Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have described the assenting to the Non-Governmental Organizations (Amendment) Bill by President Lazarus Chakwera as a clear sign of the rebirth of a dictatorial regime.

Speaking at a press briefing underway in Lilongwe, executive director for Youth and Society Charles Kajoloweka stressed that
the authoritarian rule is evidenced by the recent crackdown on the media for holding dissenting views, and citizens for expressing themselves on social media.

According to Kajoloweka at the moment, civil society has been weakened and gagged adding that the Constitution is under attack.

“Remember there was a Labour Relations Bill which was passed restricting workers from only holding a strike for three days, then we now have a law weakening civil society.

“Citizens are now being warned against expressing themselves freely on online media. What we see is a pattern of authoritarian rule and Malawians need to guard against this,” he said.