Update: Political divisions surrounding the Kamuzu Day commemorations escalated into physical confrontations when police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) accompanying former President Lazarus Chakwera to the Kamuzu Mausoleum in Lilongwe. Building on earlier coverage of political tensions marring the national holiday, the incident occurred after the MCP boycotted the official state function and held a separate procession to honour Malawi's founding president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
The government strongly defended the police intervention. According to AllAfrica, government spokesperson Shadric Namalomba stated the MCP procession was an unlawful assembly because the party had not obtained clearance from the police or the Lilongwe City Council. The dispute originated from protocol disagreements. The MCP argued that Chakwera was excluded from the main national ceremony after President Peter Mutharika delegated his attendance to a cabinet minister, Nation Online reports.
Opposition leaders quickly condemned the police action. MCP secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda described the teargassing as an assault on democratic values and national unity, according to Nyasa Times. United Transformation Movement (UTM) President Dalitso Kabambe also issued a statement denouncing the chaos and warning against the politicisation of national memory.