Kalindo defies DC, police on demos

Politician-cum-comedian Bon Kalindo has vowed to proceed with street protests in Lilongwe today against the rising cost of living in the country despite authorities recommendations that the demonstrations be shifted to a later date.

During a meeting between Lilongwe district commissioner (DC) Lawford Palani, police and organisers of demonstrations, the DC and representatives of Lilongwe Police Station suggested that the demonstrations should be shifted to another day because police were overwhelmed with the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Industrialisation Week ending today.

But in an interview after the meeting, Kalindo said they did not buy the proposals of the DC and police.

“During the meeting, the DC was adamant… But we will proceed with the demonstrations based on the court ruling,” he said.

In a separate interview, Palani said his office has not stopped or blocked the demonstrations, but only asked the organisers to change the date following the issues raised by police.

He said: “The police was part of the meeting and openly said they do not have enough manpower at present because of other engagements. We also think they needed a nod from Lilongwe City Council since they will be holding demonstrations in their jurisdiction.”

Earlier yesterday, the High Court of Malawi in Lilongwe dismissed an application from Kalindo and others seeking the court’s order to set aside a decision by the Lilongwe City Council (LCC) to postpone the demonstrations.

The application followed a letter dated November 23 2021 where LCC withheld its consent for the planned demonstrations on the basis that Malawi Police Service would not have adequate capacity to provide security due to their engagement at the Sadc Industrialisation Week.

Delivering his ruling, High Court Judge William Msiska dismissed the application from Kalindo and team on the basis that they took to court a wrong party not supposed to be notified in case of demonstrations. The judge said the notification should have been addressed to the Lilongwe DC’s office.

The ruling raised questions as it came against a background of city councils previously approving demonstrations.

In an interview yesterday, lawyer for LCC, Yasin Maone, said his understanding of the court ruling was that the judge had dismissed the application on the basis that the conveners of the demonstration had taken to court a wrong institution.

He said that at the same time LCC was not supposed to make the decision it made because it is not a responsible office.

Maone said: “We raised a number of issues, but the judge looked at the Police Act and stressed that only the office of the DC has to be notified. So, a wrong institution was notified and on that basis the application was dismissed. This means that the decision LCC made on November 23 is defective.”

Another lawyer working in government also gave a similar interpretation, saying that in as much as practice has allowed conveners of demonstrations to notify the city councils in the country, they have no mandate based on the Police Act.

Said the lawyer: “The Police Act only recognises the authority of the district commissioner on such issues. It does not talk about the chief executive officer for the council.

“If we go to general interpretation, the DC is well defined as an authority for a district which includes rural and urban. If lawmakers had wanted they would have made an amendment to include chief executive officers, but in this case it is the DC and I agree with the judge’s observation on the matter.”

But Kalindo and his lawyer William Chiwaya indicated that the conveners also served the notice to the DC and that they had not heard anything to the contrary, meaning their planned demonstrations will go on as planned.

But Palani, in an earlier interview, said he recalled that the letter was addressed to LCC and that his office was only copied as were the police.

In Section 96(1), the Police Act of 2010 demands that conveners of demonstrations notify, in writing, the DC about their demonstrations not less than 48 hours or more than 14 days to the scheduled date of the event.

The demonstrations are aimed at forcing President Lazarus Chakwera to address various challenges Malawians are facing.

Kalindo, a former director of youth in UTM Party, a partner in the governing Tonse Alliance administration, and his team held the first of their protests in Blantyre last week. They plan a similar anti-government protest in Mzuzu on December 3 2021.