Karonga-Chitipa residents petition Malawi govt over relocation of refugees at Katili from Dzaleka

Residents of Karonga and Chitipa have on Friday evening petitioned government over the relocation of Dzaleka refugees camp to Katili area in the district as government is fighting underground move to win the battle.

According to the petition signed by the Karonga-Chitipa heritage group chairperson Afraid Mwambira and its secretary Wantwa Mwahimba, residents of the two districts are against the development.

“The people of Katili deserve equal security as of their fellows in Lilongwe because they are also the citizens of Malawi,” reads part of the document.

“No Malawian should be taken as a second class citizen. The way you are handling this issue is totally  discrimination to the people of Katili as well as Karonga-Chitipa as whole,” added the document.

After presenting the petition to the office of the district commissioner, GVH Kyeyama of Katili and Paramount chief Kyungu the influential youth activist Steven Simsokwe told the media that this mark the beginning of the war with government on the matter.

“If this government think that they can cross us then it is a lie. We are ready to lose our lives to protect the citizens of Karonga and Chitipa,” warned Simsokwe.

He added:” The people of Katili also pays taxe as any other citizen of the country, therefore they should not receive development from government because of accepting refugees camp.”

The group has also rubbished government decision of taking some residents to visit Uganda refugees camp as agreed before.

Group Village Headman Kyeyama and the representative for Karonga DC Scotch Kondowe confirmed to have received the petition.

However, Nyasa Times can reveal that government  t is using some district business tycoons to buy the mind of the residents with tenders.

Government is planning to relocate the refugees camp to Katili because it is jeopardize security in Lilongwe.