Renowned corporate executive Eng. Mathews Mtumbuka has vowed to grab the UTM presidency at the party’s elective convention slated for November this year.
Mtumbukuka a close associate of departed UTM president and country’s former vice president Saulos Chilima made the declaration on the sidelines of a daylong event at Padre Pio Secondary School which was organized by Nankhunda Seminary Secondary Aluminus to raise funds for the Zomba based Catholic school.
“When I was in university, I held a leadership position which enabled me to interact with politicians. I championed the fees reduction which we won. So a lot of people have been calling me to go into full-time politics.
“The voice thought I can contribute to he politics of Malawi, so there has been a political side in me. I will make a decision by Tuesday, and I will announce whether I am joining full time politics or not.
“I believe politics should be a calling, that’s why I have taken time to ask myself if God is calling me to join politics. Yiu must be called and answer the call. I believe I have reached the point where I have been called. I am considering if I should answer yes or no,” said Mtumbuka who said there is a leader in him since he was young.
Mtumbuka is expected to face Dr Dalitso Kabambe, Newton Kambala and Vice President Michael Usi.
Mtumbuka has been worked for Airtel Africa in a regional role covering IT Operations and Governance and as a Special Assistant to the Chief Information Officer for Airtel Africa, a role in which he has been managing IT systems, infrastructure, billing, Airtel Money and other projects across 14 countries.
Prior to that, he worked as IT Operations and Governance Lead for Airtel Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda. He also worked as IT Director for Airtel Rwanda and Airtel Malawi; Head of Technical Services at the Malawi Switch Center (MALSWITCH) Ltd; and IT Service Delivery Coordinator at Shell Exploration and Production – Europe based in Aberdeen, UK. He has taught as an adjunct Lecturer in Management of Technology at the Business School, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Mtumbuka has served as the President of the Malawi Institution of Engineers (MIE) for two years and as Chairperson for the ConnectIT Network, an association of IT Professionals in Shell in Europe. He was Executive Director of the Malawian Initiative for National Development and President of the Oxford University Africa Society. He currently sits on boards of several companies and organisations in Malawi including NBS Bank, Nico Technologies and Responsible Safari. Previously, he served as Vice Chairperson for the Council for Mzuzu University among other university governance roles.
A registered engineer with the Malawi Board of Engineers and Rhodes Scholar, Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka received a PhD in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford in England in 2005 after graduating from the University of Malawi with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (with DISTINCTION). His PhD Thesis, titled: “MIMO Techniques for Future High-Speed Wireless Communications Systems’ – investigated techniques that would improve the rate of data transmission on the mobile phone for 4G/LTE technology and produced more than ten publications in refereed journals.
