Family receives death threats over church election
A member of Chiwembe’s St Paul CCAP Church in Blantyre, Godfrey Phiri, is living in fear after a fellow Christian threatened to terminate his life following his election as the church’s session clerk.
Church members elected Phiri on March 22 2014 to replace retiring Willy Mpate, but the development did not go down well with a certain segment of the members.
One of the disgruntled members belonging to one of the two losing candidates’ camps started intimidating Phiri using two hired Ndirande-based men.
The member twice wrote anonymous letters to Phiri, which were dropped at his wife’s work place at Ginnery Corner, threatening to eliminate him, among other warnings.
In one of the letters, the purported assassin told Phiri to humbly relinquish the position if he wanted his life to be spared.
Further, the letter threatened Phiri’s wife that she would soon be a widow because her husband would die ruthlessly.
Read one of the letters: “Iwe Phiri, isanafike Sunday, pitilatu ukawauze a busa kuti sukufuna kupitiliza ngati Mlembi ukapanda kutero uvutika chifukwa sitikusiya. [Go and tell your reverend before Sunday that you are resigning as session clerk, otherwise, we will deal with you].”
One of the two hired men was arrested last week when he went to drop another anonymous letter at the workplace of Phiri’s spouse.
The suspect was taken to Limbe Police Station where he spent some days before being released.
Limbe Police spokesperson Chifundo Kasunje confirmed arresting a man who she only identified as Moffat from Ndirande and a woman but refused to divulge more.
