Political violence resurfaces
Four people, including one woman, were on Saturday rushed to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre after falling victim to panga-wielding suspected Malawi Congress Party (MCP) youths who caused terror in Bangwe Township.
The attacks on unsuspecting residents happened an hour before MCP national director of strategic planning Ken Zikhale Ng’oma addressed a scheduled rally in the vicinity at Desert Ground, according to eyewitnesses.
But Ng’oma, who is also Minister of Homeland Security, yesterday feigned ignorance of the violence.
In an interview yesterday, one of the victims, Mphatso Njalam’mano, who was treated as an outpatient at QECH, said the youth clad in MCP-branded T-shirts started attacking anyone wearing blue cloth on the pretext that they were opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) youth cadets.
He narrated: “I repair phones in the market and I don’t do any politics, but the only crime I committed was to wear a blue Chelsea Football Club replica jersey.
“They [the youth] hit me with pangas as if I were a thug and took away my mobile phone. I was left unconscious. I don’t know how I found myself at Queens [QECH].
“I was discharged [from the hospital] around 7pm. But I left three others, a woman and two men, at the hospital since they were in a critical condition. In fact, I learnt that one was in the intensive care unit.”
A guardian to one of the victims also corroborated that the people were rushed to QECH with blood oozing.
Eyewitnesses said the attacks did not please businesspersons at Namiyango Market, popularly known as Msika wa Njala, who tried to calm the situation.
Another eyewitness said the youth had earlier pelted vehicles parked by a market rank with stones, but fled after some people around the place retaliated.
When asked why the alleged MCP youths attacked innocent people in the township and what his party is doing on the matter, Ng’oma feigned ignorance of the attacks, saying: “I don’t know that there was such an incident. I am hearing this from you. What I know is that we held a political rally which was peaceful.”
South West Police Region deputy spokesperson Beatrice Mikuwa said they received a complaint from one of the victims and have launched an investigation. She put the number of those injured at two.
On the other hand, QECH director and deputy director Kelvin Mponda and Shaffi Mdala, respectively were not available for immediate comment.
The attacks come barely a month after some youths clad with their UTM Party counterparts during the official opening of Malawi Bureau of Standards office complex a n d l a b o r a t o r y i n Blantyre. This happened in full view of security personnel. in MCP regalia clashed
The MCP youths also destroyed UTM placards, tore UTM clothes and flags and mercilessly beat up some of their colleagues.
Calm returned after UTM secretary general, Patricia Kaliati, asked the UTM members to leave the front role where they wanted to welcome President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima, leaders of the two key partners in the Tonse Alliance electoral coalition.
But at a political rally later, Chakwera condemned the fracas, saying the ugly scenes spoke against the one Malawi he has been preaching about.
