[Nyasa Times] What was supposed to be a solemn national commemoration of Malawi's founding president Hastings Kamuzu Banda descended into chaos and deep political division on Thursday after police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of the Malawi Congress Party who were accompanying former president Lazarus Chakwera to Kamuzu Mausoleum in Lilongwe.

Malawi's government has defended its exclusion of opposition Malawi Congress Party leaders from official Kamuzu Day commemorations, rejecting accusations that the decision risks police-state tactics. The dispute centers on whether opposition leaders were improperly barred from the event.