Malawi Police Service has maintained that it handled professionally the riots that ensued in Mzuzu on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
The sentiments by National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya come on the back of Tuesday’s police response by firing tear gas, which suffocated scores of students at Katoto Secondary School, Mzuzu CCAP Primary School and people in surrounding residential areas.
Asked to explain how accountable the police are for injuries caused by their actions, Kalaya said students and residents were affected because their facilities and locations are closer to riot hotspots.
He said: “We have worked very well. This is our constitutional mandate. We have seen media reports of students who were affected. However, we are mandated to provide security during demonstrations, but there was no ownership for these riots. Just a group of young people motivated to cause havoc.”
On what qualifies a violent situation to warrant use of force, Kalaya said police use necessary force according to set guidelines.
“Civilians cannot be telling police how to handle riots. We are the experts and we are trained to handle protests. The injuries felt by the affected people were not intentional,” he said.
Kalaya said 25 people have been arrested and are still in police custody while one rioter, who was armed with a metal bar and allegedly made for Mzuzu Airport, was shot in the leg and is receiving treatment at Mzuzu Central Hospital.
He said the extent of damage caused during the riots on Tuesday and Wednesday has not yet been quantified.
But Airport Development Limited spokesperson Wezzie Gondwe said yesterday that preliminary assessment showed that rioters smashed the Mzuzu Airport VIP section, the fire department offices, and damaged other operational vehicles.
“Windows and doors have been damaged at the VIP terminal building. I cannot be accurate with the information now since we have abandoned the assessment exercise due to the resurfacing riots,” she said.
Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara and Civil Aviation Authority officials were scheduled to inspect the airport’s rehabilitated runway yesterday ahead of talks to certify it.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Gift Trapence said there is need for police to be trained in crowd management, as similar inefficiencies were experienced during the 2019 and 2020 demonstrations.
“The police have shown serious shortfalls during crowd control. Their behaviour sometimes is questionable, especially on the use of excessive force. The police are supposed to be professional.
“For a long time we have seen the police sometimes using force and tear gas unnecessarily,” he said.
On Monday, some youths in the city proceeded with riots without approval from market vendors who had earlier postponed their action following a 30-day petition they delivered to President Lazarus Chakwera on March 4 2025.
