Inspector General (IG) of Police Merlyne Yolamu has said police have information on people plotting violence in the country and warned that the law enforcers will not sit back and watch.
Speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday when she opened an engagement between Malawi Police Service and youth directors of registered political parties to address political violence in country, Yolamu said there are people who are deliberately planning to engage in violence.
She said the police knows the places where such people meet, but has not put the information in public because it has strategies of dealing with such situations to maintain peace in the country.
Said Yolamu: “If you ask director of CID, he can give you dates and time when people meet to plan on violence in the country but we are not going to allow that.
“That is why we are there, MDF, Immigration, Prison and the police to oversee the security of the country. We are not going to allow Malawi to go into violence, believe you me we are ready for that. We are not going to allow such nonsense.”
However, she said the responsibility of ensuring peace in the country is not just for the police, urging political parties to also play their role by discouraging people from engaging in violence.
When asked on progress of investigations on political violence that has been happening including attacks on protestors, Yolamu said some of the cases are in court while others are still under investigation.
“Investigation is one of the options and there are other things interventions that we need to embark on one of which is stakeholders engagements. Such engagements help to prevent crimes. While we are investigating and prosecuting on one hand we also need to ensure that these crimes do not take place because we don’t want to see them happening,” said Yolamu.
Centre for Multiparty Democracy programmes officer Dalitso Magelegele commended police for taking a step to engage youth directors to help address violence.
He said CMD wants to see issues based campaigns and not hate speeches.
“Where par t ies have grievances, they should promote contact and dialogue and not resort to violence,” he said.
UTM Party director of youth Penjani Kaluwa said having the police work with the youth is crucial to ensuring peace and that people participate freely in elections.
However he said the police need to be neutral in their work.
“Usually ruling parties tend to use the police to suppress opposition,” he said.
Malawi Congress Party deputy director of youth for Central Region Vumani Chidzanja Nkhoma said the leaders of the youth will sensitise the youth on the need to promote peace and unity. He said the leaders also commit to avoid hate speeches.
“We will also be condemning fellow youth who are not doing the right thing,” he said.
The country has been experiencing political violence in various places. Some of the violence has been intraparty, inter party while other incidents have been against people planning demonstrations.
