On a chilly Friday evening thousands of people braved the cold July weather to attend a candle light memorial for the late former Vice President Saulos Chilima and the other eight who perished in a military plane crash in Chikangawa forest last month.
The memorial was held at Masintha ground in the populous Kawale Township a venue synonymous with political rallies.
The majority of the attendees were mostly the youth who in interviews said they will greatly miss Chilima.
Organised by the Lilongwe UTM Youth Ambassadors (LUYA) the function is said to have cost the party about K600,00.
AG for LUYA Moffat Zimba said they initially wanted to have the service at the Lilongwe Community Centre but they knew so many people would turn up hence opting for Masintha Ground.
Said Zimba.”We had to mobilise resources and about K600,000 is what we have spent to have this successful event. As youth we have also an obligation to take part in politics and we wanted to remember our fallen leader in this special way,” said Luya.
Asked whethe they think that there was foul play in Chilima’s death Luya was non committal only saying that they have accepted that their leader is gone.
“That is a tricky question but since we are prayerful people we know that everything happens for a reason. Our leader is gone but as a party we will still soldier on,” he adde.
Mollen Chisambi from Area 23 said the death of Chilima has left a lot of questions to be answered but there nothing which can be done now.
“I came for this service because I loved the former Vice President because of his oratory skills during the last campaign. He gave the youth hope and as a way of showing respect this is why I came all the way from Area 23,” he said.
Speaking to the gathering earlier UTM Secretary General Patricia Kaliati confirmed that the party is out of the Mgwirizano Alliance led by the ruling Malawi Congress Party.
She said if a lover is behaving strangely sometimes you do not need to be told that you are unwanted but you just move out.
“sometimes you do not need to be told that your lover is tired with you but you just read the signs. This is what has compelled us to leave the alliance,” said Kaliayti.
She also encouraged eligible voters to get letters from their chiefs to allow them to register fearing that most voters will be frustrated and not register.
Among those who attended the event were religious leaders and other high ranking UTM officials and members from Civil Society Organisations.
Manay Malawians are anxiously waiting to see what will be the next move of the United Tranformation Movement in Chilima’s absence
