Bloodsuckers saga appalls donors
The Norwegian Church Aid, Danish Church Aid and German Embassy in the country have expressed displeasure over the continued threat emanating from vigilantes who have been killing people suspected to be blood suckers.
The donors have said this is negatively affecting their operations in the Southern Region as it presents a continued threat, forcing them to pull out their staff for fear of unrest.
German Ambassador Jurgen Borsch has said people are being killed based on myths and that is not right because it is well known that bloodsuckers do not exist.
He then said there is need to clear this myth before more damage is done by the escalating vigilante mob justice.
Borsch, however, said he was pleased to see concerted efforts between Malawi Police Service (MPS) and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) in dealing with the mob justice in the affected region.
He said: “The actions by police and the defence force were a clear and powerful signal to deal with the mob justice. The message is very clear that people have to observe the rule of law and no more lives should be lost.”
The envoy was saying this in an interview on the sidelines of the opening of Act Alliance dissemination and Best Practices Conference in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
During the official opening of the event both Danish Church Aid (DCA) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) country directors, Finn Petersen and Stein Villumstad respectively made a point that they were not pleased with the effects of the bloodsuckers rumours have brought in the country.
Petersen said those suffering from the consequences of the rumours are needy Malawians because development partners have pulled out their staff which means service delivery has been interrupted. n
