Thanzi Chicks Limited’s farm at M’bwatalika on the outskirts of Lilongwe City yesterday faced another looting incident as an irate mob ransacked thousands of chickens and destroyed property valued at over K500 million.
This was a second incident of suspected targeted attacks on the multi-billion kwacha poultry investment barely months after a similar incident in January rocked the K24 billion project, deepening investor concerns about rising insecurity in rural commercial zones.
The company’s managing director Raj Munangi said the chaos ensued after villagers discovered a dead body outside the farm’s perimeter fence.
He said that although the incident was not linked to the business, hundreds of people gathered near the scene and later stormed the farm.
“Our security staff noticed the crowd and alerted the supervisor, who then contacted me. I instructed them to engage police immediately, but before help arrived, about 200 people had already invaded the farm,” said Munangi in a telephone interview from abroad.
He said initial intervention by Namitete Police briefly calmed the situation, but within minutes, a larger mob from at least five surrounding villages descended on the facility, tearing down sections of a newly-constructed brick wall fence and looting poultry.
On his part, farm supervisor Vinay Bommareddy said: “We are still counting the losses, but early estimates show over 20 000 chickens may have been stolen. Damages could exceed K1 billion, but conservatively, we have already lost more than K500 million.”
Namitete Police Post officer Superintendent Sophie Mgundadzuwa said police were initially responding to an alert about the dead body.
“When we arrived, the situation had become volatile. Villagers were damaging the fence and chicken kraals and had already started looting,” she said.
The attack is the latest chapter in a fraught relationship between the poultry firm and traditional leaders in the area. Earlier this year, Thanzi Chicks wrote to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), accusing some traditional leaders of attempting to extort the company through what it described as “unreasonable and extortionate demands.”
Senior Chief M’bwatalika, in whose jurisdiction the farm is located, described the incident as unfortunate and pledged to engage the traditional leaders involved.
Thanzi Chicks owns two farms; 120 acres at Nsaru and 50 acres near Msundwe, where yesterday’s incident happened and has invested $14 million (about K24 billion), employing over 300 people, from surrounding villages.
