By Chalo Mvula
The leader of Malawi Congress Party diaspora wing Lucy Chitembeya has criticizing the DPP government of not doing enough to protect people with albinism in Malawi in light of the kidnappings and the killings that have been going on for some time. Malawi has seen the rise in killings of albinos whose body parts are allegedly used for rituals.
Speaking from her base in Georgia USA, Chitembeya said MCP members in diaspora and Malawians as such are now tired of all talk and no action, yet the trend of killing albino continues. “Every day it’s the same story, innocent people with albinism being abducted and killed and yet the government is being toothless, standing in podiums claiming that something will be done and yet nothing is being done,” argued Chitembeya.
Just recently, a 16 year old boy with albinism was abducted in Dedza. While police central region spokesperson Nolliette Chihana Chimala has confirmed the incident and promised that investigations are underway, nobody has been arrested yet. This follows another incident in Mchizanda Village, TA Chingala in Lilongwe where a 32 year old man with albinism was also attacked. It has been reported that a total of 23 people with albinism have been murdered since these stories surfaced in 2014.
Malawian President Peter Mutharika on a number of occasions has condemned the wave of attacks on people with albinism. He has called on police to arrest perpetrators and protect those with albinism and their families at risk of attack. However, police and governmental response has been lacklustre. MCP diaspora claims that they are not satisfied with the inadequacy of police investigations, and perpetrators being dealt sentences not in line with the severity of the crime.
MCP has pledged to promote the rule of law when it gets in power and has vowed to make sure those convicted of acts like these gets deserved punishment. “Our leader Dr Lazarus Chakwera has included respect for the rule of the law in his Super Hi-5 agenda so that those committing crimes like these should not be getting away with it but face the courts and get stiff prison sentences “said Chitembeya. Chitembeya went on to say the diaspora community are very much concerned about the plight of fellow Malawians back home and highlighted that even though many of them have lived abroad for many years, Malawi still remains their home and they will never keep quiet while a certain minority of Malawians are being innocently killed like that.
Some international Humanitarian organisations such as Amnesty International have already described the albino-killing situation as a human rights crisis urging the Malawi’s government to protect the thousands of people with albinism – a vulnerable group of people at risk of abductions and killings.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of the Publisher or the Editor of Maravi Post