WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-07-24 Time: 21:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
RNW’s correspondent Mathews Malata attended the ceremony.
The burial ceremony took place despite some differences that had surfaced after the government refused the bereaved family permission to bury the victims at Heroes’ Acre where one of Malawi’s independence freedom fighter Chakufwa Chihana is buried.
The government provided logistical support for the funerals of the eight victims, which created considerable tension during the ceremony.
Eight people died in Mzuzu according to government authorities when police used reasonable force to quell the situation after violence broke out during what had been a peaceful march. A further ten people died in other parts of the country during the two-days of protests and several others are being treated in local hospitals for varying degrees of injuries.
Demonstrations were arranged by civil groups in three cities across Malawi, including Mzuzu, on 20 July to protest against the leadership of the president, Bingu wa Mutharika. Shortages of electricity, foreign currency and fuel have been a mainstay of Mutharika’s seven-year rule according to his detractors.
International plea
Although business is returning to normal across the country, foreign governments and international organizations are advising Malawian authorities to peacefully resolve the stalemate. The US government has condemned attempts by the government to block what was meant to be peaceful demonstrations.
“The United States strongly condemns the use of force by Malawian authorities on July 20 to prevent peaceful demonstrations, as well as the ban imposed on all private radio stations reporting on the demonstrations,” State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton said in a statement.
The statement also called upon the people and the government of Malawi to remain committed to the principles of democracy and to express disagreements through peaceful means.
Amnesty international has also asked relevant government officials to initiate an independent inquiry on the deaths:
“The Malawian authorities must immediately launch an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into their use of firearms resulting in these killings”, Erwin var der Borght, Amnesty International’s Director for Africa has said.
“When the police use firearms, they must minimize injury, and respect human life. If there’s reasonable suspicion that they have shot people arbitrarily, the suspects must be brought to justice in a fair trial”, he added.
Stepping up security
A vox pop conducted in the streets of Blantyre revealed that small scale business people are busy scaling up security within their business compounds. “You know it’s not certain, anything can happen what happened was bad and we want to be more secure in case the violent resurfaces” said a shop owner in Blantyre who had hired a welder to put more security bars.
Some people also said business transactions declined due to four days of disruption. “This is a heavy loss, I used to sell sugarcane and fresh vegetables, as am talking to you I have spent all my small business capital since I do hand to mouth type of business and now I need to borrow money somewhere. Whosoever is causing this should stop it, we are not used to this” said a woman in Limbe.
Unrepentant spirit
On Friday (22 July) afternoon a visibly concerned and angry president Mutharika was in the eastern part of the country where he vowed to smoke out instigators, financers and organizers of such demonstrations.
“Today Malawi is a peaceful country and was recently ranked 2nd after Botswana by the Global Peace Index in sub-Saharan Africa. I will not allow anybody to disturb the peace prevailing in this country,” vowed Mutharika.
He also accused vice president Joyce Banda, former vice president Dr Cassim Chilumpha, former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara and other human rights activists for planning to topple his government. “This is a serious offence and I will not let it go,” fumed Mutharika.
Malawi’s former attorney general told the local press that Mutharika’s claims were utter nonsense and baseless.
Other quarters also suggest Mutharika’s speech only depicts his arrogance and unrepentant spirit.
“He has surrounded himself with opportunistic politicians, mostly from his own ethnic group, and he has a very unprofessional police force.” one political analyst from the university of Malawi, who wished to remain anonymous, is quoted as saying.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 24 July 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201107240017.html?viewall=1