Mzuzu-(MaraviPost)—Media Institute for Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi chapter has swiped at the Malawi Police Service (MPS) officers who assaulted journalist Henry Mhango in Lilongwe on Friday.
In a statement dated Friday 22 January, 2021, the media institute said the police officers assaulted Mhango using pipes and sticks at Bwalo la Njobvu in the afternoon of the material day.
“Mhango was in the process of gathering information for an assignment on Covid-19 interventions in Malawi when he met the assaulters. The officers were at Bwalo la Njobvu for Covid-19 restrictions enforcement.
“Mhango asked one of the officers to direct him to a senior officer for a permission to take pictures of the police vehicles that were parked around the area. The officer, however, did not respond to Mhango’s request but went on to assault him. The officer was later joined by other officers (about 10 in number) in the assault. A female officer had to plead with the assaulters to let Mhango loose,” narrates the statement in part.
The statement further explained that Mhango later on rushed to Bwaila Hospital where he received medical treatment.
Meanwhile, the security agency has through, the Deputy Inspector General responsible for operations, Demster Chigwenembe, apologised for the incident and has since promised to work on identifying and disciplining the officers who assaulted the Telegraph and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) African Eye correspondent.
On Friday, Police officers beat up a number of street walkers in Lilongwe for not wearing face masks in public as one way of preventing the spread of novel Corona virus.
