‘Guilty conscious’ forces Malawi soldier to shoot self to death in DRC- Suicide notes

September 27, 2017 Nyasa Times Reporter 26 Comments

A Malawi Defense Force (MDF) soldier who has committed suicide by shooting himself while on a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) says he has done so largely because of guilty conscious about his activities in the DRC.

Ngwira: Malawi army man shot himself to death with his service weapon while on duty in DRC

In his suicide note seen by Nyasa Times private soldier sergeant Moses Ngwira from Chirumba Garrison in Karonga says he decided to take his own life because he got tired of killing and torturing innocent people.

According to information gathered Ngwira was assigned to leave for one of the war-torn areas in Lake Edward where rebels are killing people.

In fear of this, according to the information, Ngwira was afraid to take a front role and he thought of escaping the role by killing himself.

Moses in the note wrote:

 Okondedwa makolo anga ndithokoze kamba kondiphuzitsa sukulu. Koma chisankho changa komwe ndidasankha kukhara msilikali ndichomwe chawononga moyo wanga. Chibwerereni kuno ndikungokhalira kupha anthu osalakwa, kuzuza anthu osalakwa.

Mtima wanga mtendere ndilibe mkana ndaganiza zoti ndikutsazikeni.

Mkazi wanga okondedwa chonde samala mwanayo tidzawonana moyo winawo. Abale ndi azanga nonse miyoyo yanu pakuti Mulungu sakondwera ndi imfa ya anthu ochimwa. – Signed  Sgt Moses Ngwira.

It is believed that Sgt Ngwira shot himself through the mouth.

The 26 year-old who joined MDF in 2012 was deployed to the DRC in May this year and was part of  Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), which has a mandate to conduct offensive operations.

MDF public relations officer Lieutenant Paul Chiphwanya said Ngwira did not even complain to anybody on the matter.

Ngwira who hailed from Matete village in the area of Traditional Authority Wansambo in Karonga is survived by a wife.

Malawi is part of the three-nation FIB mandated by the UN to engage in direct fighting against the numerous armed groups—notably, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Ugandan Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF) and other smaller groups—that have been destabilizing eastern DRC for over 15 years.

Besides Malawi, other members of the FIB are South Africa and Tanzania.

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26 replies on “‘Guilty conscious’ forces Malawi soldier to shoot self to death in DRC- Suicide notes”

  1. An image of the letter written by the deceased on this article would dispel some of the doubts posted here. In absence of such an image, doubts will prevail. Even results of the coroner will point in that direction.

  3. One of my relations died in the Mozambican war and we only knew how he actually early this year. He died in combat but the official version we were given at the time was that he had died due to malaria. Why they lied I’ve no idea and I can smell something fishy in this so-called suicide. Ikufanana ndi ya Robert Chasowa.

  5. Please politicians we want our soldiers back. why fighting in foreign land? Malawi is at peace so let our soldiers enjoy peace please.

  8. Then you were not supposed to be a soldier. You chose a job not befitting u. You could be a farmer, fisherman,builder, plumber,
    businessperson etc

  9. It shows Malawi Army don’t counsel there people. When you are in war you meet with complicated decisions. Whether you like or not your part of it. They know but they are not serious in counseling them even after war those things stays with you. That’s why they say when you are a soldier you stay close to the 😈 devil. Its work Malawi Army save them

  11. Did he know what he was going to do when he was joining the army? Useless guy. All soldiers are there to kill; thus why they beat us in bottle stores without any genuine reason of doing so. Wrong informed choice.

  12. In the 1st place may his soul rest in peace:Lesson to the survivors,half way problem shared is half way solved,

  13. All I see is cowardice, some join the profession just to earn a leaving then later realise that they cannot cope with the jobs demands….ulova pa Malawi

  14. Are there PTS services in MDF. I mean qualified PTS providers and the Rev that are assigned to MDF. In American millitary PTS is a huge problem

  16. Walemba Chichewa? all fake note. Someone born and bred in Chilumba, why writing in Chichewa to his parents. Fake fake fake

    1. This is a fake document. He can’t write chichester to his parents and he could have mentioned the name of either his wife or child.

  17. Neither the UN nor GoDRC can allow MDF soldiers to be killing innocent people under the banner of peace keeping. This is not true, either the soldier was a coward and was afraid to go to the front line to engage the armed groups which are destabilizing the DRC or he had other problems.

  18. Neither UN nor GoDRC cannot allow MDF soldiers to be killing innocent people. This is not true, this soldier was a coward, he was afraid of going to the front line to fight against the armed groups which are destabilizing the DRC. Period.

  19. This job is for the brave not cockroaches like him. You Nyasa writers get proper information before you feed the nation with Nonsense, what kind of private solder can hold a rank of sergeant?

  21. Thats a lame excuse. A soldier is licensed to kill, whether the target is innocent or wrong depending on circumstances. Nthawi yonse amalola kupita kumeneko amati azikatani iyeyo? Asatinyengepo apa

  22. This should be a lesson to Malawian politicians to keep calm and avoid war in our beautiful country. Anthu in war zones akuzunzika. I could not help but shed a tear for the brother who decided to take his life. This asd news tells volumes of things going on in warzones and that they are worse than reported. May the good Lord bring peace, hope, comfort and encouragement to all affected by this war including the deceased family of our soldier. Amen.

  23. Young fellows from the training range to war torn mission, kuthawa kununkha kwa onga wa mfuti. 26 years old should not have qualified for this type of mission less than 5 years service my foot!! Kodi osamapitisa 10 years service and above komanso oti tikuwadalila kuti akawomba mfuti osati ma Khuki, ma drivers, ma orderlies, kkkk anthu azikhala okhwima maganizo osangoti ana azibale anthu olo oti atipatsa ka bribe.

  24. Is killing innocent people peace keeping??? Is this a revelation of what our soldiers are doing in DRC? Is this what they are assigned to do there??

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