People’s Party reacts angrily to Bagus’ house torching

The People’s Party (PP) of state vice president Joyce Banda has squarely put the blame on the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of president Bingu wa Mutharika for the torching of PP's national organizing secretary, Salim Bagus' house in Lilongwe on Sunday evening.

The inferno was noted by Bagus neighbours around seven in the evening in the suburban Area 47, sector 5 in the capital city. Police and Lilongwe City Assembly fire-fighters rushed to the scene but did very little to salvage millions of kwacha worth of property.

Speaking to Nyasa Timeson Monday morning from Lilongwe, Stephen Mwenye PP's publicist said on September 15, 2011, four DPP top officials led by information minister Patricia Kaliati addressed a press conference in Lilongwe where Bagus was specifically mentioned to have travelled outside the country to source funding for initiating "unconstitutional regime change" in Malawi.

Bagus: House torched

"Kaliati told the whole nation that Bagus was in Germany to solicit funding for the September 21 civil society-organized countrywide vigils against the deteriorating political, social and economic order. Three days later, his house is put on fire. Who else would one suspect to have caused that fire? We hold Kaliati and the DPP accountable," Mwenye emphasized.

Kaliati was in the company of the DPP national campaign director, Ken Zikhale Ng'oma, DPP and presidential spokesman Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba and presidential political advisor and DPP national organizing secretary Francis Mphepo at the press conference, which was repeatedly beamed on state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) television.

The four officials accused the opposition parties of "riding on the NGOs" to bring about an "unconstitutional regime change" through planned demonstrations and vigils.

They specifically alleged that state vice president Banda had pumped in money to the tune of K2 million towards the organization of the planned September 21 vigils with the opposition leader and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader John Tembo pumping a similar amount of cash.

They also alleged Machinga northeast parliamentarian and former governing United Democratic Front (UDF) presidential hopeful Atupele Muluzi, presidents for People's Progressive Movement (PPM) and Petra, Mark Katsonga and Kamuzu Chibambo, respectively had also pumped in various amounts of money towards the vigils.

The four officials read purported minutes of an alleged meeting between the civil society members and representatives of political parties where they allegedly mapped out the way forward as regards the "unconstitutional regime change" through the planned vigils.

They said at the meeting, said to have been held on September 5, the opposition parties were represented by Kennedy Makwangwala (UDF), Mwenye (PP), Katsonga (PPM) and Chibambo, among others.

But Mwenye told Nyasa Times "all this was a figment of the DPP's imagination" as such a meeting had never taken place. He said allegations that Bagus had gone to Germany were as "baseless as they were an insult" and that the DPP owes an explanation to Malawians about its "barbaric conduct against dissent".

On the evening of September 10, 2011, unknown arsonists also reduced to ashes a house belonging to acting national coordinator for the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) Reverend MacDonald Sembereka in Balaka. The Anglican cleric is also executive director of the Malawi Network of Religious Leaders Living or Affected with HIV and Aids.

A fortnight ago, Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI) offices in Blantyre were also petrol-bombed. IPI is headed by Rafiq Hajat, another leading human rights activist at the centre of the planned September 21 vigils.

Apart from the three 'torching' incidents, two days before the famous July 20 mass demonstrations, a Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) vehicle was also burnt in Lilongwe. In one of his national addresses before that incident, president Mutharika described ZBS as a "hostile radio station".

Nyasa Times 19 Sep, 2011

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Source: http://www.nyasatimes.com/blog/2011/09/19/peoples-party-reacts-angrily-to-bagus-house-torching/
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