By Vincent Gunde
Lilongwe Malawi-Bakili Muluzi TV (BMTV), an online television station, has endorsed the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) decision not to enter into an alliance with the United Transformation Movement (UTM).
The station argued that it would be unreasonable for one district, Thyolo, to produce both a President and a running mate out of 28 districts nationwide.
BMTV further alleged that Dr. Dalitso Kabambe has been receiving financial support from businessman Leston Mulli in exchange for government contracts, warning that if Kabambe became President, Mulli would dominate tenders and contracts, amassing great wealth in a poor country.
The station said it was not surprising that Kabambe has been speaking negatively about former President and DPP leader Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, noting that UTM patron Noel Masangwi once wrote to Dr. George Chaponda requesting that Mutharika select Kabambe as his running mate.
According to BMTV, this proposal was rejected by senior DPP members, especially considering the party already has figures such as Alfred Gangata, Jappie Mhango, Bright Msaka SC, and Joseph Mwanamvekha in key positions.
The television station reported that Mutharika turned down Masangwi’s condition for an electoral alliance, which later led Kabambe to resign from the DPP and eventually assume leadership of the UTM following the death of Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima.
BMTV alleged that Kabambe was secretly funding operatives such as Kenneth Chitatata Msonda, Pastor Kinka, Joe Nyirongo, and Billy Frederick Malata to block Mutharika’s candidacy at the forthcoming DPP convention ahead of the September 16, 2025 elections.
The station claimed the DPP distanced itself from Kabambe because he was allegedly working with President Lazarus Chakwera and the MCP to destabilize the party, thereby undermining Mutharika’s political comeback.
BMTV also pointed to a controversy involving Billy Malata, who was accused on social media of receiving K35 million from Kabambe to frustrate Mutharika’s candidacy.
Malata denied the allegations, stating that he had no financial capacity to hire prominent lawyer Wapona Kita to represent him in court and questioned why Kabambe had chosen to sue him instead of Malawi News Agency (MANA), which first published the report.
“Billy Malata cannot have money to hire a well-known lawyer like Wapona Kita to stand for me in court. I have evidence that this is not a defamation case, and I will prove it beyond reasonable doubt,” Malata declared.
BMTV reported that after Mutharika named Justice Dr. Jane Ansah SC as his running mate, UTM leaders were angered and even sought the intervention of Paramount Chief Kaduya, complaining that Mutharika had chosen a Ngoni candidate over their preferred Lomwe, Dr. Kabambe.
The station further challenged UTM patron Noel Masangwi to explain the benefits he has allegedly received under Chakwera’s administration, claiming he was awarded lucrative contracts to construct police houses at Chichiri, Kanjedza, and Zomba worth K3 billion each.
