Government has intensified community awareness and public engagement activities to ensure the safety of persons with albinism.
In an interview this week, Department of Disability and Elderly Affairs chief disability affairs officer Joshua Mkwehiwa said police are engaging community leaders and other key figures to strategise the protection plan.
According to Mkwehiwa, since the adoption and implementation of the National Action Plan on Persons with Albinism (NAP) in 2018, the country has experienced a decrease in attacks on people with albinism.
He said: “More recently, the reported cases have primarily involved tampering with graves and exhumation of remains.”
Mkwehiwa added that in 2023, six cases were registered, including one murder case, and in 2024, three cases involving grave tampering were registered.
In a separate interview, National Police Headquarters crime prevention officer under community policing units department Malango Mwansinga said law enforcers have stepped up efforts to ensure the protection of persons with albinism, including increasing police visibility in all areas where persons with albinism live.
Said Mwansinga: “We have intensified engagement with political, traditional and faith leaders, and traditional healers on the need to work together to ensure the protection of persons with albinism.
“We will also intensify conducting home and graveyard audits in villages and homes housing persons with albinism.”
He also explained that most attacks on persons with albinism are often orchestrated by close relatives of the victims, adding that this relationship makes it challenging for the police to obtain reliable information from victims’ families.
Mwansinga, however, added that despite this setback police are working tirelessly to bring culprits to justice.
Since the introduction of NAP, the government has implemented several measures, including placement of learners in secure boarding schools and learners with albinism are placed in schools with boarding facilities where police provide security.
Some children with albinism living in high-risk areas have been relocated to children’s centres such as Good Samaritan and SOS for their safety and protection and security alarms have been provided to persons with albinism living in high-risk areas to alert authorities in times of distress.
