By Lucy Ng’andu
A grouping calling itself Concerned Citizens has given Malawi Police Service a seven-day ultimatum to probe what it calls mysterious death of a 36-year-old Lilongwe-based businessperson Halimana Noel.
Noel, a Malawian of Rwandan origin died last month after allegedly involved in a road accident along the M1 Road around Kanengo in Lilongwe.
However, addressing a media briefing in Lilongwe, the Concerned Citizens say they are suspecting that the deceased died of strangulation as established by an autopsy report, which is contrary to the said accident as a cause of death.
Alleged the grouping: “It is disheartening to note that some bad apples in the service have a very strange way of handling cases involving foreign nationals especially refugees and asylum seekers, a development that raises eye brows and in most cases they go flat-out shielding criminals for economic benefit at the expense of national security!
“It is for this reason that, we the Concerned Citizens are here today, vowing to fight for justice to prevail on the death of Noel who met his fate on his way from Dzaleka refugee camp in Dowa.”
A member of the group Wills Khama said police should seriously investigate circumstances surrounding Noel’s death.
“It is against this background that we are giving the police seven days to ensure that all those that carried the body from one place to another should be interrogated, arrested and they also owe Malawians an explanation over their strange conduct.
“Rafik’s safety at Maula prison should be guaranteed by both the MPS and their counterpart the Malawi Prison Services. Those police officers that are intimidating the deceased’s immediate relatives should also be disciplined,” demanded Khama.
However, when contacted, National police spokesperson Peter Kalaya has maintained that matter is still under investigation.
“As a service, we are concerned with the individials who calls themselves concerned citizens who come forward to comment on the matters that we are still investigating where they do not have enough details on what is really happening on the grounds actually this interferes with our work.
“We are investigating an accident report and we have arrested one person and he has been charge with three counts while we are investigating there are allegations popping up that the person who died on the accident might have been murdered so we are also following up those allegations,” said Kalaya.
The grouping has since warned the Service that failure to act within the specified time will leave them with no option but take to the streets to protest on what they call shameful act by the police.
