DPP followers riot
Followers of the Malawi’s former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Monday turned violent and roughed up police officers at the Southern Region Police Headquarters in the commercial city of Blantyre in protest against the arrest of their interim president, Peter Mutharika and others.
The tear-gassing and running battles that led to temporary closure of the dual carriage Masauko Chipembere Highway and businesses around Ginnery Corner aside, the saddest moment to onlookers was the burning of national flags by the DPP supporters.
As Mutharika, the younger brother to Late Bingu wa Mutharika, was being held at Southern Region Police Headquarters before he was moved to Lilongwe, hordes of DPP supporters rushed to the highway and set up fire, effectively closing the road to innocent motorists.
Surprisingly, no police officer followed them to control the growing tension.
Police officers available only concentrated on the DPP supporters who were chanting at the gates of their premises, with some forcing their way in at intervals.
Noting that no police officer bothered them as they made more fires in the middle of the highway, the violent DPP supporters started pulling down poles that hoisted the national flags around the Chichiri Trade Fair Grounds and started burning them.
Police attempted to put Mutharika in an armoured vehicle (popularly known as Black Maria) on his way to the capital Lilongwe, but the supporters protested and prevented that, roughing up some police officers in the process.
On several occasions, officers were seen being provoked, but they exercised tolerance and their only worst reaction was firing of tear gas when one of them, armed with a firearm, was in danger after he was mobbed and tossed around outside the gates of Southern Region Police Headquarters.
With two armoured vehicles and other cars on line and ready to set off, police fired tear gas to disperse the provocative and chanting supporters. And, as they scattered, the vehicles cruised off, leaving a mammoth task to the remaining officers on the ground to deal with the situation.
Southern Region Police spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa admitted the police underestimated the situation, saying police did not expect such a reaction.
He, however, said no police officer has reported injury.
One of the lawyers representing the DPP heavyweight, Kalekeni Kaphale, said Mutharika had gone to the police as a transit point because he was set to be charged in Lilongwe.
Mutharika departed for Lilongwe around 11 am in the official vehicle of Southern Region Police Commissioner Paul Kanyama, registration MP 8.
Before Mutharika’s departure, former first lady Callista Mutharika arrived at the scene and police had to fire more tear gas to normalise the mood.
Callista said she was angry at the arrest because it was being done by a fellow woman who, she claimed, needed to defend the rights of people.
She said: “I am not happy that the brother of my late husband has been arrested and I did not expect Joyce Banda to do this because she was selected as a vice-president by Bingu wa Mutharika. Joyce Banda is a woman, but she has shown no compassion but only brought shame to DPP and the Mutharika family. I will follow Peter to Lilongwe to lend him a hand in his time of trouble.”
