Ruth Zulu, Zambia: ‘Make laws to protect people with albinism’

People with albinism (PWA) in several countries in Southern Africa live in fear, notably in Zambia and Malawi, as the article presented below underlines. This is outrageous. People with albinism have basic human rights, just like everyone in their society. Governments should protect their citizens from these heinous attacks which are based on superstition. Murderers should not get away with their crimes. Laws are important to protect people, but law enforcement is equally important! (webmaster FVDK).    

‘Make laws to protect people with albinism’

Published: September 12, 2020
By: The Southern Times, The Newspaper for Southern Africa – Jeff Kapembwa

Lusaka – People with albinism (PWA) in Zambia have demanded strong legislation to protect them from misguided individuals who think culling their body parts can help them make magic potions.

The ritual killing of PWAs continues and stigmatisation of the pigment-related condition remains a challenge in many societies.

National Albinism Initiative Network of Zambia deputy executive director Ruth Zulu this week lamented the continued stigmatisation and murder of PWAs, saying the government needed a legal framework to specifically target these issues.

Such a framework, Zulu said, would also help mainstream albinism issues in national development.

In an interview with The Southern Times at a Zambia Albinism Awareness Programme workshop in Lusaka on Thursday, Zulu – an Environmental Engineering student at Copperbelt University – cited various incidences in which PWAs had been ritually killed or otherwise exploited.

“It is the obligation of our government under the leadership of President (Edgar)!Lungu to take up such a responsibility, answerably and enforceability. “Discrimination, marginalisation and social exclusion of PWAs have been reported as a global phenomenon and that is why we need apolicy to recognise these.

“The cycle of attacks, discrimination and poverty must be broken. There is value in having domestic laws and other measures which are unambiguous and effective protection of PWAs,” she said.

Albinism is a genetic condition that affects one in 20,000 people globally.

It is rare in people with lighter pigmentation and more common in Africa.

A Malawi court last year sentenced three people to death for killing a person with albinism.

The three chopped of the limbs of a person living with albinism with the intention of trafficking the body parts for ritual purposes.

Source: ‘Make laws to protect people with albinism