Founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s ceremonial birthday yesterday did not give a break to police officers braving the Shire Valley’s sweltering heat to stop killings of men falsely accused of stealing locals’ private parts.
Malawi Police Service yesterday entered the sixth day of patrolling mob justice hotspots in the twin Shire Valley districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje with the news that one of two men injured in the superstitious attacks had died in the early hours of May 14, Kamuzu Day.
Ministry of Homeland Security has deployed at least 300 police officers to the Shire Valley districts, where the mob attacks have stirred terror and claimed eight lives in two weeks.
South East Region Police Commissioner Frank Kumukumu told journalists at Ngabu Police Camp in Chikwawa that detectives, police mobile service and general duties cops have arrested over 90 people in connection with the mob attacks that had initially claimed six lives in the two districts.
“Our detectives are working hard in the affected communities, making arrests and spreading messages against the misinformation. No one has lost their private parts and the police will descend and rain hell on anyone who is spreading the misinformation which has affected public order,” he said.
Kumukumu asked civilians in the Shire Valley to stop transmitting fake news, saying the security agency will protect whistle-blowers who are central to ending the deadly wave of mob justice.
He has left his air-conditioned office at the regional police headquarters in Luchenza Municipality in Thyolo to work in an open-air setting under a tree shade at Ngabu, where an emergency checkpoint, massive tents and armed cops have become the epicentre of the ongoing operation to restore law and order.
During spotchecks, The Nation saw the Police Brass Band sweating it out at Miseufolo and Ngabu trading centres, near Tomali where the newly deceased, who used to run a phone-recharging shop in the rural community, was attacked on Sunday afternoon.
The community outreach marked a prelude to the police football team, Blue Eagles’ match with Chikwawa Select at Ngabu, where law enforces and State authorities took turns to denounce the myth of disappearing private parts.
The police claimed an early victory over mob justice, saying they have not recorded a new attack since the police ramped up their presence and clampdown in the Shire Valley.
Regional community policing coordinator Assistant Superintendent Kingsley Mvuthe said the police have intensified public awareness, surveillance and whistle-blower initiatives in partnership with local allies and influencers, including traditional and faith leaders.
He said the collaboration with local actors and whistle-blowers has proved pivotal in combating mob justice fuelled by misinformation from neighbouring Mozambique and a widely publicised case that led to the arrests of over 200 people in Zambia.
On Wednesday, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri travelled to Chikwawa where he joined Deputy Inspector General of Police (operations) Noel Kayira in assuring the startled community that the claims that people can make private parts disappear are false and “thuggery” should not be used to justify attacks on innocent people.
“We have agreed that this foolishness and thuggery ends today, whether in the Lower Shire or any part of this country,” said Phiri.
The minister, together with Paramount Chief Lundu of the Lower Shire, warned that the ministry would dethrone chiefs found fuelling the violence or shielding suspects.
Police tallies indicate that about 60 detainees—almost two thirds of the suspects remanded to Blantyre Central Prison—are pencilled to answer murder charges when they appear in court.
Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC, with funding from the Danish Church Aid and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA-DCA), are supporting the ongoing public awareness campaign in response to the security lapse and human rights crisis caused by the rumours.
Speaking in an interview, MHRRC capacity development associate Noel Msiska said: “MHRRC jointly with NCA-DCA have been proactive to reduce ‘jungle justice’ in Nsanje and Chikwawa, which is essential to prevent the loss of innocent lives, uphold the rule of law and restore trust in formal, fair legal systems.
“The awareness mounted has brought knowledge and responsibilities among community leaders and the citizenry.”
Claims of disappearance of men’s private parts have created tension in Chikwawa and Nsanje, but authorities have said the claims are unfounded and driven by malice.
In 2017, rumours about so-called “blood suckers” triggered mob attacks that left at least nine people dead in Mulanje, Thyolo, Nsanje, Phalombe, Chiradzulu and Blantyre.
