The Association for Persons with Albinism of Malawi (APAM) has called on the President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika to directly engage with the albinism community and clearly outline concrete measures being taken to ensure their safety.
APAM President, Young Muhamba, says fresh fears have emerged among persons with albinism following reports that the grave of a woman with albinism in Dowa District was tampered with, barely weeks after another person with albinism went missing in Mulanje District.
Writing on the association’s Facebook page, Muhamba said members of the albinism community are anxiously waiting for the government to reassure them of their safety across the country.
According to Muhamba, it is deeply worrying that attacks against persons with albinism appear to be resurfacing after several years of relative calm.
He said the association is therefore demanding clear answers from government authorities regarding the safety and protection of its members.
He cited the alleged exhumation and vandalism of the grave of Maunsamatha Zakaliya, a woman with albinism who died in 2023.
The incident reportedly occurred at GVH Kapala under Traditional Authority Nsakambewa in Dowa District, where unknown perpetrators dismantled the concrete grave and removed both of her hands from the elbows to the fingers.
Muhamba added that the incident comes barely six weeks after Israel Mbewe, a person with albinism from Nthiramanja in Mulanje District, was reported missing under unclear circumstances.
He has also expressed concern over the government’s recent decision to pardon six men linked to the murder of Buleya Lule, a key witness in the high-profile killing of Fanizo Goodson, a person with albinism. The convicts reportedly served only about ten months of sentences that originally ranged from fifteen to twenty years.
Several human rights activists have argued that such pardons undermine justice and demonstrate a lack of political commitment to ending atrocities against persons with albinism.
By the time of publication, there was no immediate response from the government on the matter.
