Member of Parliament (MP) for Mzimba North Constituency Agnes NyaLonje has dumped Peoples Party (PP) and joined United Transformation Movement (UTM).
In an exclusive interview with this reporter in Mzuzu, Nyalonje said she has joined UTM to fight rampant corruption and dethrone the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
“We have water problems in Mzimba North, serious problems. We need something like 500 million Kwacha just to do some work and people steal 12 billion, just one person. And you tell me we have no money?
“So UTM we are saying that we are going to attack that which stops services coming to the people of Mzimba North. And the people of Mzimba North recognize that if there was no corruption we may have water, ”said Nyalonje after addressing a rally in her constituency.
Nyalonje’s remarks come in the wake of recent criticism of the Malawi Government by some civil society organizations who accuse the Government of massive corruption in the award of public contracts and compensations to alleged allies of President Peter Mutharika.
In one case, business tycoon Leston Mulli is seeking K 8 billion in damages for losses that Companies in his chain of businesses suffered during anti-Government protests in July 2011 in addition to the K3.1 bullion already paid to Mulli.
On Saturday, the Mzimba North MP also took a swipe at critics who are saying that her chances of retaining her Parliamentary seat in 2019 are narrow.
Nyalonje says she is confident that she will retain her Parliamentary seat due to her visible development efforts in improving education, communication and health service delivery in the Constituency.
“In a Constituency that has 72 primary schools and 13 community day secondary schools, in a Constituency that is using the same amount of money to drive that kind of development, so we have evidence on the ground to show.
“In Mzimba North, the western side, there was not much to show when you talk of phone network. Now they have a TNM tower and people can communicate effectively due to the TNM tower.
This is the first time that Nyalonje has granted an interview to the media on her move to UTM. The MP said that the UTM is an entity that shares her development strategy.
“I have three strategic goals and I want to continue on UTM ticket because UTM is in keeping with my own agenda of change. if we introduce more Umunthu, there will be no stealing,” said Nyalonje.
For the Parliamentary seat in the 2019 Tripartite Elections, in Mzimba North , Nyalonje is expected to battle it out against other strong contenders including DPP’s new recruit, Rosemary Mkandawire.
