Blantyre, Malawi - Civil society leaders in Malawi have called for a three-day work 'stay-away' to press the government of President Bingu wa Mutharika to respond to their 20-point demand, emanating from the unprecedented 20 July nationwide anti-government demonstrations. At least 20 people died during the protest as police used live bullets to break the demonstrations that sometimes turned violent.

Billy Mayaya, spokesman for the organizers of demonstrations that had been scheduled to start Wednesday, told PANA that police and city assembly officials did not grant them permission to go on the streets, hence they decided to change tactics.

'We have resolved to hold a stay-away for three days because we're not able to get permission from police and city officials,' he said. 'We don't want to give them an excuse to kill more Malawians claiming we're holding illegal demonstrations.'

Mayaya said all workers in Malawi must stay home as a form of protest.

'We won't force anybody, this is voluntary, we'll urge all Malawians seeking for a better Malawi to help put pressure on government to start listening to cries of its people,' he said.

Police spokesman Willie Mwaluka said Wednesday's demonstrations were not sanctioned by the city hence would be illegal.

Meanwhile, many companies - including government departments - have urged their staff to stay at home on Wednesday.

'Our General Manager has told us not to come to work tomorrow,' said a woman working for the Malawi Housing Corporation, a government parastatal.

'We're told not to work tomorrow,' said a bank clerk at National Bank of Malawi. 'All banks will be closed tomorrow.'

But government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati urged Malawians not to heed the 'stay away' calls.

'Tomorrow is a normal working day,' he told PANA. 'Police will ensure the security of every Malawian, nobody will be allowed to harass any one.'

To assure the populace, the Ministry of Information mounted their public address systems on vehicles and went around major cities urging people to go to work.

'Go to work tomorrow! Go to school tomorrow!' a voice from the loudspeakers mounted on one of the vehicles boomed in the populous township of Zingwangwa Tuesday evening.

But it seems the announcement would not work, because at the close of business Tuesday many shop owners in the cities of Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu were seen carting their merchandise home and boarding up their premises.

'Government is assuring us of security but I can't take chances,' said an Asian trader, whose vehicle spare parts business was looted on 20 July.

Earlier in the day, High Court judge John Chirwa lifted an injunction stopping the scheduled 21 September anti-government demonstrations.

A group calling itself 'Concerned Citizens' took out the injunction against the protest marches, arguing that the police have no capacity to control large crowds.

The civil society, backed by the opposition and religious leaders, are protesting what they call poor economic and political governance, characterized by persistent fuel and foreign exchange reserves shortages and what they called bad laws.

Concerns about poor governance by the seven-year-old Mutharika administration have led to withdrawal of donor aid from Western donor nations like the UK, the US, Germany and Norway and global bodies like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Pana 21/09/2011