BY WATIPASO MZUNGU,
A CONTRIBUTOR
Paramount Chief Kyungu of Karonga District has proposed the introduction of a law that would give courts powers to order amputation of limbs of people convicted of any offence committed against persons with albinism (PWAs) in the country.
Kyungu says such legistration which he called Shariah Law, could be the surest means to end attacks on the PWA community in Malawi.
He made the remarks at Mwenilondo Full Primary School in Karonga on Saturday during the commemoration of this year’s International Albinism Awareness Day.
The commemoration also saw Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Jean Kalilani, launching the 2018-2022 National Action Plan on Persons with Albinism in Malawi, which will guide stakeholders’ efforts to address challenges and hostilities that PWAs are being subjected to.
“If I had been given the authority, I would have introduced Shariah Law the moment these cases started. I believe these stupid-minded people who commit crimes against our fellow human beings don’t deserve mercy when handling their cases. We need to chop off their hands to send a strong message to like-minded people,” Kyungu said.
Association of People Living with Albinism in Malawi (Apam) president, Overstone Kondowe, said they are worried that perpetrators of violence and attacks on PWAs continue to be treated with kid gloves in the name of promoting human rights.
Kondowe said the argument being raised by human rights defenders cannot be justified as it exposes PWAs to violations and death while respecting the rights of murderers.
“We have been advocating capital punishment for people convicted of offences against PWAs but the government has not listened to our call. We are disappointed that the government and human rights defenders seem to defend the murderers’ rights at the expense of our lives,” he said.
In March this year, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Nicholas Dausi, told the family of the slain young PWA in Machinga, MacDonald Masambuka, that government is ready to enforce capital punishment on people convicted of offences against PWAs.
But Dausi accused the international human rights bodies, including Amnesty International, of tying government’s hands on the matter through conditions attached to their support.
He urged Apam to lobby the donor community to soften up their conditions to allow for the enforcement of the death penalty.
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