Malawi Law Society (MLS) has condemned the attempted killing of a vocal critic of Tanzanian President John Magufuli.
The critic, Tundu Lissu, who is also president Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) was shot in the abdomen and other parts on Thursday at his home in Dodoma city, Tanzania.
In a statement that has been issued dated 9th September, MLS has seriously condemned the cowardly and heinous act of violence against Honourable Lissu and has called upon government of Tanzania to take immediate steps to bring those responsible to justice.
According to the statement, the violence unleashed against the person of Lissu, who is also a Member of Parliament, is a culmination of a sustained assault that some within the Tanzanian political establishment have engaged in against the organised legal profession in Tanzania.
“It is difficult to see this attack on Honourable Lissu as anything but a well-coordinated and malicious campaign bent on undermining independence of the legal profession in Tanzania.
“These kind of antics are retrogressive and are deserving of fierce resistance from Tanzanians and all of their compatriots on the continent,” reads the statement.
MLS has in the statement advised the leadership of the TLS to remain steadfast in standing for what is just and right, even in this moment of great tribulation of personal peril.
“The MLS would like to ensure the TLS that in it, it will find an unwavering partner in the cause of promoting the independence of the bar in Africa and the rule of law.
“As it has been rightly said ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” says the statement.
