Punished for ‘overstaying’ on earth?

In what could be described as cruelty towards the elderly, nonagenarian Lecheta Bisenti Thamanga from Traditional Authority Kasisi in Chikwawa was dumped at the district’s Social Welfare Office on suspicion that she is a witch.

The frail and helpless woman spent weeks outside the office enduring heat by the day and biting cold at night.

She survived on alms. Passers-by would give her money to buy food to keep her soul and body together.

“I need water. Please help me, I am hungry. I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday,” she pleaded in a shaky voice.

Thamanga’s sad tale exposes the plight of a vulnerable woman ostracised by her community. The very community that was supposed to be her line of defence.

She says it all started when her husband went missing in August 2016.

Since then, her community has accused her of having a hand in his disappearance.

The animosity got worse when people started linking her to the death of her sister, who was also her co-wife under the traditional bonus wife arrangement.

Says Thamanga: “I don’t remember my age, but as you can see I am very old. I was not able to bear children of my own and as a result, my husband took in my younger sister and together they had four children.

“I raised the children together with my husband as my sister died while most of them were young, the last born was even breastfeeding. Now they have deserted me and they treat me badly.”

Before being dumped at the Social Welfare Office, the partially blind woman, who also struggles to walk, was in April dumped at the Chikwawa District Commissioner’s office.

Officials traced her relatives and, one of them, Motero Bisenti, offered to accommodate her. Later, he took her to McKnight Thamanga, one of the children she raised.

But her new caregivers soon got tired and dumped her at the Social Welfare Office.

When contacted, Motero Bisenti, 79, said he could not continue caring for the woman because he is old and thinks it is time the children took over the responsibility.

“I have taken care of her for over six years and I endured so much. My two wives left me because they considered her as a burden. Government should come in and assist her,” he said.

But, while dismissing reports that they accused her of witchcraft, her stepchildren McKnight and Mateyo Thamanga claim she left home after their father disappeared. They further claimed and it was the old woman who disowned them

“She chose to stay with her brother Motero Bisenti. We wonder why they want to involve us now. Sadly, she is in this situation and there is nothing we can do,” said McKnight.

Chikwawa social welfare officer Aaron Macheka described the issue as complex, adding that his office does not have shelters for such victims as the country’s laws recommend a family as the primary caring institution for the elderly.

He said: “This is a sad development. The best is to have a government structure that will provide shelter to the elderly. We still have a long way to go in sensitising the community to change their mindset towards the elderly.”

Chief Katunga of Chikwawa said as chiefs, they need to properly engage the children and their uncle to understand their role in taking care of their parent.

Malawi Network of Older Persons Organisations (Manepo) executive director Andrew Kavala describes the situation as inhuman.

He says the dumping of the elderly woman shows how poor the country’s systems are.

Says Kavala: “This is shocking. Dumping this elderly woman here tells a long story of how sick our systems are. We are supposed to take care of elder persons and family relations are quite key when it comes to protecting the welfare of the elderly.

“This speaks volumes of how government systems are failing to protect the welfare of the elderly subjecting most of them to pathetic situations such as these.”

He expressed disappointment that until now, Malawi does not have an appropriate policy and laws to protect the rights of older persons despite a Bill being with the Ministry of Justice since 2020.

“One of the key provisions in that Bill is that whoever fails to take care of his own or her own grandparents should be held accountable,” said Kavala.

According to Kavala, since January this year, 11 elderly persons have been killed across the country on accusations of witchcraft. The Global AgeWatch Index 2015 released by HelpAge International, ranks Malawi as the worst place to grow old