Two people were wounded when Malawi riot police fired live rounds at a crowd to stop a rally by opposition parties in Blantyre on Sunday, an opposition spokesperson said.
Kholiwe Mkandawire of the ”Mgwirizano” coalition (which means ”unity” in the local Chichewa language), an alliance of six small parties, said scores of heavily armed riot police ”resorted to firing live bullets” at the crowd of 5 000 which had refused to disperse from a public park in the township Mjamba.
”The two were hit in the melee and were rushed to hospital,” said Mkandawire late on Sunday.
A police officer who did not want to be named said: ”They were acting on instructions of the mayor of the city of Blantyre”.
Mayor John Chikakwiya, a loyalist of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) of President Bakili Muluzi, had banned the rally because Muluzi was addressing his own in another township, about six kilometres away.
Mayors in Malawi have powers to ban rallies if they fear a security breakdown. The riot police, who often use live rounds, destroyed a podium erected for the leaders of the opposition.
But the opposition had obtained a High Court order permitting the rally to go ahead, and after showing it to the police, the rally continued and its leaders, including Gwanda Chakuamba, endorsed as the presidential candidate of the coalition, addressed their supporters.
A spokesperson at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital said the two injured people were treated for gunshot wounds and were in a stable condition.
Malawi will hold general elections on May 18 when the president is to retire after serving two terms. Muluzi’s bid to amend the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term was rejected by parliament. – Sapa-AFP