The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (MET) predicted a dry spell in some districts, but for some people in Traditional Authority Juma in Mulanje, the drought that ensued was not a natural occurrence.
They believed it originated from five lonely elderly ‘witches’ they had to deal with to force them ‘re-lease the rains’.
So as most people were still in the euphoria of entering a new year, January 2 2025 was the day Mary Laini, 89, of Matewere Village met death face to face when a mob came for her.
As she sat in a dimly lit hut, surrounded by the familiar sounds of Mulanje Mountain, the frail woman is transported back to the day that changed her life forever.
It was around 11pm when she was listening to prayers on her small radio in readiness for sleep.
Laini stays alone following the death of her husband about 20 years ago and has neither a child nor anyone to support her.
Then she heard shouts of men approaching her house which is closer to a road.
“They passed my house shouting that they would deal with those stopping the rains. Anyway, I never paid much attention and I kept on listening to my radio. Of course I was also interested to know who was that person stopping the rains,” she said.
About 20 minutes later, the men returned to Laini’s house.
“I switched off my radio as I realised that they were outside my house forcing open the door,” she said.
Laini had fears: “They kept shouting ‘tithananawe, tikuti utulutse mvula.’ I was terrified. I went to hide in my bedroom.
“They broke the window with big rocks. They found me in my bedroom; beat me up then hit me on the head with a rock. I lost blood and cried for help.
“I remember the feeling of my neighbours’ hands on my body, the sound of their angry voices, and the sensation of being dragged through the dirt like an animal, but most of all, I remember the feeling of being utterly alone, abandoned by the very people I had grown up with and trusted,” she narrated.
Those men demolished part of the house and went away with two bags of maize, her radio and four chickens.
She said a pastor, who lives in the neighbourhood, came to her rescue after he and two others heard her cries. They found her in a pool of blood and took her to Namphungo Health Centre where she was referred to Mulanje District Hospital.
Lifting her hands to heaven in despair during the interview, she said she doesn’t know where the lies about her stopping the rains emanated from because she is not a witch.
“Mulungu kumwamba akudziwa chilungamo changa, sinditamba ine. Ndipo sindidziwa kumanga mvu-la,” she said.
This year, the area has received more rain than last year. She has a small garden where she hopes to harvest at least five bags of maize.
“I have nothing to eat. Every day I am banking my hope on pumpkin leaves. I had two goats so I sold them to buy two bags of maize and four chickens, but lost them [in the attack]. Now I beg from peo-ple,” said Laini, who still is nursing wounds in her head.
From Laini’s house, the mob descended on Eleni Laudoni, 61, of Natawa Village, a kilometre from Lai-mu’s house.
They approached her house at around midnight and Laudoni slept on the veranda as it was very hot.
“They hit me with a rock while I slept. When I woke up, I realised that about 10 men had surrounded me. Some started demolishing my house and a toilet while two others beat me, demanding that I should release rain,” she said.
Laudoni said she called out for help, but none came, meanwhile the attackers went away with millet, a bag of maize, seven chickens and five hoes.
She is still traumatised and cannot sleep properly as she also dislocated her right leg on that night.
“It pains me to be punished for something I do not know. See, I have a small garden and I also need the same rains to harvest, how can I stop the rains?” she wondered.
We found her preparing pumpkin leaves for lunch. “This is my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I had enough maize but now I am a beggar due to the accusations ,” she said.
Dalesi Richard, 75, from Richard Village was next in line. She was beaten mercilessly before the mob took away her 10kg maize flour, 20 kg maize and tablets of soap. Part of her house was also demol-ished.
Those who tried to protect the elderly women met the same fate. Eliza Master, 20, from Chirombo Vil-lage was assaulted when she tried to protect her grandmother, 78.
This happened when Eliza’s grandmother had just received her Mtukula Pakhomo money and bought a bag of fertiliser which the assailant took away.
And the final victim was Fanny Biziweki, 61, from Natawa Village. They beat her, demolished her house and went away with 10 chickens and other items.
Memories are still fresh though for 80-year-old Julia Banda of Gogo Village, Traditional Authority Mvera in Dowa District. She was also a victim of violence by people who suspected her of practising witchcraft. “I still shudder at the memory of that fateful day when my neighbours fuelled by malice and supersti-tion, accused me of witchcraft. I was 75 years old, a widow, and living alone.
“They claimed I had cast a spell on a young boy who had fallen ill and died, the accusations escalated into a violent mob attack, leaving me with severe injuries and emotional trauma. I was forced to flee my home and seek refuge elsewhere. The experience has left me with a deep sense of insecurity and fear,” she said.
In an interview, Mulanje district social welfare officer Noel Chambo says they are supporting victims of witchcraft accusations which peak during the rainy season.
“We are sensitising people on the dangers of taking the law in their own hands and harming the elder-ly, we also provide psychosocial support to those victimised,” he said.
Malawi Network of Older Persons’ Organisations (Manepo) executive director Andrew Kavala has con-demned the violence and harassment perpetrated against five older women in Mulanje.
“Manepo is deeply disturbed by this barbaric action, which represents a gross violation of the rights and dignity of older persons. Older men and women deserve to be respected and protected in society, not subjected to cruelty and abuse based on baseless accusations,” he said.
He said it is unacceptable that in the 21st century, older persons continue to face violence, discrimina-tion and exploitation.
“Such actions, rooted in ignorance and superstition, are detrimental to the well-being of all members of society and undermine the core values of justice, compassion, and respect,” he added.
Maggie Kathewera Banda, executive director of Women’s Legal Resource Centre (Wolrec), a women’s rights non-governmental organisation, says women are being victimised because of beliefs in witch-craft.
“They [claim] that female witches are more dangerous than men but this only shows the broad chal-lenges we have been talking about on violence against women.
“It’s a very unfortunate development which shows that people do not understand how weather patterns operate,” she said.
MET director Lucy Mtilatila says a human being cannot stop rains.
“People should not believe that. The years that I have been at the department, I have never seen a man stopping or holding rain. This cannot and will never happen,” she said.
Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Jean Sendeza said government is committed to protecting the rights of elderly persons.
Sendeza said Malawi is no stranger to the international advancement of social security and social pro-tection as such plans are underway to roll out pension schemes to tackle old age poverty.
She said : “Apart from that, government recently passed the Older Persons Bill to protect the rights of the elderly who are mostly victims of witchcraft accusations.”
Mulanje Police Station spokesperson Innocent Moses says police have since arrested six suspects over the same.
These are Mikeyasi Jackson, 35 of Chimtengo Village, Selevancio Siliya 26, of Matewere Village, Saidi Mwala, 33 of Kamphepo Village, Peter Makuluni 16 of Matewere Village, Caroline Mawaya of Matewere Village, T/A Juma and Daniel Duncan, 20, of Masikira Village in T/A Mpunga in Chiradzulu. The suspects committed the offence together with Another accomplice who is on remand at Mulanje Prison.
