Govt hits back at Chilima
Government has hit back at the Vice-President and UTM Party leader Saulos Chilima for accusing the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of unleashing a ‘satanic wave of terror.’
During a press briefing he held on Wednesday, Chilima hinted that the Peter Mutharika administration condones intolerance and sponsors political violence.
But in a press statement issued yesterday, Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Henry Mussa hit back at Chilima, saying that the remarks he made are below someone sitting as the Vice President.
He said government does not pursue politics of intolerance and violence.
The statement reads in part: “The public is being informed and assured that the government of the Republic of Malawi does not have a policy, written or implied, of violence let alone intolerance.
“If this was not the case, Dr. Chilima would not still have been enjoying State amenities, including security and a salary despite practically abdicating from his official responsibilities as Vice.”
He branded Chilima’s remarks as threats of retaliation that only serve to fertilise hatred and ‘schemes of political thuggery’ which every Malawian should run away from.
But in an interview UTM director of communications Joseph Chidanti Malunga said Chilima was emphasising on issues of political violence which have seen women supporting the opposition party being undressed.
He said Chilima, as UTM leader, is obliged to condemn violence, an obligation he said the State President Peter Mutharika has not fulfilled as the leader.
Chidanti said: “The issue we are talking about here is the issue to do with undressing women. And those women are UTM supporters. So, did they think that we should sit down and watch without condemning that?
“We believe that people who perpetrate violence of this type are DPP members because they were boasting about that and they were asking someone to take pictures and videos of women being undressed.”
In the statement, Mussa further argued that government will not tolerate any violent acts regardless of the society the perpetrator belongs to.
Recently, there have been a series of violent acts such as the attack on a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) supporter for putting on party regalia, then an incident in Mangochi where women were stripped of their regalia.
As some quarters have ridiculed Malawi Police Service for failing to effect arrest, Mussa commended the police for working diligently in effecting the arrests of the suspects of violence in Mangochi although they were later released without charge.
“We reject attempts by Dr Chilima to undermine some State security agencies and yet he is fighting elsewhere that the same should continue to provide a service to him,” Mussa said.
However, Malunga bashed this saying that the arrest was done after a public outcry to paint a picture that police is doing something on the matter.
He said: “You and me know that they may arrest culprits today and tomorrow they say they arrested a wrong person. They keep doing things that put all of us in doubt in terms of how they are carrying their duties. I think the arrest is just a kind of blindfolding Malawians so that they be seen as if they are doing something. How long did it take to arrest Bon Kalindo and Chilima’s aides?”
Different organisations including Mutharika recently condemned political violence which some commentators say may affect the May 21 Tripartite Elections. n
