Barely three days after President Peter Mutharika slipped and fell down in public on Saturday while on a tree planting exercise at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, one of his bodyguards Superintendent Ben Mwaliwa has been transferred to Nthalire Police Station in Chitipa district.
National Police Spokesperson, Nicholas Gondwa, confirmed on Thursday of Mwaliwa’s posting to Nthalire but claimed it was a normal transfer.
“Transfers in police are traditional and normal. Officers there [State House] should be transferred so that others go]. Mwaliwa’s transfer is normal. It has nothing to do with the falling of the President,” said Gondwa.
But sources in Malawi Police Service (MPS) have described the transfer as punishment especially coming after the falling incident.
They say they are yet to appreciate what really went wrong at the palace.
The first communication that came on Tuesday from the police headquarters in Lilongwe to all police stations showed that Mwaliwa was transferred to Chikwawa Police to serve in the general duties department.
But on Wednesday, police management issued another communication notice changing the Chikwawa posting and said Mwaliwa was now going to Nthalire Police as Officer-In- Charge.
Nthalire is a hard-to-reach area and during rainy season it is almost impossible to reach.
The mobile phone network is also a big problem. The only exciting thing in the area is the rural growth centre which is also not fully utilised.
Mutharika fell into a ditch near the main palace entrance as he tried to plant a second tree after earlier planting another Royal Palm outside Gate 1.
Presidential Press Secretary Gerald Viola said the president was well.
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