Scores of subjects of Traditional Authority (T/A) Bvumbwe in Thyolo on Thursday marched to Bvumbwe Police Station where they demanded an explanation on the whereabouts of their chief who is reported to be in hiding after receiving death threats.
T/A Bvumbwe, who has crossed paths with Malawi’s ruling People’s Party (PP) over remarks at the funeral of High Court judge Joseph Manyungwa attended by President Joyce Banda on Sunday, was still in hiding as of on Thursday.
During the funeral service of the late Manyungwa, Bvumbwe told the President that he was disappointed with the distribution of PP T-shirts at the funeral.
He openly told the President that it should never happen again and that if the party officials wanted, they could organise political rallies where they can freely distribute the T-shirts.
Maria Ndasowa Mainja, one of the people who mobilised the group that marched to Bvumbwe Police Station, including relatives of the chief, said although she is a member of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she was involved as a resident of Bvumbwe.
She said police was not helpful yesterday as they only told the group that they were investigating the matter.
Thyolo district commissioner (DC) Lawford Palani confirmed in an interview on Wednesday the chief was getting death threats and insults from unknown people.
In a related development, PP has said it learnt with shock and dismay the allegations that the chief was drunk.
PP deputy publicity secretary Ken Msonda said: “Excessive drinking of alcohol makes one speak his/her mind instead of minding your speech and that is dangerous at public gatherings, especially at a funeral.”
