Police, gang block demo

Heavily armed police and a civilian gang on Thursday foiled a street demonstration led by political activist Bon Kalindo, causing commotion in the process near Lilongwe Bridge.

Kalindo and his group started their march from Lilongwe Community Centre ground en route to deliver a petition either to Lilongwe District Council or President Lazarus Chakwera’s official residence, Kamuzu Palace when they were intercepted at Lilongwe Bridge by police and another group that emerged from the opposite direction.

The other group was seen passing through a human wall of armed police and started pelting Kalindo’s group, who were equally under police escort, with stones.

In the ensuing commotion, police fired teargas, prompting the protesters to scamper in different directions. Police who were escorting Kalindo’s team, retaliated by firing tear gas at the opposing group of about 100, but were ordered to stop by their colleagues from the opposite side.

Before being dispersed, demonstrators on Kalindo’s side chanted anti-Chakwera songs while the other group sung songs whose messages targeted Kalindo, who was not present at the time, and his colleague Redson Munlo who was leading the protesters.

“Winiko timupha [We will kill Winiko, in reference to his stage name]. Winiko wachepa [Winiko can’t match us],” they chanted.

The other group arrived at the scene aboard minibuses without registration plates.

The situation seemed to have caught senior police officers from Area 3 Police Station, also known as Lilongwe Model Police Station, unawares. They were seen busy making phone calls until one of them barked orders to disperse Kalindo’s team.

At this point, police officers who were escorting Kalindo’s team retreated to the opposite direction and in no time, the cops, in unison, fired tear gas at the demonstrators. The tear gas did not spare vendors and other road users in nearby pavements.

On the other hand, the anti-protest team chanted songs of victory at the Lilongwe Bridge before leaving the scene towards Area 6 where they were seen boarding a white minibus.

In an interview, Kalindo and Munlo said they have not given up yet on their protest against the current leadership. They faulted opposition political parties for failing to support their cause.

Kalindo said Malawi Congress Party (MCP), a key partner in the governing Tonse Alliance, benefitted from similar demonstrations and urged the opposition  to learn from the same.

He said: “I must express my frustration that the police decided to hurt innocent protesters while glorifying a violent group which was fighting a peaceful demonstration.”

Mzuzu-based human rights activist Charles Kajoloweka said it is unfortunate that the police continue to peddle partisan interest in law enforcement.

He said the police conduct was unacceptable in a democracy and may vindicate those who feel that MCP is taking Malawi back to days of dictatorship.

Said Kajoloweka: “You would recall that Bon Kalindo has been arrested for simply organising demonstrations and Sylvester Namiwa was equally arrested for the same reason. What we are seeing is a pattern of a crackdown on government critics using State institutions.

“This confirms our fears that we are getting back to dark days of dictatorship.”

But Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, the official government spokesperson, dismissed assertions that the State had a hand in mobilising the anti-demonstration group.

He said: “This government respects the rights of the citizens, which includes the right to express their opinions openly, including the right to hold peaceful demonstrations.”

In a telephone interview, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said police did not take sides, but acted according to the situation. He said the team that blocked protesters comprised concerned businesspeople who are against demonstrations to protect their property.

Said Kalaya: “We are professional and our job is to protect both protesters, lives and property. We saw a group countering the demonstrations and in as much as they have no right to stop the demonstrations, our job was to ensure we that there is no violence and that is why we dispersed the gathering.”

He said police arrested 14 people during the commotion on suspicion that they wanted to take advantage of the demonstrations to cause havoc. He said six, including minors, were released on bail

The High Court of Malawi on Wednesday set aside the Lilongwe District Council’s prohibition of the protests after Kalindo and Munlo submitted to the court an application to review the decision of the district commissioner (DC).

Kalindo said the protests are aimed at forcing Chakwera to resign for allegedly failing to run State affairs. He said they wanted to deliver the petition to Kamuzu Palace because they are tired of delivering concerns to the DC’s office as it seems to get nowhere.