By Isaac Salima
Just hours after President Lazarus Chakwera’s convoy was disturbed by a crowd in a funeral procession at HHI in Blantyre on Friday, Malawi Police Service has effected some transfers of senior ranking officials.
Notably, MPS has transferred Richard Luhanga who was Commissioner of Police for the South West Region (Blantyre) to Northern Region headquarters on the similar position.
Luhanga will swap roles with Noel Kayira who was heading the Northern Region and will now be leading the South East Region (Luchenza).
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Luhanga’s wife, Rhoda Luhanga, who was Regional Operations Officer II in the South will also be heading to the North as Regional Operations Officer III.
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This is according to a wireless communication that we have seen which is signed by Inspector General Merlyne Yolamu.
The postings also involve several other officers.
Superintendent Tuntufye Munthali who was Regional Auditor at South West Region has been moved to Mulanje while Grecian Chirombo has been transferred as Community Policing Coordinator for Mwanza to Kanengo Community Policing as a coordinator.
National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said he is yet to see the communication.
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He further said that the wireless communication is addressed to officers within the service and that it is not meant for the public.
Chakwera was on his way to Chileka International Airport from where he departed the country for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At HHI, his convoy uncharacteristically run into a funeral procession from Ndirande Township and the crowd refused to pave way for it despite police attempts to clear the passage.
Video clips circulating on social media show people remonstrating against giving way, a development that left police officers seemingly dazed and resigned to people’s wish.
For more than 20 minutes, the convoy stood still with the vehicle carrying the President clearly visible in the queue.
A security expert Sherrif Kaisi has since condemned the action against the presidential motorcade and has also raised questions about police handling of the matter.
“We are talking about the Office of the President not of Chakwera as a person. So what happened is unfortunate because the office deserves respect.
“But my question is on what happened with a sweeper because this is the vehicle that is deployed in advance to warn people that the convoy is on its way? So did the officers who were on the sweeper not take note of the impending scenario? This is where we need to dig deeper,” Kaisi said.
Political analyst George Chaima agree with Kaisi saying people need to always respect the presidential convoy as it is against the law to obstruct it.
