Army deny Peter’s houses ‘raid’

Malawi Defence Force (MDF) says the Army never sanctioned its officers to go to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Peter Mutharika’s houses in Area 10 and 43 in Lilongwe, saying police would be in a better position to explain.

MDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Francis Kakhuta Banda said Army officers were working in a joint operation with the police during the elections and that the police are the ones leading the operations.

Kakhuta Banda said the Army received no communication from the police that they were visiting Mutharika’s house, since it was not within their mandate to get involved in internal matters.

He said police requested the assistance of military officers during the election time and that the two security forces have been conducting joint patrols.

Mutharika on Wednesday protested the visit of police and military officers at his private houses in Area 10 and 43 in Lilongwe.

He told journalists in Blantyre that his private guard denied the officers entry into his houses because they had no search warrant. Mutharika described the police and Army visit to his houses as a serious threat to democracy.

But Malawi Police Service (MPS) National spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo refused to discuss the reasons police and military officers went to Mutharika’s houses, saying the media should be responsible.

She said: “I believe as members of the press, your main responsibility should be uniting and building Malawi. Do not be an unpatriotic citizen by anticipating violence.”

Manjolo did not want to discuss what would be police’s strategy in the event that the political temperature explodes in the wake of the sporadic violence that was witnessed during the voting.