Blantyre City South legislator Allan Ngumuya was yesterday assaulted at Independence Arch in Blantyre by hoodlums believed to be governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cadets.
Ngumuya said Blantyre City Council (BCC) invited all legislators who are council members to grace the event which started from the Old Town Hall to Independence Arch as part of the 54th independence celebrations.
He said he was surprised when some DPP supporters clad in DPP T-shirts started beating him and saying he has not helped the party since he was elected as parliamentarian.
Said Ngumuya: “I went there as a member of Parliament, being invited by the Blantyre City Council. So I thought the meeting was about the council only, although it was a parade I didn’t expect the party members to be there. And I met my fellow MPs and other government and council officials.
“Then this guy called Osman came and started saying I was not supposed to be there and started pushing me. The regional governor [Charles Mchacha] intervened, but the guy started beating me saying I should go because I am supporting [Vice-President Saulos] Chilima. Luckily the police came and rescued me and then Mchacha came and started talking to the guy.”
At the time of the interview last evening, Ngumuya said he was on his way to police from where he would proceed to the hospital for examination.
“As we are talking now, I am in deep pain my back is aching and I am on my way to police to obtain a police report before I proceed to the hospital,” he added.
Efforts to speak to Mchacha proved futile as his phone went unanswered.
But in a separate interview, Southern Region Police spokesperson Ramsey Mushani confirmed receiving a complaint from Ngumuya.
He said: “Our office is aware that this has happened and Honourable Ngumuya has lodged a complaint. But one thing that I cannot confirm is the establishment that people who manhandled him [Ngumuya] are DPP cadets. We have instituted investigations to find the culprits.”
But newly elected DPP spokesperson Nicholas Dausi in an telephone interview yesterday expressed ignorance on the matter.
“Let the police conclude their investigations. But I am not aware of this,” he said.
Ngumuya is one of the leading members of the Transformation Movement, a group which is supporting Vice-President Saulos Chilima to contest in next year’s tripartite elections.
Of late, there have been attacks by suspected DPP cadets on opposition followers. For example DPP supporters allegedly barred members of the Chilima Transformation Movement from holding a meeting at Mapanga Ground in Thyolo. A few days earlier, Malawi Congress Party and People’s Party members were assaulted in the same area for putting on their parties regalia.
