Malawian girl stuck in Oman dies

One of the Malawian girls working as domestic workers in Oman died at the weekend after allegedly being abandoned and later dumped at a private hospital by her employer.

Her death comes as the Malawi Government seems to have no clue on when the Malawian housemaids stuck in the Middle East will be repatriated despite Treasury confirming releasing funds for the exercise.

The deceased girl has been identified as 23-year-old Ida Chiwalo from Mpondasi in Mangochi District who was working in Oman for the past four months. She was trafficked to Oman from South Africa.

While confirming her death, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe declined to divulge further details, saying government, through the Ministry of Information and Digitisation, would issue a statement on the matter.

He said: “When a person dies abroad, government supports them according to the [family] needs and when this happened, through our mission in Kuwait, we communicated to the family about the issue.”

Chiwalo’s friend, who did not want to be named for security reasons, alleged that the deceased’s female employer abandoned her while she was in critical condition and was only taken to the hospital after she had already died.

In an audio clip shared with The Nation, the group of stranded Malawian girls is heard wailing in the background with no clue of what to do with the dead body.

A number of African girls trafficked to Oman have died recently with reports linking their death to torture. However, it is not clear what has caused Chiwalo’s death.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) has demanded government’s immediate action on the death.

Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa said yesterday it was strange the whole Cabinet committee approved funding to repatriate about 370 Malawian girls stuck in Oman but it is shocking to note that the funds have not been put to use.

Last Saturday, our sister newspaper Weekend Nation reported that Secretary to the Treasury MacDonald Mafuta-Mwale confirmed releasing the money to kick-start the repatriation exercise.

But the line ministries handling the matter, Foreign Affairs and Labour, were dodging questions on timelines and what the money has achieved.