DPP block HRDC demos: Malawi police teargas kills child at Queens Hospital
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters on Wednesday blocked Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) demonstrators in Blantyre who wanted to petition Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) delegates meeting in Blantyre.
DPP supporters converged at the Chichiri Trade Fair Grounds where Minister of Agriculture Kondwani Nankhumwa was opening the Agriculture Fair
While the protesters were heading to Mount Soche Hotel in down town Blantyre where Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is hosting the Sadc ECF conference to Friday in Blantyre.
As DPP cadres attacked protestors, they started pelting stones at each other which led Police to fire teargas towards HRDC marchers which included opposition leaders UTM vice president Michael Usi, Allan Ngumuya and Bon Kalindo from the same party and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) campaign director Moses Kunkuyu.
HRDC executive members McDonald Sembereka and Billy Mayaya were leading the protests.
Police fired teargas inside Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Qech) where some protesters had sought refuge inside the perimeter.
A pregnant woman collapsed outside the hospital and had to be evacuated by protesters.
Activist Mayaya was also severely injured after being attacked by DPP cadets and is receiving treatment at the hospital, according to Sembereka.
He said Police raided Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in pursuit of protesters, where they continued to fire teargas canisters near Children’s Ward.
One child was affected with the teargas and died, Sembereka said.
Minister of Homeland Security Nicholous Dausi said on Times Radio that he could not immediately comment because he was in Lilongwe.
“Let me follow it up and come back to you,” Dausi said when interviewed on telephone by Times’ Brian Banda.
Since MEC chairperson Jane Ansah declared Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate President Peter Mutharika winner of the May 21 presidential race, HRDC has been leading a series of nationwide demonstrations and vigils demanding the resignation of Ansah and her commissioners.
They allege that the electoral process was flawed, citing use of correctional fluid to allegedly alter figures on results sheets as one of the problems.
Mutharika’s challengers, his former vice-president Saulos Chilima who contested on UTM Party ticket and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) candidate Lazarus Chakwera, are also challenging the results in court. A five-judge panel of the High Court of Malawi sitting as the Constitutional Court is hearing the case.
Ansah, a jusge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, is on record as having said she will not resign unless the court finds her in the wrong.
Mutharika also told BBC that he cannot fire Ansah.
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WHY why why innocent child ?
KUPUSA
Fear &wonder have coquare Nyasaland so Police was with DPP cadets side?
Tunga’nde must be a dpp member. We too were at trade fair grounds and we witnessed all how it had started. Demonstrators were at the Upper Stadium putting themselves in gear for a start off .One senior dpp came in running and went to meet the minister who was surrounded by the police and less than 5 minutes both the minister,police and the said senior dpp gentleman went to the ministerial car and after a short meeting the police and a group of ddp cadets ran outside to welcome the demonstrators and blocked the highway while the Malawi police of… Read more »
Some of us were around at the Agriculture fair and we sitnessed what happened. The demonstrators started it all by pelting stones into the trade fair grounds and insutlting those clad in DPP regalia. That is when the DPP retaliated in self defence. Police who were around witnessed all this and that is why the satrted chasing the army. Last time I said about the danger of drafting the army into such useless issues. Now HRDC are taking the army as their personal guards that they can be able just to call them to protect them > what this means… Read more »
Anyone who is happy with the violence is mentally disabled. Can’t you see this is civil war? Dialogue is a solution before it’s too late. cry my beloved country!
Dialogue mwaifuna popeza Ayobe ahakidwa?
Jonaa its not about who has been hacked, but where our country is heading to
che Mapwesera mwaziwa liti kuti ndi nkhondo monsemuja mumaswa ma shop kumenya apolice kumenya a dpp simumadziwa kuti ndi nkhondo koma amayaya angowapatsa kenakake kolawa ndiye muziti ndi nkhondo ife tinazionatu kale izi kuti mukupangazi sizitha bwino izi
Is this democracy or what ?
yes this is democracy at its best mukamenyedwa inundiye zonena kuuu zpusa
I have never liked CADETS until today, BIG UP CADETS,,, Mtambo and his team are a big shiiiit. Mawule & Manoma tiyeni tiyigwire ntchito HRDC.
This is a bad development, Iam crying for my Country
APA ma cadet agwira ntchito yotamandika zedi mulungu awadalitse ma cadet.nanga mtambo , chilima,ndi chakwera akozedwa liti?
Idiots! mzikhala ndi umunthu ,mwana waluza moyo ndi wachakwera kapena chilima kapena mtambo??? Haaaa koma amalawi bwanji. Ndipo ngati madandoyo anayendetsa bwino zinthu adpp akumubakira bwanji?? Ndiye kt nzoona anaberadi chisankhochi.
Watch out for what you are saying. We can easily knock out Mbuyanu otha manu Uja. For the sake of our Malawi we will not do it now. Koma don’t tempt us.