'Use death penalty for albino killers' - Malawians protest over albino killings

Activists, students and other protesters joined Malawi's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Bon Kalindo in the streets of the capital, Lilongwe on Thursday, June 23 to demonstrate against albino killings.

The legislator, human rights activists and other concerned citizens were protesting against continued abductions and killings of people with people with albinism.


The protests came after at least 19 albinos had been killed in Malawi since 2014.

The legislator, who was a popular stage and TV comedian accused some unnamed politicians of being part of the albino hunters' syndicate, hence their failure to act decisively. Kalindo, announced that he would parade naked but during the march, he simply wore a small red short, a red vest, a red scarf and red cap.

Contrary to the guidance by Amnesty International that life imprisonments were enough punishments for albino killers, Kalindo said those convicted should face the death penalty.

"The heinous acts of these criminals need to be stopped immediately. If we want to prevent further murders, we should use the strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty," Kalindo told News24 in a telephone interview before the march.

He said if murderers were sentenced to death and executed, prospective ones would think twice before killing for fear of losing their own lives.

"The bottom line is simple. Vicious murderers should be killed to prevent them from murdering again. Let's accept the fact.  The death penalty as a deterrent and as a form of permanent incapacitation helps to prevent future crime," he observed.

Malawi's information minister Patricia Kaliati recently ruled out the implementation of the death penalty against killers of people with albinism. She said it was possible to mete out stiff punishment while respecting human rights.

"Life imprisonment is also a strong deterrent punishment," she said.

Malawi leader Peter Mutharika has also rebuffed calls for the implementation of death penalty.

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Source: News 24/Capital FM Malawi