When elderly people die on witchcraft accusation

 Virginia Simiyone, whose age she does not know, but comes from Mulima Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mabuka in Mulanje, is worried.

As an old woman, she feels insecure. The elderly are being killed on allegations that they are practising witchcraft thus killing young men and women in the villages.

“What worries me is that the threat is not only at one place, but the whole country. Being old has become a sin in this country,” she mourns.

Another elderly who insisted of being called Nagama says she rarely goes out unless accompanied.

She discloses that twice she was accused of practising witchcraft and up to now, she does not believe how she survived one of them.

Said Nagama: “Someone just collapsed and died without showing any illness. Since I am the oldest person in the village and I immediately became a suspect.

“I swore that I am not a witch and would not do such a thing, but they already found me guilty,” she says.

The old lady adds that a man came and ordered her to stand up. They walked to his house and forced her in.

She says: “I thought that was the end of me as many people surrounded the house.

I became so worried when the man asked the people to go to their homes and that he would deal with me at his own time.

“When night came and everyone had left, he told me to go to my house.

I could not believe my ears and when I reached home, I found my relatives gathered hoping that I had been murdered.”

She could not explain the other incident. However, it is a fact that many old men and women suffer harassment, intimidation and even being killed.

Memories of Mwanza elderly murders are still fresh even if they happened about a decade ago.

Some elderly women were beaten to death after they were accused of practising witchcraft and being suspects to the death of a 17- year-old girl.

Then in Mzimba, two elderly women were forced to bury a dead person they were accused of killing through witchcraft.

During a sensitisation meeting Centre for the Development of People (Cedep) and Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) conducted at Nkuta Village, T/A Mabuka in Mulanje to sensitise people on the evils of harassing and killing the elderly and people with albinism, Simiyone had a message to the youth.

She said: “You say you are dying early while we are still alive. Do you know the reasons? Mumafulumira kumeza kutafuna kukukoma [you rush to do things without looking at the implications].

“Some of the things you do are not of your size. While young, we were told about the dos and donts, how to behave and live a good life. The youths of today do not care about themselves. And when you die, you say it is because of witchcraft. This is cruel.”

Simiyone called on the youth to treat them with love so that they do not live a fearful life.

She added that the elderly have knowledge and wisdom which they are ready to share.

“But how can we share wisdom with someone who wants to kill us. Show

us love so that we live peacefully,” she said.

Group Village Head Bondo said he was aware that laws do not recognise witchcraft and that the message is shared with people.

“But some of these things happen fast. You hear an elderly person is accused of witchcraft. By the time you ponder what to do, you get another message that the person has been killed,” he said.

The traditional leader agreed that sensitisation is the only solution to understanding the role of the elderly in society.

“The belief that the elderly practise witchcraft is deep-rooted and for people to understand, they need sensitisation,” he said.

CHRR executive director Michael Kaiyatsa agreed with the chief that the country’s laws do not recognise witchcraft.

He said what is happening to the elderly is violation of their rights.

Said Kaiyatsa: “The Constitution talks about rights for everyone and it does not exclude the elderly. Therefore, whoever harasses them commits a crime and should be prosecuted.

“It is sad that although people are being arrested for assaulting the elderly, we are yet to see convictions. If these people are punished, it will give a warning to other people.”

Norwegian ambassador Ingrid Marie Mikelsen, who joined the sensitisation trail, expressed disappointment at what she described as brutal killing of the elderly.

She also noted that more sensitisation is the only solution to ending the harassment of the elderly. Mikelsen called for chiefs’ involvement.

Said the ambassador: “Chiefs play crucial role in societal activities and culture. They stay with the people and are able to remind them about the importance of respecting and protecting the elderly.

“I am particularly impressed with the quick response by security agents [police]. They responded quickly when the elderly were harassed in Mzimba after they were accused of witchcraft. This should be the case.”

The ambassador said her government will continue to support programmes that fight for human rights of vulnerable groups.

Norway is supporting a programme called Strengthening Minority Rights in Malawi which CHRR and Cedep are implementing in Mulanje. It aims at sensitising people on the importance of respecting the rights of vulnerable groups such the elderly, people with albinism and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.

In an interview, Malawi Network of Order Persons (Manepo) country director Andrew Kavala described the plight of older persons as dire. He said they are dying hopelessly without someone thinking about their protection.

Said Kavala: “The situation is bad. Only this year, six elderly have been killed and many will because no one is there to protect them.

“As a society, we have lost our moral reason. How do you kill someone who has right to life?”

He said he was worried that enough is not being done to protect the elderly as police normally come in after they have been already murdered.

Kavala also appealed to the judiciary to step up efforts to protect the elderly.

He said: “We have seen some people being arrested in connection with the murder of the elderly.

“But cases do not proceed as such; there are no convictions so that those that have the idea of killing them are deterred. I am talking about delaying justice here.”

Kavala agreed with Mikelsen on the need for collective efforts to fight the malpractice.

He said in addition to sensitisation, chiefs, community policing groups and the faith community should play roles to protect the elderly.

Bishop Martin Mtumbuka of Karonga Diocese of the Catholic Church is one of the faith community that condemned the killing of the elderly.

He said there is no witchcraft, but that people make such claims because of poverty and lack of education.