{"id":49038,"date":"2017-06-23T10:44:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T08:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=49038"},"modified":"2017-06-23T10:44:21","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T08:44:21","slug":"dpp-abuses-public-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2017\/06\/23\/dpp-abuses-public-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"DPP abuses public resources"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
TOTAL ABUSE\u2014 Jeffrey\u2019s bodyguard helps Mzomera Ngwira to carry DPP cloth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary General (SG) Greizedar Jeffrey has been allocated a VIP security detail meant for ministers and diplomats, a situation activists have described as total abuse of public resources.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey, however, does not appear anywhere on the list of government officials and diplomats categorised as very important people who are entitled to have such security, police inside sources have confirmed.<\/p>\n

At the launch of the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) 8 in Mzimba on Saturday, a police officer was seen escorting Jeffrey to the microphone and stood behind her when she made a speech and thereafter aiding her around the venue and into her vehicle after the event.<\/p>\n

A similar occurrence happened in Mulanje at a rally that was addressed by fired Agriculture minister and DPP vice president for the Southern Region George Chaponda.<\/p>\n

While confirming the deployment of the officer, police publicist James Kadadzera defended the move, clarifying that the men in uniform are mandated to allocate security personnel to everyone presumed under threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide security to everyone who we see is under security threat regardless of political party affiliation,\u201d Kadadzera said.<\/p>\n

He, however, could not disclose the security threat Jeffrey is under.<\/p>\n

Our police headquarters sources say that only ministers and diplomats are among important people that are entitled to such security. Others include foreign dignitaries and judges.<\/p>\n

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace National Secretary, Martin Chiphwanya, described the whole arrangement as irregular and without basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SG is merely a member of a political party. According her such security detail is blatant abuse of public resources. Certainly, under the prevailing tough economic environment, citizens expect the state machinery to be exemplary in its use of resources. While police may accord some level of security to individuals if there is a known threat, this particular case raises so many questions,\u201d Chiphwanya said in a written response.<\/p>\n

Social commentator, Charles Kajoloweka, described the development as total abuse of public resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she does not appear on the list of the people who are entitled to such security, that is an abuse. Such scenarios are common with the ruling party whenever elections draw close. They need to be condemned,\u201d Kajoloweka said.<\/p>\n

When contacted to explain the security threat she is under, Jeffrey promised to call back but never did.<\/p>\n

But DPP spokesperson, Francis Kasaila, defended the move, saying like any other citizen, Jeffrey deserves protection and that there should not be questions over her situation.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey has of late embroiled herself in controversy following her remarks that the Northern Region will never produce a president for the country. During her Mzimba visit, she again challenged people of the North to produce a president in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary General (SG) Greizedar Jeffrey has been allocated a VIP security detail meant for ministers and diplomats, a situation activists have described as total abuse of public resources. Jeffrey, however, does not appear anywhere on the list of government officials and diplomats categorised as very important people who are entitled to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49043,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49038\/revisions\/49043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}