Leader of opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa who is also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Vice President for the South has condemned the abduction of Executive Director for the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiative (CDEDI) Sylvester Namiwa.

Namiwa was allegedly abducted 45 minutes after addressing the media Wednesday afternoon on today’s demonstrations pushing for President Lazarus Chakwera to remove his presidential immunity from prosecution.

In his statement Nankhumwa described the abduction of Namiwa as barbaric and he has asked the police to investigate the matter.

“Malawi is a multiparty democracy, which among other things upholds the values of freedom of speech and conscience. Although it is very easy to connect the dots as to who is not comfortable with Mr Namiwa, I do not want to believe that our democracy has retrogressed to the level where government is sending agents to abduct its critics.

“As Leader of Opposition in Parliament, I am calling upon the Police to quickly institute investigations to arrest and bring to book the abductors. I am also monitoring the situation closely and should anything bad happen to Mr Namiwa, I will hold the government responsible,” said Nankhumwa.

Meanwhile, CDEDI has said it will go on with the today’s national wide demonstrations.