Police give  Malawi VP Chilima 7 days to respond to letter on vote rigging

Malawi Police have written State vice-president Saulos Chilima over allegations he made recently in Lilongwe that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led government is set to rig the 2019 polls, Police spokesperson James Kadadzera has confirmed.

Kadadzera confirmed that the law enforcers have given Chilima seven days to respond to a letter which the head of criminal investigations has written him to give information on allegations of vote rigging.

He said Chilima, who is also president of the newly launched United Transformation Movement (UTM) made serious allegations at Masintha ground in Lilongwe when he said  that he was aware of a DPP scheme to rig the elections.

“The police just want more information on the allegations. As law enforcers, we want to find out more about the rigging machine, that is our job to investigate on such serious allegations,” he said.

The letter, signed by S.B Chaima, the head of criminal investigations does not however say what the police would do if Chilima fails to give the information.

“We want him to give us the information at the earliest time, that is why we have given him the seven days,” he said.

Vice president’s press officer Pilirani Phiri confirmed that the police have written Chilima but could not give more information.

At the Masintha rally, Chilima said the government has bought the spy machine which is at Malawi Communications Regulatoy Authority (Macra)  which will be used to snoop on its people, wondering what kind of government spies on its own people.

“What are they afraid of? They want to know our strategies? If you want to rig the election, you will not be able to,” he said.

Mzuzu-based political commentator Emily Mkamanga also noted that Chilima is not an ordinary man but a Vice-President whose remarks should not be taken lightly.

Other commentators said Chilima’s revelations should not be taken lightly as he is still part of government as Vice-President and there has been allegations that DPP manipulated the results of the 2014 elections, an observation DPP publicity secretary Nicholas Dausi has dismissed.

Chilima and the UTM have taken the country’s political landscape by storm as massive people attend the movement’s political rallies.