Men said to be Malawi Police officers have been captured on CCTV raiding a shop belonging to Rwandan nationals in Salima where they allegedly stole K250 million.
A video shared on social media show a group of men entering a shop, chasing out shop workers and customers before packing money in a bag.
The Rwandan nationals who own the shop have told media outlet, The Investigator Magazine, that officers of the Malawi Police Service are the ones who raided their shop.
In the three minute video, three shop workers sitting in a selling section are seen assisting customers. Then four officers in plain clothes, including one carrying a backpack, enter the shop.
They are followed by a fifth officer in a camouflage cap and black jacket who immediately starts issuing orders.
The officers chase out the customers and two shop workers before forcing the owner out of the shop.
The officer with a backpack rushes to the spot where the shop owner was sitting and starts packing cash into the bag.
The Investigator Magazine reported that they left with K250 million as the raid happened on a day when weekly sales were about to be deposited.
The online magazine has identified the shop owner as Emmanuel Nsekanabo who was arrested on Tuesday and taken to Lingadzi Police Station together with his mum who was picked from another shop. They have since been released.
Immigration sources have told The Investigator Magazine that the two have valid papers and their family has been in Malawi for about 29 years.
Eyewitnesses suspect that this was not an operation to close shops belonging to migrants because police only targeted two shops leaving out other shops.
“They came in Police cars and two MCP vehicles. They ordered customers and shop owners out. Instead of locking the shop they produced bags which they started stuffing money from the shop. This was unreal, everywhere the operations have been going on they just close shops,” said an eyewitness on Tuesday evening
One of the workers said they called Salima Police but police at Salima were not aware of any operation.
” For hours we thought they have been kidnapped and the shops have been robbed. The lady who is in her late 40s was dragged from the shop without even a wrap (chitenje) and shoes,” said one of the workers.
Speaking to The Investigator, another eyewitness said: “They were shouting what are you doing you Rwandans and they chased people from the shop. They had bags ready. Whatever this was, was a robbery planned nothing about refugees or Police operation. It looks like MCP is using Police to rob these foreigners,” said another eyewitness who heard the Police shouts.
Malawi Police are yet to comment on the CCTV video.
Reacting to the video, Journalist Jack McBrams tweeted: “According to the refugee community in Malawi, this is just one of man Police ‘robberies’ that have taken place in the past few months where Police have been targeting refugee businessmen and robbing them of their cash.”
Since May this year, Police have been relocating refugees and asylum seekers from cities and towns to Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa. Over 1,000 people have been relocated.
During the relocation, police also confiscate property including merchandise from the refugees.
Analysts say Police officers have been using the relocation exercise to steal from the migrants.
In May, two Malawi Police detectives were arrested in Lilongwe for allegedly demanding K20 million from Burundian nationals who wanted to get back their containers which were seized by police.
