Former members of the Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) – a paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party disbanded in 1994 – want government to give them K70 billion.
According to the grouping, the money is for benefits for 2,921 former members of the group which was a paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) during Kamuzu Banda’s rule.
“We have a copy of compiled data of bills of quantities for our benefits to the tune of K70.6 billion which was passed during the 2017/2018 national budget. This data was compiled by the Treasury,” the group’s publicity secretary Gideon Chisi told the local media.
Meanwhile, the grouping of ex-MYP members has organized demonstrations to push for the benefits.
Chisi said they have permission from the Lilongwe City Council to hold the protests and they will present their petition to the council and Parliament.
Ex-MYP members have been demanding their benefits for several years and they used to camp at the freedom tower at Area 18 in Lilongwe where they built makeshift houses. They were removed from the memorial tower by police in 2018.
MYP was established in 1965 as a movement that engaged young people in development activities but it turned into a militia and spy group for the then President Kamuzu Banda. The group was disbanded in 1994, the year Banda lost power.
