said enough was enough to tyranny of the few against the majority.
The majority of tired and discontented Malawians rose for their rights and without the power of any weapon, put an end to an autocracy.
3 ? WE WERE THERE when we fought dictatorship, and cruelty to usher in democracy;
? WE WERE THERE when the government through its agents tortured people for exercising their freedom of speech and political choice to adopt multiparty democracy;
? WE WERE THERE many of us, as students, workers, peace loving men and women were arrested on trumped up charges from treason and sedition and, yes even for “conduct likely to cause breach of the peace” or “behaving suspiciously” – All that for the wish to have and enjoy real democracy.
? WE WERE THERE when journalists bore the blunt of political violence for telling the world the truth, when the press was gagged and the world was lied to.
? WE WERE THERE when Catholic Bishops, Christians, Muslims and people of all faiths and walks of life prayed with one voice for change and were threatened with death. These gallant freedom fighters were shamelessly ridiculed and some were tortured.
We fought the one party state with all its evils and might – not with guns and bombs, but with the indomitable human spirit and will to live freely without man-made shackles. Unarmed as we were, we fought a better armed common enemy with our unyielding quest for freedom and justice which was a preserve of a selected few.
My fellow Malawians, this is part of our nation’s history. And it is history that we must never forget. It is the story of our nation which must be told to our children and our children’s children. It is a story which we must always tell ourselves and remind ourselves, particularly in times like these. It is also a story that we must tell some 4 of our leaders who were not there because apparently, they have no idea what you and I went through
? Those of us that were there & were part of the painful transition to democracy understand our history & vow that we SHALL NOT return to the same old barbaric times of intimidation, political violence, intolerance and dehumanization of our people.
We say NEVER AGAIN! My fellow Malawians, we must jealously guard this hard-won freedom. We must remain vigilant against attempts by desperate unpopular and thieving leaders who have clearly lost the trust of Malawians to take this country back to its dark days.
We must refuse the invitation to their trip back to the dark period of intolerance, brutal savagery, uncivilized politics of intimidation, gagging of free speech and the lack of respect for the rule of law. Ku Eguputo tinachokako, sitilora kubwererako.
My fellow Malawians, the sad case of Veronica Katanga, a member of The UTM, who was undressed by cowardly alleged DPP thugs is only a tip of the iceberg. We are talking about it because it was caught on camera.
How about the so many powerless men, women, boys and girls that are beaten, harassed because they do not subscribe to the ideals of the ruling party? The case of Edward Govati, a MCP sympathizer who was brutally and savagely beaten by surrogates of the DPP is again only a tip of the iceberg. Think of the irony that surrounds the Chilembwe Day celebration in January 2019.
For those who have read the Chilembwe Uprising story and have learnt a lesson or two, his intention was to liberate Malawi and bring freedom to its people. It is shameful and extremely unacceptable that some Malawians were chased and denied the opportunity to join the celebration of the life of this fallen hero.
We condemn the conduct against Hon M S Mia (Vice President of the MCP) at the function. 5 The truth is that this clueless leadership which we are sending back home to America where it came from has quietly unleashed terror on its people. It has used intimidation, clientelism and nepotism to beat people into line.
? Think about the so many enterpreneurs, ordinary vendors and business people on our streets and markets that are denied opportunities to trade and earn a living because they do not belong to the ruling party.
? How about the people who are being harassed in their places of employment with dismissals, redeployments and such actions because of their political choices or their principles?
? Think of the many poor people in all parts of Malawi who are denied the chance do benefit under various social security programs funded by their own taxes simply because they are not members of the ruling party?
? How about our fellow honest, hardworking Malawians that are denied business opportunities from government and statutory corporations, taunted by government agents like MRA, MACRA, MERA because they are not DPP sympathisers or a particular tribe?
? How about the arson of vehicles and properties belonging to some of UTM? Instead of investigating these cases, the police are being used to arrest someone for ‘behaving suspiciously’ or ‘insulting the president’ or for simply singing. I wish to remind Prof Arthur Peter Mutharika that Malawi belongs to all of us.
