Muvi Wa Chilungamo Bashes Government On Compensation of Detainees

The Newly formed Muvi Wa Chilungamo Party formerly Muvi Wa Chilungamo pressure group has criticized government for planning to compensate people claiming to have suffered various atrocities during one party rule.

The blast comes in the wake of taxpayers facing a whopping K23 trillion claim from about 23 000 victims of various atrocities committed during the one-party rule of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) between 1964 and 1994.

Muvi Wa Chilungamo Party president, Banthu Saunders Juma claimed that all those who were victimized during the one party rule were dully compensated immediately after the country attained multiparty democracy through a tribunal for national reconciliation.

Juma says tjr claim will add to the K2 trillion compensation claims from the public purse made by various sectors as of December 2021 besides, there are fresh claims being made on issues such as breach of commercial contracts, false imprisonment and alleged unlawful withdraw of land.

The Muvi Wa Chilungamo leader stressed that the national reconciliation tribunal managed to compensate even Malawi Congress Party officials who were victimized by those fighting for democracy apart from families of former cabinet ministers and a parliamentarian who were murdered at Thambani in Mwanza District.

“All those who were victimized in any way in a run-up to Malawi democratic dispensation were properly compensated, who ever is coming forward claiming money from government in relation to MCP brutality is a thief, as a nation we handled that in 1994,” Juma said.

Last week a group of some nationals claiming to have suffered human rights violations during one party era under the banner Ex-Detainees and Returnees Association of Malawi have threatened to drag government to Court in October if their compensations are not settled.

In an interview with local media Chairperson for the Association, Sangwani Mkandawire said about 23,000 of the victims who are supposed to receive over K20 million each have been deserted.

“We demand our compensations without any delay or else we will drug government to Court for failure to compensate 23 000 of us K20 million each,” Mkandawire said.

Responding to the claims, the Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda said some members of the association are demanding over K1 billion each, which might choke the government considering the country’s fragile economy.

However, the Executive Director for Center for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Michael Kaiyatsa, has urged government to fulfill its obligation, “as it will show how committed it is for a healed Malawi.

But Attorney General Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda has argued that the amount claimed is not economically correct to be paid by the Malawi Government, as such, his office and Ministry of National Unity have moved to engage the claimants on the best way to resolve the matter.

The K23 trillion claim follows a report the Office of the Ombudsman released in 2017 following an investigation which revealed that politicians abused the National Compensation Tribunal (NCT) set up by the first multiparty administration led by president Bakili Muluzi and United Democratic Front.

Titled ‘Malawi’s unhealed wounds’, the report ordered government to settle about 15 000 claims unsettled by the tribunal which was shut down in 2006, government was given three months to make the settlements.

In an interview the Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda said each of the 23 000 victims is between several hundreds of millions and several billions of kwacha, with many averaging K1 billion and above.

“Look, the tribunal offered the compensations, some were paid and others were not paid in full, we have one who was offered K500 million, he was not paid and he has come claiming the count with interests and that is billions of kwacha,” Nyirenda said.

He further revealed that the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament also summoned him on the claim and he told them it was not economically practical.

The Minister of National Unity, Timothy Mtambo said his ministry is currently working on developing a National Healing and Building Programme to make every citizen feel part of the country.

“We are working with many stakeholders, including the AG on this. Imagine we pay out that amount, will the country survive? Even when you look at the Ombudsman’s report, it talks about a negotiated approach.,” Mtambo said

In 1994, the Bakili Muluzi led administration formed the National Compensation Tribunal to pay off victims of the one party regime.

And in his maiden State of the Nation Address delivered in Parliament in September 2020, President Lazarus Chakwera promised to constitute a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to handle complaints about his party’s past human rights abuses.