The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has established a clandestine task force to orchestrate post-election violence and anarchy across Malawi in the event of its loss in the September 16 General Elections, an investigation by The Pangolin Online can reveal.
According to sources privy to the development, the secret unit is headed by DPP’s Youth Director Normal Paulosi Chisale, also widely known as Pythius Hiwa, with Blantyre City South-East MP Sameer Suleman as deputy.
The task force, which allegedly set up a “bootcamp” in Lilongwe last week, has already drafted a tentative budget of MK500 million to bankroll the violence.
The task force is said to be structured with military precision.
Norman Chisale is the overall commander of operations, a man with a reputation for ruthlessness during DPP’s previous administration. Sameer Suleman is responsible for logistics and mobilising resources while Sylvester Namiwa and Bon Kalindo are public faces of the demonstrations, providing “citizen cover” for protests.
To execute the violent component of the plan, including arson, intimidation, and targeted attacks, plans are to recruit ex-security officers and other ruffians.
The involvement of former police and army officers has, however, raised fears of a coordinated wave of violence beyond the capacity of local law enforcement to contain quickly.
The strategy is to recreate the optics of 2019 without the legitimacy of real grievances.
Leaked accounts of the task force’s meetings suggest that the plan is straightforward. Instigate chaos on the streets while the DPP’s legal team contests MCP’s expected electoral victory in court.
“The belief is that the court may be influenced again if there is enough public unrest, just as happened with the nullification of the 2019 elections in 2020,” one insider told The Pangolin Online.
The strategy, sources say, involves a two-pronged approach. Mobilisation of demonstrators spearheaded by the two DPP-aligned activists Namiwa and Kalindo, who are tasked with convening street protests under the guise of “citizens’ discontent.”
And then orchestrated violence, overseen by Chisale and Suleman, involving the recruitment of the gangs, to carry out targeted attacks. The gangs will allegedly be armed with pangas and instructed to cause mayhem in selected hotspots.
“The directive is to escalate tensions to unmanageable levels, disrupt normal life, and create an image of national rejection of the election outcome,” the source said.
The task force’s tentative MK500 million budget is expected to be presented to former president Arthur Peter Mutharika and the DPP National Executive Committee (NEC) for approval.
Party financiers, many of whom are businesspersons with stakes mainly in government dubious procurement contracts, are said to have been approached to bankroll the operation.
“The money is meant to sustain protests for weeks, cover allowances for demonstrators, and pay operatives tasked with coordinating the violence,” the insider explained.
Ironically, APM running mate Jane Ansah was the centre of the 2019 protests and this time her party is at the centre of manufacturing mayhem
This plan draws heavily on the DPP’s reading of events after the disputed 2019 elections, when months of mass demonstrations, led by civil society and opposition parties, preceded the Constitutional Court’s historic nullification of the presidential election.
This time, however, the alleged strategy is not to ride a wave of public discontent, but to manufacture it through paid demonstrators, planted violence, and disinformation campaigns.
“This is meant to recreate the optics of 2019 without the legitimacy of real grievances,” a Lilongwe-based political analyst said.
Efforts to reach DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba for comment proved futile as calls went unanswered.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations have warned that the country’s fragile peace could be severely undermined if the DPP plan is implemented.
“Democracy allows losing parties to seek redress in court, not to unleash terror on citizens. This is a criminal conspiracy against Malawians,” said one governance activist.
As Malawi heads into the decisive September 16 polls, the revelations raise fundamental questions about whether the DPP is preparing for democratic competition, or for civil disorder.
For citizens who remember the dark days of political violence under the DPP’s rule, the emerging picture is grim, a party so desperate to return to power that it is willing to gamble with the nation’s stability.
“Once you begin planning for violence, you admit defeat before the ballot is cast. The DPP is showing Malawians its true colours, power at any cost, even if it means setting the country on fire,” one political analyst noted.
