Malawi: Police Arrest 23 People Over Vigil to Force AG Out of Office
Police in Lilongwe have arrested 23 people who wanted to disrupt civil rights group protests at Capital Hill, the seat of government in Lilongwe.
The police stopped a minibus carrying the 23 people who were being led by Agape Khombe, a ruling Malawi Congress Party cadre, at the main gate of Capital Hill
The police were tipped by Sylvester Namiwa, leader of Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Institute (CDEDI), who are holding the protests to force attorney general Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda to resign over his failure to recover K750 million the government paid for Affordable Input Program fertilizer which never arrived in the country.
A few minutes after the tip-off, a Mazda Bongo registration number CP1709 was stopped as it was trying to enter Capital Hill’s main gate.
Upon being questioned the people in the bus said that they were invited for some piece work where they would be gathering rocks where he, Agape Khombe, was building.
The police officer in charge of the operation, Assistant superintendent Ashani Dzanjalimodzi, ordered the people out of the bus because their responses were incoherent.
They have since been take to Lingadzi Police Station for further questioning.
When alerting the police, Namiwa said that he was sharing the information because he didn’t want anyone to tarnish their good deeds during the vigil.
“I am sharing this information because I don’t want to start speaking after things have already happened. We would actually look foolish if we allow this to happen without alerting the police,” he said.
Namiwa said that he was happy that the police responded to his tip with sobriety.
CDEDI is accusing Chakaka Nyirenda of failing to recover K750 million from Barkaat Foods in the UK.
Namiwa said they are going to maintain the vigil until there is proof that the funds were recovered or the AG must resigns.
“Our eyes are fixed on the ball which is the recovery of the K750 million, either that or the AG must resign,” Namiwa said.
Namiwa said that the AG made a commitment on his own accord that he was going to recover the money which means that even he agrees that that the transaction was faulty so, there is no point backtracking now.
Namiwa added that at the moment the AG is creating an impression that the transaction was not problematic which in itself, is a problematic turn of events.
According to Namiwa, the vigil will end when their demands are met.