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President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has hit back at Lazarus Chakwera of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) for politicizing albino killings in the country.
On Thursday Chakwera held a media briefing in the capital Lilongwe where he promised to end albino killings once voted into power in the forthcoming May 21 tripartite election.
Chakwera accused Mutharika of failing to protect persons with albinism in the country.
“I will work with the Police, the Army, the Civil Society Organizations, National Intelligence Services, as well as all Malawians to completely deal with the issues of albinism,” said Chakwera.
He added that the President Peter Mutharika administration is not willing to provide K3 billion funding for the implementation of the National Action Plan against killings and abduction of people with albinism saying there is little or no urgency in their protection and response.
But in a statement released on Friday from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) signed by Mgeme Kalilani, Mutharika quashed Chakwera’s claims.
“His Excellency Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika is saddened that instead of joining forces with government, traditional leaders, the clergy and communities to stop the crimes being perpetrated against people with albinism, some political leaders have chosen to use the senseless attacks and murders of people with albinism to score cheap political gains.
“It is immoral for any political leader to sink so low and use the suffering of our brothers and sisters with albinism for political gain. The President is calling upon all political leaders to desist forthwith from politicising killings of people with albinism. People with albinism should also watch out for power hungry politicians that are bent on using their plight for political gains,” reads in part the statement.
Mutharika has since condemned the abduction of a 14 year old albino boy in Dedza district and has urged the law enforcers to hunt down the culprits.
