US speaks on political violence
By Rebecca Chimjeka:
The United States (US) has expressed concern over the recent spate of politically-motivated violence in the country.
In a statement the US Embassy released on Monday, Ambassador Virginia Palmer says her government is concerned with incidences of political violence registered in the run up to the May 21 2019 elections.
“I applaud recent statements by political leaders decrying violence, including the targeting of women, and President [Peter] Mutharika’s directive to the Malawi Police Service (MPS) to prevent violence and bring those responsible for violence to justice,” Parmer says.
She warns that incidences of violence can damage the credibility of Malawi’s electoral process and undermine citizen confidence in political systems.
Parmer further encourages the public to report cases of violence to the police to ensure that violence perpetrators do not go unpunished.
“We encourage MPS senior leadership to support officers doing the hard work of maintaining peace in the communities and urge political leaders to remove those responsible for encouraging violence from positions of responsibility,” she adds.
She says her government would stand with Malawians in calling for a free, fair and violence-free election.
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