Governance and Human Rights Advocate Undule Mwakasungula has commended State President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, for his compassionate and timely decision to provide MK5 million to each bereaved family of the victims of the 20 July 2011 tragedy.
Mwakasungula, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said this gesture reflects true leadership, compassion, and the government’s recognition of the pain that these families have carried for over a decade.
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The killings on 20 July 2011 happened when peaceful Malawians took to the streets to demand better governance, affordable living, and an end to corruption under the then Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government, where 21 lives were lost, mostly in the Northern Region, including young people who were not armed, not violent, but simply exercising their right to protest.
But as Mwakasungula observed, DPP has, for 13 years, “never shown any remorse”.
“Worse still have continued to insult the memories of the victims by calling them criminals. This is deeply painful and unacceptable. These men and women are martyrs, not criminals. They died for the good of making Malawi a fairer, safer, and more just place. Calling them criminals is not only falsebut an insult to their sacrifice, families and the country as a whole,” he wrote.
“Taking note also is the President Chakwera’s additional commitment to erect a fence at the memorial site, and we appeal to his government to continue walking this path of healing and justice. We must say together that Never again will Malawians die for speaking truth. As we remember 20 July, we must reflect on the past, reject violence, and defend our hard-won democratic space. We must remember the fallen, and never allow history to repeat itself,” concluded Mwakasungula.
