Chasowa’s killers arrested, DPP’s Masangwi implicated
Police in Blantyre have netted two men suspected to be hired assassins who gruesomely murdered a University of Malawi student activist, Robert Chasowa in cold blood at Polytechnic campus for criticizing Malawi’s late president, Bingu wa Mutharika, publicly and exposing him and his DPP government of clandestine and underhand deals, in a special combat, Nyasa Times has learnt.
The raid was led by Malawi’s top crime buster and head of CID department Bob Mtekama who was appointed head of CID in Malawi only last week.
Nyasa Timesunderstands that a team of the police Special Forces marshalled by the no nonsense chief detective, Mtekama man-hunted and rounded up the two suspected murderers on Monday in their respective homes in the commercial city of Blantyre.
“The police on Monday early hours led by Mtekama raided several locations of Blantyre. They were using civilian vehicles and it was like watching a crime scene in CSI Miami. They were armed to the teeth. It was a marvel to watch them carry out their operation yet at the same time scary. They meant business,” an eye witness told Nyasa Times in an interview.
The alleged assassins are only identified as Petros and Diouf.
But Nyasa Times investigations indicate that a third suspect, also only identified as Sam- a Ndirande based alleged bandit who was among the assassins that killed Chasowa, is already in police custody in Blantyre answering other charges.
National Police Public Relations officer, Dave Chingwalu when contacted could not deny or confirm the arrest of Chasowa’s killers saying “When time is ripe we will give you details.”
Confession
Nyasa Times has gathered that the two suspects have confessed to the police that they were hired to kill Chasowa by former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) southern region governor Noel Masangwi.
“The men are alleging that they were hired by Noel Masangwi to murder Chasowa because he was becoming a nuisance to the government and that they were paid K1 million each for the operation. They also have confessed that on top of the cash money were promised to be given a brand new vehicle each,” said the source close to the suspects.
Chasowa was found dead on a pavement at University of Malawi’s constituent College, the Polytechnic in rather bizarre circumstances.
At that time, the police led by former Inspector General Peter Mukhito courted controversy when they announced to the public that there was no foul in Chasowa’s death and blatantly claimed that Chasowa had committed suicide.
Fake
Mukhito claimed Chasowa killed himself, and police released two suicide notes.
But close scrutiny to the epistles revealed that it was ‘fake’ as it had so many flaws.
The grammar and the sentence construction that was used in the letters were substandard and did not match a person of Chasowa’s intelligence and skills of writing.
Chasowa was producing a well-baked newsletter in which he exposed the fallen Malawi leader, late Mutharika’s corrupt practices and in one of his writings posted on Nyasa Times, he likened Malawi under the autocratic rule of president Mutharika to ‘Animal farm.’
The letter also had grave mistake in it, apart from the phony handwriting it was addressing a wrong person – the letter which was meant to make people believe that Chasowa was writing to his father, had his father’s late brother’s first name on. Everything about the suicide was but fake.
But relatives and friends said Chasowa was not suicidal and that the handwriting on the notes was not his.
Under pressure from the public, the police released an autopsy report that stated Chasowa died after a “a fall from a high place.”
But the pathologist police quoted denied writing such a report, and said instead that Chasowa died after being hit on the back of the head by a blunt object and that there was no sign he had fallen.
Truth
The matter turned into a sham after College of Medicine Pathologist Dr. Charles Dzamalala who conducted an autopsy on Chasowa’s body refused to budge.
Dzamalala said it was not true that Chasowa had committed suicide insisting his findings were contrary to the reports that the government wanted the public to believe.
Chasowa’s close friends revealed that the student activist alongside his acquaintances was invited to meet government officials and that he was ‘dealing’ with top government officials.
President Joyce Banda after taking over office on April 7 promised the nation that the Chasowa issue will be thoroughly investigated emphasizing that the perpetrators will be brought to book.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
