Police arrest 2 for insulting Malawi President Mutharika in minibus

Two young men, one of them a student at Dae Yang Luke University have spent two nights at Lilongwe Police Station for insulting President Peter Mutharika and the government whilst they were in a public transport.

Lawyer for one of the young men, Gilbert Khonyongwa confirmed the arrest of 19 year old Patrick Simupanda who is a student at Dae Yang University in Lilongwe.

Khonyongwa said Simupanda and his friend participated in a debate that ensued in a minibus from Lilongwe Old Town after a woman in full Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regalia boarded the minibus.

The lawyer said passengers in the minibus started mocking her that it was “senseless” to be following a ruling DPP and President Mutharika, accusing them of  causing food scarcity and completely collapsed the economy inflicting pain on Malawians.

He said this did not go down well with the lady who was disembarking at Cross Roads Hotel where the two young men including Patrick were also disembarking.

Upon alighting from the minibus, the disgruntled and embarrassed lady called the police who were near the stage and the law enforcers pounced on the two boys.

They were taken to Lilongwe Police Station where they are being remanded until Monday where they will appear in court to answer charges of conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

Police at the station confirmed the arrest of Patrick but refused to give the identity of the other young man asking the reporter to come to the court on Monday.

Mutharika and his government deny claims that they are responsible for the spiralling economic problems, saying they  are due to previous administrations.