By Burnett Munthali
“Freedom of assembly ensures people can gather and meet, both publicly and privately. Assemblies can be platforms to advocate for change and for people to raise awareness about the issues that matter to them, whether it is human rights, socio-economic rights, or any other issue.” – human rights house.
The right to peacefully assemble belongs to all individuals, including persons espousing minority or dissenting views or working on sensitive issues, such as human rights defenders, trade unionists, and migrants.
States have a responsibility to ensure that the right to freedom of assembly is protected, especially when those who assemble protest against public policies and challenge the State.
The right to peacefully assemble comprises the right to freely choose the location and the timing of the assembly, including public streets, roads and squares.
Governments often violate the right to freedom of assembly as a method of suppressing dissent and critical voices. The right to peaceful protest is a core component to the right to assemble peacefully. However, in the circumstances of activist Bon Kalindo, the peaceful protest organizer was subjected to arrest, continued detention, even after the court had ordered his release and his life continued to remain in danger.
In some cases, legal provisions criminalize organisers and those participating in peaceful assemblies, and in other cases, interpretations of the law may be manipulated to legitimize the arrest of peaceful protestors. Intimidation techniques such as these often engender a culture of self-censorship.
Police serve to maintain law and order in local communities by protecting members of the public and their property, preventing crime, reducing the fear of crime and improving the quality of life for all citizens. Unfortunately, Malawi Police breaks the law and order at will in the country by victimizing members of the public and stealing their property, promoting crime, causing fear and worsening the quality of life .
On 30 August 2023, Malawi Police acted as though they can violate Malawi laws with impunity, as if they have total immunity from prosecution or a get-out-of-jail-free card tucked next to the badge in their billfold.
Well, if you’re a fan of local watchdog reporting, or if you want your elected officials held accountable for their deeds and misdeeds, or if you want to know how your taxpayer money is being spent, we need unfettered access to public records and condemn the unprofessionalism displayed by our Police Service.
Without freedom of speech, individuals could not criticize government officials, test their theories against those of others, counter negative expression with a different viewpoint, or express their individuality and autonomy.
Malawi Police arrested activist Bon Kalindo over his attempt to go ahead with demonstrations which were aimed at demanding President Lazarus Chakwera to step down. It’s either the president delivers, resigns or gets booted out of office in 2025. All these demands are correct in the view of the disappointed voters or dissenting views.
Kalindo was at Lilongwe District Council offices on Wednesday 30 August following the council’s decision to block him and other activists from holding anti-government demonstrations.
The Chief Resident Magistrate’s court in Lilongwe ordered the release of Bon Kalindo who was arrested earlier on Wednesday but what we saw was his unknown whereabouts until Friday 1st September 2023 when he finally reached Lilongwe around 03:00 hours (03:00 am). People could easily connect the dots and guess what was happening.
Kalindo was nabbed at the district commissioner’s office in Lilongwe on suspicion that he breached his bail conditions in a case in which he is accused of tampering with electricity connection.
He was released from custody Thursday, after spending a night in a police cell in Dwangwa, Nkhotakota but Police continued to keep him. Malawi Police pretended to escort him back to Lilongwe but it appears they had bad motives. However, I still have the same question; what is the logic of arresting a person in Lilongwe then detain him Nkhotakota, many kilometers far away from the scene?
This is the same scenario which happened to ACB director Martha Chizuma. She got arrested in the wee hours around 04:00 hours in Lilongwe and was detained in Namitete, very close to Mchinji. This is obviously abuse of the law by our law enforcers and there’s no justification to that.
His lawyer Stanley Chirwa confirmed the development, saying Kalindo was released following a court order that suspended his warrant of arrest. Imagine what could have happened if he didn’t have a lawyer and a team of activists. He would have disappeared into thin air for sure.
I think President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera has miserably failed such that any claim from the society could be considered legitimate. There’s a common saying in vernacular which says ” namalira sitimugwira kukanwa” literally meaning that you cannot stop the bereaved from wailing. Malawi Congress Party government is the wrong government for the people of this country.
