Demos stir government panic
Panic was the prevalent mood yesterday ahead of the April 27 2018 demonstrations civil society organisations (CSOs) are planning with some government agencies visibly working to frustrate the nationwide protests.
It all started with Malawi Police Service (MPS) Deputy Inspector General (operations) Duncan Mwapasa who led a team of senior police officers to a meeting with CSO leaders to find ways of making the protests peaceful. The meeting came barely three days after police and Lilongwe City Council (LCC) officials also discussed the same issues with the organisers.
During the course of the day, it also transpired that the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) summoned privately-owned multi-award-winning Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) for airing an advert from the CSOs inviting people to join the demonstrations.
Then traditional leaders led by paramount chiefs Ngolongoliwa, Lundu and Kawinga held a news conference where they appealed to Malawians to stay away from the demonstrations (see full story on Page 4).
The CSO leaders said police summoned them following a doctored promotional advert for the protests which calls on people to carry out destructive demonstrations.
The doctored clip diverts from the original clip outlining issues that have motivated CSOs to demonstrate, but also calls for peaceful protests.
In an interview after the meeting last night, Human Rights Defenders Forum chairperson Timothy Mtambo, who is also leading the CSOs, said they agreed to cordially work with the police to ensure the demonstrations are peaceful.
He said: “The biggest worry for the police was the message contained in the doctored clip where evil-minded people have hijacked our message of peace. So, they called us so that we work together and denounce such things.
“We told them that any message that will come out beyond our message being aired on radio stations is not ours.”
Mtambo, who is also executive director of Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), said the CSOs have requested the police to investigate the doctored clip and bring culprits to book.
He said: “We have designated routes for our demonstrations and anyone who decides outside that route is not with us. We want peaceful protests, and no any amount of propaganda will shake us.”
In a separate interview, MPS national spokesperson James Kadadzera said while he was not part of the said meeting, the police service wants people to demonstrate peacefully.
On the other hand, ZBS proprietor Gospel Kazako confirmed that Macra has summoned the broadcaster to a meeting today.
He said: “It is true that Macra has summoned us. They say we have breached some schedules of our licence in airing that [CSOs] advert. So, we will be there to defend ourselves.”
Both Macra director general Godfrey Itaye and communications manager Clara Mwafulirwa were not available for comment as we went to press.
Through the demonstrations, which the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) and others are supporting, the CSOs are demanding cancellation of disbursement of K4 billion fund for parliamentarians and the resignation of Cabinet ministers Goodall Gondwe (Finance, Economic Planning and Development) and Kondwani Nankhumwa (Local Government and Rural Development).
The CSOs argue that the K4 billion allocation is illegal and not in the best interest of Malawians; hence, the need to immediately cancel it.
