MP Kwelepeta calls for tougher sentences over killing of professionals like Dr Chomo

Zomba Malosa MP Grace Kwelepeta has called for stiffer punishment for anyone convicted of killing skilled professionals, citing the deaths of Dr Atughanile Chomo and Dr Victoria Bobe as examples of a troubling pattern.

Kwelepeta said training professionals, particularly in the health sector, requires significant financial investment and years of dedication, and warned that such professionals are vital to the country’s development, noting that Chomo had only just begun her career.

Contributing to a debate on Chomo’s death, which also saw Minister of Defence Feston Kaupa respond on behalf of Minister of Homeland Security Peter Mukhito, Kwelepeta said cases involving suspects accused of murder should be fast-tracked once they reach the courts.

Kaupa agreed with Kwelepeta, saying the security of doctors needed particular attention, noting that the pattern suggested violent individuals were deliberately targeting doctors for reasons that remain unclear.

The minister stressed that police, as the professionals responsible for handling such cases, would expedite investigations into matters of this nature.