Chakwera Assassins Set to Face the Law

By: Thula Chisamba

The Malawi Police Service has expressed readiness to prosecute five Panga wielding assassins who allegedly wanted to assassinate Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Lazarus Chakwera in Mzuzu recently.

The assassins, who began wounding MCP sympathizers in Mzuzu bus depot, are said to have been funded to slay Chakwera on political grounds.

The Malawi Star reported the bedlam which saw several people wounded by the said assassins at Chibavi Primary School ground, where MCP held a solidarity rally with People’s Party (PP) and Alliance for Democracy (AFORD).

MCP spokesperson, Jessie Kabwila is on record implicating the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as the prime sponsors of the move.

“We already know the culture of the DPP family-They can’t live without wielding panga knives. They bought about 15 of them with the intention of assassinating our leader, Doctor Chakwera,” she said.

As if that was not enough, she went further to grumble about the Malawi Police Service behavior for siding with the government funded thugs.

She condemned the behavior as regards negative implications this may bring to Malawians.

“They haven’t arrested those thugs because they are funded by someone prominent but we have their names here. It is unfortunate that the Police failed to provide security on our rally. Are we not Malawians?” fumed Kabwila.

In reaction to the accusations, Malawi Police Service confirmed the arrest of five people in connection to the bloodshed.

However, after the suspects were granted a police bail, rumours stormed some local media houses which reported that the bail was politically motivated.

But in an exclusive interview with this publication on Friday, national police publicist, Nicholas Gondwa, brushed aside such rumours citing police bail is legal.

“Police bail is supported by our constitution and as Malawians, they equally had the right to granted the same after they qualified. For your information, the suspects are following all the bail protocols,” said Gondwa.