Zero attacks on people with albinism excites APAM

The Association of People with Albinism in Malawi (APAM) has said there is commendable progress in the fight against attacks and killings of its members in the country, following a month of no reported cases.

Boniface Masa, APAM country coordinator, said this in response to a question on how the association would analyse the ongoing battle against attacks directed at its members.

In an interview, Masa said his organization is excited with the zero recorded cases in the month of August attributing it to increased awareness to the public on the evils of attacking and killing people with albinism.

According to Masa, in the month of August no case of abuse, exhuming, intimidation or physical harm has been reported.

Said Masa: “There is a slight improvement, generally what we have observed is that there is increased awareness in terms of people knowing what albinism is and also knowing all sorts of abuse that people with albinism are going through.”

He said the holistic approach in campaigning for the rights of people with albinism in the country employed by APAM has greatly contributed to the development.

“This is a clear demonstration that the different awareness that we (APAM) have been doing in conjunction with different partners including the government, the police and civil society organizations, CBOs and the chiefs have really yielded impact,” Masa said.

The APAM country coordinator expressed hope that with the continuation of the campaigns, the country will gradually end cases of attacks and killings of people with albinism.

APAM records indicate that 13 cases of abuse on persons with albinism have occurred in 2017 with 3 murder cases reported.

Masa said APAM will continue with the awareness campaigns and engage people in the country until the malpractice becomes history.

In 2014, Malawi saw the emergence of a strange behaviour of attacking and killing persons with albinism after some people were led to believe that body parts of such people mixed with charm have the power to make a person rich.

Since then 21 people with albinism have been killed and there has been 108 other cases of attacks against people with albinism.

APAM is an umbrella body that advocates for the protection of rights of persons with albinism.