Malawi fabricated coup, says opposition head

Malawi’s main opposition leader, Gwanda Chakuamba, accused the government on Thursday of fabricating an attempted coup as an excuse to crack down on political opponents, news reports said. “The government is using the two ringleaders to fabricate a coup plot in order to get us in,” Chakuamba was quoted as saying.

Intelligence reports gathered by the opposition showed that the government fingered Sudi Sulaimana and Colvin Kaumira in the plot to implicate the opposition, Chakuamba said. The two were among nine people arrested at the weekend on charges that they planned to attack state radio and television stations and march on the presidential residence, Sanjika Palace, on the outskirts of Blantyre.

“They want to get us in because the government is threatened by the grand alliance of three parties,” he added. According to reports, the Alliance for Democracy - led by Chakufwa Chihana, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) pressure group, and Chakuamba’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP) - have been holding rallies together and hinting at plans to form an electoral pact in 2004, when the next general election is due.

“The government is threatened by the grand alliance. It is this pressure which is encouraging government to deal with the opposition,” Chakuamba said. The constitution currently limits the president to serving two consecutive five-year terms. Muluzi’s second term expires in 2004.