Monday, March 7, 2011

Police, Ndirande Residents in Running Battles

What started as a mere scuffle between over-zealous Police officers and people who went to Kamuzu Stadium to be party to President Bingu wa Mutharika's rally ended up in disaster for Ndirande residents.
Police officers chased, and manhandled, some patrons who wanted to see musician-cum politician Joseph Tembo perform. First, it was electricity that went off, and then the police officers descended on people, beating some up with battle sticks.
This prompted irate people to start stoning Police officers in running battles that spilled out of Kamuzu Stadium. Live bullets were even shot in the air, resulting into minor injuries as people scrambled for the main stadium gate.
Two people were arrested on the spot, but this did not go down well with Ndirande residents- who went about smashing private and police vehicles.
By 6 am yesterday, 997 police officers were still patroling Ndirande streets, as they were afraid of people running amok, and descending on Ndirande People's Trading Centre shop, one of the institutions that has been a victim of police/residents scuffles in the past.
All these things were happening some 20 minutes after Mutharika left the stadium. Mutharika asked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) followers to take on his critics head-on, yet another indication of his growing distaste of constructive criticism.

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