China decries Malawi rising insecurity: Police urged to step up gear
The Chinese Embassy in Malawi’s capital city Lilongwe has asked the government to deal with insecurity challenges in the country, saying it is unacceptable that citizens have continued to be robbed and killed during day and night.
The call comes in the wake of rising cases of insecurity in the country and after Zhou Feng, a 48-year-old Chinese national, who owned a cooking oil plant at Mapanga, was shot dead on July 13 2013, in the course of chasing robbers who had stolen money from his factory.
Chinese Embassy director of consular services Zhou Baoguo speaking in Blantyre on Sunday during the cremation ceremony of Zhou Feng, which took place in Limbe, asked the police to step up the gear in providing security to citizens.
“We call upon the Malawi Police to provide adequate security to all Malawians, not only the Chinese but all Malawians. We call upon them to hunt those that are responsible for this death and bring them to justice,” said the Chinese diplomat.
He said it was worrisome that members of the Chinese community are being targeted by gangsters.
Director of Consular Affairs at the Chinese Embassy, Zhou Baoguo said: “We condemn this criminal activity more considering that the Chinese businesses and companies have made a huge significant contribution to the economic growth of Malawi just like our Malawian counterparts.”
In recent months, there have been reports of rising insecurity in major cities in the country and Chinese Embassy in Lilongwe is calling for “improved security” in the country.
In May this year, President Joyce Banda ordered a 24-hour police security to Daeyang Luke Hospital in Lilongwe after officials at the hospital had complained to her about losing millions of kwacha to robbers.
According to information provided by the Overseas Chinese Chambers of Commerce in Malawi, Zhou Feng was born in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi province in China on July 18 1966. He followed his parents to live in Qingdao City, Shandong Province. He started his cooking oil production business in Malawi in 2004.
