Black-market intelligence driving Malawi police

Malawi Police

Lilongwe – Former ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) chief strategist Humphreys Mvula has condemned the Malawi Police Service for depending on ‘black-market intelligence’ to perform their duties. He was reacting to his summoning together with renowned human rights lawyer Ralph Kasambara for questioning over alleged plans to incite the public against government. Mvula said Southern Region Police Commissioner Joseh Tuesday sent for him after the law enforcement body had gathered information that the two wanted to take advantage of the on-going six day old country-wide judiciary strike to inflame public dissatisfaction over government’s delay in hiking salaries for court workers as endorsed by the National Assembly in 2006. “It is very sad that our police work on black-market intelligence,” he said pointing out that he does not see how he and Kasambara would oil the strike as the matter was a straight forward issue that only required government to implement the 2006 revised remuneration perks. “It is important that as a professional police it must cross check all intelligence reports for authenticity and validity,” he advised arguing that some people, especially politicians, merely cook up stories against political opponents.

Mvula said since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration came to power in 2005, he has been detained and falsely arrested for about thirteen times. On his part Kasambara said he was saddened with the police action saying it signaled that the law enforcement agents were either “incompetent” or “abused by politicians”. “It only shows how bad things are going in this country,” he said reiterating that the state did not have a scapegoat but to abide by the National Assembly upward salary approval and a 2007 court order to implement the pay hike. Kasambara said in summoning him and Mvula government was “just re-playing the academic freedom saga” that saw Chancellor College, a University of Malawi’s constituent college, close for eight months after the Inspector General of police summoned a Chancellor College lecturer over information that he was inciting students to rise against government when he drew parallels between the events in the country and those that led to the Tunisian uprising during a public lecture class. “As a matter of fact I have not been in touch with Mr. Mvula in the last seven days and it is sad and at the same time laughable that the state and the police in particular can cook up such as story,” he said adding, “currently the national economy is crumbling because of the industrial action while many Malawians are being denied justice”. The two were summoned to Southern Region police in the commercial city of Blantyre, were later released without any charge.

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