Deport racist expatriate—HRCC

BY FAITH KAMTAMBE:

Human rights activists have said they are disappointed with Mike Harper, an expatriate who is said to have called a worker of a fellow expatriate “a slave” on the social media.

The Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) has asked the government to deport Harper following the remark.

Apparently, one expatriate, Pennie Ginn, wrote on a Facebook group of expatriates, named ‘Lilongwe Expat Leaving/Arriving’— on which they update each other on who is leaving Malawi and who is coming to the country—that she was sad to be leaving behind her house helper as she is going back to her country.

“Hey why don’t you take your slave with you? Just a thought,” Harper wrote.

Another person on the forum told Harper that calling the maid a slave is an insult to all Malawians.

HRCC Chairperson, Robert Mkwezalamba, said in an interview on Tuesday that Harper’s remarks should not be condoned and has since called for the expatriate’s deportation.

“It is against the principles of decent work, and degrading treatment, for any worker to be classified as a slave. Simply put, slave trade was banned and any person practising it is supposed to be arrested.

“We do not want to be taken back to the years when there was slave trade. Under the abolition of slave trade, the United Nations resolved and annulled the selling, or making available for use, of any human being in conditions of slavery. HRCC will be pushing government to deport him,” Mkwezalamba said.

But gender and child rights activist, Emily Banda, who engaged Harper on the issue, said he apologised.

“When the issue came up, I sent a message to him, explained that what he had done was bad. It didn’t take an effort. He apologised. You know these things, he could have easily said someone hacked his Facebook account. He owned the account and apologised. I think we should just give him the benefit of doubt,” Banda said.

Harper’s apology, as posted on Banda’s page reads: “I am truly sorry my post has offended [people] and I apologised unreservedly on the page and apologise to you.”

While saying that he has not heard about the issue, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Nicholas Dausi, said the government would investigate the issue.

“Government is going to look into that issue. We can’t allow our own people to be called slaves in their own country. We are going to investigate this and we will take appropriate action when we are satisfied that he really said that,” Dausi said.