By Pemphero Malimba:
The European Union (EU) has said there is a need to provide adequate resources to the police for them to counter politically connected violence ahead of the September 16 Tripartite Elections.
EU Ambassador to Malawi Rune Skinnebach said this in an interview while commenting on the recent cases of violence in the country.
Skinnebach said the EU was concerned about cases of violence, which are on the rise in the country.
“There is a need to ensure that the law enforcers are well resourced and equipped and skilled to maintain law and order. We know, of course, the election is coming up; we know, with elections, everything will get politicised and tensions will increase and the risk of having incidents [of violence] will also increase and, under such circumstances, it is clear that it is crucial that they [law enforcers] maintain law and order,” he said.
He said there was also a need to ensure that there was a positive perception of electoral stakeholders ahead of the elections.
“We also need to ensure that those who run the electoral process are perceived as trust worthy and not [a] source of conspiracy theories and [also ensure that] those who are in charge of defending the territorial integrity of the country are independent and equipped to do so. This is why we are seeing all these stakeholders to see how we can support them in carrying out their respective roles,” he said.
Recently, the country registered cases of political violence in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Machinga, among other districts.
The country has also seen cases involving panga-welding men who have been stopping people from holding demonstrations in Lilongwe.
Last week, President Lazarus Chakwera condemned the violence that erupted during demonstrations which were organised by concerned civil servants at Area 18 National War Memorial Tower in Lilongwe.
In a statement, presidential spokesperson Anthony Kasunda said Chakwera believed that the conduct was unacceptable as that he believed in the right to demonstrate as a fundamental pillar of democracy.
Kasunda said the President would ensure that necessary measures were put in place to hold perpetuators of violence to account.
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