Development

Women lawyers unhappy with Malawi police delays on Msundwe investigations

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Msundwe residents at the court

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Women Lawyers Association (WLA) has bemoaned the delays by the Malawi Police Service to finalise the investigation into the purported sexual harassment of women and girls at Msundwe, Mbwatalika and Mpingu in Lilongwe last year.

According to the Spokesperson for the WLA, Mphatso Iphani the association has called upon the Police to fasten up the process and bring the perpetrators to book.

“We as Women Lawyers Association would be very happy to see the Police instituting a sensitive investigation that would subsequently lead to a prosecution charge file being opened in the court of law; unlike what the Police are doing at the present,” said Iphani.

However National Police Spokesperson James Kadadzera said the Police are doing all they can to finalise their investigation and bring justice to light.

“We communicated to Malawians that full criminal investigation as far as Msundwe matter is concerned, commenced and investigations are under way. When we are done we will report to Malawians,” Kadadzera said.

Apparently, a lot of human rights activists such as Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), Women Legal Resource Centre and the Malawi Parliament have asked the Police to investigate and prosecute the officers who were involved in the Msundwe saga.

In November last year a report by the Ombudsperson, Martha Chizuma, who is also a commissioner for Malawi Human Rights Commission, revealed that about 17 women and girls from Msundwe, Mbwatalika and Mpingu were sexually molested by the Police.

Richard Kayenda

I hold a bachelor’s degree in languages obtained from Mzuzu University. Since 2016, I have been working for Maravi Post as a reporter of local news; particularly from the Northern Region of Malawi. My main news areas are politics, business, sports and many more. Besides reporting, I also write news analyses on current affairs just to share informed opinions on news that matter in Malawi. By now I have a five year practical experience in online news reporting and I look forward to growing more professionally while raising the bar of Maravi Post; in order to make it a household name, as we keep our readership informed, edutained and updated on a daily basis.