HRCC calls on Malawi Police to invest hugely in public order management techniques

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the banner of the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC)  has called on the law enforcers, mainly the Malawi Police to invest hugely in Public Order Management techniques including sending its officers for specialized training to address the gaps in the service which is endangering the lives of cops.

According to HRCC, Malawi cannot afford to continue losing its service men in the line of duty.

The call follows violent protests at Nsundwe in Lilongwe and claimed a life of a police officer, Usumani Imedi.

Imedi, who was stoned to death on duty by the protesters, was laid to rest on Wednesday in Mangochi.

HRCC said in a statement released on Wednesday that it learnt with great shock and disbelief the conduct of Msundwe residents who resorted to unlawful and violent protests against President Mutharika’s public rally in Lilongwe last Tuesday.

The statement then urges political leaders to come in the open and bring sanity as opposed to violence and death being perpetrated by its followers.

In a statement made available to Nyasa Times, the HRCC says it finds the acts by Msundwe residents as unlawful, barbaric and dangerous to the country’s democratic dispensation where dissent is supposed to be allowed at all levels.

The statement further says taking the law in their hands be it for or against those supporting the current regime is not only retrogressive to the country’s hard won democracy but also a recipe for lawlessness, anarchy and strife in a fragile country such as Malawi.

HRCC  therefore condemns the Msundwe resistance against a legitimately declared government and has since called on the law enforcers to Act with speed to bring to book perpetrators of these barbaric acts.

Meanwhile, Malawi Police have arrested 40 suspects in connection to violent protests at Nsundwe on Tuesday 8th October.

Some Nsundwe residents, calling themselves Nsundwe Special forces, mounted a roadblock on Mchinji-Lilongwe road and were demanding money from motorists.

Law enforcers were deployed to clear the road and this did not go down well the special forces who consequently stoned officer Imedi to death.

National Police Spokesperson James Kadadzera the suspects will be taken to court to answer different charges once investigations are over.