Is APM serious in condemning violence?
The assumption that the established security agents can adequately deal with political violence in the country is wrong. Government does not have the capacity to decisively do so, because perpetrators of such anarchy regard themselves as being untouchable by law enforcers. This has been proven beyond reasonable doubt during the past weeks as we move closer to the May 21 Tripartite Elections.
The Malawi Police Service (MPS), which is constitutionally mandated to maintain peace and enforce the law in the country, is too compromised to deal with this violence which has dented the electoral process. The Inspector General of Police will say anything to show that the institution he heads will do all that is within its powers to quell the violence, but what else, in all honesty, do you expect him to say? Political violence has rendered the electoral space so narrow for a free and fair election. The assumption that the MPS will deal with all kinds of violence and crimes before the official campaign period starts two months to the elections is faulty and needs to be urgently revised. There is a code of conduct which all political players ought to abide by. But that is just on paper. The sensitisation that the Malawi Election Commission (MEC) and all its electoral stakeholders—political parties, civil societies etc—are providing cannot be effective in a situation where the political playing field is not level.
There have been many incidents of political violence taking place in full view of the MPS officers. And no one has been arrested to face the law. The anarchy that took place at the Parliament Building where Mulanje West legislator Patricia Kaliati was harassed, the arson attacks on a UTM Party vehicle as well as on a vehicle belonging to Mzimba North MP Agnes Nyalonje in Mangochi, and most recently the beating of Mulanje South MP, Bon Kalindo, the harassment and undressing of a UTM supporter in Mangochi, are just few of the examples of how bad the situation is in country.
It is good that women can now orgainse themselves and condemn with one voice violence perpetrated against them regardless of which political party they are affiliated to. We can all rise up in arms against violence of any kind, but if the police look away, we are but voices in the wilderness. If the Police are not answerable to the people, if the law enforcers don’t apply the law in spirit and letter, we are all doomed. If Police don’t take action, we should not expect miracles. We should expect worse violence as we move closer to the polls. We are cheating ourselves if we are expecting anything positive from the law enforcers. This country is on the brink of degenerating into chaos as victims of violence realise that they are not protected and that they cannot campaign freely. They will soon begin to take the law into their own hands. That seems to be the surest and most predictable direction Malawi is now heading to.
But when all is said; when the police are told that they are inflaming the waves of violence when they don’t arrest arsonists and all other perpetrators of violence, someone must still be held accountable. The buck does not stop at the police or Inspector General of Police. All these criminal acts are happening under the watch of someone. What have we heard from him? What action has he taken? What measures has he put in place to show he is really touched and concerned about the violence and he is not complicit to the anarchy and malfeasance? What is the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service doing to put a stop to this debilitating violence? Why should the President fail to condemn the cadets whom we all know are perpetrators of the violence? We should all worry when all this anarchy is taking place and no decisive action is being taken by the one on whom the buck stops. n
