Victoria Avenue, Blantyre – MALAWI | Ismail Mia | Flickr/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
News facts
In Malawi, Father Thomas Muhosha, parish priest of Machinga, regarding 100 kilometers east of Blantyre, is one of 12 people convicted in the case of the assassination of MacDonald Masambuka. This 22-year-old albino was murdered in 2018.
The sentences handed down by the court in Blantyre, Malwi, once morest the 12 suspects in the MacDonald Masambuka murder case range from life in prison to sentences of several decades in prison.
MacDonald Masambuka, 22, from Nakawa village, Machinga district, southern Malawi, went missing on March 9, 2018. Prior to his disappearance, he had left his home to buy a rug with a friend. He was then to meet his “future wife” whom relatives were supposed to introduce to him. But, it was a trap: on April 1 of the same year, his body had been found dismembered, his bones having been removed to be sold.
To read : In Malawi, the Church once once more denounces the killings of albinos
Father Thomas Muhosha, parish priest to which the town of Machinga is attached, regarding 100 kilometers east of Blantyre, was found guilty of trying to sell parts of the young albino’s body. On June 27, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamangadu found that the assassination was motivated by ” the disability of the deceasednamely albinism”. She also pointed out that Father Muhosha had betrayed the trust of the community. Five people, including the victim’s brother, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Albino murders
Since 2014, at least 40 killings and 145 assaults of albinos have been reported in Malawi. In this southern African country, body parts of albinos are used in occult rituals. Witch doctors and charlatans make people believe that they bring luck, protection and wealth.
