Malawi is always top gear, that is why Zimbabwe should be copying us, says Internal Affairs Minister, Aaron Sangala. The minister was reacting to assertions that the small southern African country was picking up oppressive laws from Comrade Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.

Sangala on Tuesday added the Police Bill, which many say is turning the country into a police state, is far from Zimbabwe’s Public Order and Security Act (POSA), embraced by Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF to garner and defend its mandate.

“There is no reason we should copy anything from Zimbabwe. If anything they will copy from us because we are always top gear,” he said.

Malawi’s Police Bill was approved by parliament to regulate assemblies and demonstrations is touted by the minister as aimed at transforming the maintenance of law and order into a shared responsibility.

“This is Malawi. Zimbabwe is another country. We are sovereign country, we are going on our direction,” said Sangala during a Capital Radio Straight Talk programme. These fears are unfounded, he assured.

Presenter Brian Banda asked the Sangala why the police was arresting people in cities who were just gathered for chats and others doing walkabouts similar to what was happening in Zimbabwe.

The minister expressed ignorance on the arbitrary arrests.

“We have introduced strict guidelines in line with the Police reform. We will discipline “bad apples” in the police service,” he said, adding the new police law was a recommendation of a special Law Commission which came up with their report after “consulting various stakeholders.”

The minister also said what President Bingu wa Mutharika says at rallies is not necessarily turned into procedure when conducting operations. The president at one development event directed that the police engage a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy against armed robbers who were terrorizing business people, residents and the country in whole.

The Minister also told the radio that he will table a bill in the next parliament on Secret Intelligence Service and that he would only comment on reports that spies are eavesdropping people’s phone conversations , when he presents the bill.

Nyasa times wrote on the standoff between University of Malawi lecturers and Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito over academic freedom, the minister backed the police chief for summoning and questioning Associate Professor of Political Science Blessings Chisinga over a lecture hall example.

“We have to balance what you call academic freedom and public security,” he said adding the interrogation was rather “a brotherly talk between them”.

“We are doing our job. We want to make sure there is public security in this country and that people don’t take advantage when they have hidden agenda and hide behind institutions to advance their agenda,” he said.

Civil society fear Zimbabwe’s POSA strategy will creep into the Malawi system as elections year, 2014, draws near.

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