Political parties urged to promote tolerance ahead of September elections

* It is possible to conduct political campaigns without violence — leaders should strive to promote coexistence with members of different political parties

* As the media are urged to counteract disinformation by disseminating information that is true and factual and to not propagate malice amongst electoral players

By Augustus Nkhwazi & George Bulombola, MANA

Police in the Northern Region have called upon political party directors of youth to promote tolerance ahead of the September 16 general elections — while the media have been urged to counteract disinformation by disseminating information that is true and factual and to not propagate malice amongst electoral players.

At an interaction with leaders of nine political parties at the Senior Officers’ Mess of Mzuzu Police, Northern Region Deputy Commissioner of Police, Glinton Mitayi said “It is possible to conduct political campaigns without violence”, adding that leaders should strive to promote coexistence with members of different political parties.

Mitayi said the police will ensure that peace exist even during political party campaigns — but he bemoaned use of hate speech among politicians which he said provoke others to resort to violence.

“This meeting has been organised to set the pace for us to be engaging and interacting as we approach the elections,” he said, while emphasising that political party members should desist from taking the law into their hands.

He added that the law will not spare anyone engaging in acts of violence in the name of political freedom.

Present was regional community policing coordinator, Superintendent Alexander Ngwala, who said the Northern Region has not reported any cases of political violence this far — and emphasised that it was important to capitalise on this to foster political tolerance among parties.

He said political violence is often associated with young people and therefore party youth directors are important to guide their followers on the need to cultivate peaceful political coexistence.

Chairperson for Freedom Party, Frazer Chunga commended the police for the engagement, saying it has come at the right time to impress on them that being a member of a political party should not make one an enemy of the other person belonging to another party.

He asked the police to ensure that all political parties are given equal service when need arises.

Representatives from the nine political parties were from Alliance for Democracy (AFORD), Freedom Party (FP), UTM, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Malawi Congress Party (MCP), United Democratic Front (UDF) and People’s Party (PP).

Meanwhile, at Nyika Media Club’s annual general meeting (AGM), chairperson, Feston Malekezo urged its members and the media at large to be disseminating information that is true and factual and not to propagate malice amongst electoral players ahead of the September 16 elections.

“There are rumours and fake news peddlers who utilise various social media platforms — so as journalists, we should prove to be professional so that the society distinguishes between a real journalist and social media fanatics,” Malekezo said.

“If we spread information that will promote malice, our work would comprise efforts by electoral stakeholders to have credible, free and fair elections, as such, let’s write our stories as they are.”

Present was NICE Trust programmes officer for Mzuzu City and Mzimba North, Freency Mapanga, who advised the journalists to refrain from spreading news before fact checking and analysing.

“Journalists are conspicuous people in the society, therefore, you should make sure that you do away with fake news when disseminating information — especially this time when the nation is heading towards general elections,” Mapanga said.

She said people’s trust will be on the mainstream media for credible and factual information as the nation prepares for the general elections.

The AGM filled a vacant post of the club’s vice-chairperson, which voted for Towera Katswiri, who scooped 87 votes against her contender, Isaac Chawinga, who secured 16 votes.

The meeting also reviewed the club’s performance during the previous year, besides making some amendments to some clauses of its constitution, among others.

The meeting was spiced up by presentations by University of Livingstonia (Kaning’ina campus) and Mzuzu University.—Edited by Maravi Express