When we chased away the single-party dictatorship in 1994, singing freedom songs, most of us believed that the nightmare we had endured since independence in 1964 had finally ended.
B u t a l a s , e v e r y administration that came between 1994 and today bred its own gang of political beasts, fattening them on arrogance and violence.
From the UDF era to the first and second DPP administrations and the second MCP regime (2020– 2025), the script barely changed.
In fact, a lot has been said about political violence in the last five years, but the truth is that MCP did not invent this phenomenon. Thugs linked to the party merely connected the dots from old skeletons in its closet and from the old UDF and the old DPP, all of which relied on violence to muzzle dissent while the police looked the other way.
And the silence by law enforcers created a dangerous illusion: that some citizens are untouchable simply because they chant ruling party slogans. That image of thugs assaulting activist Sylvester Namiwa the other day while uniformed police officers stood by speaks volumes about how State power and violence have long danced together in this country. It is the sad story of prosecuting agencies that bend with political winds or officers who mistake neutrality for silence as ruling elites unleash youth militias to cling to power undemocratically.
This is precisely what deserves closer scrutiny. Why is it that Malawians only witness momentum for accountability once a new government takes office, and not while the old one is still in power? As I write, some individuals are appearing before the courts facing charges of assault, malicious damage, theft and robbery, allegedly linked to acts of violence during the previous administration.
Yes, the case is st i l l before the courts, but what stands out is the timing of accountability.
Nevertheless, credit must go to the DPP administration for moving swiftly to arrest and bring to book those suspected of politically m o t i v a t e d v i o l e n c e committed during the previous regime. Of course, the principle remains: no one is guilty until proven otherwise, and this case must follow the same standard.
Otherwise, if sustained over the next five years, this effort could finally signal an end to the reign of political beasts roaming our streets with machetes and iron bars whenever citizens dare to disagree with government policies or challenge those in power. It would also be a milestone Malawians could celebrate not just for the victims of yesterday, or the day before, but for a democracy that refuses to bow to the politics of fear.
For the DPP, it should consider itself lucky that the MCP never took it to task for its own past transgressions. After all, it is public knowledge that even the DPP does not have clean hands, as its own record of violence and intimidation between 2009–2012 and 2014–2020 remains fresh in the national memory.
So, since we are on the same page, let us also hope, for the sake of Malawi, that the violence tied to DPP cadets in the past and the culture of political thuggery they represented is finally left behind in the past where it belongs. Feedback: 08 82 167 309, WhatsApp and SMS only
