2 hours Ago By Times News
By Cathy Maulidi: UTM Party has announced that aspiring presidential candidates have to pay a nomination fee of K20 million to contest at the party’s National Delegates Conference scheduled for November 17 2024 in Mzuzu City. According to a statement released Thursday, signed by party spokesperson Felix Njawala, candidates who are vying for the position of deputy president are required to pay a nomination fee of K10 million. Regional vice presidents for Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern regions will require the same amount.
Other key positions— notably those of secretary general, national treasurer and national organising secretary—are attracting fees that are ranging from K1.5 million to K5 million. “All 48 positions in the National Executive Committee (Nec) shall be contested.
Individuals interested to contest should make sure that they submit their nomination papers in the prescribed form by Wednesday, 30th October 2024, and that they satisfy all eligibility criteria under Article 34 of the UTM Constitution,” the statement reads. Women and the youths have been favoured in terms of nomination fees. “The UTM Constitution supports gender balance and youth participation.
“Therefore, women and youth are encouraged to run for all National Executive Committee positions, with a 50 percent discount on the fees,” it says. Apart from the election, other items on the convention agenda include dissolving the interim Nec, ratifying and adopting the UTM Constitution and endorsing a presidential candidate for the September 16 2025 Election. Njawala has, in the statement, also stated that the UTM Manifesto will be unveiled, outlining the party’s vision and plans for the future.
Commenting on the fees, political analyst Wonderful Mkhutche described the fees as exorbitant. “This is too expensive for most of the candidates that are vying for the presidency. The party is in the process of rebuilding and it needed to have measures that would accommodate as many aspirants as possible to ensure competition in order to get the best candidates.
The fees are prohibitive,” Mkhutche said..
