By Jameson Chauluka & Peter Kanjere:
Cases of politically motivated violence have increased from 45 to 51 in the last two months, the latest occurring in Nsanje where Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters clashed with their Malawi Congress Party (MCP) counterparts on Wednesday.
The supporters clashed at a whistle-stop rally which MCP vice-president and running mate Sidik Mia addressed in Nsanje Central Constituency, the second incident to have happened in the area since last month.
One of MCP supporters, who were wounded during the fight, Ganizani Malekeza from Chikunkhu Village, Senior Chief Tengani in the district, said youths in DPP colours attacked them when they were going to Mia’s rally.
“They found us there just a few metres from venue carrying panga knives, stones and sticks. They beat me up mercilessly. The DPP youth did this to me,” said Malekeza.
MCP shadow Member of Parliament for the area, Kaffa Mandivana, said the victims were treated as outpatients at Nyamithuthu Health Centre.
“They were trying to stop us from going to our second venue of the whistle-stop tours. There were many people armed with panga knives, stones and sticks. They attacked us and some of our people were injured,” he said.
Nsanje Police spokesperson, Agnes Zalakoma, confirmed that the police received reports of the incident but said the it was not that serious.
This is the second time that violence has marred campaign rallies involving MCP and DPP supporters in Nsanje Central where its immediate-past legislator was former Minister of Trade in the President Mutharika’s Cabinet Francis Kasaila.
DPP Southern Region governor, Charles Mchacha, Thursday said he was not aware of the Nsanje incident.
“But DPP is a peace-loving party and those people [the supporters linked to DPP], surely, did not have the blessings of our party,” he said.
The recurrence of the violence in Nsanje coincides with the release yesterday of a report which says cases of violence increased has increased since last month in 11 Southern Region districts.
“In the reporting period, a total of 51 incidents were reported in 11 districts. Compared to the previous reporting period where 45 incidents were reported between February 1st and April 30th, there is a marked increase in the number of incidents over a much shorter period.
“The increase may partially be attributed to better data collection, but there is also a rise in the number of electoral conflicts in districts such as Mangochi, Zomba, and Kasungu, which have each reported 10, eight, and six incidents respectively. Mulanje, Blantyre, and Nsanje each reported five cases in the 10-day reporting period,” reads the second report.
International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an early warning programme which involves civil society organisations (CSO), released the report through Malawi Electoral Integrity Programme which the United States Aid Agency and UKAID funds. The CSO have a network of 65 monitors who report the incidents.
“Primarily, the increase in violence is attributed to a number of issues in the final leg of the campaign period,” the report says.
“The most prevalent types of conflicts were group clashes (31 percent), destruction of property (24 percent), harassment and intimidation (23 percent), physical assaults (17 percent) and violence during voter bribery incidents (5 percent).”
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