The Malawi Peace and Unity Commission has turned down the Returnees and Ex-Detainees Association’s request to intervene in delayed compensation for abuses its members suffered during the one-party regime from 1964 to 1994.
The association wrote the newly formed commission on February 7, 2024, seeking a meeting and raising concerns that the government has failed to compensate thousands of its members, despite a 2017 directive from the Ombudsman.
“For many years, our association has engaged various duty bearers on this issue, including the Attorney General, with no success,” the letter, addressed to the commission chairperson Mary Nkosi, states.
According to the association’s chairperson Sangwani Mkandawire, they turned to the commission because it is tasked with “reconciliation and transformative dialogues that foster national peace and unity.”
However, eight months later, the commission has yet to meet with the victims’ association. Responding to a Nation on Sunday questionnaire, Nkosi explained that the commission lacks the authority to handle cases related to one-party regime abuses.
“The law that established the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission, the Peace and Unity Act, 2022, did not give the commission powers to receive/hear claims with respect to atrocities suffered by Malawians during the one-party regime,” Nkosi stated.
She added that under Chapter XIII of the Constitution, the power to address such claims was given to the National Compensation Tribunal, whose operations ended in 2010 as mandated by Section 145 (1).
To assign this responsibility to another institution, she suggested, “there may be a requirement to revise this provision in the Constitution.”
Nkosi proposed that the Department of National Unity, which oversees the National Healing and Building Programme, may be better suited to handle the matter, given that the programme’s goals are similar to the tribunal’s original mandate.
The Ombudsman’s 2017 ruling instructed the Attorney General to ensure compensation for all victims who had lodged complaints with the National Compensation Tribunal, covering issues such as wrongful detention, property seizure, or other forms of abuse.
Although the Attorney General was given a deadline of January 31 2018, the association’s letter states, “nothing has been done since.”
The letter outlines various abuses, including “detention without trial, inhumane and degrading treatment in prisons, unfair termination of employment, and loss of property and life.” It further describes cases of torture and persecution for religious beliefs, as well as forced exile.
Executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Michael Kaiyatsa, who has been mediating between the association and the commission, confirmed that they did not nod to the request.
Instead, he said, it referred the matter to the Department of National Unity, which assured the victims that their issues would be addressed through the National Healing and Building Programme.
“It is crucial that the government takes immediate action to honour its commitments,” Kaiyatsa said.
