By Jones Gadama
The People’s Liberation Movement has rushed to condemn the police and frame the Kamuzu Day clashes in Lilongwe as an attack on democracy. That narrative collapses the moment you check the law. The Malawi Congress Party’s assembly and march to the Kamuzu Mausoleum were not peaceful gatherings disrupted by an overzealous state. They were unlawful actions taken without following the procedure every political party in Malawi knows it must follow.
Under the Police Act and the Local Government Act, any public gathering or march requires prior notification and clearance from the District Commissioner and the Malawi Police Service. The reason is simple: to ensure order, protect life and property, and prevent clashes. The MCP failed to do this.
They did not inform the Lilongwe District Commissioner. They did not seek permission from the Malawi Police Service. They simply mobilized and marched.
When a political party chooses to bypass the law, it cannot then claim victimhood when the state enforces it. The police did not initiate violence.
They responded to an illegal assembly that had no legal standing. To call that response “intimidation” or “silencing” is to invert reality. It is like blaming a traffic officer for stopping a driver who ran a red light.
The PLM’s statement ignores this basic fact and instead paints the MCP’s lawlessness as a stand for unity and peace. You cannot build unity by breaking the rules that keep public order. You cannot honor Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s legacy of discipline and state order by disregarding the very procedures that govern public gatherings. If the MCP believes the law is wrong, the remedy is to challenge it in Parliament or in court, not to defy it on the street.
Commending the police here is not about supporting brutality. It is about defending the principle that no party, governing or opposition, is above the law.
The officers who intervened acted to prevent a breakdown of order in a sensitive national event. Their duty is to protect all Malawians, including those who were not part of the illegal march and whose safety would have been at risk had the situation escalated.
If Malawi is to move forward, all political parties must be held to the same standard.
The Democratic Progressive Party, People’s Party, United Democratic Front, and every other party have, at one point or another, sought clearance before holding rallies and marches. The MCP should not expect an exemption.
The PLM is right that unity, peace, and respect matter. But those values start with respect for the law. Until the MCP acknowledges that it acted outside procedure and apologizes for putting the public and police in a difficult position, calls for “dialogue” ring hollow.
The police deserve commendation for maintaining order under provocation.
The MCP deserves condemnation for choosing confrontation over compliance. That is the truth of what happened on Kamuzu Day, and no press statement can rewrite it.