The family of the late Watson Kachere, who was murdered in cold blood at his workstation on August 3, 2023, has blamed the Malawi Police Service (MPS) for taking time to make significant progress into the investigation of his murder.
Further, the family has faulted Mota Engil Malawi, for which Kachere was working as a guard, for sitting on information they believe led to their relative’s death.
In an interview with The Atlas Malawi, Gabriel Kachere, a brother to the deceased, said although they provided the police with hints on what might have led to the murder of Watson, there seems to be no progress on the case as the police tell them they are still investigating every time they enquire.
The late Watson was guarding the company’s water pump stationed along Mzimba Street in Lilongwe at the Mchesi Bridge when he was assaulted to death by unknown assailants.
According to Kachere, before he met his fate, the deceased had complained to senior management at Mota Engil Malawi about the risk of guarding the station alone and without weapons and/or a dog.
Before being stationed at Mchesi Bridge, Watson had been guarding the residence of the company’s Portuguese workers in Area 47, where there were four guards at a time.
“He told us that whenever he lodged such a complaint, he was always answered that ntchito iziwawa. Later, he complained that some officials used to come at night to illegally pump out fuel, and he was always threatened not to report the issue to management.
“After the management got wind of what was happening, those involved started threatening him, but despite reporting the threats to management, they never acted. They even failed to assign more guards to the pump.
“A week before his death, he said some employees, especially the guards, had written a letter to management against some bosses who were abusing them. This increased threats to him as they said he was the mastermind of the letter. Just like it was the case before, management sat on the issue,” said Kachere, who described Watson as quiet and pious so much so that he was commonly called Abusa
According to Kachere, medical reports indicated that Watson was murdered between 6-8 pm after being tied to the rope by the neck and bludgeoned in the head with a fire extinguisher.
“As a family, we believe he knew those who murdered him. Because looking at the time it happened, it is obvious they came as friends, maybe they even had a chat with him before they grabbed and tied him to a rope. Maybe he reported too much and they just wanted to get rid of him as one way of concealing information,” he said
When contacted, Mota-Engil Malawi communications manager Thomas Chafunya refused to comment on the allegations.
He further did not refute or confirm them.
“Since the issue is being investigated by the police, I guess we give them time to complete their job,” he said
In an interview, Lilongwe Police spokesperson Hastings Chigalu said they are doing all they can to investigate the matter to its conclusion.
“Murder cases are very complicated and sometimes investigations take a while. We are doing everything possible to break through the issue. We can’t tell you what we have done so far as doing so would jeopardize the investigations, but rest assured that progress is being made,” said Chigalu, who further called upon the general to tip the police if they have information that may help them in the investigations.
Despite all the delays, Kachere is still hopeful that one day justice will prevail.
