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INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000197 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S - ELIZABETH PELLETREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: MALAWI - POLITICAL PARTIES CLASH IN THE SOUTH 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Beginning with incidents last December, violence 
between supporters of former president Bakili Muluzi's United 
Democratic Front (UDF) and President Bingu Mutharika's Democratic 
Progressive Party (DPP) has been increasing in Machinga, the home 
district of Muluzi.  Early clashes resulted in only minor injuries, 
but in January protesters stoned a DPP deputy minister's official 
car forcing the cancellation of a rally.  Events escalated on March 
21, when police arrested UDF Member of Parliament Rev. Wilson 
Ndomondo, his wife, son, and 32 supporters after a prospective DPP 
parliamentary candidate was allegedly beaten.  Days later, police 
arrested ten more UDF supporters prior to a Muluzi rally in Blantyre 
after they scuffled with DPP supporters.  Muluzi responded, claiming 
the arrests were politically motivated, noting that only UDF 
partisans had been detained.  Past elections in Malawi have 
generated little violence, but these confrontations - a full year 
prior to the election - combined with continuous public expressions 
of animosity between Muluzi and Mutharika, portend further clashes, 
particularly in the south.  End Summary. 
 
UDF Defends Muluzi's Home Turf 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) In December last year, UDF supporters clashed with police in 
Machinga, the home district of former president Muluzi.  The UDF 
members claimed the police had uprooted party flags on the road to a 
Presidential function in the district.  In the clash, protesters 
threw stones at the police, injuring an officer and forcing police 
to respond with tear gas.  A UDF spokesman claimed after the 
incident that it was actually DPP supporters who had removed the UDF 
flags. Seven UDF supporters were later arrested for the assault. 
 
¶3. (U) In early January alleged UDF supporters in Machinga disrupted 
a political rally organized by Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade, 
Ellock Maotcha Banda.  Banda is the MP for Machinga Central and was 
elected as an independent in 2004, defeating a UDF incumbent - 
former Minister of Labor Alice Sumani.  Banda was also one of the 
first MPs to join Mutharika's DPP in 2005.  In the chaos, people 
smashed the deputy minister's official car injuring six people.  A 
prospective DPP parliamentary candidate's car was also stoned by the 
crowd.  In response to the attack, Banda was forced to postpone the 
planned DPP rally due to security concerns.  The UDF was quick to 
distance itself from the incident, but police later arrested six UDF 
supporters as suspects. 
 
¶4. (U) Banda successfully held his postponed rally in Machinga in 
mid-February but not without further incident.  During the rally, 
alleged UDF supporters tried and failed to disrupt the gathering, by 
removing goal posts from a soccer field where a match was scheduled 
to end the rally.  The police arrested nine people for the 
disruption. 
 
UDF MP Arrested for Suspected Involvement 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On March 21 police arrested Hon. Rev. Wilson Ndomondo, a 
UDF MP for Machinga Southeast, after Ndomondo addressed supporters 
during a UDF meeting.  (Comment: Maotcha Banda is well known for 
chiding Rev. Ndomondo during sessions of parliament for remaining 
with the UDF. End Comment)  Henderson Muleme, a prospective DPP 
parliamentary candidate, claimed Ndomondo and his UDF supporters 
smashed his vehicle and injured him so badly that he required 
hospitalization.  A UDF spokesperson countered that UDF and DPP 
supporters had only traded insults on the way to separate rallies 
and that the DPP partisans convinced police to arrest Ndomondo.  The 
UDF also claimed that the police had to bring Ndomondo to three 
police stations before finding one who would agree to detain him for 
fear of inciting more violence.  Ndomondo's wife, son, and 32 other 
UDF supporters were also arrested when they went to the police 
station to check on Ndomondo's condition.  Ndomondo and his UDF 
supporters have since been released on bail. 
 
Clashes Spread to Blantyre 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) On March 24 UDF and DPP supporters clashed again, this time 
in Blantyre, on the way to a Muluzi rally.  UDF supporters allegedly 
stopped along the route to confront DPP supporters who had planted 
DPP flags along the roadside.  The incident resulted in five people 
going to the hospital with injuries and the eventual arrest of 10 
UDF supporters.  The arrests prompted Muluzi to condemn the police 
for being politically influenced, citing that police had so far only 
arrested UDF partisans in the five clashes. 
 
Early Incidents Indicate Potential for Violence in South 
----------------------- -------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment:  Machinga is the heart of Muluzi's and the UDF's 
support base.  Much as the president's home town of Thyolo is a "no 
go" area for the UDF, the violence shows that the UDF will defend 
its perceived area from DPP encroachment.  With both Muluzi and 
 
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Mutharika angling for support in the southern region to counter 
Malawi Congress Party candidate John Tembo's central region 
stronghold, tensions in the south are unlikely to go away.  While 
past elections have generated little violence in Malawi, incidents 
have never begun this early.  As Muluzi continues to publicly state 
his main goal is to remove Mutharika from office, the level of 
animosity between both party leaders and their supporters is bound 
to intensify as the May 2009 elections approach, with more violent 
confrontations highly possible. End Comment. 
 
EASTHAM