State rights body visits MEC commissioner’s house ransacked during demo

A team of state rights body, the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) on Saturday visited one of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioners Reverend Kilion Mgawi house which was ransacked and vandalised at Nkhoma Trading Centre.

MHRC officials said they visited the residence as part of the program to record post-election violence.

Mgawi, a retired religious cleric for Nkhoma synod had his house vandalized and some property looted by unknown mob connected to the political violence which has erupted in some parts of the country following the messy May 21 presidential election results.

The crowd chanted Mgawi achoke! achoke! (Mgawi must go!), before storming the house, which was being guarded by police.

Mgawi was not at the residence which is situated within the Nkhoma synod headquarters in Lilongwe but his houseboy said the mob looted 25 bags of maize, television sets, three laptops, a power genset, among others.

Secretary general of Nkhoma synod Vasco Kachipapa condemned the attack on the residence of the retired cleric.

He said the mob came chanting anti-Nkhoma synod songs, urging the church to expel Mgawi from the campus.

Lilongwe police spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula said the police are yet to arrest the suspects.

MEC declared Peter Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) winner of the presidential race in the May 21 Tripartite Elections, with 1 940 709 votes. He was trailed by Chakwera with 1 781 740 votes.

UTM party leader Saulos Chilima and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Lazarus Chakwera have since filed a petition in court, seeking nullification of the results over alleged irregularities.