Immigration chief dismiss ‘torture’ on trainees as three deaths recorded

Chief immigration officer Masauko Medi has said the deaths of three trainees at the department were due to physical stress associated with interview and training.

Reports indicate that two of the three trainee immigration officers died while running around Mapanga ground in Blantyre as part of the physical interviews last year while another died this month during his last physical training at Nkula.

Immigration Department insiders claim the trainees are undergoing rigorous physical exercises as part of the interviews   that include running around five laps around a football pitch, beaten and tortured.

But Medi said the training for recruits which was introduced by the training committee was not torture, saying the death of one officer was “purely natural” according to a post-mortem.

He said some people came to training after a binge drinking and failed to run.

“Two people collapsed while running and died,” he said.

Medi said those who aspire for security jobs must prepare for such interviews and training before joining.

However, a father of one of trainees who died, Timothy Kandeu, is failing to come to terms of the death of his son this month.

Osman Kandeu said despite the postmorterm indicating that his son died of high blood pressure,  he feels the death was due to torture  as he had no history of  blood pressure.

He said the family was never told of the son’s ill health “only to be told of the death.”