Two Mulanje women whose houses were set on fire on Saturday night say they want to change the caution statements they were recorded by police to implicate opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members in the incident.
The two young women, Pilirani Chipembere and Alice Julio, said this during interviews with The Nation yesterday at their homes in Sapuwa Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Chikumbu in Mulanje Central Constituency.
They said they did not immediately link DPP to the incident when it happened.
However, the duo, who confess to support President Joyce Banda and her ruling People’s Party (PP), said they smelt a rat after DPP members in the village confronted village head Sapuwa to ask him why the issue of the burnt houses found its way into the media.
Said Chipembere: “We have information that the DPP members on Monday night went to the chief to question him why the issue was in the media.
“There are few of us in this village that support President Joyce Banda, the majority are DPP supporters. The DPP members verbally attack us, talk ill of our President, and now this [arson] is what they have done.”
Chipembere, a single parent of three, said she would go back to Mulanje Police Station to change her statement and mention DPP members as responsible for the incident.
Both Chipembere and Julio, who vowed to continue working for President Banda and her PP, lost everything to the fire. They lost household items, including clothes, plates and food.
Julio’s house caught fire around 2am on August 31 and she had to evacuate her three children to safety.
Both families are being kept by relations and they complained they are destitute in their own village, with their kids traumatised.
Mulanje Police Station criminal investigative officer Detective Inspector Yendani Mazalo said in an interview the two women, did not link the incidents to politics when they were recorded statements.
He said the matter was still under investigation.
Mazalo clarified that Chipembere’s house caught fire on August 24, during daylight, while the owner was inside and there was no cooking fire that was made nearby. He also said Julio’s house caught fire on August 31 at night.
Police recorded a statement from Julio when they travelled to the village on a matter reported by Chipembere, according to Mazalo.
The village head was not available for comment as he was reported away from his home.
After the August 31 incident, PP declared to avenge violent acts allegedly perpetrated by DPP members in Mulanje Central Constituency if the former ruling party did not stop provocation.
PP acting secretary general Paul Maulidi has since asked the party’s deputy publicity secretary Ken Msonda to retract the war threats and apologise, a thing Msonda has refused to do.
