DC interdicts civil servant after ‘insulting’ Malawi president on social media
Mulanje district commissioner (DC) Micheal Chimbalanga has suspended Assistant Trade Officer (ATO) for the district Macdonald Njoka Phiri over comments he made on social media allegedly insulting President Peter Mutharika.
According to a suspension letter which Nyasa Times has a copy, the suspension is with immediate effect pending investigations.
DC Chimbalanga informs Njoka Phiri in the letter dated April 7 2020 that the suspension follows his misconduct of posting messages on the social media “in which you were insulting the State President of the Republic of Malawi.”
He has advised Njoka that following the suspension, he is requested to wind up his duties, handover his office to the DC and leave Mulanje district immediately “so that you pave way for further investigations.”
Chimbalanga informed Njoka that his return for duties to Mulanje District Council shall depend on the outcome of the investigations.
Njoka Phiri is reported to have posted a comment on an MBC news update which appeared on Facebook about President Mutharika confirming three coronavirus deaths.
He wrote: “Ndizomwe Pumbwa amafuna”.
It has not been independently verified if the Facebook account ATO MJ belongs to Njoka Phiri.
There are many fake accounts of bearing names of real people on Facebook such that of Minister of Disaster Everton Chimulirenji, former vice president Cassim Chilumpha and Khumbo Kachali which have previously been disowned.
Kodi pumbwa ndi president Peter Muntharika? Watiuza Ndi DC wathu waku Mulanje uyu.
The DC and his cronies will cough a lot on this cae. The DC and whoever instructed him to do that should have consulted Kaphale before effecting this foolish decision.
To some people when they curse someone they feel that they’ve contributed to society. I hope the implication of pumbwa is not varied.
Social media guys. People they use different names. Example here on nyasa times you will find out that there is APM here so dont fire him. By the way who is pumbwa pumbwa is pumbwa itself. Now u telling us that pumbwa is pita mntharika indeed his a pumbwa opanda Mano mkamwa
Can’t you see that it is a work whatsapp group
Iyeyu wakamba za pumbwa sadatchule za president simple.
Kodi a pumbwa tilipo ambiri. Ine ndimayesa pumbwa ndine ndekha
DC wabetsa makobiditum apa ndithu, kenaka nkudzamuuzanso munthu kuti atuluke mu Mulanje mmmmmmmm kanalipo kale kena kake ndithu!!!
Mr M. Njoka-Phiri you are going to be a very rich man. Bid your time and sue for as many zeros as you can. Anthuwa akuti anakhala ku America koma freedom of speech sakuyimvetsabe.
When one gets suspended, the hardest thing is to explain to his family the reason for the suspension. Its not easy to explain. And if he is wise he will be cautious next time. Some people learn after burning their fingers
Oppression happens when the masses accept the taking away of their civil liberties ngati nkhosa.
Secondly, no oppressor/dictator can implement his awful ideas without the civil service falling in alignment. Do not be used as an instrument of torture…
You must understand freedom of speech does not extend to castigate others.
You can say whatever you want, but if you can others not with stand in the head of state then surely thus an offence
I doubt if the council/ DC can win this case if dragged to court.”Ndi zomwe pumbwa amafuna” is not even insulting enough to warrant suspension in any way. What does he mean by saying that the suspended should leave Mulanje? No one (including the president)has powers to chase any Malawian out of any district. And additionally cyber crime is not as simple to prove as bwana DC ( or whosoever is using him) thinks. Someone will obviously be humiliated here.
Pumbwa deserves the insult s…he such a headless chicken!!!
Pumbwa ndi ndani? A DPP, pumbwa ndi ndani? A DC, akumanganitu, pumbwa ndi ndani?
Respect of our Leaders is of Paramount important. Arrogance on Social media is high in Malawi more especially on the President, there’s one young Lawyer who is a leading figure in attacking the President. Please note that some of these things will lead you to loose respect and at the same time attract curses from God, because leaders are appointed and affirmed by God, go and read the Bible concerning the story of King David. You may look clever today trying to impress the public, but the consequences of a curse may affect you the whole of your life. Lets respect our elected leaders in our Society, unless they are evil and grieving God. Our leaders we have to respect are, Peter Mutharika, Lazarus Chakwera, Saulos Chilima. These people have a big following in their Parties 😒 and they qualify our respect please.
I agree with you sir we need to respect our leader but I doubt if some of these leaders are elected by God especially those elected through tippex
Lack of professionalism. Discipline the guy but please don’t fire him. He has learnt. Do not let his family and dependants suffer because of a momentary lapse in judgement.
That account is not his. People do create fake accounts.
DC kufuna promotion by trying to appise Mbuyanu.
Why not fire Jane Ansah pending investigation
Has he got the powers??!!
You will personally compensate him. Who told you kuti pumbwa ndi APM?
People should learn to use social media responsibly, differentiate facts from assumptions kapena kutukwana, remember freedoms have responsibilitie too, kuluma chala chomwe chikukudyetsa. It is enshrined in the constitution that the office of the president must be respected.
The comment didn’t mention the Presidents name, I wonder where Mr DC is taking this comment from.
The comment is so simple,unless the DC himself is telling us that the name PUMBWA means President.
Mr DC it is you who is telling the public that your President is Pumbwa,leave the person alone! Kikkkkkkkk Dziko lachuluka a Pumbwa ili.
Is Mr Mutharika Pumbwa? This DC is just being paranoid. You will pay this guy money for mahara.
Even though I am not a legal expert but this is a very simple case. It can easily be won in court. Even the most incompetent lawyer can easily argue it out in court. In as far as I am concerned, the president is not “pumbwa.” Pumbwa is a common name of a bird.
He was just commenting but never indicated that APM is Pumbwa……………….
Maybe the ”P” on APM means Pumbwa. Pajatu these people are good in changing names. Remember Bingu issue when he died? What name was he given? It was Phiri!!
Even if it is true that he really made those comments against the state president, why banish him from Mulanje district? Isn’t Mulanje part of Malawi? Suppose Phiri is coming from Nkhatabay he should move to any district apart from Mulanje. He can interfere with evidence from any location he will be as Facebook is universally accessible. It is not only limited to Mulanje.
Freedom of speech we fought for in 1994 is this one. The DC has nothing much to do in the office apart from stalking people on WhatsApp?practically he has alot to do on the ground for the people of Mulanje, he should be wasting his ink on proposals and implementing strategic plans for the district . He is trying to get cheap political scores from “Pumbwa” these type of DCs are a waste of development implementers and needs to be flushed in the system.
So the DC is concluding that ‘Pumbwa’ is the president. The guy didn’t mention the president or Mutharika.
Chimbalanga is an idiot. He is supposed to be called Chimbalangondo