By: Andrew Mkonda

Lilongwe, November 10, Mana: Fear engulfed us. Whispering voices outside, could be heard every night, making our eyes rigid to sleep, knowing that our lives were in danger, explains a 44 year-old Harry Masauso one of the people with albinism in the area of Traditional Authority Mazengera in Lilongwe.

Masauso who is married to Loness Willard a 38-year-old woman with albinism as well, have now been married for 21 years and have five children, with only one child without albinism.

Explains Masauso: “It has never been an easy journey to reach this far, our lives were submerged in perpetual fear more especially during night hours.

“Heavy stones were thrown on our roof, windows and main door. so that they enter in our house to abduct or harm one of us. It’s like I am dreaming that today we are seeing this decent and safe house for people like us. I am so thankful to the government,”

Masauso says when he looks at what the current government has done by considering constructing houses for people with Albinism, as in the past, they were not considered as important people befitting such huge project across the country, he sees the miracle of God.

Masauko’s wife, Lonness Willard says she and her five children could have died one night when unknown thugs came at night and started petting stones on the roof and windows of the house.

Explains Willard: “On this day, my husband was away, I remained with my five children. At mid-night we started hearing people petting stones on the roof of our house. Hearing strange voices. Our bodies were shocked as if we were put in a cooler.

“With very low voice, we could hear the thugs saying there is money in this house, simply because all of us have an albino skin. After hearing that, with fear in my heart, I knew that we were in danger. I then went at the corner of my bedroom, took my phone and called the police silently. We thank God, the police responded positively and came on time and manage to catch one of the thugs and took him to police. This is how we escaped death on that fateful day,”

And a 20 year-old Siyana Kamtengo, one of the people with albinism in Traditional Authority Masula in Lilongwe district also has hailed the current government for constructing safe houses for people with albinism across the country.

"We were not safe. During night hours, we could hear people trying to enter into our house to abduct us. But with these houses, we are now safe.

“We are two sisters in our family with albinism, but different fathers, all of them run away after seeing that our mother bore us with this skin. Since then, we have grown up with our grandmother,” she said

Kamtengo has since asked government and well-wishers to assist her and the family with a capital so that she can start a small scale business to sustain the family.

“Our grandmother is old and she doesn’t do anything to generate income, but my sister and I are still strong and if we can have a capital to start a small business it can really assist.

“Our biological fathers run away from us and in most cases we sleep on an empty stomach because we do not have a reliable source of income to meet our basic need,” she said.

Reports show that since 2014, more than 170 albinos have been killed or attacked in the country because of false beliefs that concoctions mixed with their body parts bring luck and wealth, according to official data.

In the past, religious leaders, police, herbalists and relatives of the deceased have been named and arrested in connection to the attacks and body exhumations.

In June 2023, a high court in Blantyre sentenced a police officer, a Catholic priest and four others to 30 years imprisonment with hard labor after finding them guilty of transacting human remains of a person with albinism.

When President Lazarus Chakwera took over the government four years ago, he promised to ensure people with albinism are provided with decent houses to ensure their safety.

The president pledged that government would provide houses to people with albinism, and the construction of these houses is a testament to the fulfilment of that promise.

Deputy Director in the Ministry of Lands responsible for rural housing Kingsly Lungu has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project saying the contractors are doing a commendable job.

Lungu says it is encouraging that since government started constructing houses for people with albinism, there has been no reported cases of abductions, which means that the security for people with albinism has been heightened and they feel safe.

Says Lungu: “This project is being implemented in all districts across the country apart from Likoma where there is no person with albinism. People are very excited, they feel very secure and safe. We believe that this project will go very far in preventing abductions and inhumane treatment of people with albinism.”

Lungu then disclosed that government is intending to construct 100 houses for people with albinism in five years and it has already managed to construct 67 houses across the country, with eleven of them being constructed in Lilongwe district.

Government started constructing houses of people with albinism in 2021 and it is now in fourth phase of the project.