Former Catholic Church Archdiocese of Blantyre vicar-general Monsignor Boniface Tamani has faulted a culture of “arrest and release” that is getting entrenched in the country, calling for soul-searching within the criminal justice system.
The cleric noted that some arrests appear punitive rather than evidence-based, particularly those involving politically-connected individuals whose cases rarely reach logical conclusions.
Speaking during MBL Holdings’ annual prayers in Blantyre yesterday, Tamani said there is a worrying trend where police arrest suspects only to release them and repeat the process while failing to conclude investigations.
He said: “We do have some political arrests and you would see that these political arrests don’t go any far. If there are genuine issues under investigation, we would see convictions or sentences.
society. | Jonathan Pasungwi
“But from time to time, police just make arrests and release people without proper direction, which sends a very bad signal to society.”
The annual prayers also provided a platform for economic reflections with MBL Holdings chairperson Leston Mulli urging the government to create a conducive environment for local companies to invest, manufacture and export more in order to generate foreign exchange.
He said his group of companies is ready to work with government in tackling what President Peter Mutharika described as the country’s pressing “four Fs”, namely food, fertiliser, forex and fuel.
Former Cabinet minister Ken Lipenga, who also attended the event, echoed the call for closer collaboration between government and the private sector, describing it as indispensable to national development.
He said Malawi’s development ambitions cannot be realised without active private sector participation.
“Everywhere in the world, private companies like MBL Holdings are critical for development. Government must therefore continue working closely with the private sector,” said Lipenga.
MBL Holdings is a diversified Malawian conglomerate with interests spanning manufacturing, agro-processing, transport, hospitality and trading.
