Malawi’s oldest ‘witch’ walks free from notorious prison

BLANTYRE--Malawi’s oldest woman convicted of witchcraft walked free from a notorious prison on Tuesday after serving a three-year jail term following accusations by her relatives that she had bewitched a child who died suddenly, a rights group said, vowing to fight for the release of 50 others convicted of similar offences.

George Thindwa, executive director of the Association for Secular Humanism (ASH) told Maravipost.com that Namakhalepo Kamphata, 83, walked free from the gates of Maula prison in the administrative capital Lilongwe, smiling and saying prayers kept her strong.

"I prayed every day. This kept me strong and I have forgiven all my accusers because I am not a witch," frail Namakhalepo told Maravipost.com.

Before her release, ASH had launched an appeal for funds to give her a “new lease of life and a dignified welcome back out of prison.”

“Her future is uncertain. We want to make her life a bit easier and we hope to raise up to $600 to give her for her upkeep,” said Thindwa.

Kamphata’s nephew Chigayo Tchale, 62, who was convicted together for allegedly bewitching the same child, died in prison last year.

ASH has in the past paid fines to secure the release of three elderly women aged 80, 72 and 62, sent to prison after being accused of witchcraft. They were sentenced to one year in prison because they couldn’t pay the 33-dollar fine, a large sum in a country where half of the population of 13-million lives on less than a dollar a day.

Their case highlighted concerns over rights violations in Malawi based on allegations of witchcraft. Belief in witchcraft and traditional medicine runs deep in this former British colony, largely dominated by Christians.

Witchcraft isn’t technically illegal in Malawi but Thindwa's group has accused police and prosecutors of charging suspected "witches" under laws against causing breach of the peace.

"Sentences passed to alleged witches have also been harsh and not in accordance with the stipulated sentences," said Thindwa, whose group last year launched a campaign against rights abuses based on witchcraft accusations.

The Malawi government last year set up a legal committee to change the law to criminalise witchcraft following public pressure. Current laws on witchcraft were crafted in 1911 and don’t recognise witchcraft although courts mete sentences to alleged witches based on clumsy evidence.

Police often say they arrest alleged witches to protect them from mob justice.--maravipost

DEREK MAPONDERA