There is no denying that people have a constitutional right to hold demonstrations in the country. The Republican Constitution also obligates the country’s security agents, specifically the Malawi Police Service, to provide protection to demonstrators. But demonstrations should be held for valid reasons and not unsubstantiated fears and perceptions fuelled by falsehoods as has been the case for some protests held during the past one year. Holding demonstrations against the use of Smartmatic electoral management systems and for MEC chair Annabel Mtalimanja and her chief executive officer Andrew Mpesi to resign because of their relationship with someone is mere politicking.
Just by way of background, Mzuzu City has been the epicentre of demonstrations in the country during the past five years. During this period, the Northern Region city has seen 11 protests compared to nine and six for Lilongwe and Blantyre, respectively.
This year alone, there have been seven demonstrations in Mzuzu which is more than all protests held in Blantyre and Lilongwe during the same period combined. There have been a total of six demonstrations, three each in Lilongwe and Blantyre during the same period.
However, between 2020 and 2024, Lilongwe City saw the highest number of protests—seven—followed by Mzuzu, four, and of the three biggest cities, Blantyre had the least: three. Zomba City has been the quietest metro having witnessed only two protests in the past five years—on December 21 2021 and on March 11, 2025. Both demonstrations were held to protest the rising cost of living, fuel and forex scarcity.
But with elections only 65 days away, one would wish we did away with demonstrations altogether because they are disruptive and toxic to the economic and political landscape. They have potential to increase voter apathy.
The official campaign period is the prime time for political parties to do themselves a lot of favour by concentrating on selling their candidates to voters as opposed to organising or wasting good money on demonstrations.
Of course, I know for a fact that for some people, holding demonstrations is their specialty and a source or their bread and butter. But I implore you that during the next two months please hold your patience. Let the country hold the General Election in a free and fair manner without the disturbance that demonstrations create. And that is only possible if political parties, candidates and activists alike subscribe to the belief that protests, for whatever reason, have so far been the main source of violence.
In this country, as long as there are protests, there will also be violence. This is because protests are a campaign strategy for politicians who use activists only as fronts. Someone should challenge me and point at a demonstration that was not sponsored by a political party during the past seven years. All the 26 demonstrations that have been held—11 in the North, 9 in the Centre and six in the South—since 2019 have been financially supported by politicians, regardless of the reasons for holding them.
The biggest problem with protests is that they are never peaceful. When informing authorities, organisers will say they want to hold peaceful demonstrations, but many people join in the exercise for their ulterior motives: to break into innocent people’s shops and loot. By the way, I like what Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered the police in his country to do to looters: shoot them in the legs and ensure they break their legs. Then take them to hospital for treatment. Thereafter, when they are discharged from hospital, prosecute them. Perhaps Malawi can borrow a leaf from Kenya.
It is because of these negative and retrogressive outcomes of demonstrations that each and every administration has been coming hard against organisers of demonstrations. The looting and carnage they cause tarnish the image of the government. At the end of the day, in Malawi demonstrations are just confrontations between the governing party and the opposition. So my plea once again is that much as it is their constitutional right to hold demonstrations, or for some their source of bread and butter, during the next two months only, they should cease fire. Demonstrations have two main negative outcomes: apart from increasing voter apathy, they are also disruptive to business.
