Chakwera blasts Mutharika: Go ye and repaint cells

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera , who is also leader of opposition, on Thursday turned on President Peter Mutharika, asking him to repaint the holding police cells at Lumbadzi in the capital Lilongwe where he was kept for three days in 2012 for treason charges.

Mutharika, whose charges were dropped immediately he ascended to the presidency in the May 2014 elections, last week led a horde of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) followers to paint the blue to celebrate second anniversary of his arrest.

But during a news briefing at MCP headquarters in Lilongwe Thursday, Chakwera asked Mutharika to repaint the cells with neutral colours and clear the graffiti.

Apparently, Mutharika’s team had painted the cells blue – a colour which represent his party, DPP.

“It is unfortunate that despite a myriad of political, social and economic problems haunting the country, the President had the audacity of leaving plot number one to write on walls,” said Chakwera.

Mutharika had scribbled a “Prof. Peter Mutharika was here” graffiti at one of the walls in the cells.

And, Chakwera described the act as vandalism of public buildings.

“A police station or police cell is a state institution. Police stations are not party property. It is an abuse of the office of President for the President in full DPP regalia to visit and write on a wall of a police cell,” said Chakwera.

“We teach our children that writing on walls is bad manners, how can we continue to tell them that, if the President goes about committing acts of vandalism. If the DPP has issues with the arrest and incarceration of President Mutharika then they should bring an action against whosoever they think was wrongfully responsible for the arrest,” added the opposition leader.

“If an example were needed late Nelson Mandela President of South Africa spent a good part of 27years in a cell at Robben Island, he never abused his office by writing on the wall of his cell when he became President,” he pointed out.

He demanded that the President and the DPP must repaint the Police cell at Lumbadzi and restoring it to its former neutral colours.

“Whilst they are at it, they might as well just repaint the whole Lumbadzi police station and the Police officers’ houses as a gesture of goodwill.”

According to government, the commemoration symbolically renewed Mutharika’s commitment on making no political arrests during his tenure in office.