Law Society Tells Chakwera: Sack Yolamu and Ching’oma Now Over Protest Violence
The Malawi Law Society (MLS) has issued a blistering statement demanding the immediate dismissal of Minister of Homeland Security Ezekiel Ching’oma and Inspector General of Police Merlyne Yolamu, following the violent disruption of peaceful demonstrations in Lilongwe by machete-wielding thugs in full view of state security forces.
The legal body is not mincing words. In a strongly-worded statement signed by MLS President Davis Njobvu and Honorary Secretary Francis M’mame, the Society accuses both Ching’oma and Yolamu of gross dereliction of duty and complicity in what it describes as a “calculated suppression” of Malawians’ constitutional rights.
“This level of lawlessness, witnessed openly while police and Malawi Defence Force officers stood idle, amounts to a betrayal of public trust,” the statement reads. “The Minister has failed to ensure that the police operate within the confines of the Constitution, while the Inspector General has shown incompetence and compromised impartiality.”
The calls for accountability come just hours after thugs armed with pangas violently disrupted a protest organized by Citizens for Credible Elections (CCE), a civic group demanding the resignation of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Justice Anabel Mtalimanja and Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi.
Several protesters were injured in the melee, including CCE lead organizer Sylvester Namiwa, while vehicles were torched in broad daylight.
According to the Law Society, the incident represents more than a failure of policing—it is a deliberate assault on the Constitution.
“The refusal or failure of State security agencies to act in the face of such brutality is not negligence—it is a message. A message that the right to peaceful assembly is no longer guaranteed in today’s Malawi,” the MLS warns.
The Society is now calling on the police to immediately arrest and prosecute all those involved in what it termed “barbaric acts,” and for President Lazarus Chakwera to show decisive leadership by firing the Minister and IG.
“Anything short of that,” the statement concludes, “would mean the President is endorsing impunity at the highest level.”
This latest development is expected to further inflame tensions ahead of the crucial September 16 General Elections, as civil society and the public grow increasingly alarmed at shrinking democratic space and rising state intolerance.
