President Lazarus Chakwera summoned and met ministers of Homeland Security and Defence over the June 26 2025 violence in Lilongwe where panga-wielding thugs pounced on demonstrators in full view of State security.
In a written response yesterday, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said the President has so far spoken to Minister of Homeland Security Ezekiel Ching’oma and his Defence counterpart Monica Chang’anamuno.
He said: “Since his return from Nigeria, the President has spoken to both ministers and the ministers reported the measures put in place by relevant bodies to investigate the matter as prescribed by law.
“For his part, the President also noted that his calls for calm and an end to the violence had been heeded, thus, contributing to the peace that Malawians were able to enjoy throughout the State visit by Botswana’s President Duma Gideon Boko and throughout the Independence Day Celebrations across the country, which he believes will continue in the campaign period that starts on Monday.”
The President’s move comes after he had earlier demanded reports from the two ministries while on official visit to Nigeria.
However, five days after his return, there was dead silence on the status of the reports, raising queries from various sections of society, including the clergy and international community regarding those reports.
Reacting to the development, Human Rights Consultative Committee chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba said there is no progress on the matter and that it was misleading to state that the calls for peace have been heeded to.
He said: “Implicitly the President is trying to say those who cause violence are the ones who participated in the independence celebrations.
“Simply put we expect the President to relieve of their duties the IG and army commander so as to send a strong message that his government will not tolerate negligence and people tainting his good image.”
Political Science Association spokesperson Mabvuto Bamusi described the State House reaction as “a huge disappointment”, saying it reflected the institutionalisation of hypocrisy and the consolidation of impunity while giving victory to the panga-wielding thugs.
“Malawians will lose twice. They will suffer a violent and non-peaceful election environment while paying taxes to fund the police that have so far proved to be an agent for State sponsored violence,” he said.
On his part, political pundit Wonderful Mkhutche said the President’s purported engagements with regard to the recent Lilongwe violence have not solved anything.
He said: “If the government was serious about this issue, by now we should have had arrests as the people who were involved were caught on camera. What is there to investigate?”
Panga-wielding assailants descended on protesters from Citizens for Credible Elections at Lilongwe Community Centre ground, which was the starting point of demonstrations supporting the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja and chief elections officer Andrew Mpesi for allegedly failing the nation in terms of preparations for the elections.
Both local rights watchdogs and the international community have also condemned the violence with the European Union threatening to withdraw aid.
Despite the ugly scenes happening in full view of police and MDF officers and video footage showing the same, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya told The Nation one week later that police were “still investigating” and that no arrests have been made to date.
