If it were not for the mysterious deaths of two people in Donald Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kyungu in Karonga, Winston Sikamba, 73, would be in his village now.
But today, Sikamba and his family are living like refugees in their own country after being chased from their village on suspicion that they were engaging in witchcraft.
“It all began between December 2012 and January this year. There was an allegation that some people in our village were practising witchcraft that led to the deaths of some people.
“Our village head Green Mwafongo convened a meeting of elders known as Ndunas or Wanyambala. At the meeting, people said I was responsible for the witchcraft. It was resolved that my family and I must leave the village, failing which they would kill me,” said Sikamba.
He said he reported the matter to group village head Mwandwanga and Karonga Police but they did not help him.
“Police said they do not deal with customary matters. I reported the issue again to Mwandwanga who summoned Mwafongo, but he did not turn up for the meeting.
“Mwafongo continued to threaten me with death, saying people of the village do not want me. They later forced me out of the village and I sought refuge at Timothy Mwahimba’s place in another village.
“I left all property, including crops, in the village without anyone attending to it. The conduct of Mwafongo has created a lot of hardships in my life and that of the family that was sheltering me,” said Sikamba.
After failing to find justice from chiefs and police in Karonga, Sikamba decided to seek the intervention of the High Court in Mzuzu through lawyer Christon Ghambi.
Court documents Nation on Sunday sourced show that on April 29 this year, the High Court granted Sikamba an injunction.
“A permanent order of mandatory injunction requiring the defendants to allow the plaintiff stay in his home village, Donald Village, T/A Kyungu in the district of Karonga.
“A permanent order of injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents and/or employees whosoever acting from dealing in any way with the property of the plaintiff,” reads the court order.
After the ruling, Sikamba returned to the village, believing that all would be well for him and the family.
“[But] on May 6 2013, things turned worse. Ten people stormed my home at night and destroyed a lot of my property. Luckily, my wife was outside and she screamed for help.
“I reported the matter to police, but they did not help me. Currently, a friend who lives in another village is taking care of us: me, my wife and our five children,” he said.
Mwafongo admitted that Sikamba was banished from the village, but denied convicting him of witchcraft, saying “it is my ndunas who convened a meeting to find him guilty of witchcraft.”
He also denied evicting Sikamba from the village.
“It is not me who chased him; it is the people in my village. In fact, Sikamba should thank me for rescuing him. He accuses me of plotting to kill him, but how can a chief plot to kill his own subject?” asked Mwafongo.
Karonga Police Station officer Godfrey Mughogho admitted that police have not intervened in the matter.
“The problem is that our criminal investigations officers were busy with other things. Probably this week we should be attending to that issue,” said Mughogho.
Dilemma of the law on witchcraft
Mzuzu-based lawyer Christone Ghambi says the law does not recognise witchcraft. He says it is illegal to claim that one practises witchcraft.
According to the Witchcraft Act, it is also illegal to accuse someone of practising witchcraft.
A law lecturer at Chancellor College, associate professor Edge Kanyongolo, in his column article titledGeorge Thindwa, witchdoctors and development in Malawi, argues that this does not mean the law prohibits individuals from holding beliefs.
“The law in Malawi allows any person to believe anything as long as that belief does not translate into harm to others,” says Kanyongolo.
The Association for Secular Humanism (ASH) says it is ready to help the displaced family if he approaches the organisation.
“If he approached us, we would have helped through building him a house in another village or taking to task the people involved in inflicting pain on him,” said ASH executive director George Thindwa.
