Government clueless on blood suckers, 31 arrested
Government is yet to get to the root of the blood-sucking rumours that have stirred up communities in Phalombe, Chiradzulu, Mulanje and Nsanje
Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi, at a media briefing Wednesday in Lilongwe, described the development as a myth and not easy to fight against.
“The issue of blood sucking is mythical, superstitious and mere allegations that have resulted in the loss of innocent lives,” Dausi said.
As government, he said, what we have done is to make sure that we are in each locality where people are saying there are blood suckers.
“We will get to the core of it. The police have arrested some of those people,” he said
Southern Region Police Public Relations Officer Ramsey Mushani confirmed that 31 people have been arrested in connection with murders and malicious damage of property in Mulanje and Nsanje districts so far.
So far, six people have been killed on suspicion that they were blood suckers or collaborators.
The minister accused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and political parties for failing to condemn and complement government efforts to halt the killings.
He said government is surprised that no political party has uttered any statement, hence concluding that politics is also behind the development.
“We have 55 political parties and over 500 NGOs but where are they?” he said.
He said the only way to fight the issue is to have collective efforts and that communities should desist from taking the law into their own hands once they catch any suspect.
But Malawi Congress Party Deputy Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka said government’s blame on political parties is an admission of failure by the current administration to provide security to its citizens.
“They are in charge of state agencies that are responsible for ensuring that there is security and peace in this country, unless they tell us that there is something specific they want us to address… they need to take charge of the situation because we are giving them the resources,” he said.
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