Malawi Albinos hunting irks Zimbabwe MP

The hunting of Albino children in Malawi has irked the Zimbabwe member of the house of assembly Fortune Chasi who raised concerns over the reports that Albino children were being snatched from their mothers.

Human traffickers are reportedly hunting for Albinos in Malawi and Tanzania amid reports that their parts were fetching huge sums of money across the international borders.

"I read with great trepidation the issue concerning Albino hunting in Malawi, a story that was extremely depressing where a child was snatched away from its mother by five men. The child was an Albino and they were to go and clip off the child's hands and other body parts. I think that is something that as a country we should abhor. If an individual crosses into our country and it is proven that they have participated in this type of conduct, I think we must be able to take action against them and provide jurisdiction for our courts to deal with such matters, notwithstanding the fact that they have not occurred in Zimbabwe," Chasi said.

"I also want to say as members of the Pan African Parliament and the SADC arrangements concerning our Parliaments, I would like to say that the members of this House who represent us in those Parliaments must be required to raise these issues at those forums, as well and take precisely the positions that we are taking in this country to ensure that child abuse is not only dealt with legally in this country but also in countries that we deal with."

Chasi said he want to say that this is a very serious matter which in a sense is an indictment on some aspects of our social life.

"A lot of young girls end up in marriages because after Form 4 they cannot go to Form 6. As a country, we need to think outside the box and ensure that we come up with interventions that assist the girl-child in particular. When we speak about child abuse, we will talk about both boys and girls but when it comes to child marriages, we are really primarily talking about the girl-child as the focus of the problem," he said.

"I have witnessed this in my constituency, when we have a meeting you see girls as young as 14 years old, trooping to the centre of the meeting holding children. It is a very embarrassing and painful situation and I think that all the ministries that intersect with the child, ought to come up with interventions that favour the maturity of the child and their continued education."

The MP said there was mention here about artists and others playing their role, as Members of Parliament we also have a role to play and speak against this at every meeting that we hold and to ensure that the local leadership also understands the gravity of the matter.

"I think we need to move away from the pretense that it is part of African culture that a 10 year old child should be married," Chasi said.

 "I am sure that the mover of the motion will be pleasantly surprised and impressed with me in that as a budding musician I have already done a song around this issue appropriately titled "regai dzive shiri, zai harina muto".