Admarc guard kills one as Malawi maize shortages take its toll

One person who was called in to quell a fracas fuelled by lack of maize at Mbenje Admarc depot in Nsanje was on Monday accidentally killed by a market official who accidently triggered a gun he was holding after he was floored and tramped upon by clients.

Police in Nsanje identified the deceased as Wyson Bisengo, a member of community policing in Mbenje and went to the Admarc depot to bring peace after people jostled and caused pandemonium in a bid to buy maize.

Our source at Nsanje police said the whole fracas started around 11 am and the Admarc guard was overpowered by the people who had come to buy the maize, he fell on the ground and accidentally triggered the bullet that hit Bisengo on the neck, killing him instantly.

The irate villagers, after the killing, run amok, ransacked the market, looting all the maize that was there.

The body of Bisengo was taken to Nsanje District Hospital for postmortem.

President Peter Mutharika on Friday reiterated that despite food shortages, no one in Malawi will die of hunger saying Admarc has stated buying maize to avert hunger that characterized last year’s season.

On Monday he met leaders of Zambia and Mozambique and high on the agenda was the issue of food as Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi are this year expected to experience acute food shortages.

Malawi is expected to have 1.4 million tonnes of maize out of the needed three million metric tones.