Chakwera hecklers arrested, seek help
Two men arrested for allegedly obstructing and throwing stones at President Lazarus Chakwera’s motorcade in Blantyre on Friday are expected to appear in court today for formal charging.
The duo, Pearson Chimimba, 48, and Hector Ndawala, 38, were arrested on Monday in Ndirande Township.
Chimimba is accused of blocking the presidential convoy with a vehicle he was driving while Ndawala is alleged to have pelted the motorcade with stones when a funeral procession blocked it at HHI Roundabout on the Magalasi Road.
In an interview yesterday at Blantyre Police Station, Chimimba’s elder brother, Jonathan, said he did not believe that his brother committed the alleged offence and appealed to lawyers to help them.
He said their family cannot afford to hire a lawyer because they are poor.
Said Jonathan: “We know that our brother did not commit the alleged offence, but our fear is that we can lose the case because we are poor and don’t have money to hire a lawyer.
“We understand that some people have lost cases because of lack of legal representation. If you look at all the video clips that are circulating, you will not see a vehicle which Pearson was driving blocking the convoy. So, we are appealing to lawyers who can offer free services to help us on the matter.”
When The Nation got in touch with them during visiting hours at Blantyre Police Station, both suspects expressed shock with their arrests, saying they were not involved in the offences.
Ndawala, a minibus driver, said: “I still don’t understand why I am here [police cell]. I arrived at the scene when the presidential convoy had already left.
“But the problem is that we cannot afford to hire lawyers on our own.
“Why would I throw stones at the presidential convoy? If there are some lawyers who can help, please help so that justice should prevail.”
National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya yesterday asked for more time as he had not received any official information regarding the arrests.
“I have just seen that on social media, I will come back to you when I gather information,” he said.
But when contacted again three hours later, Kalaya did not pick our calls on several attempts.
However, a police crime situation report has seen indicates that police are investigating the matter and want to impound the alleged vehicle that blocked the presidential convoy and make more arrests.
Police sources said Chimimba spent a night at Soche Police Station on Monday before being taken to Blantyre Police Station yesterday morning while Ndawala, who was arrested while he was loading passengers in Ndirande Township, was taken to Blantyre Police Station on Monday.
The President’s motorcade was blocked at HHI Roundabout by a funeral procession heading to HHI Cemetery. He was travelling to Chileka Airport to board a plane to Democratic Republic of Congo to attend the inauguration of that country’s President Felix Tshisekedi.
Viral video clips of the scene that went viral showed scores of people blocking the convoy’s lead vehicle for some minutes. The President’s official vehicle was also seen in the video and was covered by other vehicles as the crowd chanted “Ayime! Ayime! Wayimabeee! Wayimabee! [They should give us way! Great, he has stopped!].”
Hours after the incident, police transferred some of its senior officers, including South West Police Region commissioner Richard Luhanga to the Northern Region on the same position, swapping with Noel Kayira, who was Northern Region Police Region commissioner.
