A group of aspiring councillors and Members of Parliament who were contesting under the Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu Party have abandoned their leader, Dr. Michael Bizwick Usi, and declared their support for Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential candidate, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, ahead of next week’s elections.
The group, led by Frederick Billy Malata, said Dr. Usi has failed to demonstrate seriousness as a presidential candidate and has instead turned his political movement into “mere drama.”
Speaking to journalists in Lilongwe on Thursday, Malata, who is set to contest as a councillor on the party’s ticket, accused Dr. Usi of lacking direction and commitment.
He said that despite the elections being only days away, the party has not yet trained election monitors or presented a clear strategy for contesting the polls.
“As things stand, over 100 members who held various positions in the party have resolved to leave and will instead rally behind Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, a leader who has shown commitment to developing this country and not playing drama,” said Malata.
Malata further accused Dr. Usi of engaging in populist rhetoric without evidence.
“He keeps saying that people in government are stealing, but he fails to provide proof. That shows he is not serious about governance, he is only acting,” Malata charged.
The development is a blow to Dr. Usi, who launched the Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu Party earlier this year, positioning himself as an anti-establishment candidate. However, critics have often dismissed his style as theatrical, reflecting more of his background in the arts than a concrete political vision.
Dr. Chakwera, who is seeking re-election under the MCP, has in recent weeks received endorsements from various political and civil society figures. Analysts say the defection of Odya Zake candidates, though not a major numerical shift, strengthens the narrative of disunity around Dr. Usi’s candidacy while boosting MCP’s momentum going into the campaign’s final stretch.
At the time of filing this report, Dr. Usi and his campaign team were yet to comment on the mass defection of candidates from his party.
The Pangolin Says:
When Dr. Michael Bizwick Usi launched his much-talked-about Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu Party earlier this year, many Malawians were intrigued. Here was a man who had risen to national fame not only as a medical doctor and development worker, but also as “Manganya,” a comic actor who often portrayed the struggles and absurdities of ordinary life.
His entry into presidential politics carried an aura of novelty. The party’s name itself, loosely translated as “One is free to enjoy his meal without blame”, was marketed as a fresh, grassroots political brand for a country tired of recycled political elites.
But on Friday in Lilongwe, that aura dimmed considerably. A group of parliamentary and ward council candidates openly renounced Dr. Usi’s leadership, accusing him of turning the party into a stage for theatrics rather than a serious vehicle for political change.
The defection of candidates—some of whom had already started grassroots campaigns in Lilongwe, Dowa, Dedza, and Ntcheu, is a direct hit on Dr. Usi’s credibility.
Though the Odya Zake Party has not been ranked among the “big three” in this year’s race (MCP, DPP, and the UTM), defections this late in the campaign suggest that its capacity to survive as a political force is in jeopardy.
To understand why this development is politically significant, one must revisit Dr. Usi’s unconventional journey. For over two decades, he was beloved as “Manganya,” the comic protagonist in one of Malawi’s most-watched television shows, Tikuferanji. The series, which dramatized social and health issues, made him a household name, particularly in rural communities.
But Dr. Usi was never just an entertainer.
Trained as a medical professional, he also held leadership roles in development organizations, including ADRA Malawi, where he championed community health, youth empowerment, and social accountability. This dual identity, medical man by profession and actor by passion, fed into his brand as a “different kind of politician.”
In 2019, he formally entered politics through UTM under Dr. Saulos Kaluas Chilima. He later served in President Chakwera’s administration as Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Wildlife, and as Vice President following Chilima’s death.
His move to form the Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu Party in early 2025 has been interpreted as out of frustration after he was initially tipped to be MCP running mate but later saw the tides against him after the entry of Engineer Vitumbiko Mumba on the scene.
The party’s philosophy, rooted in the idea that “every Malawian should be free to enjoy the fruits of their hard work without envy or interference”, though comical, was catchy.
For a while, it captured the public imagination. Posters of the smiling Dr. Usi with his trademark Manganya wit became fixtures in trading centers. His rallies often mixed political messaging with humor, leaving crowds entertained.
Yet critics argued that the party’s identity was too performative. While other candidates launched manifestos, Odya Zake often staged rallies that looked more like theatre than politics. The recent defections suggest that even insiders felt the movement was “unserious”.
For President Chakwera and the MCP, the endorsement is symbolically valuable.
MCP has been aggressively consolidating its support base in both rural and urban areas, emphasizing its record on infrastructure, social protection, and governance reforms. The defection of Odya Zake candidates gives Chakwera two advantages.
First, it adds to the narrative that smaller parties are collapsing into the MCP orbit. In politics, perception often matters as much as numbers. By attracting disillusioned candidates from Odya Zake, MCP presents itself as the party of stability and seriousness in contrast to the theatrics of fringe players.
Second, the endorsement helps MCP extend its influence in districts where Odya Zake had attempted to penetrate. Malata’s group may not command massive voter blocs, but their local networks, especially at ward level, could translate into additional votes for Chakwera in a highly competitive election.
Political analysts have said that while the defections may not dramatically shift the national vote, they reinforce Chakwera’s image as the candidate most likely to unify disparate groups.
The September 16 elections are shaping up as one of the most competitive in Malawi’s history. In this crowded field, Dr. Usi’s Odya Zake party was always an outsider and political observers say this development effectively narrows the contest further to a three-way race, with Odya Zake pushed further to the periphery.
The irony is that Dr. Usi’s strength, his flair for drama, may also be his undoing. Many Malawians admire his wit and authenticity, but politics demands more than performance. Voters expect structures, manifestos, and practical solutions to unemployment, inflation, and food insecurity.
By failing to transition from the stage of Tikuferanji to the stage of national politics, Usi risks being remembered not as a visionary leader but as a comic relief in Malawi’s political theatre.
