Innovative police officer transferred

Communities in Machinga are at pains to accept the Malawi Police Service decision to transfer sub-inspector Kanduwa Sande to Zomba.

The officer is credited with single-handedly turning the once-dilapidated Kasupe football ground near Machinga Police Station into a modern sports complex scheduled for completion this July.

Both Sande and Machinga Police Station officer-in-charge Owen Maganga confirmed the transfer.

Sande said: “I cannot say much, but I am only worried that I am leaving before my dream comes to fruition.”

The transfer comes a month after Malawi National Council of Sports board chairperson Sunduzwayo Madise visited and decorated Sande in appreciation of his effort.

Village head Nguluwango born Charles Nandela and group village head Lipongo born Evance Chinsope have described the police’s decision as unfortunate.

“It is sad that someone could think of transferring Sande who has been working hard to bring sports and economic development in our district,” said Nguluwango.

“I know we cannot intervene in the transfer process, but it is our plea to the police to reverse the decision. As a community leader, I am at pains to accept this because Sande was in the process of finalising the project. I hope his transfer was not born out of jealousy and malice.”

Lipongo agreed with Nguluwango, saying he will approach Machinga Police Station officer in-charge to understand the situation and plead for Sande’s transfer to be shelved.

“I believe the Police authorities could have waited for Sande to finalise this important project before effecting his transfer,” he said.

Machinga district sports officer Thembani Chilingulo also said he was shocked to learn about Sande’s transfer and expressed fear that the project will not be easy to finance.

“Ofcourse, we are in the process of formulating a committee that will look after the facility, but in Sande’s absence, it will be a challenge because he was the brains behind the project,” he said.

On his part, Maganga said they cannot reverse Sande’s transfer because it is normal for officers to be transferred.

“The transfers are normal and everybody obeys orders. Sande works as a police officer and he is no exception. The sports complex is a public facility and the community just needs to find other people to oversee it,” he said.

Madise, whose entity recently gave Sande sports equipment such as volleyball and tennis nets worth over K2 million, said he would only comment after thoroughly consulting relevant authorities.

Sande started the project in 2011 after noting that a community ground, which used to host football matches and rallies for the country’s founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was negleted to the extent that subsistence farmers encroached the land.

At present, the place has visible high-standard structures such as a modern football pitch complete with an underground irrigation system. An athletics track, netball, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts are also part of the complex.

In 2017, the 42-year-old’s selfless effort earned him a sports award during the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Innovations Awards. This won him a month-long visit to China, where he learned more on how to turn the complex into a vibrant facility.