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Contaminating the albinos’ environment

One of the most common debates currently hot in Malawi is that of the killings of our albino friends. The situation has reached so dire that even those who were given the responsibility, not mentioning, being specifically trained on curbing such crimes, seem not to know what next to do to stop this nonsensical killings.

To say the truth, people with albinism are individuals who are born vulnerable. These are individuals, whose bodies are prone to so many diseases because of the nature of their body parts, including eyes and skin. These are individuals who already lead a miserable life, even for those who are educated as they have to buy extra products to keep themselves healthier than they would be without such products, such as special oils and sun glasses.

What then, really drives these insane people, who murder people with albinism to, worse still, kill them while already suffering and in gruesome ways as they do? I, for one, believe there is a God, and He sees all what we do, including the sins we commit. How do these murderers feel when they imagine that God is seeing them killing a harmless and defenseless person with albinism who has spent all his or her life with skin lesions wounds and having problems to see and mostly poor? If only God could substitute the murderer and the person with albinism situation instantly, we could hear what the murderers would tell us.

There have been many angles through which the albino issues have been discussed. From the failure of State institutions to curb the problem to whether this is a real problem facing the country and the role of witchdoctors in facilitating the killings.

My analysis will be from the angle of the role of the witchdoctors. I know that many arguments have been propagated on the same. The prominent one is that the main force behind the killings is the prescription that witchdoctors, not traditional healers—because I understand the two to be different—give to wishful thinkers of being rich.

I am saying ‘wishful thinkers’ because I don’t believe and I have never believed that one can get rich through magic. Only hard work and being naturally smart and disciplined can lead one to being rich.

I agree with those who think that witchdoctors have contributed heavily to the deaths of people with albinism, and have in such a way contaminated the environment in which they live. That’s why they are shying away from their own environment. Because the current environment is polluted by nonsensical individuals with nonsensical beliefs about people with albinism.

And I should state here that Malawians in general, and particularly some institutions, have been fertilising this polluted environment. How many of you have been hearing different advertisements in radio stations through their copy-cut programmes called Malonda nkutsatsa? I have heard, several times, literary a witchdoctor advertising charms which can make any one rich within a short period of time. They even advertise nsendawana. Do people know what nsendawana is? It means stealing someone’s worth through magic. Nsenda (the magic that reaps one of his worth) wana (those not protected with magic are said to be children).

What type of magic can enrich one through nsendawana? Surely, that should involve chizimba for this to happen, maybe using albino body parts as we hear. Yet, State and private radio stations have been giving airtime to these witchdoctors to advertise their stupid magic charms. It is a shame that radio stations have been contaminating the environment of albinos in this way. They should all repent. n

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