The Malawi Police Service (MPS) has interdicted Vice President Chilima’s guards for absconding duty.
According to a message from the Police Inspector General, the interdiction of the forty police officers is with effect from Wednesday, 9th January.
“Be informed that the following have been interdicted from duty on half pay with effect from 9/01/2019 pending competition of a disciplinary case of absenting oneself without leave contrary to section 3(e) of the code of conduct for police officers,” says the message.
The forty police officers have been suspended despite obtaining an injunction on Monday stopping the inspector General of Police Rodney Jose from commencing disciplinary proceedings against them.
In 2018, the Malawi Police Service withdrew the 40 officers from the vice president’s residencies and redeployed them to various police stations across the country. The move left Chilima with seven security guards for two official residences at Area 12 in Lilongwe and Mudi House in Blantyre as well as his office at Capital Hill and his motorcade.
However, the police officers continued working as Chilima’s guards after the vice president obtained a court order stopping government from cutting his security detail.
The MPS then told the 40 law enforcers to appear for a disciplinary hearing today accusing them of absconding work.
This forced the officers to obtain an injunction to suspend the disciplinary hearing.
“The disciplinary proceedings against the interested applicants are hereby stayed and or suspended and the respondent is hereby directed to take all necessary steps to ensure that the disciplinary proceedings against the interested applicants are stayed and or suspended forthwith,” says the court order.
They are lucky: it could have been interdiction without pay.