Police eagerly await postmortem on alleged brutal killing

Police in Blantyre have arrested the chairperson of Mbayani Market in connection to the murder of a well-known errand boy within the marketplace.

The suspect, Andrew Mandiwe, allegedly assaulted John Moyeni yesterday for the apparent theft of 4,000 kwacha.

Reports about Moyeni’s death this morning triggered angry protests by Mbayani residents who descended on and destroyed the suspect’s property after noting that he had disappeared.

Blantyre police spokesperson, Peter Mchiza, told Capital FM that they await a postmortem to determine the real cause of death before they can make any official arrest and prosecution of the suspect.

Mchiza said: “It is true that he is in our custody following the incident that took place yesterday where members of Mbayani community brought a theft suspect to the market chairman who assaulted him.”

Reports indicate that the departed Moyeni was pronounced dead at the hospital after the altercation with Mandiwe at Mbayani market.

“It is rumored that after that assault, the deceased collapsed and when he was taken to the hospital that was where he was pronounced dead on arrival.” Mchiza concluded his statement.

Moyeni, before his death, was one of the beneficiaries of an organization called Brothers in Arms which looks after children particularly the street connected group.

In an interview with Capital FM after the devastating incident caught Brothers in Arms executive director Asante Masache said: “We work with street connected children and the deceased used to be one some time back.”

He said the shocking news devastated him so much considering their positive history.

“We trained him and built a house for him and reintegrated him back into the community. This is very sad to us as an organization as well,” Masache said over a phone chat with Capital FM.

The deceased is survived by a wife and a baby.