Dark day in Blantyre: Muckraking Extra on Malawi Prison boss shooting sons
No doubt, the tragic happenings in Blantyre last Friday when an irate father, in a fit of rage, picked up his official gun and killed – execution style – his own two sons are as numbing as they are unfathomable.
Look, it is human nature to rush to condemn Senior Superintendent Evance Chisi for prematurely despatching to their maker 23-year-old Stanford and Russell, 29. How can a father be so evil?
But, wait a minute, there may be more to this tragedy than meets the eye. This might be the tragic tipping of a series of build-up issues.
This is no ordinary homicide case, no doubt about that. Chisi needs a thorough forensic psychiatric evaluation.
What made him snap? Preliminary investigations say he shot the first victim, Stanford, not once but twice. He did not stop there. He sought out the second victim, Russell, who was not even in the room and, therefore, we may safely say he was not involved in Stanford’s brawl with his sister, Lusungu.
Even to an untrained mind in things psychological or psychiatric, the early morning brother-sister brawl was just a trigger for things that have been welling up in the senior prison officer’s system.
Let investigators – both criminal and medical, for you cannot rule out one or the other in this tragedy – do a thorough job.
Having said that, the Blantyre unfortunate tragedy exposes a serious deficiency in our health-care system. In Malawi, most of us do not know we are seriously sick although the body may seem or feel healthy and fit. Our health-care system is ignoring one very important condition – mental health or psychiatry.
To most of us, mental health cases are only those where patients run naked, act bizarre or mumble incomprehensibles. But due to several factors, chief among them the worsening economic situation, most of us are depressed.
Malawi is sitting on a medical time bomb whose consequences may be worse than known major killers like malaria and the other usual suspects. Many Malawians are clinically depressed but they are not aware for our health-care system ignores such conditions. Depression is dismissed as one of those so-called ‘life-style’ diseases like BP.
Let the Friday tragic incident act as a wake up call and jog us into taking mind conditions like depression or dementia a bit more seriously.
Depression and other mind diseases, left untended, can lead to spasms of mood swings that only need a simple spark to trigger tragedy of the Friday morning Sunny Side proportions.
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mwana osamvera even Bible limanena kuti afe ndinthu
Tingowamvetsa Mr Chisi
Ana a lero kuvuta 2 much
Please read this article with a sober mind. Mr Tenthani is not blaming or just making a mere comparison of Malaria and Psychiatric problem. The issue is true that one may be financially, physically, intellectually viable but psychologically sick. The majority of Malawians are sick. This sickness goes hand in hand with spirituality. Every person is made of soul, spirit and body. We are always concerned with the body neglecting the spirit. Wake up Malawians. We are sick.
Very disappointing indeed., In this case what do we make of the death penalty, should such beasts be spared and waste tax payers money on their welfare in prisons?
this is very sad . but as a parent going thru tough time with a grown up boy I ask God to take control and ask friends to help counseling both parties. with time i believe and truly believe come over.i believe the parent did his part and that some family members know what he was going through with the siblings. to some who are saying that how come that the grown up boys were still inthe house mmmh CHITSIRU CHILI NDI MWINI thats wahat i can say otherwise one cannot be happy to keep a grown up child inthe… Read more »
My heart goes out for the remaining members of this family, including Mr. Chisi. But Tenthani, please do not play doctor by attaching a “depression” label on the Mr. Chisis. Maybe he has major anger management issues, and something tipped the scale. Let the psychiatrists, no less, do their job. There are modern psychiatric drugs, with tolerable side effects; but the drugs are expensive. Very expensive. The government is NOT ignoring the problem of mental health; it is just prioritizing. These drugs are so expensive even in rich South Africa, the average person has no access to them. Psychiatry is… Read more »
Bambo wopusa zedi nanda bwanji osawapha ndi nkhonya bwanji not chipangidzo cha dziko nalo dziko lathu lingosunga anthu akale pamaudindo nzeru zawo zinatha kale si modzimiranso moto ai koma moyatsira moto skulu a midiku sno vuto nfi dziko lathu bupurrka mguti kwa munthu wosayenera wamisala vjonde asanayambe ntchito mudziwayedza kaye ngati ndiyenera kilandira mfuti
The problem here was the age of the sons, they were old enough to be household masters but in their fathers house they had to be controlled like children no wonder there was rivalry between sons and their father. It must be a lesson to us all don’t keep children in your home when they have come out of age, tell them to learn to fetch for themselves even when the going looks tough.
Any it was very pathetic for mr chisi to gun down his sons, I can’t judge him to that effect. I really understand what normally happens when there is persistent quarrel among your children. They elucidate something things which makes the parents feel bad and ashamed. I have example to that fact where parents died due to bp while trying to calm down his children who were at loggerheads. If children r from different mothers and they disagree on something they talk shit prompting the parent to intervene. I really know what mr chisi was feeling like on the material… Read more »