Bishop Mtumbuka calls upon Karonga traditional leaders to curb violence

Malawi: Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka of the Catholic Diocese of Karonga has asked traditional leaders in Karonga district to protect their communities from violent agents.

Bishop Mtumbuka expressed concern during the official handover of houses to victims of violence in the area of Group village headman Mwangosi at Ngerenge under Traditional Authority (T/A) Kilupula in the district that some violence is caused by traditional leaders due to a lack of justice when dealing with various cases in their areas.

He stated that when dealing with cases such as chieftainship disputes and land demarcation, some traditional leaders judge such cases unfairly, fueling violence in their communities.

"The truth is that most violence perpetrated by traditional leaders is the result of injustice when dealing with cases involving chieftainship, land demarcation, and development project allocation; it is our appeal that traditional leaders should always be on justice so that they can set themselves free," Bishop Mtumbuka said.

T/A Kilupula agreed with Bishop Mtumbuka in his remarks that traditional leaders have a responsibility to build peace in their areas, but that if they collaborated with community members who outnumber traditional leaders, communities would not be experiencing violence.

He also stated that some community members have yet to comprehend the various causes and consequences of violence, such as witchcraft accusations, about which traditional leaders have always warned them.

"Yes, we have a responsibility to bring peace to our communities," Kilupula explained.

"However, there are some individuals who fuel violence but do not understand the cause very well, such as witchcraft accusations, which traditionally has always spoken against."

Caristas commission of Karonga Dioceses has provided 22 beneficiaries with safe and decent houses, 540 victimized and vulnerable households have received food and other basic household items, and 2,500 people have been engaged in conflict transformation process in the district in the areas of Paramount Chief Kyungu and T/A Kilu with funding from the Diocese of Rotenburg-Stuttgart in Germany under the project Transforming Conflict and Resettling Internally Displaced People.