Not to the few around you. You are the President of all people not of the few henchmen around you. 6 Mr. President, the police in Malawi is there to protect innocent people and not to protect criminals! You cannot, Mr President, allow your few supporters to break the law with arrogance, impunity and then shamelessly stand on a podium to preach peace. This hypocrisy must stop. You cannot stand on podium and advocate peaceful elections and at the same time close your eyes to the realities of the ugliness of uncivility of violence from your camp. Our message to you today is this simple: We have had enough of rhetoric from political podiums. We want action from you and we call for an end to political violence once and for all. You have no excuse. Arise and act. To all the perpetrators of violence, let me warn you, May is not too far. Your godfathers will soon be out of power. They will be either on the streets with you or in jail. There will be no one, absolutely no one, to protect you. And we shall come on you hard. In fact, if we were to let our followers retaliate, of which they have been asking me to, you would be completely and thoroughly outnumbered. We know you and we can come after you. We can defend ourselves. But we are a peaceful party and a peaceful people and that is why we leave it to the law enforcement agencies to properly investigate these cases and prosecute the offenders. My fellow Malawians, you must understand that violence and intimidation is a form of vote rigging. Violence and intimidation is used by unpopular politicians to stop others from effectively campaigning and canvassing for votes, thereby denying voters the choice they desperately need. Violence and intimidation is used by undemocratic and unprogressive tribal parties to create a climate of fear for everyone because they know they cannot fairly compete and win (the DPP is no exception). Violence and intimidation is being used to stop people from organizing rallies or attending rallies. The idea is to depress the opposition vote. But they shall fail miserably. They shall fail miserably because good overcomes evil. They shall fail miserably because Malawians are made of sterner stuff! 7 My fellow Malawians, it is also very reckless and myopic for the DPP to use terror and intimidation to try to rig this election. The continent of Africa is replete with sad examples of how corrupt and inept leaders tried to use violence and intimidation to remain perpetually in power only to set their countries alight with uncontrollable violence and civil war. We must never ever play with fire. We must never take this peace we enjoy in this country for granted. It is simply silly and irresponsible. Mr. President, stop this violence perpetrated by your surrogates. You swore to defend the Constitution and protect Malawians. You must rise to your constitutional duties. Speaking of elections, my fellow Malawians, elections in Africa can trigger national crises. Elections management determines whether elections will be a stabilising force or a destabilising trigger. Yes, across the continent and the region, external support continues to be required to ensure compliance with electoral processes and acceptance of electoral outcomes. In Zimbabwe, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Kenya, the combined assets of local and international interlocutors have played key roles in managing controversies resulting from contested elections. Similarly, the upcoming elections in Malawi come with significant challenges that will require the collective effort of the region and the rest of the international community to overcome. Chief amongst these challenges are questions of level playing grounds for political parties and the impunity of the DPP. The success of these elections require that politicians conform to electoral rules and respect electoral outcomes. Success is also dependent on ensuring level playing grounds for all contestants and refraining from abusing state powers by limiting space for opposition candidates. Election management bodies, particularly the Malawi Electoral Commission, will also be key in ensuring credibility and fairness of the election process. My fellow Malawians, while civil society and citizens push for free, fair and credible elections, the region and the rest of the international community – especially African leaders – are needed to provide both diplomatic and moral pressure to ensure these elections are conducted in a manner that respects the rules and reinforces the credibility of the electoral process. We, in UTM, appeal to the Malawi Electoral Commission to rise to the challenge and protect its institutional legacy much to the delight of the people of Malawi. We would also like to encourage the losing candidates to 8 accept defeat with dignity and play their rightful role in the opposition as they prepare to rebuild their parties for the next election in 2024. The Malawi Defence Force has always stood by the Constitution and the people of Malawi. They intervened in 1993 when the infamous MYP Paramilitary Wing was attempting to stifle the transition from single party rule to multiparty democracy. As your the State Vice-President, I salute your professionalism and implore your continued guarding of the constitutional order in the event that you are called to duty again. Lastly, but not least, I wish to announce that in the next few days, I shall the name of the next Vice-President of the Republic of Malawi. That is the person who shall be my running mate at the May elections. I pray for God’s continued favour and blessings on our Motherland. I thank you for your attention
