Lazarus Chakwera vows to cast out ‘five demons

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera has said he will get rid of what he described as five demons affecting the country.

According to Chakwera, the five demons are; breaking of the country’s laws, hunger, theft, hatred and greed.

Addressing a huge crowd at Msundwe Trading Centre in Lilongwe yesterday, the MCP leader said it is sad that theft of government resources is still continuing, under the watch of the Peter Mutharika led administration.

“What type of thieves are these? They are not stopping. Even at a time we were in court they were still stealing…We need to get rid of that demon. Out!” Chakwera said.

During the rally, Chakwera applauded people of Msundwe for their persistence in seeking electoral justice, which he said in the process led to the loss of lives.

“We lost a police officer, which is a very bad thing. Recently, we buried a person at Santhe, but not much was said about it. But we know he was shot. This area has given the meaning of all the things people don’t want in this country,” Chakwera said.

In the course of his address, Chakwera invited all present to observe a minute of silence in honour of the souls of the people who died.

Since Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) declared that Mutharika won the May 21 2019 presidential elections, residents of Msundwe have been actively taking part in demonstrations, facilitated by Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), against the declaration.

Chakwera said people should change their perception about the people of Msundwe.

“Some people have done things with the aim of tarnishing the image of Msundwe. Some were reporting me to the United Nations that I was encouraging terrorism. But the court has proven them wrong,” he said.

He added: “Some people were saying Chakwera is encouraging the Chewa to fight the Yao. That’s a total lie. It’s Chakwera who will unite this country. He is not fighting the Lomwe, he is not fighting the Yao. He wants all of us to be united.”

MCP Vice president Sidik Mia, Freedom Party (FP) president Khumbo Kachali, People’s Party (PP) vice presidents, Roy Kachale, Ephraim Chivunde, and Beatrice Mwale also attended the rally.

Kachali said Malawians will never forget the role people of Msundwe played in seeking justice in as far as last year’s presidential election is concerned.

He however said what has happened is just the beginning.

“The war has just started. It will end when Lazarus Chakwera wins the presidential election,” he said.

The Constitutional Court recently annulled the presidential election results that gave Mutharika a second mandate and ordered that a fresh election be conducted in 150 days (effective February 3,2020).

This was after Chakwera and UTM’s Saulos Chilima had petitioned the court over the results, which they argued were mismanaged.