President Lazarus Chakwera’s national address calling for peaceful campaign fell short of tackling substantive concerns on political violence ahead of the September 16 General Election, opposition parties and political pundits have stated.
In a televised statement on Monday evening, the President urged Malawians to maintain peace and to freely exercise their right to political participation and assembly.
“Violence during the campaign period is against the laws of Malawi. So, when you see someone assaulting others or removing other political parties’ flags, report them to police,” said Chakwera.
But in an inter view yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Shadric Namalomba described the statement as a missed opportunity to assure Malawians of peace and security in light of the unresolved terror by panga-wielding thugs.
He said: “We expected him to act. Instead, we got soft words and no action. Where are the reports requested from the Minister of Homeland Security and the Minister of Defence?”
In a separate interview, People’s Party secretary general Ben Chakhame said the President owes Malawians an explanation.
“We feel it is the President himself to answer on that. He has put up similar instructions before and whether he follows up or not it’s up to Malawians to judge,” he said.
On his part, political commentator George Chaima said President Chakwera is a good orator but observed that there is a huge disparity on the ground when it comes to matching his words with action.
“Yet again, he fell short of addressing the attacks on [activist Sylvester] Namiwa and others. When incidents of political violence manifest in the country, the President knows,” he said.
Electoral and identity politics expert Ernest Thindwa noted that successive administrations have not demonstrated commitment to allow security agencies to execute their respective constitutional mandate.
Political Science Association spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi also labelled Chakwera’s address as a huge disappointment.
Youth and Society executive director Charles Kajoloweka expressed disappointment, saying the President’s silence sends the wrong message.
“It’s quite unfortunate that the President did not address this serious concern. Malawians expected him to respond to issues raised by different stakeholders,” he said.
The President’s address came two weeks after panga-wielding thugs manhandled Namiwa at Lilongwe Community Centre Ground in full view of police and MDF officers.
The incident happened while the President was in Nigeria. He ordered ministries of Defence and Homeland Security to submit reports on the incidents. However, last week, State House only said the President had summoned and met the two ministers.
Efforts to speak to Minister of Information and Digititalisation Moses Kunkuyu, who is also government’s spokesperson, proved futile as he did not respond to our questionnaire.
