By Isaac Salima:
The remains of Vice President Saulos Chilima were Monday buried at his home village, Nsipe, in Ntcheu District amid heavy police and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) officers’ presence.
Security concerns were raised prior to the burial ceremony, something which seems to have prompted MDF and the Malawi Police Service to take precautionary measures.
Earlier, the United States (US) embassy had issued an alert to US citizens on the possibility of the situation getting volatile in some parts of the country.
On Sunday evening, there were ugly scenes of violence at Tsangano Trading Centre in Ntcheu, where some people stoned vehicles that were among those that accompanied a motorcade carrying Chilima’s body.
President Lazarus Chakwera arrived at the venue of the event with heavy security presence.
Such was also the case during the burial ceremony, as security personnel accompanied Chakwera and First Lady Monica when they stood up to lay their wreaths.
Police officers and soldiers were also deployed around the area and in strategic positions alongside the M1 Road to keep perpetrators or violence in check.
Some people left the venue before the end of the ceremony, possibly to escape the anticipated acts of violence.
However, everything went on well despite some politics at play.
Former President Peter Mutharika stole the show when, after the event, some youths mobbed his vehicle and accompanied him for about a kilometre while chanting songs in praise of his name.
In the aftermath of Chilima’s death, there have been calls for the government to institute investigations into the plane accident.
Some UTM members of Parliament and ward councillors demanded that Minister of Defence Harry Mkandawire and his counterpart at Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma should not be part of the committee that was handling activities about the burial ceremony.
But Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu said it was not possible to heed such calls, insisting that the two ministers were crucial in the committee.
