Police Turn Spectators – Nation Online

Malawi Police officers ostensibly assigned to provide security turned into spectators as thugs took control and dispersed opposition protesters demanding that the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the National Registration Bureau (NRB) would address concerns.

With their faces covered and armed with pangas and other items, the unidentified thugs descended on the grounds of the Lilongwe Community Center in the Old Town and began chasing the protesters who had gathered at the designated starting point.

The protesters planned to march to MEC offices to hand in their petition, demanding the resignation of MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja, MEC chief electoral officer Andrew Mpesi and NRB chief secretary Mphatso Sambo for alleged inability to perform duties and to chair the general elections of 16 September 2025.

Meanwhile, police officers watched the spectacle from a distance as the thugs terrorized protesters, mostly from opposition political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs).

Ironically, the police had earlier thrown tear gas canisters at the protesters.

Now in full control, the thugs barricaded the community compound and pushed away anyone they suspected might be in the area holding protests.

Several people were injured during the commotion. The ugly scenes also disrupted business in Lilongwe’s Old Town, where shops remained closed for most of the day.

Opposition parties have linked the attack to the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), a key member of the ruling Tonse Alliance.

Yesterday, UTM party spokesperson Felix Njawala said in an interview that the violent disruption of the peaceful demonstrations was a clear violation of the democratic rights of citizens and an attempt to suppress opposition voices.

He said: “This indicates a deliberate attempt to undermine the efforts of the opposition. Such acts can lead to greater social unrest and have caused other countries to experience increasing divisions.

“It is the role of the authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident. The use of pangas and violent intimidation suggests an organized attempt to spread fear, and these actions were visibly tolerated, if not orchestrated, by people close to the ruling party structures.”

Njawala said as an opposition party, they call for transparency and accountability in identifying and prosecuting those responsible.

In a separate interview, Alliance for Democracy (Aford) spokesperson Annie Amatullah Maluwa blamed the MCP for the violence.

She said since opposition parties started raising issues regarding MEC and NRB regarding the handling of the electoral process; it is MCP who responded.

However, Maluwa said the opposition parties and other Malawians will not relent until the issues are resolved.

But MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwira distanced her party from the thug behavior and claimed the hoodlums belonged to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

“They have to bring proof that it was MCP. They can’t just wake up and say it’s MCP. We were busy campaigning in Mchinji so that people could register for the elections next year,” she said.

At a press conference later in the afternoon, Aford President Enoch Chihana claimed the government was aware of the violence against opposition parties but decided not to act.

In a turn of events, a man claiming to be a National Intelligence Service (NIS) officer was caught spying at the Aford office in Lilongwe, where the opposition parties had organized a press conference to condemn the violence that took place earlier yesterday.

Some opposition members suspected the man was an intruder and arrested him.

However, some leaders of the opposition parties came to his aid to rightly ask him about his mission during the event and he stated that he was from NOS.

Minutes after the briefing, armed police officers stormed Aford’s offices, saying they had heard there was an argument and wanted to check what was going on and ensure order.

However, the opposition supporters asked the police officers to leave, calling them hypocrites.

In a written response, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said the information from police was that there will be no demonstrations and that police have deployed officers for normal patrols.

He said police had not received any reports of people being attacked or injured. However, he said police received information that businessmen wanted to protect their businesses.

Meanwhile, human rights activists have condemned the violence and called on police to prosecute the perpetrators.

In an interview, Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairman Gift Trapence urged police to arrest those carrying pangas and chasing people who wanted to exercise their right to protest.

He said: “It’s a shame this happened under police surveillance. The police must rise above party politics and arrest those who committed this violence.”

Michael Kaiyatsa, director of the Center for Human Rights Rehabilitation, condemned the police for allowing a group of people to terrorize others.

He expressed sadness that people’s right to assembly, enshrined in Malawi’s constitution, was being violated.

The Lilongwe District Council had asked the demonstrators on Tuesday to postpone their march because the police as such could not provide them with sufficient security.

The opposition parties are protesting, among other things, against the electoral body and leadership of the NRB, as well as against the use of the Smartmatics information and communications technology election management system.

But in a letter dated November 11, 2024, addressed to the secretaries-general of the opposition parties demanding her resignation, Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, said MEC is committed to exercising its powers and functions within the framework of the country’s constitution.