3 arrested over Mphwiyo shooting
As news filtered in that police had arrested three people in connection with the shooting in Lilongwe last Friday of Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo, Minister Ken Lipenga has said Treasury has suffered a severe blow in the wake of the incident. Lipenga described Mphwiyo, now in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a South African hospital, in three adjectives to emphasise his value at Treasury.
“He is a hard-working young man with quality leadership and he is focused,” said the minister in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
He supported the school of thought which suspects the shooting has “something to do with his work”.
Said Lipenga: “The manner in which this happened leaves all of us to suspect that it may not have been just a robbery attempt.
“We have now left everything in the hands of police and pray to the Almighty that the medics in South Africa should do a good job and save his life,” he said.
National Police spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo told The Nation on Tuesday that “our investigators on the ground are interviewing three people”.
She added: “We are currently waiting for the outcome of the interview. The nation should be patient and trust that something is being done.”
Sources said the trio was arrested Monday morning by Bvumbwe Police in Thyolo in conjunction with officers from National Police Headquarters at Area 30 in Lilongwe.
As at 4pm on Tuesday, the Malawi Police Service (MPS) team of investigators had passed through Dedza ferrying the three to Lilongwe for further questioning.
Inspector General of Police Lot Dzonzi on Monday said several teams have been deployed to investigate the matter he described as “very serious”.
On Saturday, President Joyce Banda told a rally she knew the people behind the shooting, claiming they targeted Mphwiyo because he is fighting corruption in the civil service.
On Monday, top officials from security agencies assured the President that they would get down to the root of the matter.
The President is now in New York for this year’s United Nations summit.
Well done cops, I have a question for you though; why do you always seem to be professional when investigating cases that the state president has commented on? How many ordinary Malawians have been killed, robbed, raped, etc. but the assailants never been caught? The picture am getting is that our police is so corrupt to the point that they are involved in most of the robberies that are happening in our country. You have only acted so quickly in this case because the state house has been involved and you want to show us that you know your job. By the way lets hope you have arrested the right people and not just another gimmick to cool the tempers down.