By Sopani Ng’ambi

Malawi Union for the Blind (MUB), has trained Nkhata-Bay Police Station officers on how best they can assist people with blindness and other disabilities on legal issues.

The training was conducted on Saturday 7th May in Nkhata-Bay district and it only involved few selected police officers.

MUB Programmes Manager, David Mzula Chima, said law enforcers must be an integral component in ensuring that people with disabilities are legally protected.

“In our trainings and meetings, we include police officers for we believe that they have the mandate to protect rights of citizens regardless of their status,” Chima said.

“We urge these law enforcers to make sure they adopt all necessary approaches that are not discriminatory when handling complaints from persons with disabilities,” Chima added.

He therefore asked law enforcers to avoid using offensive and offending words when helping persons with disabilities.

“For example, a certain girl in Kasungu was sexually abused and during investigations police officers asked some questions that were not good.

“One of those questions demanded the victim to explain how she knew the suspect yet she is blind. This affected justice process,” Chima said.

Nkhata-Bay Police Public Relations Officer, Sergeant Kondwani James, commended MUB for the training, saying it was helpful.

“This has enlightened us on what is right when we are handling complaints from persons with disabilities,” James said.

Superintendent Sane Chitalo who represented the Officer in Charge, said as they have been trained, they will stick to all legal procedures when handling clients with disabilities.