US ambassador caught up in Malawi post-election protests

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Police Thursday fired teargas at Malawi Congress Party (MCP) headquarters while United States Ambassador to Malawi Virginia Palmer was inside the building.

Palmer was holding a meeting with Malawi opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera at the MCP offices when police officers fired gas canisters into the compound to disperse MCP supporters.

The opposition party followers are protesting results of last month’s presidential election in which Chakwera came second, behind President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party.

Police spokesperson James Kadadzera admitted firing teargas at the MCP headquarters while Palmer was there but claimed that they were not aware of her presence.

“When the police were firing tear gas we did not know anything until when she came out of the office,” he  said.

As running battles between the MCP followers and law enforcers continued, the police also fired teargas at the US Embassy building which is adjacent to the MCP headquarters.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman told the local media that Palmer’s meeting with Chakwera is part of a series of meetings the departing ambassador is holding with government officials and leaders of major political parties.

“As for the teargas, we are monitoring the situation,” US Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer Douglas Johnston said.

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2 Comments

  1. Senior police officers should be fired for interfering in a lawful peaceful demonstration and assembly on private property

    This is the second time police have attacked MCP Lilongwe headquarters it is the police that is causing violence,

    Police should learn from Scotland yatd about crowd control rather than behaving on a laeless fashion shooting at unarmed citizens.

    To bad police did not learn from their mistakes in 2011 when they shot 53 citizens

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