Church blames politicians for Mangochi demos

The Anglican Church has blamed some politicians in Mangochi for allegedly sponsoring demonstrations that claimed one life on Friday last week. Head of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire Bishop Brighton Malasa said in an interview on Monday that he had information about some overzealous politicians being behind the demonstrations. “I condemn what happened in the strongest terms. I was saddened that people can go that far out of political greed,” he mourned. He said it was unfortunate for politicians to sponsor the violence even after signing a peace declaration in Lilongwe prior to the Tripartite Elections. The protesters, calling themselves the “Mangochi business community”, took to the streets to protest a decision by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to delay announcing presidential elections pending a court determination. MEC later in the day announced results of the presidential elections where President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was declared winner.