President Lazarus Chakwera has challenged the Malawi Police Service to investigate any form of political violence in the country and bring the culprits to account.
The call comes after repeated incidents in Lilongwe where some unidentified panga wielding thugs terrorized and stopped planned demonstrations by concerned parties in full view of the law enforcers.
The first incident occurred on Wednesday 13th November at the Lilongwe Community Centre ground when opposition parties wanted to voice their concerns on how some of the September 16 General Elections processes are progressing.
Another march organized by the Centre for democracy and economic development initiatives (CDEDI) was also foiled on 25th November after another group of hooded thugs appeared at the same community ground and prevented them people from demonstrating and later on police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
Following the first incident, Malawi’s former Presidents Peter Mutharika, Joyce Banda and Bakili Muluzi in a press release dated 15th November condemned the violent and unlawful acts describing them as an outrageous assault on democracy.
They argued that the Republican Constitution, international treaties and agreements under the United Nations, African Union and the SADC all provide for regular, free and fair elections conducted with integrity by an independent electoral commission.
“The alarming events of November 13, witnessed by the Police, represent a critical breach of our Constitutional principles and international standards. Such actions must be condemned in the strongest terms, especially as our nation approaches a critical election period. It is imperative that citizens are allowed to assert their constitutional right to participate freely in choosing their leaders. Let their voices be heard.
“We cannot remain silent. We demand that: the Inspector General of Police must launch an immediate investigation, arrest and prosecute all perpetrators of the violence. There is ample video evidence to initiate swift action.
“President Chakwera and the Malawi Congress Party must categorically condemn this violence, distance themselves from it, and reassure the citizens that such acts will not be tolerated again” it read.
In his 27th November evening address, Chakwera buttressed the call by his predecessors in condemning some emerging incidents of political violence.
“We have already seen a political party member murdered in Blantyre and demonstrators being intimidated in Lilongwe. These things will take our country nowhere, and I am calling on the Malawi Police Service to do its job of investigating every incident of political violence and bringing suspects to book.
“Malawians are peace-loving people and those who use their freedom of political participation or right to demonstrate for violent ends must not be allowed to ruin our reputation as a beacon of democracy in Africa”.
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