The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has drawn up a violent fallback plan to torch markets across the country should there be clear signs that former President Arthur Peter Mutharika is losing the Tuesday elections.
Information made available to The Pangolin Online reveals that thugs have already been identified and posted to various “hot spots” ahead of the polling day to carry out coordinated arson attacks targeting major markets in the Southern, Central and Northern regions.
In the Southern Region, Blantyre and Limbe markets are listed, alongside Mangochi Market. In the Central Region, Mtandire, Mchesi, Chisapo and Kauma markets in Lilongwe and the main market at Kasungu Boam have been earmarked. In the North, Mzuzu and Karonga markets are among those earmarked for destruction.
According to insiders, the DPP taskforce for violence has established a special fundraising committee to bankroll the operations. The committee, manned by party operatives with both local and international connections, is raising funds through sympathisers in Malawi and abroad.
The committee’s treasurer is reportedly Upile Mkulumba, who is an Independent parliamentary candidate for Lilongwe City Dzenza constituency after he was defeated during the party’s primaries.
The Pangolin Online has names and contacts of some individuals alleged to be directly coordinating the plan who include Mkulumba, Winston Kasamu, Ladwell Ligomeka, John Grevulo, Geoffrey Kamanyengo, Fanwick Kelodi, and foreign-based operatives identified only as Chibagela (South Africa) and Pathu (Mexico).
The broader strategy, sources say, is to create nationwide chaos to disrupt the electoral process, particularly the transportation of ballot papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) headquarters in Lilongwe.
This is not the first time the DPP has been accused of resorting to violent tactics when under political pressure. In 2014, incidents of petrol bombings and market fires rocked parts of the country while the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) warehouses were torched down after it was discovered that the party was rigging the elections.
Part of the MEC warehouse that was burnt down in Lilongwe
The same pattern was repeated in between 2019 and 2020 at the height of post-election protests.
More recently, in Thyolo, violence linked to former Cabinet minister and DPP Political Affairs Director Ben Phiri left several people injured after some thugs were paid to cause mayhem and violence following a visit to the district by MCP candidate and State President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.
In Mangochi, gangs allegedly sponsored by the DPP’s Deputy Secretary General Daud Chikwanje, who who is also a former Eastern Region Governor, working closely with Norman Chisale, also orchestrated violent attacks on Dr. Chakwera’s convoy. All these sponsored tactics are meant to paint a picture that MCP is not wanted and welcome in those districts.
Civil society organisations have repeatedly warned against the DPP’s use of intimidation, thuggery and arson as tools of political survival. Analysts say the alleged market-burning plot fits into a pattern of destabilisation the party has embraced whenever it faces electoral defeat.
Security and intelligence officials have confirm getting information on the plot and have assured the nation that they are monitoring the situation closely. So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the attacks in Thyolo and Mangochi and human rights defenders have urged the Malawi Police Service and MEC to take the arson plot reports seriously and ensure that security is tightened around markets and ballot transportation routes.
