Panga-wielding men on Thursday manhandled civil rights activist Sylvester Namiwa at Lilongwe Community Centre Ground, tearing off all his clothes in the process.
The attack occurred at the start of demonstrations he was leading, calling for the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja and Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi.
This reporter witnessed an unregistered Toyota Fortuner drive directly towards a group of police officers standing between two Malawi Defence Force (MDF) armoured vehicles.
From the vehicle emerged several men who seized Namiwa by his clothes and began roughing him up in full view of both police and MDF personnel.
One of the assailants kept asking, “Kodi uyu ndi ndani?” (“Who is this person?”) while pulling him aside.
Namiwa pleaded with the officers for help, to no avail.
“Akulu akulu, dzikoli lafika pamenepa? A polisi, mukundisiya anthu awa apange nane zimene akufuna? Ndithandizeni!” he cried. (“Has this country really come to this? Officers, are you just letting these people do whatever they want to me? Help me!”)
The police watched uneasily as the incident unfolded, stepping back or sideways whenever Namiwa tried to seek refuge among them. Meanwhile, the MDF officers on top of the armoured vehicles kept fidgeting with their guns but did not intervene.
This was the second time the group had gone after Namiwa. Earlier, they had confronted him and his team as they sat in a minibus carrying a public address system, abruptly stopping the song “Freedom is Coming Tomorrow” that was playing at the time.
Namiwa sustained bruises and bleeding on his hands.
Eventually, police launched tear gas at the scene. As the attackers fled the gas, Namiwa managed to break free from their grip and escaped.
