The UTM party says its elective congress will go ahead as planned despite concerns from party leader Michael Usi that the National Executive Committee (NEC) flouted procedures in setting the nomination date and fee.

In an interview on Sunday, UTM party spokesperson Felix Njawala said while he could not comment on Usi’s sentiments, the conference would go ahead as planned and all aspiring candidates had campaigned through meetings with delegates.

He said: “Even the vice president (of the country) (Usi) campaigned before the convention, so if any members of our NEC had any concerns about the convention, they could have conveyed them to the vice president. »

The UTM announced last month that it would hold its congress on November 17, 2024 in Mzuzu and the nomination fee for the post of president has been set at 20 million kwacha.

But speaking in an interview with Zodiak Broadcasting Station on Saturday evening, Usi said the UTM NEC had not met to confirm the date, nomination fee and deadline for submission of nominations.

“The NEC does not know the people who are running this convention, whether or not they have a contract with the party and whether they are going to be paid. We had to meet and discuss the logistics and budget of the convention,” he said.

During the interview, USi rejected suggestions that he was afraid of competition at the convention, saying he wanted the party to hold an elective conference to end infighting.

“But I fear that if the party constitution is not respected and I win the UTM presidency, the same people could go to court to challenge the results on the grounds that there were irregularities in organizing the convention,” he said.

The Nation reported that the Usi had ordered on October 24, 2025 that due to the arrest of the party’s General Secretary (SG) Patricia Kaliati, the NEC meeting scheduled for October 25, 2024 to prepare for the conference be postponed.

However, the UTM party NEC met that day at the party headquarters in Lilongwe and deliberated on the upcoming convention, including confirmation of dates, venues and ratification of nomination fees.

Meanwhile, submission of applications by candidates is expected to end today.

So far, former Reserve Bank of Malawi governor Dalitso Kabamb e, UTM SG Patricia Kaliati and engineer Matthews Mtumbuka have submitted their nominations for the position of president.

Usi, former energy minister Newton Kambala and the party’s national youth director Penjani Kalua also said they were interested in running for president at the convention.

The UTM party has been plagued by infighting since the death of its founding president Saulos Chilima in a military plane crash on June 10, 2024. Usi assumed the position of president in accordance with the party’s constitution. However, factions emerged within the party, which sometimes publicly contradicted each other.