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Mist over ‘shooting’

Mystery surrounds the cause of the injury Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) deputy director of women Brenda Saidi Banda sustained on Saturday with Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) stating that it is not a gunshot wound.

The hospital’s position comes after DPP directorate of women issued a statement claiming that police shot Saidi Banda on her arm in Lilongwe on Saturday when she visited DPP vice-president for Central Region Alfred Gangata at Lilongwe Police Station in Area 3. He was arrested by Malawi Revenue Authority for alleged forgery.

Party claims she was shot: Saidi Banda | Social Media

In an interview yesterday, KCH spokesperson Winnie Yotamu confirmed that a person by the name Brenda Saidi Banda presented herself at the hospital on Saturday with a wound on the arm.

She said from the examination conducted, the wound was not as result of a bullet as there was nothing to show that Banda was shot.

“All her bones are OK. She was treated as an out-patient,” said Yotamu.

Malawi Police national spokesperson Peter Kalaya, in a separate interview, denied that police opened fire at DPP supporters who gathered at the station.

Namalomba: She suffered a gunshot wound. | Nation

He said police have also been trying to get in touch with Banda since Saturday to record a statement, but she not forthcoming.

“We wonder what the intention was in making such claims that police shot Banda,” said Kalaya.

He said police only used teargas to restore order at the scene purportedly because the presence of DPP supporters affected operations at the station and traffic on the road which was blocked.

Said Kalaya: “We asked them to leave the place, but they were defiant. They brought people in lorries and they also brought a PA [public address] system. Our officers used teargas to clear the place.

“This tendency of party followers camping at the police when someone has been arrested needs to stop. Our operations get disrupted. This is why we sometimes transfer suspects to other locations.”

But in an interview yesterday, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba insisted that Banda suffered a gunshot wound after police used force to chase DPP members at the police station.

He said Banda is in pain and was being treated at a private hospital in Lilongwe.

Said Namalomba: “As a party, we are very devastated that the MCP [Malawi Congress Party] government has resorted to the use of excessive force to disrupt gatherings.

“The party is devastated and the president will speak on the matter.”

He said DPP has launched an investigation to find out if there were others that got injured, considering that police also used teargas to disperse the DPP supporters.

Gangata was picked on Friday on allegations of forgery and uttering a false document.

MRA said its investigations found that Gangata allegedly prepared and used a falsified Tax Clearance Certificate number MRA/MTO-LIL/000952 bearing the name Alfred Ruwani Gangata trading as Masters Security Services to meet the bidding process requirement advertised by Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

He is facing charges of falsifying tax records, forgery, uttering a false document and concluding a transaction without a tax clearance certificate.

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