Blantyre, Malawi
Malawi’s government has ordered police to investigate former president Peter Mutharika and an aide in connection with the 2018 killing of a 24-year-old albino man. Days earlier, Malawi’s high court convicted 12 people, including a Catholic priest and a police officer, of involvement in the murder. Some of those convicted named the former president as an accomplice, which Mutharika dismissed as a ploy to tarnish his image.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Steve Kayuni, said the order was in response to a court ruling asking why investigations were not carried out to corroborate the alleged involvement of former president Peter Mutharika and his former aide, Hetherwick Ntaba , in the assassination of MacDonald Masambuka. an albino
Kayuni said Mutharika and Ntaba could face charges of harming a disabled person, extracting human tissue and dealing in human tissue.
During the trial, a former police officer, Chikondi Chileka, and another man, Alfred Yohane, had alleged, on several occasions, that Mutharika and his aide were behind the plot to kill Masambuka.
His testimony forced High Court presiding judge Zione Ntaba to recuse himself from the case in May 2019. Former presidential aide Hetherwick Ntaba is his paternal uncle.
Ntaba, former chairman of the National Task Force on Persons with Albinism, told VOA on Thursday that the findings of the investigation, which the government launched in 2019, did not prove the allegations.
“There is a presidential commission of inquiry set up at the same time, to look into these allegations and other issues about the killings of people with albinism. They came out with their findings, they did not confirm these allegations,” Ntaba said. “In any case, the current DPP [director of public prosecutions] is aware that such a commission of inquiry report exists. He should watch it too. I should know what the report says.”
Ntaba said he has long been willing to challenge the charges in court.
“As soon as I heard my name and the name of the former president in court, I went to see him [director of public prosecutions] in response to the accusations of these people he is talking about now,” said Ntaba. “I said, ‘I want to come to court and answer,’ and his response was, ‘Don’t worry, there’s no evidence.'”
In a statement on Wednesday, former President Mutharika also dismissed the allegations as false, malicious and evil propaganda aimed at tarnishing his image.
Mutharika asked the government to make public the findings of the Commission of Inquiry he set up in 2019 to investigate the causes of attacks on people with albinism since 2014.
Human rights lawyer Michael Kayiyatsa said it was wrong for Mutharika to dismiss the allegations as political propaganda.
“These allegations were raised by the convicts in court,” Kayiyatsa said.
“The best thing for Mutharika to do is to let the judicial process take its course in this matter instead of dismissing the allegations against them as mere propaganda. Due to the gravity of these allegations, Mutharika should let the process judiciary do its job”.
Young Muhamba, president of the Association of People with Albinism in Malawi, said investigations into all those mentioned in Masambuka’s death would help uncover the market for albino bones, which is still unknown.
“It is important that all aspects of this particular case should be looked into,” Muhamba said. “All those people suspected of being involved should be thoroughly investigated so that the market discovery process is positive.”
Masambuka disappeared from his village on March 9, 2018.
Less than a month later, his limbless body was found buried in the garden of a house where one of the attackers lived in Machinga District, southern Malawi.
Former police officer Chikondi Chileka, along with Alfred Yohane, were among 12 people jailed in connection with Masambuka’s death. Chileka was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while Yohane received a life sentence.
Others include a doctor and herbalist.
