By Pemphero Malimba:
Panga-wielding men Wednesday blocked members of opposition political parties from holding demonstrations over electoral issues in Lilongwe.
The opposition parties included the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), United Democratic Front, UTM and Alliance for Democracy (Aford).
When The Daily Times crew arrived at Lilongwe community ground, where the political parties planned to start the demonstrations on their way to Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) offices, it found armed and masked men threatening and assaulting people who were passing by.
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They were doing so in full view of Malawi Police Service officers, some of whom stood hands akimbo.
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Police officers’ inactivity prompted those who planned to hold the demonstrations to run for their dear lives.
On the day, business came to a standstill as shops were closed.
DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba alleged that the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) was behind the “undemocratic act”.
“Why is it that the Malawi Congress Party is sending people to hack us? Why? What kind of democracy is this? We thought that they [Malawi Congress Party] were in government and they would be democratic and could allow us to conduct peaceful demonstrations,” Namalomba said.
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But MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila asked the opposition parties to provide evidence that their party sent the armed men.
“We have an election to win. We are not going to worry about innuendos. If they think they [men] are MCP, bring us evidence before we engage on this [issue]. It is getting way out of hand. If they have found people doing criminal things, we have institutions that deal with this but no one has a right to just wake up and claim that [it is MCP],” Kabwila said.
On his part, Malawi Police Service spokesperson Peter Kalaya said they were yet to receive reports of vandalism and injuries.
“As far as we know, there were no demonstrations in Lilongwe and people did not gather anywhere as they were not cleared by the Lilongwe City Council. We deployed our officers in town, as we always do, for daily patrols.
“We got information that some shop owners and business people secured their premises in their own ways. As I write to you now, we do not have any report of vandalism or injury,” Kalaya said.
Meanwhile, good governance advocate George Chaima has faulted police for failing to act on the armed men.
“The conduct is infringing on human and democratic rights that every Malawian has. The conduct of the opposition is in line with tenets of holding peaceful demonstrations by informing the authorities on their planned demonstrations. As such, police were supposed to respond in an appropriate manner to protect those passing by the demonstrations’ venue,” Chaima said.
Meanwhile, the opposition political parties have announced, through a press briefing they held in Lilongwe, that they had engaged the courts to intervene in issues related to their planned demonstrations.
Aford president Enoch Chihana said the parties wanted the courts to help in ensuring that the parties should be conducting demonstrations in line with provisions of the Republican Constitution.
“We went to move the courts and the courts have set a date on Friday so that we can have an inter-partes hearing so that whatever demonstrations or vigils we are doing have to be in line with our Constitution,” Chihana said.
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation Executive Director Michael Kaiyatsa urged the police to institute investigations into the conduct of the armed men.
“We call upon the Malawi Police Service to investigate this incident impartially, identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice without delay. Failure to do so will only deepen the perception that our police service is politically compromised, an unacceptable outcome that will further destabilise our nation’s democratic integrity,” Kaiyatsa said in a statement released yesterday.
On Tuesday, Lilongwe District Commissioner Lawford Palani asked the opposition parties to reschedule their protests, claiming that police officers would be busy with other activities.
However, during the fracas, several of them came out but could not save the Malawians who were attacked by the armed men.
Among other things, the opposition are demanding the resignation of Mec Chairperson, Judge Annabel Mtalimanja, claiming that she is compromised.
However, Mtalimanja recently said she was one of the people nominated by the Judicial Service Commission before being finally appointed by President Lazarus Chakwera.
She said she was committed to the holding of free and fair elections.
