The University of Malawi (UNIMA) Child Rights Clinic has summoned Secretary to the President and Cabinet, principal secretaries of four ministries and the Chinese Embassy to an accountability dialogue aimed at speeding prosecution of Chinese national Lu Ke over his racist videos.
Lu Ke also known as Susu is being accused of taking videos of children aged between 3 to10 at Njerwa Village in Lilongwe, Malawi and he told the children to say words which in Chinese mean “l am a black monster and my IQ is low”.
Following the matter, the UNIMA Child Rights Clinic on 21 June held demonstrations over the racist video and they delivered a petition to both the Chinese and Malawian authorities in which they were demanding for the arrest and prosecution of Susu who by then was at large.
Later, Susu was arrested in Zambia for illegal entry after he fled Malawi and he was in July extradited from Zambia and appeared before court where he was charged with five counts bordering on child trafficking.
However, the Child Rights Clinic says it is saddened that despite several follow ups, no duty bearer has responded to their petition they delivered to Office of the President and the Chinese Embassy after the peaceful demonstrations in June this year.
According to a document which has been signed by the clinic’s president Comfort Mankhwazi and the president emeritus, Bettie Mlauzi, the clinic now wants to have an accountability dialogue with relevant authorities next week Friday on 26th August.
The Clinic says the accountability dialogue is aimed at finding out how and when the duty bearers intend to meet the demands made in the petition they submitted after their June demonstrations.
“To date, no duty bearer has responded to the Clinic’s petition. Of the seven demands made in the petition, the Clinic notes that there has been partial progress on only one demand in that one Chinese national has been extradited from Zambia to Malawi.
“In the follow up letter to the Office of the President, the UNIMA Child Rights Clinic is informing that Office of the lack of response and progress on the demands made in the petition and that the Clinic has summoned the failing duty bearers to an accountability dialogue,” reads part of the document.
Some of the summoned duty bearers include Secretary to The President and the Cabinet, Principal Secretaries from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare.
The Clinic has also summoned Principal Secretaries from the Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security and also the Chinese ambassador to Malawi.
Of other demands, the UNIMA Child Rights Clinic says it wants the Chinese Government and Chinese organizations to provide enough compensation in monetary and education forms to identified victims of the said racist video.
The grouping is also demanding the Malawi government to discipline all officers that cleared Mr Lu Ke to work with children in Malawi.
Meanwhile, the Clinic is said to have also written a follow up letter to the Office of the President, expressing concern over inaction and the lack of response and progress on the demands made in the petition.
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