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Judge in Malawi Blocks Government Lockdown, at Least Temporarily

Lameck Masina

   BLANTYRE, MALAWI - A High Court judge in Malawi blocked the government
   from implementing a nationwide lockdown for at least seven days. The
   ruling late Friday came after police used tear gas to disperse hundreds
   of market vendors protesting a 21-day lockdown that was to start
   Sunday.

   The lockdown would shut down all non-essential businesses and services
   for three weeks, including large markets where street vendors make a
   living. Smaller markets would be allowed to stay open between 6 a.m.
   and 2 p.m.

   The restrictions aim to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic,
   which has infected 16 people in Malawi and killed two.

   Maltida Ligowe, a vegetable seller at the main Limbe market in
   Blantyre, says without a place to sell her goods, she will only get
   poorer.

   While she says a lockdown may be a good idea, she believes President
   Peter Mutharika could have appreciated the poverty in their country.
   Ligowe says the poor cannot withstand a 21-day lockdown.

   Malawi's protesters have petitioned city authorities to give them food
   and money to sustain them until the markets reopen.

   Health rights activist Dorothy Ngoma says the lockdown is likely to
   create food shortages and child malnutrition among poor families.

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