Restore June 14 as Malawi Freedom Day
President Peter Mutharika should restore June 14 as Freedom Day as some Malawians have been sanitising killers and brutal dictators who misruled Malawi for 30 years, a group of veteran freedom fighters has demanded.
The group called Defenders of Malawi Freedom and Democracy has issued a statement and over 12 posters celebrating what it terms as June 14 Heroes who sacrificed their lives for Malawi’s democracy today.
“We were shocked beyond comprehension the U-turn by Dr Saulos Chilima in his quest for power decided to call Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda a true democrat. These are privileged Malawians who want to twist history to suit their own political agendas. We want June 14 as Freedom Day so that correct history should be recorded and persist,” says Mackson Mkandawire the group’s spokesperson.
Mkandawire said as a former exile and member of League of Socialist Movement of Malawi President Mutharika needs to honour his colleagues who suffered alongside himself.
“Look at Mangochi, MCP today pretends it will build Masauko Chipembere airport, they mention Orton Ching’oli Chirwa and others yet Dr Chakwera fails to apologies to the hundreds of thousands that died, were arrested or their property destroyed,” he said.
The group said MCP and UTM should heed the recent demand by the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation asking Chakwera and Chilima to commit themselves to compensate those that were tortured or killed by MCP regime.
“They avoid talking of this thinking we can’t notice they pretend to love our heroes in one breadth and the other they only want to use their names to get power. We estimate 100,000 Malawians were killed, jailed or arrested during the MCP regime. You can’t re write history and expect the country to progress. We need to deal with the suffering and the blood of these martyrs before we consider bringing back MCP,” he said.
He said the group wants June 14 return as a holiday and all heroes have statutes of public structures reflect their sacrifices for a better Malawi.
“Malawians continue to pay for MCP misrule. Even MYP cadres are being paid by us. You can’t tell us to shut up or say DPP has killed so and so. It’s not a competition. We are talking of thousands MCP killed or jailed or exiled. Let those matter and be counted by having June 14 be appropriately honoured.”
Among the posters that have been distributed in mainly north Malawi are Orton Chirwa founder of MCP killed in October 1992, his wife and Malawi’s first female lawyer Vera who wa jailed for 12 years, Masauko Chipembere poisoned in the USA in 1975, Dr Attati Mpakati petrol bombed in Harare, Mkwapatira Mhango whose whole family was petrol bombed in Lusaka Zambia, Machipisa Munthali jailed for 27 years, Aaron Gadama, Dick Matenje, Twaibu Sangala and Augustine Chiwanga who were brutally murdered in Mwanza in 1983, Dunduzu Chisiza killed in 1962 and his brother hanged in 1967.
The group also includes Chakufwa Chihana and a posters of 1992 Catholic Bishops who led the fight for change. Bakili Muluzi, Malawi’s first democratically elected president and a list of Jehovah Witnesses persecuted by the MCP regime for their faith, lecturers from Chancellor college such as Dr Bernard Harawa, Jack Mapanje, Peter Mwanza, Peter Chiwona and others mainly from the North that were constantly jailed.
Malawians voted on June 14, 1993 to end 31 years of MCP dictatorship which brutalised the nation through killings, confiscation of property, detention without trial and banning of thousands of books.
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Kamuzu Banda accepted defeat not Peter Munthalika.All these parties have killed someone, MCP, UDF and DPP what are you talking about?And DPP is still killing Malawians.Mcp has a new leadership.Dpp with Peter Munthalika are Still killing Malawians.In fact Peter Munthalika is a killer,he petrol bombed UTM office in area 24 in Lilongwe killing innocent people.A cadet , your reporting here is useless.
Twisted and ignorant minds. What has that to do with Chakwera? You are full with dpp money and you come with stupid things like that. And how many have been brutalised since democracy began? Even now they still think they are above the law.
Freedom day is okay but don’t involve the new mcp leadership, many of whom were just kids at the time of Banda‘s repressive regime whose top figures today are all in dpp or UDF. That is the reason dpp has become part ya nkhanza.
Nooo……wait a minute…….freedom day should be commemorated on 23rd June…..I mean real freedom!
when is APM going to that?
I hate Kamuzu with passion dead or alive. May his soul continue languishing in the eternal fire! A monster who maimed his own people does not deserve any holiday here.
Freedom day in any country remains 1 (the day when a country got independence from colonialists) but if anything this 14 June should be remembered as “Multiparty day” just to let the future generation that we had one party system since 1964 and from 1993 we had democracy
Too many holidays are bad for the economy
Mcp ndi nyasi. They should never comeback. God is watching
chipani cha MCP sichingawine chisankho until the souls that were brutally killed and tortured by MCP are appeased.
pepani olira
uwu ndiye uchitsiru wa number 1, where were you all these days to be talking about it now? wadya ndalama from dpp but mind you that the government has the responsibility of compasating victims and not individuals as you are putting it. if you had studied law i would have asked you about incorporating a company and what happens for it to sue or being sued. But kungokukumbuta that there was a national compasation tribunal the first ten years of multiparty and i believe those who wanted to be compasated did so that time. thats not the way gvmts operate.… Read more »