The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has strongly condemned the disruption of the peaceful demonstration organized by Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiative (CDEDI) in Lilongwe.

CDEDI organized demonstrations on Monday to push for the immediate resignation of Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) Chief Executive Officer Henry Kachaje over the ongoing fuel crisis in the country.

But protesters faced a strong opposition from the law enforcers who were all over the city firing teargas from all angles.

As this was not enough, Youth armed with panga knives suspected to be from the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) were all over town attacking everyone suspected of being among the protesters.

Reacting to the development, UDF through its spokesperson Dyson Jangia described the conduct of the armed youths as uncalled for.

“The United Democratic Front (UDF) strongly condemns the appalling actions of vigilantes wielding machetes who disrupted peaceful demonstrations yesterday, Monday, November 25th, in the capital city of Lilongwe. This incident, following a similar occurrence a few weeks ago, raises serious concerns about the growing threat to Malawi’s democratic values.

“We are deeply disturbed that such actions have been allowed to recur without decisive intervention from law enforcement authorities. This inaction not only endangers citizens’ constitutional right to peaceful assembly but also risks systematically shrinking the democratic space and paving the way for civil unrest,” said Jangia in the statement.

UDF has since called on the law enforcers to move in and arrest the perpetrators of the said attacks.