Inspector General of Police Merlyne Yolamu is a woman to watch—a role model for many girls in Mchinji Distrist nnd beyond
A Standard Seven girl defiled by a community policing agent in the border district has three words for the top cop: “Chonde tithandizeni mai, tikuvutika (Please come to our rescue; we are in trouble).”
It is a year since a man almost twice Selina’s raped her while feigning to provide security at a pre-wedding get together in Traditional Authority Mduwa.
The alleged rapist is one of the 10 volunteers who have been patrolling the rural community since August 2022 when cops fled a mob that torched Mikundi Police Unit.
Selina recalls: “It was a Friday night in June 2024. I was attending a pre-wedding disco when two community policing members—Mr Goldie and Malekano—handcuffed me to a 16-year-old girl and dragged us into a dark hut, saying it’s illegal for girls to hang out at night.
“As the two left to fetch some more girls, arrived Indi Chibweya and Phaisha, who disappeared with my colleague. Indi violently undressed me and threatened to hand me to the police if I resisted.
“That was around midnight. I reported the matter to the two men who handcuffed us, but they couldn’t find Indi and his colleague. They had fled to Zambia nearby.”
The girls feel let down as the suspect remains on the run with no manhunt underway.
‘I’ve no confidence’
Police officers still shun Mduwa three years after the riot by a mob baying for a pair who wounded a 15-year-boy.
Selina’s mother is infuriated as “the fugitive returns home at will” amid the security lapse.
“I no longer have confidence that justice will be done,” she states. “When I once saw Indi sitting on a verandah, I felt like grabbing him by the neck so we could face off in court.”
The woman and her fourth born walked 18km to report the case at Kamwendo Police Station, but the unimaginable happened.
“Police officers told me to pay K30 000 for fuel, which I can’t afford. I implore the police boss should reopen our police unit. My daughter’s attacker walks scot-free because the police station is far away and we’ve to pay extra costs for justice.”
Yolamu, the first woman police chief approved by Parliament to head the Malawi Police Service, was appointed in July2022, weeks before Mikundi Police Unit was torched.
The ‘repentant’ community has reconstructed the facility using door-to-door contributions and the Constituency Development Fund.
Last October, village heads and a community action group members met district police authorities to apologise for the arson, but the unit remains unstaffed.
The renovations were part of Concerned Youth Organisations (CYO) advocacy to reduce poverty, gender-based violece and inequality, being funded by Oxfam Ireland through Oxfam in Malawi.
“The community now feels betrayed by duty-bearers’ broken promise to send staff after completion of the project,” says CYO project officer Aubrey Chidziwitso.
The Nation has asked Police IG Yolamu for her reply to the GBV survivor’s request and community concerns, but National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said she was too busy with presidential engagement just after returning from a regional meeting held in Tanzania.
The publicist warned against vandalism, which disrupts security and endangers police officers’ lives.
He said the security agency did not suspend its services in Mduwa, but serves the area from Kamwendo.
“Malawi Police Service is ready to deploy its officers back to Mikundi as soon as today. That is why, through Mchinji Police Station, we have been following up on the progress of the reconstruction,” he said, adding community policing agents are “vetted and trained”.
Community action group leader Prosperina Nyambose gave flashbacks of the security breakdown: “Two people waylaid a young vegetable seller on the way to Simphasi Market and dragged him into the bush where he was hacked and left for dead.
“After a good Samaritan rescued him, he named the suspects. Some community members attacked the police unit when they heard that the accused wasn’t in cell.”
Nyambose says the mob “was just venting pent-up frustration”.
“Some police officers were siding with well-off lawbreakers and straightforward cases were taking eternity,” she says.
However, the mob attack has worsened the situation.
“Most cases are dying prematurely due to the costly travels to police establishment where we’ve become unwelcome. They are punishing us so we can learn from our mistakes,” she says.
Dominic Njirankhondo detests the unfair punishment.
“Ours is a plea. We want a functioning police. They shouldn’t punish innocent children and women,” he says.
Justice denied
Gender-based violence and other crimes in the community are surging.
“The CAG has recorded 113 cases involving children, but only 12 have been concluded,” says social welfare agent Yamikani Nowa. “Offenders now take advantage of vulnerable women and children. They even threaten survivors and witnesses,” he says.
In Mduwa, a story is told of a man accused of defiling a 13-year-old girl in 2023 who threatened to burn a home of community policing member for reporting him to police.
In January 2024, a 53-year-old man accused of raping and impregnating a young girl, was acquitted after secretly procuring an opposing medical report suspected to have been doctored.
Similarly, Kamwendo Police Station has yet to arrest a man who impregnated his brother’s 11-year-old daughter.
“As a community, we feel the police aren’t fully serving us. We need them back in our midst,” says CAG member Jenala Rosten.
Community policing leader Yosefe Kachulu says citizen policing is nothing without uniformed police in sight.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” he says.
Turning to Selina’s case, he narrates: “A community policing member phoned around 2.30am to inform me that Phaisha and Indi had defiled minors aged 15 and 16 at mchezo. I immediately went to the girls and took them to the nearest health centres for screening before reporting to Kamwendo Police Station.
We don’t tolerate abuse, but a few wayward members are tainting our image. Some people have lost trust in the policing forum. They feel we take advantage of them and shield each other.”
As Selina’s wait for justice lengthens, she cries out to Yolamu: “I’m too young to face my attackers. I need police help. Bring them closer.”
