Only 16 houses are ready to be handed over to the beneficiaries out of 28 houses that were meant to be built in the past financial year, Zodiak Online understands.

APAM president Young Muhamba has therefore asked government to fast track the process for safety of people with albinism.

The APAM president says the bureaucracies in the government system has led to delays in releasing the funds to the district councils.

“It seems there are a lot of bureaucracies during payments of funds from the government to the councils; if the government was effective enough in releasing the funds, I think we would have been talking of different numbers,” said Muhamba.

He added that late payment of money to contractors has also led to the beneficiaries’ failure to access the houses whose construction has been completed.

“Some of the contractors have not received their payments, so for a beneficiary to take over the house the contractor needs to be paid. No contractor can release a house without being paid,” he added.

Muhamba also said APAM officials are sidelined in projects of the government that are related to people with albinism.

According to APAM president, the government is also yet to construct 200 and 250 houses for people with albinism in the 2022-2033 and 2024-2025 financial years respectively to enhance the security of people with albinism.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Lands spokesperson Enock Chingoni has assured APAM that the matter will be resolved as the contractors are expected to be paid soon.

“Indeed, some of the contractors that are constructing houses of people with albinism have not been paid, but let me assure them that they will soon be paid as the issues that were causing the delays have been rectified,” said Chingoni.

According to the Malawi Population and Housing Census Report of 2018, Malawi has 134, 636 people with albinism with 17, 156 of these living in urban areas and 117 480 people living in the rural areas.

(By Anes Mwale-ZBS)