Shocking: Kamuzu Academy Criticised for Failing to Report Hubbard to Malawi Police
Kamuzu Academy deputy headteacher, Andrew Hubbard, is facing allegations of sexually abusing vulnerable male children in Kasungu, Malawi. Despite the gravity of these allegations as criminal offences under the laws of Malawi, the academy opted to manage the situation internally through a disciplinary hearing rather than immediately involving law enforcement.
Hubbard is reportedly on the run following these allegations.
Published reports allege that Hubbard sexually abused three underage male children. He is also accused of sexually abusing other male staff members at Kamuzu Academy.
“The guardians of these two boys are teachers at the academy, and they are the ones who reported him after their wards complained to them,” reports PIJ Malawi.
However, the school chose to handle the issue internally through a disciplinary hearing instead of referring it to the Malawi police despite the criminal nature of the allegation against Hubbard.
Platform for Investigative Journalism in Malawi (PIJ Malawi) reports that Hubbard has been on the run since his allegations were reported to the academy. However, the academy chose not to report the white deputy headteacher to the police prior to the hearing despite the allegations being of a criminal nature.
“Hubbard, who has been on the run since a hearing conducted two weeks ago, is alleged to have sexually abused three underage boys from Mtunthama Primary School, which neighbours the academy,” reports PIJ Malawi.
One of our analysts from the University of Malawi blamed Kamuzu Academy for not reporting the matter to the Malawi police immediately after the allegations emerged. The school opted to handle the issue through a disciplinary hearing despite its criminal nature.
“It is both shocking and disheartening that the academy decided to protect their white member of staff instead of the black children who were allegedly sexually abused by Hubbard. This is a criminal offence. Why the academy chose not to report Hubbard to the police immediately after becoming aware of the allegations is beyond comprehension,” a social worker on child protection told Malawi24.
The social worker, who teaches at the University of Malawi, also decried the misconception of Hubbard’s crime under the penal code, stating it should be treated in the same manner as the defilement of children and rape as it was not consensual but coercive.
“Hubbard’s crime is that of sexual abuse rather than homosexuality, which involves sexual acts between consenting adults. However, the published reports suggest that Hubbard abused his power and coerced male children who are below the age of consent, which is 18 according to the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act, as well as junior members of staff. This should be treated similarly to rape and defilement-related crimes, with the boys and male junior workers as victims of serious sexual abuse.”
The expert suggested that the starting point is the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act, which states that any child is “sexually abused if the child has taken part, whether as a participant or an observer, in any activity which is sexual in nature,” without specifying the gender.
In Malawi, rape and defilement are usually restricted to girls and women according to the Penal Code. The framing of the Penal Code thus restricts Hubbard’s alleged crime to that of unnatural offences. The penal code tends to regard the victims as offenders, which further discourages other victims from reporting their male abusers. However, this conceptualisation has seen a paradigm shift in recent years.
Sources within Kamuzu Academy believe Hubbard’s victims may also include other male students at the school, considering that junior members of staff were also sexually abused.
When approached for comment by PIJ Malawi, Hubbard abruptly ended the call when the allegations were raised with him. Likewise, Kamuzu Academy, through its headmaster Lambert Knott, demanded the publisher reveal its source instead of responding to why they had not reported Hubbard to the police immediately after the allegations were first reported to the school by the guardians of the three innocent children.
“There is no report here at Kasungu Police Station, and I have also checked with Mtunthama Police Unit, and they have not received any report of that nature,” Kasungu Police spokesman Joseph Kachiko told PIJ Malawi.
Following the publication of the story by PIJ Malawi, Kamuzu Academy dismissed the deputy headteacher in what our analyst described as an attempt to “save face” for the school.
Malawi has is reportedly targeted by white paedophiles who sexually exploit male children due to the limitations of the country’s laws, with cases involving white men sexually abusing boys being well documented. Often, such white people tend to employ male children as household helpers like garden boys.
