Malawi Hunger: Man dies of starvation in Mzimba

As the hunger situation continues to worsen in Malawi, a man in Mzimba has starved to death, Malawi24 can reveal.

This has happened at the foot of Mwakasongwe hills, in the area of Paramount Chief M’mbelwa V in the district. Police in the company of medical personnel were at the scene and have confirmed he died due to hunger.

The man is yet to be identified but police suspects that he might be in his late 30s. Some witnesses say he was found by herdsmen who went to graze their livestock around the hill.

Meanwhile, publicist for Mzimba police Constable Kanjauso has promised to give more details on the matter later because nobody has identified the deceased.

The man’s death comes after Peter Mutharika and some cabinet ministers had been assuring Malawians that no one will die of hunger in the country.

Last month, some traditional leaders across the region stressed their worries to our reporter saying they have no hope that their subjects will harvest enough this year due to some problems which they said have emerged due to poor governance on the part of the Mutharika administration especially in the agriculture sector.

They also complained that with the coming of Mutharika, the program of farm inputs subsidy (FISP) has totally been affected such that in their areas most people are yet to access the fertilizer as well as seeds for their fields, and this will see them delay in planting their crops.

“Probably the worst we have ever had, Mutharika government is leading us to hell for sure. Look we are likely to have hunger beyond next year because many people are still failing to access farm inputs on subsidy,” said Village Headman Myangala of Nkhatabay.

In Mzimba, chiefs say most people are just keeping their coupons without using them because there is nowhere they can buy the inputs.

However, government insists it has enough maize to feed people throughout the country and no one will die of hunger.

Minister of Information Jappie Mhango said Malawians should not worry about the hunger situation as government has enough maize to feed people in the country

“We have enough maize to feed people in the country and it has been distributed in various ADMARC depots of the country and ADMARC is filled with enough maize available for people to buy,” said Mhango recently to local press.

The hunger situation in the country has become worrisome as some citizens are now buying Madeya for their daily survival. In some ADMARC depots, there is inadequate maize making people to buy the commodity from vendors at a higher price.

A recent report by Malawi24 indicated that in Mzuzu City for instance, people have been scrambling for maize which in most cases was going at not less than MK300 per tin.

The hunger situation has not even spared prisons.

*Additional reporting by Joseph Dumbula