Malawian police clash with demonstrators

Radio station reports that officers fired teargas at protesters opposed to President Bingu wa Mutharika in capital, Lilongwe Police fired teargas at anti-government demonstrators in Malawi’s capital, a radio station reported, after a day of nationwide unrest. MIJ 90.3 FM, a private radio station, said demonstrators clashed with security forces in Lilongwe. The situation in the southern African country’s commercially central second city, Blantyre, was returning to normal, however. Shops in the city reopened after being shuttered during clashes between soldiers, riot police and marchers demanding the resignation of President Bingu wa Mutharika, although some banks remained closed. Blantyre police spokesman Davie Chingwalu said the riots had caused extensive property damage and several demonstrators and police had been injured. A number of arrests had been made, he said. There were reports that police in the northern city of Mzuzu had shot a protester dead, although police did not confirm this. The outburst of public anger in the landlocked nation of 13 million people was directed mainly at Mutharika, a former World Bank economist who was first elected in 2004 and has presided over six years of high-pace but aid-funded economic growth. The sheen has come off this year as Mutharika has become embroiled in a diplomatic row with Britain, Malawi’s biggest donor, over a leaked embassy cable that referred to him as “autocratic and intolerant of criticism”. The cable led to the expulsion of Britain’s ambassador to Lilongwe. In response, Britain kicked out Malawi’s representative in London and suspended aid worth $550m (£340m) over the next four years. The freeze has left a yawning hole in the budget of a country that has relied on handouts for 40% of its revenues, and intensified a dollar supply crunch threatening Malawian currency the kwacha’s peg at 150 to the dollar. The lack of foreign currency has also pushed up fuel prices and exacerbated an already chronic energy shortage. Malawi Protest Africa guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.