Bishop Chifukwa pleads for enactment of Older Persons Bill
Bishop Peter Chifukwa of Dedza Diocese has called upon the legislature to enact the proposed Older Persons Bill to ensure effective protection of the right of the elderly.
Bishop Chifukwa made the call on Wednesday evening at Catholic Secretariat Offices in Lilongwe during the lobby dinner engagement with Catholic Members of Parliament.
He stressed that the proposed bill is a critical tool towards addressing witchcraft-based violence (WBV) and attacks targeting elderly people in Malawi. He pleaded with the lawmakers to expedite processes of debating and enacting the Bill.
Chifukwa further said the proposed Older Persons Bill is critical in protecting the rights of elderly, as it takes specific provisions for this vulnerable group. He emphasized that the law will create public demand for fair, equitable finance, distribution of resources and protection.
“The country is lacking a proper legislation as in the case of other vulnerable groups. Currently, Malawi has in place the National Older Persons Policy, which was developed in 2016. So, engaging parliamentarians on deplorable Human rights situation of older persons has a potential to change policy, practice and shape actions in the spheres such as social protection, access to justice, security, health, education and their independent living,” he said.
Bishop Chifukwa added that the Catholic Church in Malawi has been sensitizing its faithful about their spiritual obligation to protect the weaker groups.
“By engaging the legislators, the church foresees that the National Assembly will expedite the process of debating and enacting the proposed Bill into law to prevent further abuses against the elderly people,” he added
National Coordinator for Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Boniface Chibwana said their recent assessments in some districts revealed that witchcraft-based violence (WBV) remains prevalent in communities, citing Karonga, Phalombe and Neno as being some of the districts registering rise WBV incidents.
Neno South lawmaker, Mark Katsonga assured that the Bill will find its way to the august House and passed into law in the next meeting of Parliament.
“This is an important bill that will see the end of the plight of the elderly, Older persons in Malawi live under harsh conditions, especially those living in rural areas where access to essential services are limited,” he said
He also observed that although Malawi has a policy that provides an opportunity for addressing the problems and challenges facing the elderly, inadequate awareness of the policy, poor coordination, low finding and lack of specific supporting legal frameworks render it useless in safeguarding and protecting the elderly.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), the governance arm of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi organized the lobby dinner engagement under its project called “Enhancing Social Accountability in Local Governance to Reduce Inequalities for an Inclusive Malawi”, which is being funded by a consortium of the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Danish Church Aid (DCA)