Police complete probing majority of albino cases
Police have investigated about three-quarters of cases bordering on abduction, attacks, killings and the exhumation of remains of persons with albinism (PWAs), Commissioner of Police Willie Mwaluka has said.
Mwaluka made the remarks at Chikande II Full Primary School in Ntcheu District on the sidelines of an awareness meeting on the rights of PWAs, which was organised the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).
UN Women, with funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, is implementing the second phase of a project aimed at raising awareness on PWAs in Dedza, Chikwawa, Mangochi, Mulanje, Ntcheu and Zomba districts.
Mwaluka indicated that law enforcers have completed investigating close to three-quarters of crimes related to attacks on PWAs since 2014.
“I don’t have actual statistics [from the head] but what is there is that 75 percent [of the cases of attacks] have been covered. Cases of attacks have also declined. We are almost winning the battle,” Mwaluka said.
He said law-enforcers are working hard to finalise investigations into the remaining cases “as we go closer to the end of this year”.
“For us to win this fight, it should not be a fight for police officers alone. Each and every individual has to be part of the process. If we join hands, eventually it will be easy to win,” Mwaluka SAID.
UN Women Human Rights specialist, Habiba Osman, said her organisation is eager to provide the necessary technical support to strengthen the capacity of community leaders in reporting and/or addressing violations of rights of PWAs in localities.
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