January 20, 2021 Watipaso Mzungu - Nyasa Times 17 Comments
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) and the Blantyre Small Scale Business Operators led a peaceful demonstration against the Tonse Alliance government in Blantyre on Tuesday with dozens of protestors giving the leadership a demand for an immediate reduction on fuel prices in light of Covid-19 lockdown measures and governance queries.
Protesters during their march in Blantyre
Some of the scenes during Cdedi led protests
The protesters marched peacefully unlike in the past when demonstrators led by HRDC under the leadership of Timothy Mtambo would damage property
The message on the placards carried by the protesters was clear
CDEDI and the business operators had initially planned to hold the protests on January 8 2021.
But Blantyre City Council (BCC) withheld its permission to CDEDI and the business operators on the pretext that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was outside Lilongwe.
This prompted the organizers of the mass protests to file a fresh application for permission to BCC to hold peaceful demonstration on January 13 2021.
However, this was cancelled after President Lazarus Chakwera declared three days of mourning following the sudden death of the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Lingson Belekanyama, and his Transport and Public Works counterpart, Sidik Mia.
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The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) and the Blantyre Small Scale Business Operators have filed a fresh application for permission to the Blantyre City Council to hold peaceful demonstration on January 13 2021. Cdedi and the business operators had initially planned to hold the protests on January 8 2021. But according to CDEDI […]
By Watipaso Mzungu
Cdedi, Blantyre Small Scale Business Operators’ press briefing in progress
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) and the Blantyre Small Scale Business Operators have filed a fresh application for permission to the Blantyre City Council to hold peaceful demonstration on January 13 2021.
CDEDI and the business operators had initially planned to hold the protests on January 8 2021.
But according to CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa, the city authorities used some archaic and draconian tactics to deny the citizens their constitutional right to peaceful demonstrations by sitting on the letter up to date.
Namiwa, in a statement issued on Friday morning, discloses that they were informed verbally by the personal secretary for Blantyre City Council Chief Executive Officer on January 6 2021, that the CEO had travelled to Lilongwe on official duties, and that there was still no official acknowledgement of CDEDI’s notice of t