Two communities at loggerheads in Nkhatabay

There is a clash between two communities in Malawi’s Nkhatabay district as members of the communities have been engaged in violent acts aimed at each other.The cause of the dispute between the communities,  Mpamba and Chinguluwe, is yet to be established but Nyasaland news understands that there have been disagreements between the communities for some time. Police publicist for the district sergeant Ignatius Esau said he is aware of some cases of violence between members of the two communities and claimed that they have since arrested some gang members from Chinguluwe who were very violent to anybody from Mpamba.Police are alert. (Library)“They were searching from buses and schools. Once they found anybody from Mpamba, they were assaulting him severely.  This has really scared people in the two areas because they are no longer walking freely,” said Esau.He said there is also a similar situation in Mpamba where everyone suspected to be from Chinguluwe usually risks being beaten.The police say that the fighting began when some gangsters from Chinguluwe attended a disco at Mpamba recently where after the function they battered people from the area severely. This irked residents of Mpamba who planned revenge.“They assaulted some people at Mpamba trading centre severely. The issue was reported to us and amid our follow up, we arrested James Lusha, 25, who hails from Nthulinga village. From then, tension has been high between people from two areas,” Esau said.Meanwhile, the situation seems to be ongoing as people from the two areas are still restricting each other to enter into the rival territory. However, the police have sounded a warning that anyone who will be found causing violence will be arrested and charged with threatening to cause violence contrary to section 86 of the penal code. The maximum penalty for the offence is spending three years inside prison walls.