Wandale set date for setting his  Thyolo, Mulanje ‘government’

Vincent Wandale, who claims to be the supreme leader, founder and trustee of People’s Land Organisation (PLO),  will Thursday hold an address to set date for  swearing-in ceremony of his “government” of Thyolo and Mulanje districts as an independent State known as African Traditionalists Republic of the United States of Thyolo and Mulanje.

Wandale will hold his address at Khonjeni Turn-Off from 11am, according to a post on his Facebook page.

The self-style supreme leader of PLO said he will inform the people of Thyolo about the indepence where they will swear-in their head of Judiciary and Legislature.

“We are breaking away from Malawi. Thyolo and Mulanje independence is here now,” said Wandale in an interview.

Wandale has been advocating for the declaration of the two districts to become a sovereign State allegedly because government has failed to repossess idle land owned by settlers on tea estates and allot the same to indigenous Malawians.

In November 2016, Wandale was convicted and given an 18-month suspended sentence on three counts of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, unauthorised use of land and criminal trespass.

His arrest on September 3 in Lilongwe followed an incident that happened on September 1 at Conforzi Tea Estate where hundreds of villagers invaded the estate and started sharing land for permanent settlement and cultivation.

They claimed the land belonged to their forefathers.

He was released on November 8 after spending 10 months at Chichiri Prison in Blantyre on remand.