Political activist Bon Kalindo has advised the MCP-led government under the leadership of President Lazarus Chakwera to respect the Malawi Defense Force (MDF) as an institution which is mandated to defend the country from its enemies and not to use it as a security firm.
Kalindo said for 60 years of the country’s independence, MDF soldiers have been receiving respect and have been the most disciplined as demonstrated in all peace-keeping exercises in Ivory Coast, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), among other countries.
He said the coming into power of the MCP government in 2020 has made the MDF lose its mandate and respect because of its involvement in the internal affairs of the country a development which is not only worrisome to the soldiers themselves but Malawians in general.
Speaking through an audio clip circulating in various social media platforms, Kalindo said the announcement by the Lilongwe City Council (LCC) that beginning this week, it will conduct a joint operation with the MDF to impound low vehicles that have parking fee arrears, cannot go without his comment him being President of the poor in Malawi.
Kalindo said the MCP-led government is taking MDF soldiers as a mere security firm wondering soldiers to leave the Barracks and march through Lilongwe streets just to impound vehicles that have parking fee arrears.
He has questioned the government that decisions were reached to conduct a joint operation meaning that Malawi soldiers have taken years not to be at war with its enemies or what exactly? demanding the MCP to clarify the decision.
The activist has advised MDF Commander General Paul Velentino Phiri to refrain from being used by the MCP to turn MDF soldiers as a security firm observing that the mandate of impounding low vehicles that have parking fee arrears, falls in the Malawi Police Service.
“Let’s treat our soldiers with the dignity they deserve, if Malawi is not at war, soldiers must not be used to fight citizens through impounding vehicles in the streets,” said Kalindo.
He has pleaded with the MDF Commander to look into the issue of suppliers of various services to the Barracks seriously claiming that some have taken seven months without getting their dues a development which has reduced them to nothing in a country whose economy has gone to the dogs.
He has also appealed to Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola to intervene in ESCOM’s underperformance because of politics to supply electricity to customers who have been waiting for two years now, for electricity.
