The deepening wave of killings which has left over 300 murders of elderly citizens across Malawi in the past decade has exposed a bleeding justice system, a landscape of stalled dockets, collapsed investigations, and killers who walk among us, untouched.
Across the country, the vulnerable—men and women whose only crime is their grey or silver hair—have been beaten, stoned, stabbed, hacked, and burned alive.
These are not crimes committed by strangers; they are betrayals by those they once trusted, fuelled by the poisonous label of “witch”.
An analysis by Weekend Nation, drawing from police records, media reports, and first-hand interviews, reveals a haunting pattern: arrests are made with much fanfare, only for suspects to linger in custody without trial or quietly vanish from the judicial radar.
The numbers tell a story of systemic slaughter. Between January 2016 and April 2026, nearly 300 senior citizens have been brutally murdered by relatives or neighbours on suspicion of practicing witchcraft, according to the Malawi Network of Older Persons’ Organisations (Manepo)—an organisation which promotes the rights of older persons in the country.
Annually, the group reports between 25 and 30 brutal killings of the elderly. Additionally, they have documented over 80 instances of physical abuse linked to witchcraft accusations over the last 10 years.
Manepo’s executive director Andrew Kavala laments: “In every instance, police report arrests, but the legal process then stalls.”
“We are repeatedly told that homicide cases are too expensive to prosecute, yet we see other murder trials fast-tracked.
“What makes these cases special? Why is funding allocated only to victims perceived as high-profile or relevant to those in power? This is discrimination at its worst; the justice system has utterly failed our older citizens.
“This is discrimination at its worst; the justice system has utterly failed our older citizens.”
The pace of the carnage is accelerating; statistics from Manepo show the first four months of 2026 alone, 12 elderly lives have already been snuffed out.
The most recent bloodstain appeared just three weeks ago in Dowa. Positani Kachipewa, a resident of Chikonkha Village, was bludgeoned to death. The man accused of striking the fatal blows to his head was his own nephew, Rodwell Nduna. Another life lost to a superstition that the law seems powerless—or unwilling—to stop.
Our 10-year case review reveals that while 60 to 70 percent of killings resulted in arrests, very few progressed to court or were publicly documented.
Kavala—who also serves as a Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) commissioner—attributed the surge in fatalities to a “complete system-wide failure of enforcement, prioritisation, and accountability across the justice chain,” which has deeply entrenched a culture of impunity.
Kavala argued that these killings are not isolated incidents of negligence but rather evidence of an “institutionalised disregard” for the lives of older persons.
He criticised the Malawi Police Service, the Judiciary, and the Ministry of Justice for failing “at the most basic level to protect life and ensure justice without discrimination”.
“Police investigators possess the capacity for other matters, yet homicides involving older persons are frequently delayed, poorly investigated, or abandoned,” Kavala stated.
“The Ministry of Justice allocates resources to high-profile or politically sensitive cases while treating the murder of older persons as secondary. Similarly, the Judiciary acts with urgency for the elite, but allows cases involving the elderly to stagnate.”
He concluded that this “total moral and institutional collapse” suggests the value of life in Malawi depends on political relevance rather than human dignity.
“Perpetrators know the system does not prioritise older persons,” he warned, “and as a result, justice is easily evaded.”
Kavala argues that this contrast reveals a troubling disparity: elderly victims are far less likely to see justice served, even when faced with extreme violence and clear evidence.
He pointed to several homicide cases between January 2016 and April 2026 where arrests were made, yet the legal trail went cold.
A prominent example is the January 2016 killing of four family members—Eliza, Elenefa, Byson, and Idesi Kanjete—in Neno. They were murdered after being accused of using witchcraft to cause their grandchild’s death by lightning.
Similarly, in January 2024, police in Mulanje arrested three young men for the murder of their 73-year-old grandmother, Elisa Supani, under similar suspicions.
“Protection mechanisms have failed because the system suffers from fragmentation, unequal prioritisation, and institutional neglect,” Kavala lamented.
He complained that while Malawi finally passed the Older Persons’ Bill in April 2024 to criminalise such abuse, the violence persists, proving that legislation alone has yet to curb these deep-seated harmful practices.
The Act provides for protection orders and penalties for perpetrators, while mandating duty-bearers to safeguard the rights of the elderly.
Similarly, the 2016 National Policy for Older Persons acknowledges that senior citizens frequently face physical and verbal abuse, often driven by witchcraft accusations and superstitious beliefs.
The policy further notes that as their population grow, older persons are increasingly marginalised and excluded from development activities due to ageism.
The elderly, especially women, are often targeted because they are seen as physically weak and unable to “fight back” against accusations or physical assault. This vulnerability is worsened by a lack of social protection schemes and fractured family support systems.
Human rights advocate Victor Mhango agreed with Kavala that the failure to conclude such cases represents a breakdown in the justice system, denying victims closure and sending a “dangerous message that their lives are less valued.”
He warned that this inaction entrenches impunity, emboldens perpetrators, and leaves the elderly at continued risk. “Justice must be equal and timely, regardless of status,” Mhango stated.
“To address this impunity, we must prioritise homicide cases involving vulnerable groups. The government must allocate adequate resources to investigations and ensure murder cases are promptly committed to the High Court. Stronger coordination between the police, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, and the courts is essential to eliminate unnecessary delays.”
In August 2023, former Minister of Gender, Community Development, and Social Welfare Jean Sendeza revealed that 88 murder cases involving elderly victims remained unresolved in court.
Sendeza noted that she had been engaging the Ministry of Justice for assistance, stating: “My ministry, through the Department of Disability and the Elderly, will provide the resources necessary to protect older persons.”
However, Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale defended the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), asserting that all cases are prosecuted as soon as investigations conclude.
Contradicting the former Gender Minister’s implications, Namangale claimed the directorate now faces “no resource constraints at all” and demanded specific case statistics regarding the delayed prosecutions.
Despite being provided with several examples, he failed to respond by the time of publication. Similarly, Ruth Mputeni, the Judiciary’s chief corporate affairs and public relations officer, did not respond to inquiries, while National Police spokesperson Lael Chimtengo asked for more time to respond.
Malawi Human Rights Commission chairperson Chikondi Chijozi Jere had not responded to our inquiry by press time.
Youth and Society executive director Charles Kajoloweka, a frontline human rights advocate whose organisation also speaks for the youth declined to comment due to personal bereavement.
This legal bottleneck comes at a critical time for Malawi’s aging population. According to the 2018 Population and Housing Census, the number of elderly citizens grew by 30.1percent—from 684 000 in 2008 to 891 000 in 2018.
