PS, APAM, NICE empower inmates with information on albinism

Prison Services (PS) Department, Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM), and National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) on Tuesday took the campaign on the ills of killing and abduction of persons with albinism to the inmates.

Speaking during the sensitisation meeting in Mangochi, spokesperson for Prison Services Department in Malawi, Superintendent Chimwemwe Shaba, said empowering and civic educating the inmates with the right information will enable them to withstand the pressure of being used and abused by being hired to carry out such stinking acts.

"It is evidently felt in their comments and questions that the misconceptions are not just real, but also appalling. And yet this is a section of the society that mostly belongs to lower class and is used to carry out dirty tasks out there simply because they don't have the right information. Our aim is to equip them with knowledge that will enable them to withstand the pressure of being used and abused," said Shaba.

Shaba also said chances are that the inmates will go out one day, but if equipped with the right information, it is the conviction of prison officials that the free men will not be a danger to our brothers and sisters living with albinism.

At least 20 Malawians living with albinism have been killed and over 50 of them abducted with the ritualistic beliefs that their body parts are a luck charm.