Malawi Political wars: DPP brush off Chakwera beating

Advertisement
Lazarous Chakwera

The rough road to the 2019 elections is getting rougher day by day.

Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) are not done fighting.

The verbal wars between these two parties are now going physical if the incidences that occurred at the Gonapamuhanya Cultural event in Rumphi district on Saturday are anything to by.

Francis kasaila
Kasaila: We have noted with great concern.

Initial Malawi24 investigations showed that MCP’s leader Lazarus Chakwera was battered and his supporters attacked by people that the MCP believes are DPP operatives.

The MCP has reportedly said that it is worrisome that the DPP is incessantly working towards fighting as a means of silencing them.

But in a statement which Malawi24 has seen as signed by DPP Publicist, Francis Kasaila, the party has denied the accusations.

What turns out to be conflicting is that the DPP blames the MCP by claiming it had sent its allies to cause the unrest so that it seems as though it was the DPP.

“We have noted with great concern that the MCP supporters were in possession of some unauthorized dangerous weapons such as pangas, knives and teargas that were put to use during the fracas that ensued,” reads the report in part.

The DPP has since made claims that some of its supporters were battered and its vehicle smashed.

These wars, according to an analyst in a previous story Malawi24 carried, create a rather fearful election in 2019.

The spate of the attacks come at a time when Nsanje Lalanje constituency is to have a by-election on 17 October 2017.

There remains a tight race between DPP candidate Gladys Ganda and MCP’s Lawrence Sitolo.

It was reported days ago that youths from the two parties were involved in a near serial fight in Nsanje a few days ago.