Rights group Youth and Society (YAS) has dared President Lazarus Chakwera to make public guarantees and establish means for the safety of citizens, including protest organisers and opposition political parties.
In a letter to the President dated June 28 2025, YAS executive director Charles Kajoloweka also called on Chakwera to fire Minister of Homeland Security Ezekiel Ching’oma and Inspector General of Police Merlyne Yolamu for alleged “gross incompetence” and continued failure to protect Malawians.
He said the right to assembly is not a favour from government, but is enshrined in the country’s Constitution and was “non-negotiable in any democratic State”.
view of State security. | Nation
Further, Kajoloweka highlighted six incidents of political violence that have happened on the Chakwera administration’s watch since 2023. They include the September 2023 hacking of rights activist Bon Kalindo, the February 2024 attack on Democratic Progressive Party supporters at Mbowe Service Station, the November 2024 ambush on protesters and the March 2025 assault on civil servants, all in Lilongwe.
He called on the President to support an inquiry by Malawi Human Rights Commission to investigate political violence from 2023 and that all perpetrators must be prosecuted.
Meanwhile, Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi, in a statement signed by governing council chairperson George Jobe, has also condemned the violence and demanded that the security agencies should swiftly investigate and arrest the culprits as well as take to task the police officers who let the attacks happen on their watch.
Reacting to the President’s statement on the violence, Kajoloweka said: “Your statement that a report will be presented by ministers of Homeland Security and Defence is woefully insufficient. These are the very offices whose leadership enabled or failed to prevent these repeated acts of violence.
“It is an insult to the victims and to the nation to imagine that those responsible for systemic failure can now be trusted to investigate themselves.”
The President and his administration have come under fire for the violent acts orchestrated by masked panga-wielding thugs who attacked protesters in Lilongwe on Thursday in full view of Malawi Police Service and Malawi Defence Force officers.
Presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda, when contacted for the President’s response to the YAS demand, referred The Nation to Chakwera’s statement made on Saturday.
On the other hand, Ching’oma and Yolamu did not respond to our calls and questionnaires.
In his statement condemning the violence against protesters posted on his official Facebook page two days after the incident, the President said the right to protest peacefully is not only enshrined in the Constitution, but is also a birthright.
“I have, therefore, directed all relevant State agencies to act swiftly and decisively to restore calm as well as to investigate what happened and ensure all those who violated the law are held accountable,” he said.
“As President, I will be expecting a preliminary report on findings from both the ministers of Homeland Security and Defence upon my return, which will form the basis of further actions we will take to ensure this does not happen again and that the 80 days between now and the election day are peaceful and violence-free.”
But critics have argued that the President fell short of firmly taking to task heads of law enforcement agencies in his capacity as Head of State.
In a separate interview yesterday, political analyst Wonderful Mkhutche said stakeholders calling for the firing of the minister and police chief were justified.
He said the fact that people are not being arrested over the violence shows that there is negligence on the part of the two agencies’ leadership.
“It shows there is incompetence and also arrogance to some extent. If the President wants to show some seriousness to the issue these two have to be fired,” said Mkhutche, further calling on the President to show leadership as the country heads towards the September 16 General Election.
During Thursday’s protests to demand the removal of Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja and chief elections officer Andrew Mpesi, panga-wielding thugs severely assaulted activist Sylvester Namiwa and other protesters.
Besides local rights watchdogs, the international community has also condemned the violence with the European Union threatening to withdraw aid.
