The family of MacDonald Masambuka, a 22-year-old man with albinism from Machinga gruesomely murdered in 2018, has finally got justice as the High Court of Malawi in Blantyre yesterday convicted his assailants.

The 12 convicts facing seven charges include Catholic priest Father Thomas Muhosha, police officer Chikondi Chileka, the deceased’s biological brother Cassim and Machinga District Hospital clinical officer Lumbani Kamanga.

Five of the convicts, namely Maxwell Matchina Sosola, Cassim White Masambuka, Dickson Manesi Ndengu, Bashir Lilongwe and Alfred Yohane have been found guilty on the first count of murder while Muhosha and five others have been convicted on the fourth charge of transacting in human tissues.

Muhosha (L) and a fellow convict being led away after the judgement

The court heard that Yohane, Muhosha, Chileka, Lilongwe and Walasi offered to conduct business in human tissue extracted from a human corpse.

Other counts included causing another person to cause harm to a person with albinism, causing another person to cause harm to a person with disability, extracting human tissue and trafficking in person.

Reading the judgement in Blantyre yesterday, presiding judge Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga said the State proved beyond reasonable doubt that the 12 connived to kill Masambuka to extract his bones based on a perception that they will benefit financially.

She described the deceased as a victim of violent attacks on persons with albinism who could not be protected by his community.

The judge said: “It is unfortunate that the accused persons failed to understand that albinism is a condition and acted under perception that they could achieve financial gains.

“This is a violation to right to human life and the greatest violation of the rights to life and integrity for persons with albinism.”

Reacting to the judgement, Director of Public Prosecutions Steve Kayuni said his office was pleased that the court has agreed with the State on all the seven counts.

“This is really overwhelming as this matter surrounds the position of trust considering that there is a police officer, a priest, a clinical officer and a brother involved. These are the people that the late Masambuka trusted, but they ended up betraying him,” he said.

Representing the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (Apam), the association’s former president Ian Simbota bemoaned delayed justice delivery, saying it might discourage others from reporting cases.

“Finally we have come to this day. We have fought, we have waited, the light is coming out now and we are really looking forward to the sentencing,” he said.

Malawi Legal Aid Bureau director Masauko Chamkakala, who was representing the defendants, said they will go through the judgement and discuss with their clients on the way forward.

NyaKaunda Kamanga has set May 31 2022 for sentencing.

Meanwhile, lawyers for both the State and the convicts are expected to file their submissions on May 27.

Masambuka went missing on March 9 2018 and his body was later found buried in a garden on April 2 2018 near Makawa Village in Senior Chief Mkoowola in Machinga.

On the fateful day, he was enticed by his brother to meet his friends at Nselema Trading Centre in Machinga who he claimed had found a girl for him to marry. He was reportedly grabbed by the neck and dragged to a garden where he was murdered, and after extracting the limbs, his assailants burned his body using petrol and buried the remains there.

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