Abstract

In the past weeks much has been said and written about academic freedom and national security and no doubt there is much still to debate about. I am, however, puzzled by the response the Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service, Mr. Peter M. Mukhito, gave to the CCASU (Chancellor College Academic Staff Union) in his attempt to explain the nature of his meeting with Dr Blessings Chinsinga. The CCASU in its petition alleges that Mr. Mukhito breached Dr Chinsinga’s constitutional right to academic freedom. The breach, as I understand it, stems from attempts made by Mr. Mukhito to establish whether Dr Chinsinga, a Chancellor College lecturer, in the course of giving a lecture did or attempted to incite ‘students to engage in strikes and related actions to bring down the constitutionally constituted government of the Republic of Malawi’.