DPP cadets ‘hack’ PP member in Blantyre
By Lusubilo Sichali, Nyasa Times
A member of the People’s Party (PP) youth committee, Pascal Nkuta, suffered serious injury after a group of suspected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) youth cadets hacked him with a panga knife on Monday.
Nkuta is a former DPP Limbe hardware vendors’ chairman who recently defected to the PP, the newly-registered political party that is led by state vice president Joyce Banda.
According to eye witnesses, the incident happened a few hours after President Bingu wa Mutharika had addressed a meeting along Limbe market street as he undertook a whistle-stop tour in the city of Blantyre to urge on vendors and residents to shun the planned August 17, 2011 mass demonstrations against the worsening social, economic and political order. The demonstrations have since been cancelled to give dialogue and negotiations a chance, according to the organizers.
“He was standing at a bus stage in Limbe to take a minibus to Nkolokoti where he stays when a group of about four boys came from behind and roughed him up.
“They accused him of undermining the president’s authority, saying they had overheard him saying that the K1 million revolving fund for the Limbe vendors that the president had pledged, would not adequately address the vendors’ concerns,” said an eyewitness, adding that in the ensuing commotion, one of the boys hacked Nkuta on the head and they all ran away as their victim bled profusely.
PP’s southern province executive committee members led by provincial chairman Ali M’balaka on Tuesday visited Nkuta at his home in Nkolokoti Township, in the city after he was discharged from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital where he was admitted to.
He was still in great pain, according M’balaka and Lemani Chapitapansi, the PP southern region youth committee chairman.
PP national publicity director, Stephen Mwenye condemned the attack on Nkuta, saying the PP believed in peaceful co-existence in political diversity.
Mkuta was also last Saturday elected executive member of Southern Region Football Committee.
