DPP likens Namiwa’s alleged abduction to abduction and killings of the Mwanza 4 in 1983 during one-party MCP era

Namiwa, mystery sorrounds his alleged abduction 

* As President Chakwera, his MCP call on the Police to speed up investigations into the matter

* Until Namiwa’s safety is restored and his captors are brought to justice

* As well as Malawians are informed of the truth regarding the alleged abduction

By Duncan Mlanjira

While President Lazarus Chakwera says he is disturbed by the alleged abduction of CDEDI executive director, Sylvester Namiwa on Wednesday, July 28, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accuses the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of going back to its style of leadership during its “dark days of the one party era — which was characterized by abductions, killing and unlawful detention of its opponents”.

The MCP leader has since asked the Malawi Police Service to speed up investigations on the matter until “Namiwa’s safety is restored, his captors are brought to justice and that Malawians are informed of the truth regarding the alleged abduction”.

A statement by presidential press secretary, Anthony Kasunda says Chakwera maintains that alleged abduction “is against his leadership principles under the [the MCP’s] Super Hi5, which is the rule of law” and that he “remains resolute in his commitment to fight any forces challenging government efforts to keep Malawi a free-society in which every citizen enjoys their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi”.

“The President, therefore, condemns this lawless act,” Kasunda said, while DPP’s estranged vice-president for the South, Kondwani Nankhumwa also condemns the alleged abduction on the eve of the civil society organization’s planned demonstrations in Lilongwe to demand the removal of presidential immunity in the Republic’s Constitution.

While demanding that Namiwa be immediately released alive and that the alleged abductors be arrested and prosecuted with speed, the DPP also further likens Namiwa’s alleged abduction to the abduction and killing of the late Aaron Gadama, Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala and David Chiwanga, in 1983 during the MCP’s one party era.

“When Malawians voted for the MCP Government on 23rd June, 2020, they did not expect that the MCP would take Malawi back to the dark days of the one party era,” says the DPP in a statement issued by its director of legal affairs, Charles Mhango

“But gradually, Malawians are realizing that they voted for a party which stands on principles of intimidation and ruthless crashing of dissent.”

The DPP further maintain that it is “very clearly” that Chakwera’s MCP government “has declared war against Malawians who protest the failed leadership through demonstrations, yet the MCP government came into power after a series of violent demonstrations following the 2019 tripartite elections”.

The party also says Namiwa’s alleged abduction comes “barely seven days after the arrest of the leaders of Human Rights Ambassadors on July 20 in Lilongwe” when their planned demonstrations were stopped by a court injunction and when the already gathered protestors still went ahead with it that eventually led to mayhem of looting and vandalism.

While maintaining that freedom to demonstrate is entrenched in the Republic’s Constitution and that the country’s courts have re-enforced the inviolability of freedom to demonstrate, the DPP says “it is clear that the MCP Government has now resorted to abduction as a weapon for dealing with dissent”.

The party goes further to call upon Malawians to rise up and protest against this government and also asks the “international community to intervene before Malawi enters another dark age and slides back into the pre-multi-party era of 1964 to 1993 under the MCP”.

Through a statement from spokesperson, Maurice Munthali, MCP has described the alleged abduction as incomprehensible and unacceptable and also calls on the police to intensify investigations into the matter.

Munthali says the citizenry need to know the truth because “Malawi is a free society whose citizens must, at all times, enjoy and exercise their freedoms and rights including the right to assembly”.

In his own statement as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa warns that he will hold the government accountable if anything bad happens to Namiwa, saying: “Although it is very easy to connect the dots as to who is not comfortable with Mr Namiwa, I do not want to believe that our democracy has retrogressed to the level where government is sending agents to abduct its critics.”

Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) chairperson, Gift Trapence also says the public expect the Police to quickly investigate the matter since it is “no doubt” that the alleged abduction “is directly related to his direct involvement in organizing demonstrations and this is aimed at intimidating and harrassing him and his colleagues”.

Forum for National Development also joined the DPP in condemning the development, saying “Malawians must not allow the country to return to dark days of past dictatorship.

Namiwa was allegedly abducted 45 minutes after addressing the media on Wednesday afternoon to confirm that the demonstrations scheduled for today would go ahead that calls on President Chakwera to remove from the Constitution the presidential immunity from prosecution.

In his address to the nation on July 1, Vice-President Saulos Chilima had indicated that “one of the concrete goals of the Tonse Alliance” during the fresh presidential election, “which has yet to be attended to, was to remove presidential immunity from criminal prosecution”.

He also proposed the amendment of the Constitution, saying “everyone in Malawi should be prosecuted for criminal wrongdoing”.

Chilima was responding to his implication of corrupt dealings on the corruption radar involving top suspect Zunneth Satar and he revealed that the remove presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, saying it was under the topic of the ‘the fight against corruption’.

While maintaining that his UTM Party — as one of the partners under the Tonse Alliance — remains committed to the fight against corruption, taking cognizance “of the negative economic impact that this vice has on whole societies and many countries, including Malawi”.

“This is why during the campaign period, we, in UTM, strongly advocated for the amendment of the section 91(2) of the Constitution of Malawi, which provides undue protection to the occupant of the office of the President of this country.

“The provision provides for the immunity of the President from criminal prosecution. While we salute the fact that the Vice-President of this country can, and must be investigated or prosecuted for criminal wrongdoing, it is completely misplaced that Presidents of this country have a veil of constitutional protection from criminal prosecution through immunity while in office.”

Chilima’s name and that of top officials in President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration, were mentioned in the investigations involving Sattar, which is being undertaken by British Intelligence Agency in liaison with the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau ( ACB).

Following the revelation, Chakwera has since stripped Chilima of any delegated duties, saying this was done to pave way for the investigations — a move which observers hinted of some political divide between the President and his deputy.

Chilima said “the fight against corruption must be attended by all the integrity that is necessary for its legitimacy. We believe that where there is suspicion for wrong-doing, law enforcement agencies must be left to do their job in accordance with the law.

“And the law must thereafter take its course without fear or favour of anyone. That remains our commitment to the people of Malawi and there are no two ways about it.”