We sow anarchy and reap the same

I have a few questions which the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi PoliCe Service may take note of. And if he cares at all, address them.

I have questions about Msundwe and the police. Msundwe hardly needs introduction. When angry members of Msundwe take the law into their own hands and have the audacity to kill a policeman, where is the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service? When the law enforcers also take it upon themselves to exact vengeance in mob justice style on the community which murdered one of their own—raping and defiling, maiming and beating up anyone in their path—where is the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service?

I have a few questions about people of Mkondezi and Msakanene in Traditional Authority Mkumbira and Timbiri, respectively, in Nkhata Bay. On Monday this week, the nation woke up to the chilling news of four villagers who were clobbered to death over disagreements between people of the two neigbouring villages. The fracas also left 22 houses razed down. Why did the people of the two villages who are likely to be related, decide to settle their scores in this ugly and savage way? An eye for an eye only leaves both aggrieved people blind.

I have a few questions about the many police establishments—mostly police units—across the country, that have been razed down by the local communities. It is a known secret that there is bad blood between the police and the communities they are supposed to serve. Why is it taking centuries for authorities to sanitise the situation?  

I have a few questions about the murderers of Mr Buleya Lule who died in Police custody early this year. Lule was a key suspect in the abduction of a 14-year-old boy with albinism—Goodson Makanjira—from Mphanyama Village in T/A Chilikumwendo in Dedza. Lule died after he appeared in the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court on February 21, on the first day of trial over the abduction case. Why did the police eliminate a key suspect? What were they afraid of? 

I have a few questions about the late Issa Njauju, the former Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) corporate affairs manager. His body was found half-buried behind Presidential Villas in Lilongwe in 2016 while his official vehicle was burnt to ashes three kilometers away at Mtsiriza—a peri-urban township in Lilongwe. So far only two people, a local sand miner and a police officer, were arrested in connection to the murder. But the two were released on bail. We can safely but sadly conclude that the pursuit of justice on Njauju’s murder has come to a dead end even after United Kingdom homicide detectives submitted a report of their investigations on the blue murder to the Malawi Government.

I have a few questions about the murder of the fourth year Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa who was found dead on campus in 2011, among other numerous unresolved murder cases. National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera is on record as saying many crimes go undetected due to inadequate investigative capacity on the part of the Malawi Police Service. If the Commander-in-Chief of the Malawi Police Service is not happy with this, what has he done about it?

I have a few more questions about members of the Malawi Police Service for being involved in armed robberies. Also other critical outstanding cases whose investigations have been inconclusive are the gunning down of 20 unarmed civilians during anti-government protests on July 20, 2011 in Mzuzu.

And lest we forget there have also been inquests into the deaths of former banking executive Kalonga Stambuli, singer Evison Matafale, Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Bugidad in 2001, the disappearance of politician Charles Waya and former Admarc boss Peter Mulamba over 16 years ago. They have all not been concluded. We can also forget that Government will do anything for justice to prevail on these murders. But does MPS have any plan to do better?

Police officers are also victims of the insecurity in the country. One such victim is Rhoda Ng’oma, a senior Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officer who was murdered in Salima after President Peter Mutharika opened the Salima Sugar Factory.

All these things are happening on the watch the watch of the Commander-in-chief of the Malawi Police Service. Does he care?

When police are involved in all kinds of atrocities, the result is the lawlessness,  anarchy and mayhem. As a country we are only reaping what we planted. n