The ministry of gender, children, disability and social welfare has asked people in the country to stop discriminating against people with disabilities.
Minister of gender, children, disability and social welfare Jean Kalilani made the plea on Tuesday in Lilongwe during the launch of national disability mainstream strategy under the theme “National disability mainstreaming strategy: A tool for building an inclusive Malawi”.
Kalilani said the national development strategy emphasises that people with disability should have equal opportunities of accessing basic needs such as health and education.
“People have been using our fellow friends with disability to beg, this is violation of human rights and it must stop.
“Let me use this opportunity to warn other people who are involved in killings and abductions of peoples with albinism that my ministry will make sure that those perpetrators are put behind bars.
Stop deceiving yourself that you can become rich because of human bones,” she said.
In his remarks, German Ambassador to Malawi Jürgen Borsch pledged to support government on the issues regarding people with disability after witnessing many activities that Malawi is doing in empowering people with disability.
“It is not easy to walk alone by yourself but by coming together and helping each other which is also the spirit of this strategy we are launching today. People with disabilities are equal human beings they have capabilities which means that disability is not inability,” he explained.
Speaking at the same event, Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA) chairperson Nitta Hanjahanja thanked government for supporting people with disability in many areas like putting them in decision making positions to act as mouthpiece for those who are voiceless.
Hanjahanja however asked for more support from the government in terms of promotion of people with disability who are aspiring to take part in the coming elections at Parliamentary and council level.
Some of the challenges people with disabilities face in Malawi include lack teaching and learning materials, disability friendly buildings and health services.
