CEDEP struggles to sell the Access to Justice Project in Mulanje

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Gift Trapence

Executive Director for the Center for the Development of People (CEDEP), Gift Trapece accompanied by Rev. McDonald Sembereka on Monday had a tough time to convince  District Executive Committee (DEC) members in Mulanje to give them a ‘go-ahead’ with a minority rights centered project called Access to Justice.

Among other things the project seeks to improve chances of minority groups’ members such as the gay to be treated with a human face when they go to law enforcement institutions mainly the Malawi Police with complaints related or not related to gayism.

Gift Trapence
Gift Trapence: His CEDEP had a tough time to convince locals.

Addressing the DEC meeting which was highly attended by heads of departments at Mulanje Police Station, Trapece said a baseline survey by CEDEP revealed that members of the minority groups are sometimes ignored or treated with contempt at Police Stations in the country even when they go to report on issues of internal security.

Upon hearing that the project is favoring minority rights, the House took a lengthy and tiresome discussion of which many members argued that the project should be implemented elsewhere and Mulanje should be given time to see what its real intention is.

However the project was accepted later in the day after a cross-section of the House reminded each other that CEDEP was implementing another minority rights project in the district which has registered a number of successes in the health sector, under the Sir Elton John Foundation.

In an interview after the meeting, Trapece’s comment was more or less than a sigh of relief, indicating that the debate was healthy for information sharing, and it signified that members of the Mulanje DEC truly represent views of the people in the district.

In his sentiments Rev. Sembereka emphasized that the project is not intended to advocate for gayism or encourage women to become lesbians but rather protecting individuals from violence and torture adding the minority groups have rights like any other person.

CEDEP is to implement the Access to Justice Project in ten district of the country, among them Mangochi, Salima, Blantyre and others; and Mulanje happens to be the first district for the organization to approach.

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8 Comments

  1. Gift trapece yo ndiwakuti? if a foreigner he should be going to his mother land! no more donor aid! we shall on our own!

  2. access to justice is a good project. it can help to reduce cases of mob justice which am afraid is on the increase in Malawi. there are many other benefits of this project than meets the eye. i for one would love to see this project getting a nod of relevant stakeholders. dont give up, dont give up, dont give up. just find a better way of selling the idea

  3. access to justice is a good project. it can help to reduce cases of mob justice which am afraid is on the increase in Malawi. there are many other benefits of this project than meets the eye. i for one would love to see this project getting a nod of relevant stakeholders. dont give up, dont give up, dont give up. just find a better way of selling the idea

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