There have been an increase in the number of mob justice incidents lately in Malawi. The most recent case involves a Police station being burned down by angry mobs, unhappy with what they view as a weak  rule of law under the police, according to reports.

Earlier in June, a newly built Nsungwe police unit was burned  down in Lilongwe’s area 25 when an angry mob protesting against the arrest of an illegal fuel dealer, descended onto it. In November, another police station was burned down in Chirimba township after a man shot dead a shop owner, the mob believing the criminal was being kept in the police station, set it alight. The latest police station was in Makhetha in Blantyre and it seems there have been several other incidents across the country in recent weeks.

While I have heard first hand accounts from people I know, of the increase of violence and mob justice in Malawi, one really doesn’t know what to make of this latest episode, except that it signifies not only a lack of discipline but also a failure of the authorities to maintain law and order in an environment with ever-growing frustrations against what is being viewed as a weak police force.