PAC Conference Stakeholders Demands Swift Police Action on Political Violence

The 6th Public Affairs Committee Conference which was held in the commercial capital city of Blantyre from the 20th-21st September 2025, has ended with a plea going out to the Malawi Police Service to enhance security which in turn would ensure more public participation in politics and elections

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party DPP through its Director of Elections, Commissioner Dr Jean Mathanga asked the Malawi police service to be as much professional as possible in order to repair its damaged reputation and trust.

Dr Mathanga also appealed to the police to arrest perpetrators of political violence and devise it’s security plans in those areas deemed political violence hotspots.

Among the areas identified as political violence hotspots, Lilongwe central, Nsundwe, Mzuzu, Karonga, Nkhotakota Central and Nsanje Lalanje featured highly and need special attention.

When Alliance for Democracy – AFORD was given the floor, the party’s Director of Elections David Brown Katete condemned the Malawi police for carrying out arbitrary arrest of opposition members only while those from the governing Malawi Congress Party are scort free and enjoy police protection.

He also questioned the legality of transferring the suspects from their present location to another distrust or region, saying such a move raises eyebrows.

Hon. Katete also took a swipe at the national broadcaster, Malawi broadcasting corporation for being bias towards the government forgetting it’s mandate of serving the public, citing the involvement of the corporation’s director general in propaganda programs aired on television. “This has made the station unpopular among the people and stores anger since such a program promote hate speech and disinformation.

The Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service, madam Merylyne Yolamu says her organization is doing all it can to stem political violence but admits that there are challenges. She said behind every political violence, there are visible and invisible hands and this is what sometimes, delays arrests.