National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust board chairperson Lingalireni Mihowa has asked people in Phalombe and Thyolo districts to respect the rights of the elderly.

She said this on Saturday in Phalombe during a sensitisation meeting organised by Nice Trust, Ministry of National Unity, Malawi Network of Older Persons Organisations (Manepo) and Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) on the evils of ill-treating the elderly.

The meeting followed a spate of attacks on the elderly on witchcraft accusations in the two districts.

In December last year, community members from Chiringa in Senior Chief Nazombe in Phalombe allegedly killed Maggie Nyengani, 72, on suspicion that she bewitched her granddaughter.

In December last year, people from Ngamwani and Sitima villages in Senior Chief Kapichi in Thyolo also harassed an elderly woman on suspicion that she bewitched a young man on an internship programme at Thyolo District Hospital.

But Mihowa said it was said that abuses of old people were rampant in the country.

She said: “We are sad with the abuse of the elderly. There is no law in the country that allows people to accuse each other of practising witchcraft.

“I, therefore, warn against taking the law into their own hands to kill those suspected of practising witchcraf.”

Manepo executive director Andrew Kavala stressed the need for traditional leaders to establish local committees that know the population of older persons in their areas to monitor them.

MHRC executive director Wycliffe Masso advised the people to desist from humiliating older persons, saying it is a violation of human rights.

Ministry of National Unity Principal Secretary Elizabeth Chindebvu encouraged people to resort to discussions whenever there are misunderstandings.

Nice held the meeting with funding from the European Union under the Chilungamo Project.

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