The political temperature is rising as Malawi heads in the direction of the September 16 Typical Election, with used president Peter Mutharika and Malawi Congress Celebration (MCP) secretary long-established Richard Chimwendo Banda locked in a fiery battle of words over a surge in political violence.
Speaking at a press briefing from his Mangochi beachside space on Wednesday, Mutharika, who leads the opposition Democratic Modern Celebration (DPP), accused the ruling MCP of orchestrating a campaign of intimidation in its Central Discipline strongholds. He singled out Chimwendo Banda and even President Lazarus Chakwera as key enablers of the violence–though offered no evidence to toughen the claims.
“Human rights are being trampled,” Mutharika declared, calling for the faith neighborhood, civil society, and varied stakeholders to communicate out boldly.
Nonetheless in a swift rebuttal by the exercise of phone interview, Chimwendo Banda hit abet, urging Mutharika to first neat home internal his indulge in birthday celebration before pointing fingers.
“He should start by condemning his NGC members who’ve called for violence against MCP supporters–including chasing women wearing our party colors,” Chimwendo stated.
“We, like President Chakwera, strongly condemn political violence.”
The alternate comes in the wake of violent clashes in Ntchisi and Mponela. Two weeks in the past, DPP’s motorcade became once attacked in Ntchisi. Then closing weekend, a minibus ferrying DPP supporters to a rally in Dowa became once torched by unidentified assailants. Police snarl investigations are underway.
Be half of free AllAfrica Newsletters
Web the most fresh in African recordsdata delivered straight to your inbox
Mutharika claims these incidents are section of a wider campaign to turn parts of the Central Discipline into “no-go zones” for the opposition. Meanwhile, Chakwera beforehand condemned the violence and known as for peace, though tensions proceed to simmer.
Past the violence, Mutharika also feeble the briefing to proper dissatisfaction with the Malawi Electoral Fee’s (MEC) solution to stay to Smartmatic for election tech, and voiced disaster over the suspension of the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
DPP Vice-President (South) Joseph Mwanamvekha warned that halting the ECF would possibly perhaps also irritate Malawi’s economic woes, triggering forex shortages, extra devaluation, rising inflation, and drug and gasoline scarcities.
“Poverty will escalate. Malawians are going to suffer,” Mwanamvekha warned.
As the clock ticks down to election day, the battle lines are clearly drawn–with political rhetoric heating up, and stakes for Malawi’s future rising ever bigger.
