While the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi has provisions that protect the rights of citizens and residents of Malawi, the country is not short of people who disregard rights of one significant segment of the population, namely persons with albinism (PWAs). And, as GRECIUM GAMA writes, a deceased person with albinism is as in danger as a living one.
Persons with albinism make up a significant part of the Malawi Population.
By December 2023, there were about 140,000 people with albinism in the country, with National Statistical Office records indicating that about 85 percent of people with albinism lack the necessary resources.
As a result, they suffer from sunburn, a problem compounded by lack of sunscreen lotion in public healthcare service facilities.
This is despite that people such as Malawi Health Equity Network Executive Director George Jobe and quality health advocate Maziko Matemba have been advocating the inclusion of sunscreen lotion in the Essential Health Package.
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However, while people with albinism wait for a day sunscreen lotion will be available in all public healthcare service facilities in the country, they are facing an imminent threat: Attacks on their persons.
Fortunately, there was no case of attack on a person with albinism in January this year, a development that is sure to elate people of goodwill.
But this is no cause for celebration, more so because a case of unknown people tampering with the grave of a person with albinism has emerged; this time in Phalombe District in the Southern Region.
South East Police Regional spokesperson Edward Kabango told The Daily Times that unknown people attempted to exhume the graveyard of Betty Sitolo, a person with albinism who passed away in 2022 in Phalombe District.
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He, however, said the people did not succeed on their mission, as they were thwarted by the presence of a concrete slab, which was strategically positioned on the day Sitolo was buried.
“Yes, it is very true that unknown individuals attempted to tamper with the graveyard but they failed to extract the remains,” he said.
Kabango advised people with albinism not to live in fear, emphasising that police have enhanced security measures in the country.
The development has riled Phalombe Association of Persons with Albinism Chairperson Hastings Goodwin.
He expressed concern over the latest incident, saying it highlights the unsafe environment people with albinism live in.
“The recent incident has shown negative attitudes towards people with albinism,” he said, urging people with albinism to remain vigilant to avoid potential attacks.
Sitolo came from Ndungunya Village, Traditional Authority Jenala, in Phalombe District.
Last year, reports of unknown people attempting to tamper with the grave of a person with albinism caused fear among people with albinism.
For instance, the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (Apam) called for an urgent solution to the problem.
It made the call when, in June that year, unidentified people tampered with a grave in Blantyre City, where they exhumed a body and removed its arms and legs.
Apam President Young Muhamba said the incident was the seventh one half way through 2023.
“We also had three cases of tampering with graves and another two attacks on June 9 [2023].
“There was also an incident where the grave [of a person with albinism] was tampered with in Phalombe District and [in that case], there was an issue of tampering with a grave. On March 20, a body was discovered without limbs,” he is on record to have said.
In fact, since 2014, more than 170 people have been killed or attacked in the country.
According to People’s Federation for National Peace and Development Executive Director Edward Chaka, most of the attacks happen due to “ignorance”.
“For instance, some misguided people wrongly believe that concoctions that are mixed with the body parts of people with albinism bring luck and wealth, which is all nonsense. There is no element of truth in this nonsense,” Chaka said.
He said there is a need to tighten security and round up those who are perpetuating “barbaric acts” against people with albinism.
“It is unfortunate that even the dead are not safe in their graves. What happened to cultural values? What happened to respect for the dead? Unfounded beliefs should not make people lose their sanity.
“People with albinism, like everyone else, deserve protection. It is high time Parliament did something positive about applicable laws. This includes amending the laws and ensuring that they provide for stiffer penalties on those that attack persons with albinism,” Chaka, whose organisation promotes peace in national development efforts, said.
Of course, Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare spokesperson Pauline Kaude maintains that, since 2019, government has been working on seven priority areas in the National Action Plan to end attacks on persons with albinism.
The areas include enhancing security, administration of justice and empowerment of people with albinism through tailor-made initiatives.
